The two parties look at each other for a long time, but ultimately no one did anything since their respective leader didn't act. The Eye King and the Rank 3 Magus knew that fighting will be futile since they are not alone, so Grigori took his team and headed to the black platform.
Zatiel follows the Magus, but he remained looking at the members of Dynasty, especially at the young man that was at the lead of those who will participate in the excavation, just behind the Eye King. The man looks very young, even infantile you could say, and although it was easy to fake these characteristics, thanks to his bloodline Zatiel was able to detect the thriving life-force in his body that detailed his youth.
The man had black hair, his normal eyes were blue and those in his forehead were grey, he wore a white robe, but unlike the rest of his team, this one was similar to the one Zatiel used, meant to let the body movement during a fight. Despite his expression been calm, he was giving an imposing aura and the sensation of being the alpha of the group.
Like if detecting his presence, the young man looks in the direction of Zatiel, and unlike what you will hope to see from an Eye Lord, he didn't dismiss his opponent just for being weaker than him but display an analytic and serious expression.
'Dangerous,' Zatiel eyes narrowed as he exchanged stares with the man.
From the entire team of Dynasty, this young man was the only one that made Zatiel feel a threat.
After a momentum the entire team arrives at the platform, this one was entirely black and was five-meter tall and one hundred meters wide and long, there was all kind of runes in it and it had an indentation in his center the size of a fist. It didn't seem like much and there was no clear use of it, but no one was dumb enough to think it was just a part of the view.
Grigori took a black orb from his spatial ring and the moment it was put in the platform all the runes activated, generating an alteration in the natural energies at their surroundings due to their high level and the great power generated. Yet nothing happens, but there was one person in the group who recognized these runes.
'Spatial containment, I guess whatever we are going to excavate has an immense amount of energy,' Zatiel eyes narrowed as he scanned these runes and looks at the place where the entrance to the cave was.
Spatial equipment works by creating a pocket dimension, but this space is fragile and if something inside releases too much energy it can affect the integrity of the container and make the dimension collapse, but to have that type of energy is must be something really special.
After finishing the activation, Grigori was going to explain the specifics of work they were going to do and some basic rules when all of the sudden the sky started to break like if it was glass and two human figures appeared, it didn't matter if they were the members of the Empire or Dynasty when they tried to see their looks, their eyes hurt like if they were seeing to the sun only glimpsing a blurring image, and barely been able to identify that they were both men and one of them had four eyes.
The space that looks like it was broken started to close and if you look to what was at the other end you would see a barren place of other-dimensional nothingness extending in all directions, a land where no life should be able to survive.
The two of them remained on the sky without moving, and the energy on their body was calm, yet their surroundings seem to be distorted like if the air itself was burning, their mere presence made all those beneath felt their energy go in disarray and loss control for a moment.
They raise their hand making the earth around the platforms start to tremble and from the ground, two gigantic statues of fifty meters appear, in the side of the empire, it portrayed an adult male, with short hair and an indifferent face with cold eyes, as for dynasty side, it appears a man with a face that looks to be worn out by time but full of wisdom, with a long hair that reached his back.
Despite the statues looking impressive, they were just lifeless objects that anyone in here had the power to destroy. But all that changed when from the forehead of those two men a small dot of light came out and enter those earth giants.
From both statues, an invisible domain appears and the pressure it generates was so much that if it was targeting anyone present, it was enough to blast to a pulp even someone as powerful as Gregori. The domain from the empire statue makes those inside it feel fear growing in their hearts, it was so powerful that some were paralyzed by it, as for the man of dynasty his statue made them feel tired and want nothing more to sleep and dream.
Those two domains clash against each other making the earth crack and thunder and lightning appear in the sky, the power was so great that these type of phenomenon appear for kilometers, but when they notice no one could win they started to expand in other direction covering around twenty kilometers before stoping his expansion and the feeling that they gave to those inside them vanished.
After finishing with these immense displays of might, the powerhouse from the Empire and the one from Dynasty, look at the Rank 3 Magus and Eye King respectively and nodded before vanishing.
After the two men left, all those present relaxed, after all, being in the presence of someone that could make you vanish with a single thought was something no one liked.
Everyone was looking at the immense statues that were left, despite no doing nothing the power they had was so immense that made them feel intoxicated and was only when Grigori coughed that they turn to the man.
