The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 77: Left or Right?

While he could manage it for now, who knows how it would affect his performance down the line? If the weight were to continue to increase, his speed would be affected, which would make escaping from any trouble exceedingly difficult.

This new development made him pensive. He contemplated turning back and leaving the maze, but ultimately decided against it.

With a resolute expression on his face, he marched forward, determined to make the best use of whatever opportunity he could find here.

The sound of his footsteps was the only noise present in the labyrinth, further adding to the eerie atmosphere. With firm and heavy steps, he made his way towards the first obstacle on his path.

It was time to decide. Left or right?

******

Meanwhile, in another part of the maze, Julian and his group could be seen making their way through the maze.

Each of them had their weapons drawn, ready to combat anything that might pop up along the way. So far, they hadn’t encountered anything suspicious along the way.

Only the eerie silence seemed to become heavier with every step they took. In the front stood the man who had lost an arm. Julian, ever ruthless, had forced him to take the lead and scout ahead.

After losing an arm, his combat strength had halved, which made him almost useless to Julian. Among his forces, he was currently the least useful. Julian, trying to make the most use of him, decided to make him the first one to turn every passage, in case there was danger ahead.

The man, still pale-faced from all the blood loss, couldn’t do anything but comply with Julian’s orders. With careful steps, he kept his eyes peeled as he first turned right, stepping into a new corridor.

Seeing nothing amiss, he let out a small sigh of relief. He took a few steps inside, his eyes darting around, trying to find anything unusual. Again, nothing happened.

However, just as he was about to signal that all was well, a low rumble could be heard. From the walls, countless slots opened, revealing multiple crossbows protruding from the walls on both sides. Without warning, multiple arrows were fired, all of them aiming for him.

Seeing this, the man’s eyes bulged out before he rapidly retreated, almost crashing into another member of their group who had reached the end of the corridor.

Everyone’s eyes focused on him, waiting for him to report what had him so flustered. Taking a moment to catch his breath, his shaky voice let out only one word.

"Arrows!" He said after regaining his calm. Taking some time to accumulate his thoughts, he slowly reported what he saw in the next corridor.

"There are a bunch of crossbows on the walls. The entire corridor is filled with them.

I was lucky that I hadn’t gone too deep inside, if not...?" His body shuddered as his mind didn’t allow him to complete that sentence.

Julian frowned; this new development clearly displeased him. However, he wasn’t too surprised. He wasn’t naive enough to believe that the journey would be smooth sailing.

After a moment’s hesitation, he brought out a large shield from his storage ring. The others, seeing his moves, followed his example.

"How powerful are those arrows?" Julian finally asked.

The one-armed man hesitated for a moment before he responded.

"I’m not sure, but from what I saw, each one of them at least has the power of someone in the Golden Core formation realm. Though I’m unclear about the level."

This declaration made everyone’s eyebrows furrow. Clearly, the arrows weren’t something that could be shrugged off. Even attacks at the first level of the Golden Core Formation realm would become deadly with that amount.

They made their way to the entrance of the corridor, preparing to make a mad dash through.

As soon as they saw the crossbows, another member of the group, wanting to raise morale and possibly earn Julian’s favor, spoke up.

"These crossbows don’t seem that powerful, are you sure that...."

A sudden twang interrupted him, and a bolt shot out from the left side, slicing through the air where his head had been a moment ago. He had barely managed to dodge, his heart pounding.

Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as the feeling of death still lingered in his mind.

Now seeing the power of the arrows firsthand, the group started to doubt whether their shields would be able to protect them.

Aside from Julian, who was holding a shield that was at the Gold rank, the others only had Silver rank shields.

Clearly, they wouldn’t last against the onslaught of the arrows. While they were contemplating their next moves.

A glint flashed through Julian’s eyes. While others were focused on the arrows, he had been staring at something else, the crossbows themselves.

He had noticed a crystal attached to the base of the crossbow.

"A formation stone." He muttered to himself.

Even though his voice was low, his companions around him could hear him loud and clear. They followed his gaze and also noticed the formation stones embedded in each of the crossbows.

Julian’s sharp mind whirled with various thoughts, trying to make use of this newfound information.

"Senior brother, I have a bit of knowledge about formations. Could I offer my opinion?"

Another member suddenly spoke up, bringing Julian out of his thoughts. He glanced towards the speaker, making him glance downwards, afraid to meet his gaze.

"Speak." He spoke in a cool and measured tone. At this point, they could use all the help they could get.

The young man who has just spoken let out a small sigh of relief before collecting his thoughts and speaking carefully.

"I learnt from a wandering rune master once. He told me that a formation that is controlling multiple devices like this one can’t be far away from them.

And usually the core is placed in the center of whatever it is controlling."

"So what you’re trying to say is that the core of the formation controlling these crossbows is in the center of the corridor?"