An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

The symbols on the bronze door abruptly stopped rotating, as if caught in a jam. It swayed back and forth with an unsettling creaking sound.

"Huh? What's happening? Why did it stop moving?"

Everyone exchanged puzzled glances.

"Captain Wilder, what's going on?" Grace furrowed her brow in unease.

"Ms. Linsor, calm down. After all, it's been over a thousand years, and it's normal for the mechanisms to show some signs of aging. Just give it a moment, and it'll be fine," Garrett said with a faint smile.

He had encountered similar situations before. In the past, he had dealt with traps that, even when triggered, remained inactive due to years of neglect.

As he examined the bronze door's material, he felt assured that its internal mechanisms were likely undamaged, albeit possibly less responsive.

Given the earlier smashing and explosions, he reasoned that there must have been some impact. Then, the symbols and characters, which were initially rotating clockwise, suddenly began to turn counterclockwise.

"Ah! It's rotating again!" Silva exclaimed in relief. Just a moment ago, she had feared something went wrong, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

"Ms. Linsor, you see? Everything will be okay soon—" Garrett began to smile, but his words were abruptly cut off.

In an instant, symbols on the bronze door sank, revealing rows of thumb-sized dark openings.

Simultaneously, countless golden steel arrows shot out from these openings. The flurry of arrows, swift and unexpected, took everyone by surprise.

to be standing closest to the door, found himself

"Captain, be careful!"

aside and shielding him from the barrage of arrows. As a result, she took

reveling in his victory, could

injuries. His expression changed as he hurried over to

scratch," she reassured him,

this sanguine tablet quickly!"

retrieved a red tablet from his pocket and handed it to Silva. As he swiftly wrapped a bandage around her, he felt a sense of relief—it wasn't a critical injury. With the sanguine tablet, he

moment ago. Why did the

was a malfunction in some internal components, leading

suddenly switched

Can it still be opened?" Grace asked. Her heart raced from the

unexpected question. Once brimming with confidence, he now found himself in an

earlier was just an accident. I believe the captain can

taking a moment to collect himself.

previous procedure, pressing the ruby eye and turning left three times, then right three times. Despite his efforts, this time, the

knocking and testing, but

appears that

her brow. "So, you're saying

"You're right." Garrett nodded.

door has been around for ages, and now the mechanism is unresponsive. The recent explosion might have caused internal damage. At this point, I'm powerless to do anything

other way?" Grace's brow