"That's right. They are increasing. Not only will they keep increasing, but they'll keep getting more dangerous the farther we get," Azekiel explained, looking at all the arrows that were lying on the ground near him.
All these arrows were quite ordinary. In fact, they weren't much different than the arrows used by human archers, made from common wood. That's also why the barrier was so effective against them.
"It's good they weren't poisoned," he added, crushing one of the arrows under his foot.
His wound had healed, and he felt perfectly fine even now. That meant the arrows weren't poisoned which was what he was somewhat worried about initially.
Azekiel kept his Gauntlets of Gluttony stay out as he remained prepared for the traps that were to come next. He also told Raphael to keep his wings out as well since there might be a need to fly.
The most confusing part was where to walk. If they were walking near the center of the hallway, they would be far from the wall, but in case of the floor disappearing, they were going to have a hard time with that.
However, in case they were near the wall, they would've had even less time to protect themselves from the arrows.
Just to be safe, Azekiel walked into the center of the hallway.
Fortunately, throughout the rest of the way, there weren't any more traps that they could find.
"It looks like all these hallways have only one trap each, and all of them are right at the start," Lia commented, noticing the similarities between the two traps.
"I wouldn't be so confident about that," Azekiel didn't believe Lia's words. "Just because there are similarities between the first two traps, we can't base everything on that and lower our guard after clearing the first two."
"Agreed. Things should be harder the farther we get." Raphael also agreed with Azekiel. "That means there might be two or more traps in each hallway.'
He was proven to be right not long after as they managed to survive the next trap, which came right at the start of the new hallways. However, as they were at the end of the hallway, another similar trap came out of nowhere.
This time, again, the arrows came out from the two walls, but the arrows were made of steel now. The arrows also had some black liquid on their tip, which looked like some kind of poison.
The arrows didn't just come from the two walls but also from the roof, falling straight down.
Fortunately, Azekiel's barrier covered all sides, including the top. Moreover, after being attacked last time, he was already prepared for arrows this time, which made him react even more swiftly than last time.
Not even a single arrow passed through the barrier, despite the arrows being faster than the ones before.
"And that's why we shouldn't lower our defenses in this place. What we think is a pattern might only be a trap to make us lower our guards." Azekiel reminded everyone in the form of a lesson.
Even though he looked to be the youngest here, he was technically the oldest here. He was like their senior, who was teaching others about the basics of the battle and what to do when they were in the enemy territory.
Even though Azekiel was initially concerned about the traps, the deeper he reached, the more he adjusted to the traps. He had become habitual to facing the traps, and with time, it was only becoming easier for him as his confidence was at the peak now.
Their traps did intensify with time, but so did Azekiel's defense. Instead of the traps being like the traps that were used by ordinary humans, now the traps were something that was used by gods.
There were all kinds of traps, some of which were even recognized by Raphael as he had seen them before being used in his world.
One such trap was the gravity trap. The gravity was increased in one of the hallways multiple folds, which made it almost impossible for Azekiel to even move.
Once their movements were restricted by the traps, more and more attacks came for them, mostly being energy attacks.
Fortunately, the group of three managed to pass through that trap as well, since Lia helped this time, making Azekiel's body lighter to decrease the effects of gravity on him.
After passing through all the hallways and all the traps, the three of them finally reached a room.
"According to the map, this should be a safe room."
The room was like a normal bedroom that was used by the Royals. Everything here was luxurious, and many things here looked like rewards to be taken.
It was like this room was placed here so they could rest after passing through the traps.
Azekiel definitely needed that rest as he was starting to feel hungry.
He walked to the bed and comfortably sat with his back resting against a soft pillow.
He was treating this room like it was his own bedroom, straightening his legs before he started eating the fruits he had stored in his ring.
"What are you thinking about?" As he ate, he noticed that Raphael was lost in some thoughts, which made him really curious as to what Raphael was thinking about.
"I'm thinking about the traps outside," Raphael answered, slightly concerned. "I've seen some of the traps before. They were used for the protection of our Royal Palace as well. I'm just thinking how these two could be related..."
"Is there really a need to think about it? You already know the answer," Azekiel responded. "You already mentioned that there is a similar castle in your world which could only be explored by the Royals of your world. That castle would most probably have similar traps to this place."
"If your Royals saw these traps, it's obvious that they would be impressed by these and take some inspiration. In other words, they stole the ideas from the castle and implemented them in other places that you saw. So it's not that odd…."
