34. Another Portal

"Let's go."

At that moment, the captain of the pirates took the lead, slowly walking towards the temple.

Seeing this, everyone else followed him.

Then, as if remembering something important, the captain turned around, his face adorned with a silly smile.

"Ah, I forgot to mention that if you die in there, your body will disintegrate like those monsters we kill, so be sure not to die."

Everyone felt a hint of hesitation upon hearing his words, but they couldn't turn back from here, could they? So, they steeled their resolves as they headed forward towards the temple.

A while later, they arrived at the entrance of the temple, where a statue similar to what Orion had seen when coming here had been placed at the entrance.

But this time, upon seeing the statue, Orion felt shocked. For he saw that the statue of the man with golden hair and the woman with blue hair both had their swords pierced into each other's hearts, as they appeared to be kneeling and hugging each other.

'Did they kill each other at the end?'

Orion was puzzled as to what the statue wanted to convey to them this time. However, after looking at it for a long time, he couldn't understand any of it.

'Well, it doesn't matter anyway, since I am going to enter the temple either way.'

Sighing, Orion put aside those thoughts and followed the others.

Looking up, he noticed that the temple appeared much larger than they had initially thought when they had seen it from a distance. It emitted a very eerie aura, making him feel uncomfortable.

Observing the others, he noticed that they also had frowning faces as they walked slowly.

Not long after, they were just a step away from entering the temple when the captain of the pirates abruptly halted, causing everyone else to stop as well.

Addressing everyone, the captain of pirates spoke with a solemn expression.

"The book I obtained only mentioned how to enter the temple; other than that, it didn't say anything useful, so I don't know what will happen if we enter there, but there is one thing it mentioned that is beneficial to us."

He paused, looking at all of them, before continuing.

"That is, if any of us is able to reach the boss, then all of our souls will be back in our bodies, and if we can't, then our souls will be trapped there for eternity. However, that cylindrical barrier around this temple will cease to exist within seven days, so try to complete the task in that period of time; otherwise, who knows, we might have our bodies eaten by monsters if we are even a little late?"

Everyone nodded, their faces turning grave as they heard him. The prospect of having their bodies eaten while their souls were away was a terrifying thought.

Moreover, if that were to happen, their souls would be trapped in the temple forever. Thinking of that situation intensified their hesitation.

Orion, too, didn't feel good after hearing the captain's words. His face turned grim as he considered the potential danger. However, at this point, he couldn't turn back.

'Everything about this place gives me creeps. The pair of statues I saw on the way here, another pair I saw at the entrance and now what he said, all of these combined is enough for anyone to suspect that there is something wrong with this temple, but here we are barging right in.'

He dreaded thinking about the situation he had gotten himself into.

'But I will definitely not let myself die there for sure.'

Clenching his fists, he resolved to return from that place alive.

Meanwhile, Runo frowned as he turned to the captain of the pirates.

"This dungeon is supposed to be a bronze rank dungeon, so why is the difficulty so high here?"

The captain of the pirates shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe this dungeon is unique. Anyway, we will find out what's going on if we enter the temple."

Without hesitation, he took a step and entered the temple.

Seeing this, Runo gritted his teeth as he turned to look at his team.

"Let's go. We are entering as well."

Saying that, he also stepped into the temple.

A moment later, everyone entered the temple. They were helpless about it now that they were in their soul form; they could only enter the temple and hope that everything went fine.

***

A while later, a portal of some sort appeared at the end of the hall they were walking in.

This portal appeared different from the ones Orion had seen beside the skull throne, as it appeared to be in the shape of a door rather than a circular one.

It also radiated a green glow all around.

"Last time I came with my physical body, the portal wasn't here; instead, a wall had been there in place of it. So, I think this will lead us to the inside of the temple."

The captain of the pirates expressed his thoughts to everyone as he stared at the portal.

"Let's go. There is no point in wasting any more time here."

He turned to everyone as he walked into the portal and disappeared from the hall.

Seeing this, some other pirates also followed behind and walked into the portal, disappearing from this place.

As for Runo's team, they also walked into the portal after much hesitation, leaving only Orion at the scene.

'I can just wait here and let them find the boss, can't I?'

Orion thought, but at that moment, he heard something—something eerie.

Turning around, he saw cracks appearing on either side of the walls. Slowly, these cracks expanded, and sickly hands began to pop out from behind the walls. Not just one, but many hands emerged from all around the walls on both sides.

'Damn!'

Seeing this, Orion cursed as he took a step back. But at that moment, a hand seemingly emerged from the ground and grabbed onto his left leg.

Feeling a shiver run down his spine, he fell backward onto the ground. Reacting quickly, one of his swords flew straight to the hand and cut it in half.

Freeing himself, Orion didn't look back. He ran straight to the portal and disappeared from the hall.