"Is Bera okay?" Arsh asked, looking at the panther lying on the ground.
"Don't worry, he's fine. But we need to find a way out of here, as soon as possible before he lost control." Mes said.
"I don't know how we are going to get out anymore… Arsh was right. The bullets didn't even leave a scratch," Mr. Herman added. He was sitting next to Mary and trying to position himself between Bera and the girl, who couldn't take her eyes off the panther.
"I brought Apeirolimos's chest with me. I don't think we can keep running anymore. Our last chance is to trap it inside this again," Arsh said while sitting on the floor as he pulled the bronze chest toward himself.
"But we don't know sealing siunis like this. How— Arsh, what are you doing?" Mes's complaining tone suddenly turned into curiosity. Both Mr. Herman and Mes slid closer to Arsh from where they were sitting.
Arsh was carving something into the lid of the chest with the letter opener. He had found it on the consulting desk and put it in his pocket before running away.
"I mentioned before remember, Mes... I told you about an archaeologist named Will. He said these were symbols used for protection. He had seen them on a sarcophagus before. He said these protected the sarcophagus and prevented them from being damaged or opened. If we trap the monster inside it, the chest won't deteriorate, and it won't open as long as no one opens it," Arsh explained, mixing in a bit of a lie.
He had seen this protective siuni on the sarcophagus in the Bruil chamber, the one with the girl lying inside. Considering that the sarcophagus and what was inside it had remained intact for thousands of years, and that it was thought to open only with blood, he believed it might work.
Are you sure the man you call Will recorded these correctly? And how do you remember them this clearly?" Herman asked.
"The siuni I have right now also comes from his records… and I have a good memory," Arsh replied, continuing to carve.
Just like in his memory, using a bit of force, he carved three concentric circles. Then he drew lines and symbols extending inward in different patterns. After carving similar siunis onto the bottom and both sides of the chest, he stopped. The shapes of the siunis were clear in his memory, but he still wanted to be sure.
After brushing the dust off the chest, he put the letter opener back into his pocket. It was time to test the power he had only recently discovered.
'Something that I can imprison Apeirolimos in,' he focused.
His guess was correct. There was no need for another plan or risk. The golden threads extending from his hand wrapped around the bronze chest in front of him.
'This will work,' he thought, feeling slightly relieved.
"So how are we going to put that monster into this chest?" Mes asked.
"We need the creature's blood. But the problem is that the creature doesn't have blood. I noticed it when Bera tore pieces off it. When the creature smeared that strange black liquid flowing from its mouth onto the damaged areas, it healed. It must be something vital for it. I'm not sure, but it seems like we have no choice but to try," Arsh said.
Mr. Herman stood up from where he was sitting and took a deep breath.
"Then let's go. We don't have any more time to lose. Mes, stay here with the others. Arsh, show the way."
"Mr. Herman, I think it would be better if you stayed here. I think Bera and I can handle this quickly."
"But… I can't send you off alone. You're asking me to let two wounded people go alone."
"Don't worry… Bera, are you okay? Can you come with me?" Arsh spoke to the panther lying on the ground. Bera opened his eyes; he was breathing more easily now. He got up from where he lay and stretched.
"Bera wants to show that he's ready," Mes said. The black panther let out a low growl and came to Arsh's side.
"What about Walter?" asked Mr. Herman.
"He's fine for now. He's not far away. We need to find him first. While he keeps Apeirolimos distracted, it will be easier for Bera and me to get close." Arsh's voice was confident. Although he was pushed aside for being weak at first, now it was the opposite.
"This doesn't sit right with me at all," Mr. Herman kept muttering as Arsh and Bera left the exhibition hall.
…
After finding Walter, they went after Apeirolimos together. Both the prey and the hunter were searching for each other. But in this situation, Arsh was starting to feel more like the hunter himself.
As they moved forward, he explained the plan to Walter. Walter's task was to distract it, Bera's was to attack and buy time, and Arsh's was to take the liquid and close the bronze chest.
It didn't take them long to find Apeirolimos among the bookshelves. It was alert, carefully checking its surroundings. When it sensed the sounds made by those approaching, it turned in that direction, ready to lunge.
"Now," Arsh said. At that, Walter shook the rattle in his hand and ran toward a relatively more open area between the bookshelves. Without hesitation, Apeirolimos went after him.
Bera came right behind, and when Bera pushed a bookshelf over onto the creature as it passed, they gained the time they needed. The creature struggled under the fallen bookshelf, trying to get out. Bera and Walter climbed onto it and tried to keep the creature from getting up.
When Arsh leaned toward the creature through the fallen books, Bera pressed the creature's head down with his front paw. As Arsh stabbed the letter opener he pulled from his pocket into the creature's mouth, a black liquid burst out. He ran toward the bronze chest he had left on the ground. He threw the letter opener into the chest and closed the box.
But nothing happened.
"Arsh… didn't it work? We can't hold it much longer!" Walter shouted, followed by a low roar.
He was sure this should have worked. But something was missing, and he had to figure out what it was immediately.
At that moment, the bookshelf Apeirolimos was pinned under began to crack. From every place the black liquid from its mouth touched, tree branches burst out, rapidly spreading and surrounding everything. Walter and Bera jumped back from where they were and landed on the ground. The branches continued to spread quickly, swallowing the other bookshelves as well.
The creature had crawled out from beneath the bookshelf and lunged toward Walter.
"Watch out, right behind you!" Arsh shouted. Bera jumped in just in time and saved Walter from the creature's claws. But this time, when he took another blow to his back, he let out a cry of pain.
As both of them were thrown aside, Arsh was trying to find a solution.
'I wish it would guide me like before. Show me what I need to do.' he thought.
At that moment, he suddenly felt the power inside him begin to flow outward. The golden threads spreading from his hand seemed to want to take control. Arsh completely surrendered control to his siuni. The golden threads emerging from his left hand wrapped around his right hand, opened the box, and took out the letter opener. Then, with the letter opener, he cut a wide gash into his left hand. He threw the letter opener back into the box and smeared the blood flowing from his left hand onto the siuni on the chest.
The moment the blood touched the siuni, the creature let out the sharpest scream they had heard so far, and the others collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain as well. Arsh felt an intense pain in his head and ears. When he pulled his hands away from his ears, he realized that blood was coming from them. The same was true for Walter.
Everything happened too fast to fully understand what was going on. Apeirolimos was writhing on the ground, screaming, as an invisible force pulled it toward the chest. Although it tried to dig its claws into the floor, the pulling force was so strong that it continued to be dragged toward the chest, tearing up the floor along with it.
"It's working, it's working!" Walter shouted with joy.
Arsh, beginning to relax, let out a small laugh. As he watched the creature slide past him, he felt a surge of satisfaction that his theory had worked.
But making a sound before freeing himself was a mistake. Almost half of the creature's three-meter-long body had already been pulled into the chest when it dug its claws into Arsh's legs. Arsh let out a scream of pain. Now he was being dragged toward the chest along with the creature.
As he was being dragged along the ground together with the creature, he tried to grab onto anything he could find, but couldn't. He kicked at the creature with his other leg, but it also didn't work. His heart was pounding wildly. The thought of being trapped inside a chest with a man-eating creature was terrifying.
Bera rushed in and ripped the creature's arm away, releasing the grip on Arsh's leg. When its last hold was broken, just as the creature was about to let out its final scream, the chest sucked it inside before it could do so. The lid slammed shut with a heavy thud.
This was the last thing Arsh saw. After that, there was darkness.