Dradi and Ephal almost simultaneously recited incantations in low voices.
Each released a soft ball of light, suspended above their heads, dispelling the darkness ahead.
Karl didn't cast a spell, because even in absolute darkness, his super vision could clearly see every detail.
The team naturally formed a defensive formation: Dradi took the lead, Ephal followed, and Karl was protected in the center.
It was obvious that these two veterans were looking out for the newcomer; whether the enemy came from the front or the rear, they would be the first to be attacked.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Karl's mouth, and his heart felt warm—these two companions he had just met had good characters.
They walked along the winding, silky passage into the depths, and after an unknown amount of time, their eyes suddenly opened up, revealing a spacious hall.
The walls of the hall were adorned with ancient texts and reliefs of unknown meaning, the patterns mainly consisting of twisted trees and lush branches and leaves.
There were also slender and elegant depictions of elves interspersed among them.
Dradi sneered contemptuously and said in a mocking tone: "Alexandrea really knows how to choose a hiding place; she even found an elven ruin as a shelter."
"Fortunately, the sorcerer used water scrying to catch the necessary clues, and the nearby monitoring points reported abnormal magical fluctuations; otherwise, she would have been very hard to find."
The three continued forward, and finally, the passage abruptly ended at a cliff.
A bottomless darkness lay below, while the opposite side had a passage that continued, with a wide chasm in between.
Ephal walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down; the deep darkness seemed to swallow the light.
He turned to Karl and Dradi and said: "There should be a portal left by the ancient elves. Let's search carefully."
So the three dispersed and cautiously began to search around the cliff edge.
Dradi and Ephal carefully examined every suspicious stone carving and engraving, careful not to touch any mechanism.
And after they left, Karl stopped moving as they did.
He stood, slightly narrowing his eyes, a faint glint flickering deep within his pupils.
Karl used his clairvoyance, his gaze sweeping over an inconspicuous corner a few meters away.
The stones and dense vines quickly became transparent in his field of vision.
Behind them was a cozy, cross-shaped door frame, clearly visible—it was the portal they were looking for.
Instead of walking towards the portal, he stood still, raised his voice, and called out: "Dradi, Ephal, I found the portal."
His voice echoed in the empty cave, and soon, the passage changed from dark to light, and the hurried footsteps of the two men were heard.
Dradi and Ephal rushed back and saw that Karl was still standing there waiting, and couldn't help but be stunned.
"Karl, where's the portal? You found it and just called out; why are you back in the same place?" Dradi asked, his voice full of doubt.
However, they naturally didn't know that Karl had never left this spot from beginning to end.
Karl didn't explain; he simply made a "follow me" gesture and led them to a corner densely hidden by vines.
Ephal stepped forward to push aside the layers of leaves, bringing the light ball closer to the dimmed magical hedron embedded at the bottom of the door frame.
"Oh, it's really here?" Dradi glanced at Karl in surprise.
Immediately, he smiled and said: "Excellent observation. You found such a well-hidden spot so quickly."
Ephal also nodded approvingly.
He reached out and slowly channeled his magic into the dim facets.
As the magic flowed in, the hedron gradually glowed with a soft white light.
Immediately after, behind the door frame, which had originally been a solid stone wall, a muffled rumble sounded.
The air began to swirl and twist, eventually forming a swirling portal that constantly emitted a white light.
"Let's go!" Dradi exclaimed softly and was the first to step into the portal. Ephal gestured for Karl to follow, but he himself went last.
After passing through the portal and a brief period of weightlessness and sensory confusion, the three found themselves on the other side of the cliff.
This was also an artificially excavated space, surrounded by huge stone lion statues.
Half of one lion's body was missing, and the stone slabs beneath its feet were broken.
Dradi and Ephal quickly surveyed the surroundings, their faces growing more serious.
"This is an ancient elven defensive magic circle, and it seems Alexandrea forcefully destroyed it." Ephal pointed to the broken lion and the ground.
However, just as they were preparing to investigate further,
BOOM!! A muffled explosion came from the depths of the ruins, accompanied by a woman's faint scream and some sound of stone grinding.
The three looked at each other, all seeing the vigilance in each other's eyes.
"She's inside, hurry!" Dradi growled low, and the three immediately rushed towards the direction of the sound.
After a few short passages, they hurried into a wider rotunda, and the scene before them immediately stopped them in their tracks.
In the center of the hall, a sorceress in a dark green dress was awkwardly holding up a flickering spell shield.
Her face was pale, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, clearly at a disadvantage.
And what was besieging her were three rigid but powerful earthen constructs and golems, also called alchemical puppets,
and five gargoyles that flew, constantly diving and occasionally teleporting.
These gargoyles were like animated statues made of rough marble, with wind rustling their wings.
Not far away, three exploded golem remains already lay on the ground.
"That's her, Alexandrea!" Dradi immediately recognized her.
However, his words hadn't even landed when, as if in response to his identification,
suddenly, a fireball shot out from Alexandrea's side. But she didn't fire it at the three.
The fireball flew straight past them and struck an inconspicuous raised mechanism on the wall beside them.
BANG! BANG!! The fireball exploded, masonry spraying everywhere, and the mechanism was destroyed in an instant.
Immediately after, a muffled roar came from behind.
A heavy stone door suddenly fell with lightning speed, completely blocking their retreat.
"Damn it, you crazy bitch!"
"She wants to draw the attention of these gargoyles and golems to us and drag us down with her!"
Dradi, who had been calm before, was so angry he cursed on the spot.
Ephal's expression also became extremely grim, and his gaze at the gargoyles was full of deep fear.
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