The soft voice announced that more intruders had made their way inside, and it now made little to no doubt that the soldiers stationed inside simply stood no chance of even impeding their advance, although the traps were working much better and even managing to injure some of them, it didn't matter much as they always had a way to heal up any damage inflicted.
Their progress greatly slowed when they got to the biggest obstacle in between them and the machine, how they knew even the direction in which to go in was a mystery, but they did, and it was then that the labyrinth truly showed its worth, that thing was a real wonder of architecture and trickery, not only was it confusing to begin with, but the layout actively changed to prevent anyone without the right to be here from reaching the end.
Irtop, Ayelah, the Soror, and all other soldiers in the room, looked at the machine like it was a divine being that would free them from all earthly torment, but alas, they were not allowed to gaze for much longer, as Irtop sensed something coming through the special connection he shared with the hideout itself through the variation of orderly ranks he had been granted.
He had been exceptionally confident for a variety of reasons, General Loimos stating that the machine was a success, the machine doing better than ever before right before his eyes, the labyrinth preventing any enemy from reaching this place, and the simple fact that this room was enclosed by a door made from the very same material as the outer walls of the hideout, although resilient, the inner portion of the wall wasn't of the same material, and most doors were far from being as resilient, but this room was, considering the nature of what was happening here, it should be a given.
So it was only natural that he did not believe that even the seven leaders of this realm could do nothing to stop them, but right now, something was tearing right through the labyrinth in a straight line, and it was making him reconsider his earlier certainties.
General Loimos might have said that it was a success, but it had been in relation to what Sir Gharl and Lady Tiloh had made, it could have simply been him confirming that the plans they had made were going to function as intended once assembled, but not necessarily that it would actually be able to go to completion.
"Everyone, prepare to defend the machine!" he shouted, right as a fist coated in bright golden energy tore right through the door, the arm retracting for the hand grasp the edge of the hole that had just been made, and like it was just a regular wooden door of poor manufacture, the whole thing was pulled right off its hinges and thrown back.
"This thing can resist the breath of some dragons for minutes on end without any problem…" muttering to himself, Irtop put on end on his sword's sheath and the other on the handle, stepping forward.
"Golden One, you seem to have no care for the little maze that we created for occasions such as this one" he did not trembled, but his heart began to beat faster, the golden mana, General Loimos had spoken highly of this special element, the pure undead seemed to hold it in higher regards than even devouring life, although, he had not seem to think quite as much of the wielder.
Even if Loimos himself only appeared to be careful about the energy itself, for Irtop, the energy meant little as the man alone was far stronger than he was, he didn't need any demonstration to know this.
And furthermore, Milo had just blast a straight path directly to this room and torn off the door, so anyone could just waltz in right now, it wouldn't take long for the heralds and priestesses to get here to disintegrate and maul everyone present to death before ravaging the machine.
"Sorry about that, but I am slightly pressed for time… My kids wanted to show me something they had made before I had to come here, and I wouldn't want to make them wait"
"...How admirable, but if you truly cared about your children, you wouldn't let them experience suffering and agony as feeble livings, so why don't you go back and let us bring the truth to this forsaken realm?"
"Sir Irtop, is it really wise to provoke him right now?" Bellah and the rest of Soror stepped forward as well, all of their eyes glowing brighter than anyone else had ever seen before.
"Provoke? I am merely stating the objective truth"
"Yes, but he is a brainwashed, ignorant living that hasn't seen the truth even after meeting Father in person, there is no reasoning with one such as him, his only chance at redemption is to die and experience death for himself"
Hearing them speak , Milo felt his blood boil, it was rather difficult to imagine just what had happened to these people for them to be capable of spouting such things without even blinking, it made one wonder just what sort of horrific things were happening back in the main world.
Milo surged forward, feeling a weight pressing down on him as the defence mechanism of the hideout, which had been evenly spread out over all intruders, dropped everything else to focus only on him at Irtop's command.
Babriel stepped in front of Milo, and was immediately struck by a punch right in the chest.
The instant the strike landed, Milo knew exactly that it did not have the expected effect, as the girl seemed totally unhurt.
"Ahahah! Even your gold is meaningless, I am fucking invincible!" going from visibly worried to worryingly elated in a second, the blonde grasped the pendant around her neck, and a dagger with a strong curve manifested in her right hand.
'That thing seems like bad news' Milo stepped back, as she swung it through the air, arching his body back as an unseen force went right above him, leaving a cut right through the wall behind.
'That wall is made of the same thing as the slab and door… I don't get her power yet, but she is stronger than she looks' the wall rapidly mended itself, sign that it had been destroyed seemingly through brute force alone and without the assistance of any energy or special effect.
Though, Milo had noticed that she had not looked that confident before actually receiving the punch, so he doubled the amount of golden mana he was using and charged at her again, only for Babriel to be switch with a random foul creature, a mass of flesh and teeth slamming into Milo from the side right after.
"I'll digest you, you bastard!" and Alila made her promise true as her nightmarish form oozed digestive acids right on to him, teeth trying to sink into his flesh and tongues trying to suffocate him in the worst way possible.
Bursting with gold, the abominable girl was blasted apart, which was not enough to put her down as she reformed like normal in the distance.
'They are intent on protecting this thing, huh?'