Inside the pyramid, the walls are illuminated by neon light strips that cast an eerie glow, highlighting the passage ahead. The path is too tight to accommodate the full force of five hundred souls at once, so they reorganize, forming lines of three. Lust takes the lead, with Wei and his two puppeteers close behind. While Lust normally prefers to hover, she walks on the ground for this task, the female side’s feet stepping carefully while the male side’s feet remain crossed and suspended in the air behind her. With each step, she ensures there are no traps ahead.

  Further back, Wyn, Yu, and James march cautiously, positioned one line ahead of Mira, Lisa, and Jesús. At the rear, Steve and David hold the final line, watching for any threats that might approach from behind.

  “There’s nothing yet?” Yu groans.

  “Even the walls are empty. Nothing but bricks,” Wyn responds.

  Suddenly, the neon light strips begin to flicker and go out, starting from the back and rapidly advancing toward the army. Darkness engulfs the passage, but even without the fire users providing light, a bright exit becomes visible ahead. Despite the clear path, Lust remains cautious, leading the army forward at a deliberate pace toward the exit.

  Beyond the exit lies a vast, hollow chamber. Sliding brick doors line the walls, stacked in levels with narrow walkways running along the edges of each floor. The chamber’s center is open, revealing a breathtaking contrast below – a lush, vibrant garden thriving in the depths. Cows roam lazily around, grazing on the thick grass that carpets the floor. At the heart of the garden stands an imposing statue of Ra, majestic and dominant, surrounded in perfect symmetry by six statues of the other gods: Amun, Horus, Sekhmet, Osiris, Anubis, and Sobek. Together, they form an unbroken circle.

  “Cows?” Wyn wonders.

  “Look! Above!” someone shouts, pointing to the ceiling that seems to seal off a portion of the pyramid.

  From where they stand, there is no other level below but the garden. After realizing that there are no stairs to go up, they spot two sets of stairs, situated on opposite sides of the pyramid, leading the army down into the garden. Slowly, they begin to descend.

  “These are the statues of the gods here, right?” Wyn asks.

  “Seems like it. I thought there were more. Maybe I’m confused with another lore,” David replies.

  “Or maybe they were taken out during Hell’s previous invasion,” Steve chimes in. “Whatever we do, don’t touch anything,” he continues.

  The army wanders aimlessly around the garden, looking for any clues that would lead them to Ra.

  “Aw, come here, you moo face,” a soul calls to a cow that seems to be ignoring her.

  Unable to resist its moo, she walks over and pats the cow on the head. Instantly, she vanishes along with the cow. A concerned scream from her nearby comrade alerts Lust and the leaders.

  “These cows are faintly glowing white. That’s why we thought they were normal cows before. So subtle,” Steve comments.

  “There’s no way we can arl touch the same cow. We rikery have to sprit up and find where they take us,” Wei suggests.

  “The leaders need to stay together. We don’t want to lose the ability to summon another moderator if we need to,” a soul warns.

  The leaders discuss in detail how to split the army. David, adamant on staying with his team and Wyn’s, forces Steve and Wei to agree to let David form his own group. As for themselves, they form a group of three with Lust, leaving the rest for the puppeteers to decide. Not wanting to waste any more time, Lust’s group touches a cow and vanishes together. David, giving instructions to his group, along with the remaining thirty or so members from Skill Tree and Neutrals combined, follows suit and disappears in the blink of an eye.

  The group finds itself on a path, facing an endless pit. At the far end, a glowing cow stands calmly, casually munching on the small square of grass beneath it. Floating above the pit are square brick platforms, forming a precarious path that will take the group to the cow.

  “This is like the mysterious doors, right, Oppa?” Mira remarks.

  “If that’s the case, then we can ‘cheat’ our way out!” Yu says, excitement bubbling in his voice.

  “Hmmm…” Wyn seems hesitant, then turns to Charlotte. “Can you slowly gust me across the pit?” he asks.

  Charlotte grumbles but complies, carefully guiding Wyn across the dark pit. He passes over the first platform without issue, but the moment he moves beneath the second, the path blares with a sudden flash of red. A powerful gust surges upward, yanking him toward the depths below. Despite Charlotte’s swift attempt to bring him back, the powerful wind sucks him down into the abyss.

  “Oppa!” Mira exclaims in alarm.

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  But before long, Wyn returns, using his cyclone to propel himself back toward the group. He lands shakily, hyperventilating as his team rushes to him, their worry evident in their embrace.

  “Did you see anything down there?” Charlotte asks.

  “Sorry, I panicked. Was focusing on getting back up here,” Wyn answers, still catching his breath.

  “What a fucking loser,” Charlotte mutters.

  “Come on, girl. Give him a break. Why don’t you go look for yourself if you’re so curious?” Mira retorts, her tone sharp, prompting David to step in and defuse the tension between the two.

  “Guess we have no choice but to use these platforms,” David says.

  David’s plan is simple: with four wind users in their group, they divide into four teams, each guided by one wind user to assist as they leap from platform to platform. The first group consists of Wyn’s team, Charlotte, and four other souls. Supported by a gust, they leap from the ledge and land safely on the first platform, which is spacious enough to accommodate more people. The second platform, however, hovers much higher.

