Apotheosis

The eyes of the outermost statue glowed a bright white, emitting brilliant rays of flashing light.

The rays pierced through someone's Soul of Light.

The person let out a shrill scream. It was a woman's voice.

Her Soul of Light twisted and thrashed, trying to break free from the rays of white light that had impaled her. Her efforts were in vain. The light held her in place, glowing brightly, as her screams began to dwindle.

Finally, silence fell. The woman had melted in the light.

Two more rays of radiant white light shot through the air, emitted by the glowing eyes of the second statue.

The group knew something was wrong. They immediately rushed away from the second statue. No one was pierced by the rays, as they narrowly escaped the melted woman's fate.

But it wasn't over. The eyes of every other statue began glowing and pulsing, all emitting rays of white light.

The rays crisscrossed each other, forming an irregular web of luminous white light. The net was tight at first, and then expanded, filling the temple.

The temple was full of statues. As more and more of the statues were activated, shooting out streaks of light from their eyes, the group inside the temple realized they were running out of space to dodge the deadly rays.

As Dorothy and Zen moved quickly through the temple, trying to find a way to escape, they saw a group of maybe around seven people rushing in their direction. They were getting crowded, running out of room to evade the rays of light. Their hearts sank.

"We have to go up!"

Zen saw a stairwell ahead, and rushed into it without hesitation, dragging Dorothy behind him.

Meanwhile, Hammer, Harding, Hackett and the other warriors were still struggling for the Heavenly Cobweb. But as they watched the glowing white web, which grew as more statues emitted rays of light from their eyes, their expressions changed.

The web of light meant that this was now a matter of life-and-death. Their lives were more important than the Other Shore Token—it would have to wait.

They immediately gave up the battle and followed Zen and Dorothy up the stairwell to the next floor.

The temple was more than ten floors high, each level connected to the next via a spiral staircase. As Zen and Dorothy rushed up the steps, they heard another scream from behind.

Three of the people in the last group that entered the temple had been pierced by the rays of light, and found themselves trapped in the web.

Someone stretched out a hand to a companion who had been caught in the web, trying to pull him free. But as soon as they touched, he found that he could no longer let go. He was tied to his companion's Soul of Light, both of them trapped by the rays of light.

More screams sounded as the four people died.

Zen

anged to surprise when someone spoke up beside the two of them. "Harding, Hackett! Where are you? Are you all right?"

It was Hammer's voice.

He and some other people had seen the hollows in the wall when Dorothy pointed at them, and had rushed to take cover as well.

They had seized at the possibility of survival. Like Zen and Dorothy, they were crouched down in their hollows, safe from the light for the moment.

"I'm here! Yes, I'm fine," Harding whispered back. "But Hackett... Hackett didn't make it."

When Harding and Hackett had rushed towards the hollows, Hackett had moved just a bit slower, and had been shot through by a ray of light.

Upon hearing the news, Hammer groaned bitterly.

The three of them had been filled with such hope and anticipation when they first stepped together onto the Other Shore. Yet now, mere hours later, Hackett was dead.

Dorothy and Zen felt Hammer's sadness and shook their heads.

Loss of life was not unexpected on the Other Shore. While the warriors who made it here were often extremely strong, and eager to gain even greater power in this place, it came with enormous risks.

Indeed, in the Source World, many people would arrange their funeral affairs before they started to cultivate, wary of dying on the Other Shore and leaving a soulless body.

Zen and Dorothy could hear Hammer making sounds of grief near them. They wondered how many of them had reached the hollows in the wall and survived the white light.

As they waited, they heard something new. It was a clicking sound, like something tapping or climbing on the wall.

Zen strained to make out what was causing the sound. Then, to his shock, he heard a shout from the hollow beside theirs.

"What is this? Stop! Don't move any closer! Ahhhh!"

There was a shrill screech. Then, suddenly and ominously, the sound stopped.