In the distance, the opening of the gates of the shrine seemingly served as an invitation for the attackers to step inside.

Darkness swirled behind the entrance, though the specks of grey hinted at danger. After fighting back against so many grey ghosts, no one associated this shade with anything good!

For a moment, the officers of the defecting pirates conferred amongst themselves. Their original plan wasn't to enter the shrine at all. Instead, a number of them already brought some small cargo platforms that carried a large payload of explosives.

Ketis widened her eyes behind her helmet as she spotted some distinctive warning signs to some of the big bombs.

"Are those nuclear mines?! Are you crazy?!"

Lieutenant Qwasma Ineron grinned behind her transparent faceplate. "Yes. While we truly have no idea what is taking place inside, nothing can survive the detonation of an enriched nuclear explosion at close range. There is no need for us to follow the arrangements of our enemy."

She was right. Why enter the homeground of an enemy powerful enough to strand and grind down thousands of mechs in space? They should just bombard the shrine from a safe distance and be done with it instead of foolishly accepting the Hallowed Abyss Temple's unkind invitation!

However, just as the demolitionists and combat engineers brought their explosive payloads forward under heavy escort, the occupants of the shrine seemingly lost patience.

"Watch out! Something is coming out of the gates!"

"Damnit, forget about the bombs, just shoot the shrine!"

Everyone who held a rifle immediately followed orders and shot at the ornate building that looked completely incongruous with the industrial setting of the nutrient processing plant.

Some fired their weapons at the walls of the shrine. Others shot straight into the gates.

A variety of pistols, rifles and even heavier weapons fired straight at the shrine! No matter how sturdy its construction, the sheer weight of firepower the Xona Stalker soldiers brought to bear should have been enough to chip away at the surface of their target!

Yet frighteningly enough, none of their weapons managed to chip at the walls of the shrine! Made of unknown obsidian material, the structure of the shrine incurred no visible damage!

As for the shots that went straight through the gates, the abyss swallowed them all up without providing any feedback on whether the attacks accomplished anything.

The Xona Stalkers became dismayed as they failed to achieve the results they wanted. In the meantime, strange flows of grey and darkness began to seep from the gates and spread throughout the area. The pressure exerted onto everyone's minds increased.

"Ahh! Shoot the deck instead! No matter how strong the shrine is made of, the deck is made out of ordinary alloy!"

The defectors did so, only to discover that some kind of dark shield negated all of their attacks!

No matter how much they fired their weapons, the surprisingly fragile-looking layer of darkness absorbed everything as if it was shunting the incoming fire to another dimension!

While such a means of defense was by no means unknown to human civilization, it was an unattainable product of high technology! Something as fancy like this shouldn't be present in the Nyxian Gap.

What was worse was that this powerful shielding effect didn't appear to be driven by technology. Instead, the same sorcery that called down an anomaly over Ulimo Citadel seemed to manipulate it in a way that allowed the shrine to remain completely undamaged!

"Throw in the bombs and detonate as quickly as possible!"

"It's too late!"

Before the attackers could enact any other plan, the boiling darkness began to produce a large number of shadowy spikes. Within seconds, these spikes rapidly pierced everyone's chests, causing them to completely freeze and lose most of their motion!

Even Ketis and Lucky became impaled!

Aside from instinctual body movements such as breathing, none of them were able to move their limbs.

The fear in everyone's minds multiplied as they were rendered completely helpless against anyone who wanted to finish them off. No matter how much the frozen attackers tried to resist this highly-unusual restraint effect, the dark tentacles kept them imprisoned in a way that robbed the captives of all autonomy!

Enough time passed for everyone to realize their new predicament before a gravitic force acted on all of their bodies and brought them straight through the gates of the shrine.

Everyone's panic intensified as the darkness swallowed them all up. Even Ketis and Lucky were unceremoniously dragged inside.

It didn't matter if most of them still carried their weapons and other equipment. Without the ability to move, they could do nothing to resist what was happening!

The interior of the main hall of the shrine was hollow, but the entry of more than a hundred Xona Stalkers and other people made it a bit more crowded.