  Refusing Charlotte’s aid, Wyn jumps onto his mini cyclones, but mistimes the final leap, forcing him to grab onto the platform’s edge and haul himself up with effort.

  “Was I this out of shape in my twenties?” Wyn pants.

  Charlotte looks annoyed, then huffs before forcefully gusting the rest of the group up. Once Wyn’s team is on the second platform, another team makes their way onto the first one. As always, Wyn volunteers to go first, wanting to check for traps before anyone else. He leaps to the third platform, which hovers at the same level as the previous one. Just as he lands, a section of the wall shoots bricks toward him, knocking him off the platform.

  Charlotte catches him midair, but instead of bringing him back to the group, Wyn asks her to hover him above the third platform. He takes a moment to carefully inspect the platform, noticing a series of three circles aligned from left to right.

  “Now, Charlotte, move me slightly to the right and let me down,” Wyn instructs.

  “Wait? What are you doing, Oppa?” Mira asks, clearly confused.

  Wyn lands gracefully on the platform, and as he expected, he’s safe from the shooting wall.

  “This is gonna take forever,” Yu complains. “Why can’t we just all fly to the ceiling?”

  “You saw what happened to Mister Wyn already, Mister Yu!” Lisa responds.

  “When Charlotte lifted him back up, I didn’t see any red,” Yu remarks.

  “Hmmm? He’s right,” Wyn ponders. “Maybe as long as we’re not directly under a platform…and to avoid that, we can reach the top and make our way from there!”

  Quickly, Wyn leaps back and grabs Yu, then propels both of them upward. As they ascend, their climb gradually slows – Wyn prioritizing safety over speed. The higher they go, the dimmer the surroundings become, until they are engulfed in complete darkness.

  “Ouch! Did I just hit the ceiling?” Wyn wonders aloud.

  “I’m ready when you are, buddy!” Yu calls out.

  Wyn propels them horizontally, slowing their movement as they go further. Suddenly, they collide with something, causing them to quickly change course and descend. Sure enough, as they descend, the glowing cow comes into view.

  “Motherfuckers were right!” James exclaims.

  Just like that, the rest of the team follows suit, clearing the path in the same manner. As they all reach the large platform where the glowing cow stands, they gather together. On the count of three, everyone touches the cow at once.

  The cow begins to glow brighter, the light intensifying by the second until it becomes almost painfully bright. In a flash, the group finds themselves back in the same garden they had left moments ago.

  “Hey! Some of those doors above are open!” Eugene points out, drawing the group’s attention to the upper levels. Several doors are now open, with lines of golden light streaming through the gaps.

  “Am I seeing fewer cows?” Violet wonders, her finger counting the cattle.

  That’s when David steps forward with a theory. “I think we need to clear all rooms to get out of the pyramid.”

  Wasting no time, the group touches another cow. In an instant, they find themselves at the center of eight slides. The atmosphere is tense, and high above them, a cow is locked inside a cage, still nonchalantly munching on a patch of grass. Charlotte and Violet, now more focused than ever on making it out alive with their friends, carefully investigate the cage, examining it from all angles. After a moment, they return with their findings.

  “We couldn’t find any way to open it,” Charlotte says.

  “There’s no latch, no mechanism on the outside. We can’t even reach the cow,” Violet adds.

  “What about the metal-colored button under the cage?” Wyn points, his finger directed at a small, gleaming object hidden beneath the structure.

  “What button?” James asks, squinting as he looks around.

  The button blends in well with the cage. Wyn asks Lisa to take aim and shoot a laser beam at it. As the beam strikes the button, they hear a series of deep rumbles reverberating through the chamber. Their eyes widen in surprise as bricks shift at the top of each slide, and then, with a thunderous crash, boulders begin to roll down the slides. Though not heavy, they’re bouncy. The group works together to halt their movement. But, upon contact with elemental powers, the boulders split into smaller ones.

  Making the situation worse, the floor shakes and begins to rotate, speeding up with every rotation that passes. James is swerved away from his team, and a medium-sized boulder hits him, sending him flying so far that he disappears into the darkness. Wyn quickly gathers his team and goes after James.

  “Keep going, David. Whatever happens to us, you don’t stop, okay?” Wyn says.

  With the rest hanging onto him tightly, Wyn propels himself in James’ direction. When it becomes pitch black, he suddenly feels a strong force sucking him down. This time, he lets it drag him and his team down, focused on finding James.

  “Ooof! That hurt!” Yu exclaims.

  “James!” Mira cries out.

  The team happily reunites, but their moment of relief is quickly interrupted when a puppy with a mummified body aggressively barks at them. Slowly, the environment begins to reveal itself from the darkness, as if fading into view. The five find themselves in a peculiar place, but even more peculiar is the human-shaped black dog sitting on a throne.

  “More for me and my family to feed?” the dog speaks.

  “Son of a bitch! It’s Anubis!” James exclaims.