Aged stairs led down to the passageway, and Mike walked down slowly with caution. There was no telling of what creatures that lurked down there.
The passageway oozed a chill of wrongness, the air was still, and Mike's hairs stood on all ends. His intuition told him that this was not a good idea, but he deduced that it was his claustrophobia creeping in. Waiting and trying to escape was certain to be death with those numbers of beasts, and he deduced that this unknown path was his only way, regardless of how creepy it might seem.
The narrow passage went on for over four hundred meters, and nothing peculiar could be seen. It was pitch black, and Mike was thankful that he had the enhanced sensory abilities bestowed to him by the radiance, otherwise, he'll be practically blind in there.
Then the path splitted into three different paths, one that led forward, one to the right, and another to the left.
"Hmmm…"
He had no strong feelings about any of the paths, and decidedly to merely go forward.
Eventually, a warm, fiery light shimmered at the end of the path. He quickened his pace, careful not to lose his footing. The trail narrowed, then ended abruptly at a towering wall. It turned him sharply to the right.
This path was larger, about three times his width, and unlike that he just left. It was adorned with drawings on its walls.
Mike stopped at the drawing nearest to him and squinted at it. It was a miniscule drawing of two creatures with four legs appearing to be copulating or merging. It was simplistic, the artists clearly focused on what the drawings told rather than the quality of the carving.
Again, of the same two creatures, this time, they were winged and it looked like they were reaching for the sky. It was all eye-catching, but Mike did not hope to spend more time than he absolutely needed down there.
Further down the path stood a statue by the wall, and elevated on a dais. From where Mike stood, he could tell that its eyes were fixed in his direction. It was eccentric, just as much as the one above, except it was much smaller—about the size of Mike.
It too had powerful four arms, with a large mouth, and jutting fangs, and on each hand was a weapon equipped: Two short swords on its lower arms, and two long spears on its upper arms.
"A little overkill for a mere statue." Mike said as he approached it. He was merely a couple of inches away, having ignored it that it swung its spear, aiming at Mike's torso.
The strike struck Mike's hands as he sought to stop it, and instead, he got flung backwards, striking the wall, getting bounced back to hit the other and then falling terribly on his back.
Pain coursed through his body, and his hands felt numb. He swiftly scuttled upwards knowing that a second he took being unresponsive increased his chance of getting killed there.
'Maybe I should run back up. They could be gone.'
"Oh fuck it." The living statue jumped, holding forward a spear. It was almost like it was flying as it maintained the same height upon striking Mike.
Mike responded with wind attacks of his own, sending a sharp blade of wind targeted at the spear. The attack impeded its movement, and he followed up with a wind slash from the heels of his hands.
The slashes criss crossed on the statue's chest, and sent it falling down—like the strings holding it upwards were suddenly forcefully cut.
However, it rose up unfazed. Mike wondered just how a thing of such composition could move so quickly and flexibly.
Fortunately, he had siphoned much more radiance than he could make use of, and could continue his onslaught of wind attacks. He thrusted his hands repeatedly and strongly, sending powerful torrents of wind. Such blows were certain to blast tree branches to smithereens.
Mike struck the moving statue repeatedly, causing it to stagger back and eventually topple over. Mike then made a run for it, propelling himself with blasts of wind by his palms.
He had flown over the guardian when he felt a cold hand on his ankle, and he was frozen on the spot, unmoving. He turned to see the statue gripping him. Its blank face had somehow contorted into a frown. Mike could tell that the cracks he had made had it pissed off.
It raised a spear, and thrusted it when a loud clang resounded and the spear bounced back.
"Hmmm!" Again, the chains had come to his rescue. Just two jutted out from him, by his flanks, almost like an extra pair of limbs.
The tide of the battle had just tipped in his favor. The chains sprang forward and dug into its abdomen, breaking through it. They drifted and sank on its upper back, creating holes through it, and again through its legs, causing it to go on its knees and then they broke through its eyes and the mutilated fell on the ground motionless as it originally was. Suddenly it shattered, and Mike saw a ghostly white blob slowly drift from its center. It was not radiance, the statue didn't have a lick of the energy in it.
He backstepped, and his chains withdrew themselves. The blob remained frozen above the crumbled remains of the statue until it gradually fazed out.
"I was afraid I was going to get possessed for a second." He said with a chuckle. His body had flared with an aura of blue radiant energy over the intensity of the battle. He only noticed once the immediate danger was away, and he checked out himself.
"Not bad, not bad at all. I think I am going to enjoy having this much power at my disposal."
He turned to the crumbled rocks, releasing a sigh.
The lack of immediate danger made him also strongly aware that he was utterly naked.
"I hope I can find some antique clothes around here." He said.