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.

who happened to be standing closest to the door, found himself becoming

"Captain, be careful!"

barrage of arrows. As

Garrett, who was reveling in his victory, could have been fatally struck then

injuries. His expression changed as he hurried over to check

a scratch," she reassured him, forcing a

this sanguine

felt a sense of relief—it wasn't a critical injury. With

Why did the mechanism trigger unexpectedly?" Silva asked,

components, leading to a misfire

was rotating clockwise and then suddenly switched to counterclockwise.

stopped rotating. Can it still be opened?" Grace asked. Her heart raced

with confidence, he

just an accident. I believe the captain can still open this bronze door," Silva

a moment to collect himself. He cautiously approached the bronze door and studied

previous procedure, pressing the ruby eye and turning left three times, then right three

process multiple times, knocking and testing, but to no

Grace and admitted, "It appears that the mechanism inside this bronze

Grace furrowed her brow. "So, you're saying this door won't

"You're right." Garrett nodded.

added, "This 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

any other way?" Grace's