Sebastian still looked uneasy. “But Dante and the others are chasing Timothy. What if we can’t keep up—or worse, can’t beat them?”

  Lauren shook her head. “There are eight doors here. We don’t know which one they entered. And this formation is shifting constantly. Even if we chose the same door, we might not end up in the same pce.”

  That shut him up. He knew she was right.

  Nash spoke up. “Then let’s leave a mark and head downstairs first. If Dante comes looking, at least he’ll know where we went.”

  It was the best option they had. They made their mark, then descended together.

  Lauren stopped before the narrow door. Strange totems crawled across its surface, intricate and unsettling. She stared at them too long, and suddenly her vision warped. For one terrifying moment, she felt herself being dragged into the door itself.

  Her head buzzed, and the jolt snapped her back to her senses.

  “N—” She started to call Nash’s name, but froze.

  He stood sck-eyed, staring at the door like his soul had been ripped from his body. The others were the same—faces bnk, motionless.

  Something was very, very wrong.

  Lauren didn’t dare blink. Instead, she reached out with her spiritual sense.

  What’s happening to them?

  The little four-legged creature’s voice rumbled in her mind. They’ve been pulled under by the door’s aura. Don’t panic. Give them a soul cleansing pill. That’ll break the hold.

  Lauren nearly sagged with relief. Thank the heavens for Flower Wife’s treasure chest—there was always some strange pill or trinket inside.

  She worked fast, pressing a soul cleansing pill into each of their mouths.

  One by one, they stirred awake.

  Nash’s face was bloodless, his voice still shaking. “Ms. Lauren… there’s a killing array inside that door. It’s too dangerous. We shouldn’t go in.”

  “A killing array?” Veronica’s voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s not what I saw. I—I thought I saw a ghost.”

  “Ghost?” Zachariah shot her a bewildered look. “I didn’t see a ghost. I was standing in a sea of fire. I almost burned alive.”

  They all turned toward Sebastian.

  His brow furrowed. “I saw… a talisman giant. Its fist was the size of a house. It nearly crushed me ft.”

  They’d each seen something different.

  Their gazes turned, as one, toward Lauren.

  She kept her expression even. “I noticed something was wrong with you all. I didn’t dare look.”

  She couldn’t exactly admit a creature in her mind had snapped her out of it.

  Nash clutched his chest and gave a shaky ugh. “Good thing you didn’t. That door’s cursed. Too damn terrifying.”

  He gnced at the others. “We can’t keep staring at it. Everyone back off. Let’s see if steel can crack it.”

  Lauren stepped aside with the rest. Zachariah raised his golden sword, the bde humming with power.

  She frowned. In the original story, this door had never been mentioned. The first person to enter was supposed to be Indiana, carried along by sheer protagonist’s luck. She’d stumbled her way through and reached the final point, while everyone else scoured the pce hunting for keys.

  A sick feeling gripped Lauren’s chest.

  Indiana could already be inside.

  No. She couldn’t allow that. She had to get in first—had to kill Indiana before Timothy and the others arrived.

  With a shout, Zachariah brought his sword down.

  The bde rang out with a harsh cng. The recoil bsted him backwards, his arm trembling, his face pale.

  The door didn’t so much as crack.

  The others’ faces darkened.

  Nash squinted at the unbroken door. “Looks like brute force won’t cut it. There’s some kind of formation here. Let me take a closer—”

  A mocking voice curled in Lauren’s mind. “Ha. Overestimating himself, isn’t he?”

  Her lips twitched. “Four Legs, enough with the sarcasm. Just tell me how to open it.”

  “Simple. Three choices: go upstairs and get the key, crack the formation, or destroy the door.”

  Lauren mulled it over. If Four Legs was scoffing at breaking the formation, then this was far beyond their level. Forget that. And if Timothy really had gone after the key… by the time she chased it down, she’d have lost every advantage.

  That left one option.

  “How do we destroy it?”

  “Four corners, four strikes. Hammer them all at the same time, equal force. That’ll do it.”

  Lauren turned sharply. “Nash, step back. Don’t get near the formation—you’ll be swallowed whole if it pulls you in.”

  Nash hesitated. “Then what—?”

  “Does anyone have a hammer?”

  For a second, everyone just stared at her. Then Veronica fished a small hammer from her ring. “I make armor as a hobby. I carry one.”

  Nash chuckled and produced his own. “Formation work needs a chisel and hammer. Got mine right here.”

  Two. Not enough.

  “Anyone else?”

  Lauren’s bracelet was silent. Flower Wife’s treasure chest had many things—but not a hammer.

  Zachariah raised his golden sword and tapped the hilt against his palm. “This will do. The hilt’s as heavy as any hammer.”

  Lauren bit back a sigh. Barely.

  Sebastian looked sheepish. “I’ve only got my talisman pen.” Then, as if struck by inspiration, he pulled a small pestle from his pouch. “I use it to grind cinnabar. Will this work?”

  Lauren smiled faintly. “Better than a sword handle.”

  They had four.

  “The four of you take a corner each. Strike together, with the same strength.” She stepped into the center, fists clenched. “Focus your cores. I’ll bance the force.”

  A subtle thread of connection pulsed between them. Guided by Lauren, their strength fused.

  Cng!

  The impact reverberated like thunder. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface before the massive door shattered into shards of light, dissolving into nothing.

  “It worked.”

  Lauren’s lips curved. She looked down into the gaping bck hole revealed beyond. “Let’s go.”

  Nash opened his mouth—questions in his eyes—but when he saw how far ahead she’d already gone, he swallowed them back.

  The stairway was long, cut from stone, descending endlessly. Step by step, they finally reached level ground.

  The space opened up into a vast chamber.

  “Holy shit,” Zachariah breathed. “Is that… a sky?”

  They all looked up. Above them stretched an expanse scattered with glittering points of light. Stars, it seemed—an entire night sky buried underground.

  But everyone here knew better.

  “They’re not stars,” Sebastian said after a pause. “Probably gems, something that mimics the heavens.”

  While the others craned their necks, Lauren lowered her voice, whispering inside. “Where is it?”

  “Here,” Four Legs said smoothly. “In this open space. Find it.”

  Lauren’s jaw tightened. Easy for him to say. Out here, in a cavern so dark you could barely see your own hand, “finding it” might take seven days, seven nights—hell, seven months.

  And she didn’t have that kind of time. Indiana could already be inside.

  “Hey, over here!” Zachariah suddenly shouted. He knelt and pried something loose from the floor. “Purple copper! Look at that shine—top-grade, perfect for refining Spirit Treasures!”

  The others dropped immediately to their knees, scrabbling at the stone.

  “There’s more here!”

  “And here—another vein!”

  Lauren exhaled slowly, gaze sweeping the glittering chamber. She didn’t know where this pce was supposed to be—but one thing was clear: the treasures buried here were on a level far beyond anything most Foundation Establishment disciples had ever dreamed of touching.