Seen that everyone was paying attention to him Grigori starts to talk " Those were powerhouses that subdue the creatures that inhabit in this area and make sure they remain away from this place, as long we stay in their domain we will not be in danger, but if you leave then we are so deep in the Endless Forest that we can be considered trespassing on the territories of Soul Forging creatures. I guess I don't need to tell you what will happen then."
Everyone present understood the meaning of the Magus words, since if they find themself in the range of creatures that strong then even escaping will be impossible.
Rank 4 is a major threshold, as the individual suffers a major transformation, being able to use the power of their souls directly and no longer can be considered a biological being. This level of power has many titles depending on the world and race they are part of, like Legends, Eye Tyrant, Doom Bringer, Dao Awakening, Ancient Stage, among others but due to the special characteristics they all share, they are commonly called Soul Forging.
It is in this stage when you became powerful enough to interact directly with the Laws, giving them impressive and obscure abilities than all beneath their Rank are unable to fight against.
Seein they understood the seriousness of the situation, Grigori continues " Your task is the excavation of a special mineral named Fallen Star, this is part of a celestial body that had fallen into the world and due to it being flooded for hundreds of years in the energy that surrounds the worlds, they release pollution that is fatal for any life form under Rank 1, and it is still dangerous for those of you in Rank 1 and 2, so you need to slow down the pollution the most you can and take some time to expel it from your body every certain amount of time before the corruption reaches a critical level" After pausing a moment he continues.
"This mineral can't be put into normal spatial equipment, so you will have to use your bodies and spell to bring it here, where this platform will save it and make annotation of the amount you have recollected. The tunnels extend for hundreds of kilometers and the deeper you go the higher the purity of the mineral is. Although going deeper allows you to obtain a better spoil is also the place where the powerful will be, so you should be self-aware of your power."
Grigori words could be sum up as, the higher the risk the higher the reward, and those at Rank 1 understood that they will be crushed if they are in the way of those Eye Lords.
"Questions?"
"Is there a possibility that the Eye King will attack us in retaliation for the death of their members?" Siru asked as he looks at the middle age man at the distance, and whose eyes seem to be made of thunder and lightning.
This question was important, as no one was so stupid to think that just because someone was stronger they would not be shameless and hurt those weaker than him in vengeance.
"We are forbidden to attack those participating in the excavation because of a blood contract, so there is no need to worry."
"Is there an estimate of how long this task will last," This time the person who asked was Nimir that was accompanying Feiner.
"The complete excavation should take around a year, but that is an estimate made with all of you alive and not suffering injuries that take long recuperation."
Death was no something that should happen too much since most of them will just abandon the minerals they excavated and will run, but injuries will definitely occur.
After that question there was silence and it seems they were ready to leave when someone spoke.
"What are the rules about infighting and killing, also will you be monitoring our movement in the tunnels"
The expression of everybody changed as they understood the meaning of those words. He was practically asking what will happen if he kills one of them and whether they will be on constant vigilance and protection from the Rank 3 Magus. But after seeing the expression of hate in the face of Feiner and his werewolves, most of them adopted an indifferent posture.
The one who asked was Zatiel and despite the stares he received, he was indifferent as he waited for Grigori's answer.
Zatiel was not even trying to hide his intention, and the Magus understood his plan immediately, but after looking at him for a moment he just shogged his shoulder, as he didn't have any relation with those werewolves, " The codes from the empire are in force and if you are found out killing someone without provocation, then you will be detained. As for watching over you, my task was escorting all of you here alive and make sure the mineral arrive safely in the platform, so I could not care less if someone kills another person and I will only act if there is evidence."
Hearing those words the face of Feiner becomes ugly, but those Rank 1 werewolf filled with despair, as the ways someone could kill others without leaving evidence was endless especially in a battle place like what the tunnels will become.
Although they could choose not to recollect mineral and stay under the watch of Grigori at all times, unlike Zatiel they have a quota to fill, so they need to enter the cave no matter what.
Zatiel nodded to those words and look at Feiner´s group as he gave a kind smile, although there was no malice in his face, those two Rank 1 werewolves felt like were looking a monster that was planing to torture them in the worst possible way making hopelessness birth in their souls.
This was one of Zatiel habits he developed in his time as an Archdemon, submit his enemies to psychological torture, making them spend their last moments with fear and regret in their heart, so they can suffer thousands of death before he finally kills them.
