Strings Of Domination

TREMBLE!!!

The whole world seemed to undergo a massive change once the whole bottle of blood was poured into the valley below and the entire mountain began to shake almost as if a powerful tremor appeared in the hope to make the Crimson Mountain collapse!

"Woah!" Amy, Nash, and Miles staggered several steps left and right, the latter even almost falling down the cliff down into tha abyss if it were not for the former catching him just in time.

"T-Thank you..." Miles thanked Amy quietly for helping him, his face gradually turning red from embarrassment below his mask.

The quake continued for several seconds and while the three tried their best to balance themselves without falling, a great sight gradually emerged before them. At the very bottom of the valley where only darkness could be seen, slowly the blackness began to twist and swirl forming a jet vortex with white light slowly rising toward the sky from its center in the shape of a thin pillar!

And at the very bottom of this white pillar, a small horizontal golden gate was visible seemingly crafted out extremely rare ores and steels as no matter how much Nash looked at it he failed to identify their name and origin.

Whoosh!

As Nash watched the door with several thoughts in mind, suddenly the white pillar began to fade while the vortex began to shrink in size, slowly but surely making the gate vanish from sight.

"It is closing! The vortex will close soon!" Amy seemed to realize what was happening and shouted in amidst the loud rumbling that still took place around them.

And that was everything Nash needed to hear. Snapping out of his daze he quickly grabbed both Amy and Miles by their waist and leaped off the cliff.

Miles seemed to be anxious upon feeling the planet's gravity appearing on his body, pulling him down toward the seemingly bottomless abyss below, and closed his eyes while Amy just bit her lips to avoid screaming up.

Though, their worry only lasted for a few seconds as not long after they have jumped down from the cliff a pair of black wings emerged behind Nash's back, allowing them to soar through the air and toward the gate down with seemingly no problem!

"Huh? It is not open?" once reaching the bottom of the pillar with a few powerful flaps, Nash landed on the edge of the gate and looked at it with confusion.

The gate was square-shaped with a thick golden frame and a panel that seemed to be crafted out from emerald, one that was half-transparent with an infinite number of white and black strings swirling inside it.

"The vortex is closing Nash!" while Nash was inspecting the door, Amy looked at the closing abyss around them with a complexion below her white mask that showed deep worry.

It seemed that in a matter of 10 seconds or even less the vortex will completely close with their fate possibly being death!

"Let me try something." Miles suddenly opened his book and quickly drew several hundred golden symbols in the air.

"Mystic Restriction of Domain... Barrier!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Quickly, the symbols flew around the three and planted themselves at the edges of the gate before they lit up with golden light and formed a bubble around them and the entirety of the gate, temporarily stopping the vortex from creeping any closer!

"Just... Hurry up and open it." Miles hissed through his clenched teeth as he struggled to keep his Domination Art in work.

Although his ability was versatile and was strong in many fields thanks to the infinite possibilities Miles could use it in, it was still just a Transcended Class Domination Art and was not strong enough yet to fight against supernatural events such as this.

"My essence is being depleted rapidly, I can only keep us safe for at least another 15 seconds!" Miles groaned as his body trembled visibly. Even a fool would understand that what he was saying was the truth and they indeed did not have any time left.

Nash's face turned solemn as he heard this. He knew that they must find a way to open the gate but no matter where he looked at he didn't see a single handle or keyhole which could help them even a bit to open this ancient gate.

Furthermore, 15 seconds made everything even worst, and if he had to be honest he needed more time than that.

'What should I do?' Nash's brain began to work on all cylinders as he began to think, 'No handles, no holes or gaps, no carvings nor symbols. Despite having the appearance like a gate, this is more than a block of a wall than a gate!'

Nash frowned when he realized there was indeed nothing that could indicate how he should open tha gate but suddenly like struck by a realization his eyes lit up.

"That should work?" Nash mumbled but quickly shook his head and placed both his palms onto the gate's surface, "I have no other choice. Let's try it."

Instantly, Nash closed his eyes, and concentrating on the Ancient Veins in the tip of his fingertips he quickly controlled his essence to flow out and inside the gate.

At first, just like how during his first attempt with the bottle of blood nothing happened. However, after 3 full seconds and intense concentration, the gate's frame seemed to light up with a gentle golden light and a thin line of slit began to appear in the middle vertically!

"It is opening! Just keep it going!" Amy became excited when she saw how the two sides of the gate were separating, revealing a white ray through the evergrowing split!

Nash too noticed that his attempt was working and pushed his essence even more, forcing greater amounts to flow out of his body right into the gate. And it seemed it worked as the gate began to open even more, allowing more light to escape from the other side which was almost blinding!

"I... can't hold on any longer!" just as Nash was about to open the gate fully suddenly Miles fell on his knees, his chest heaving up and down in a rapid manner.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

And the very moment Miles fell, the barrier around them began to form long and deep cracks which spread on the barrier's surface like spiderwebs before they covered the entire barrier, breaking it into thousands of pieces like glass!

BAM!

Amy and Miles watched with horror as the previously slow vortex now fastened by at least three folds, ready to close on them in a matter of two or three seconds!

'Jump.' as Nash was ready to use his Sky Wings to escape with Amy and Miles, suddenly the same voice he was extremely familiar with appeared in his mind while the gate in front of him began to shake gently.

Although it was a small tremor among the great one that shook the entirety of the massive Crimson Mountain, for him whose hands were firmly pressed against the gate's surface was something which couldn't be gone unnoticed.

Therefore, without any hint of doubt in his heart, Nash quickly grabbed Miles and Amy by their wrist and leaped toward the small slit which was present on the gate but was seemingly too small to fit even a single person much less three!

"Did you go fucking insane!? We will die!" Amy who usually was collected and indifferent this time screamed up with fear, feeling as if Nash lost all screws in his head and now wished to commit suicide.

Even Miles who felt and seemed to be exhausted from defending them against the vortex looked agitated and despite having no more strength left in his body he still wished to struggle and stop Nash from doing something so stupid!

However, he soon had to realize that Nash's physical strength was on a whole other level as no matter how hard he pulled, Nash's grip on his wrist was like a tiger's jaw, not letting go until he wished to!

Despite being at the same Rank as him, Miles had to admit that he could struggle as much as he wants but from the firm grip of his friend, there was no way out at all!

Like it or not, just like Amy on the other side of Nash, he too was being pulled with him and he could do nothing about it.

"Fuck!" for the first time after a long while, Miles cursed out loud and closed his eyes, not having the courage to see his approaching death.

Though even though he waited for the sharp pain to pierce his body, not even after several seconds later did he feel if his waist was split or his head severed hence he slowly opened his eyes.

"Huh?" however, once his eyes opened slightly, his eyes quickly widened upon seeing the sight in front of him, something he has never dreamed about in his wildest dream much less seen one before!