Another boom thundered in the distance, stronger than the last. Cracks slithered through solid walls and debris rained from the ceiling. One massive boulder plummeted down from directly overhead, several meters wide and poised to crush them. Liliya reacted immediately. Her sword blurred in a silver flash and a moment later, the boulder fell apart into a dozen pieces, clattering to the ground around them harmlessly. Andevar barely even noticed. An icy claw of fear had enclosed his pounding heart. What was happening outside? For them to have heard the explosion so loudly this deep inside the mountain… Just how powerful of an attack must’ve caused it? Liliya’s normally light bluish-violet eyes looked almost black in the darkness of the cavern. “We must have just missed the monsters. But how did they get past us–? Right, the centipedes. They must’ve burrowed other paths to the city.”“We need to get back,” Andevar said urgently. He turned around – only to curse. Up ahead, a pile of rocks was blocking the tunnel they’d entered from. What horrid, abysmal luck. He whirled back around and scanned the cavern, trying to locate the tunnels the monsters had taken. Nothing. Only several mounds of freshly overturned earth. The centipedes must’ve sealed it after themselves, albeit likely unintentionally. “Liliya,” Levi said, his voice low. This entire time, he’d oddly been examining the walls around them. Liliya turned to him. Levi gestured at the northern face of the cavern. “It’s nearly undetectable, but there are runic scripts there.”Liliya drew in a sharp breath. “Just like during our Ascension Trials.”Levi nodded grimly. “