The unknown gravitic force deposited the frozen attackers onto a stone-tiled floor without regard for their posture of facing. Plenty of frozen bodies collapsed onto the ground or piled on top of each other as if they were just planks.

Ketis fortunately happened to drop with enough of a view to see the center of the hall.

A large ritual circle had been painted onto the floor with what looked to be blooded. Strange, alien runes whose meaning completely escaped her were painted next to the lines.

Nothing about this seemed to be based on technology! The horrifying sight looked as if it came straight out of a fantasy drama!

Ketis managed to exert just enough control over her vision to observe other elements.

Robed bodies rested on the stone floor. She spotted the tell-tale signs of cut throats. Having cut a fair amount of throats herself, she expertly noticed that whoever had slashed the neck of these cultists did so from behind and likely with a knife.

The unfortunate cultists hadn't died too long ago as blood still poured from their wounds. The red liquid seemed to gain a life of their own and did not spill randomly over the floor. Instead, they actively sought to fuse with the ritual circle, strengthening it and causing it to glow redder!

Only two figures remained alive and fully in control.

First was the grey-bearded person known as Grey Watcher Xarnus. The old figure carried a blood-stained ritual dagger but didn't face the newcomers.

Instead, mysterious alien whispers escaped from his mouth as he knelt in front of a large statue that was as tall as a mech.

Made out of some mysterious dark metal, the statue bore the marks of age in a way that made it seem as if it had existed for eons. Corrosion, pitted surfaces and other marks marred its surface, but despite these flaws there was evidently more to this statue than met the eye.

The appearance of this statue was a significant source of distress to the immobilized captives! The statue depicted some sort of sort of aquatic menace. Depicted in an upright form, the clearly alien creature resembled a whale due to its streamlined body shape and enormous maw.

What caused it to looked far more ominous than other alien depictions was the tentacles extending throughout the alien's body! These tentacles seemed to cast the alien in a terrifying light as they seemed numerous enough to envelop any prey in range!

In fact, the dark, opaque spikes that impaled and immobilized every captive actually extended from the statue's stone tentacles!

Not only that, but darkness continually spewed from the orifices of the aquatic alien statue. The newly-generated darkness supplemented the surrounding dark fog, causing the anomaly to grow stronger and become an even greater threat to those who aimed to take Ulimo Citadel down.

Hardly anyone inside and outside Ulimo ever expected that it held such a powerful form of defense. This unscientific alien ritual completely broke many people's conceptions of what was possible!

Even Ketis had difficulty trying to process what she saw. The statue seemed alive in a way that reminded her of LMC mechs, but this was clearly different!

While the grey-robed priest ignored the presence of the captives and continued to sustain the ritual with his heretical-sounding whispers.

The other person was different. Ketis became shocked as she recognized the familiar form of Grand Protector Roshaw!

Depictions of this old, grand leader were everywhere in Ulimo Citadel. Usually, the visuals depicted the head of the Dry Snakes in his resplendent pirate lord uniform.

Now, the man appeared in the form of blood-splattered combat armor. Trophies, gems and markings decorated his armor in a resplendent way. Combined with the green-and-yellow cape dr.a.p.ed across the back, the Grand Protector made an imposing impression on the captives!

Many Xona Stalkers were wondering why Roshaw was here of all places. Shouldn't he be in the command center situated in the most defensible section of the pirate stronghold?

"Welcome to our shrine." The old man spoke as his faceplate turned transparent. "While I did not wish for the Larkinson Clan to attack my fine citadel, I am pleasantly surprised that traitors like you have exposed yourselves."

The pirate lord stepped forward, his armored boots clanking across the floor. The man stepped in front of the nearest frozen body.

"Since you have decided to approach this shrine, your bodies shall make for a fine supplement."

The pirate lord bent down to grab onto the armor and began to do something that seemed completely incongruous.

Roshaw began to tear pieces of armor off the frozen Xona Stalker's body! Whether it was his own body or the powerful servos of his combat armor, the pirate lord demonstrated enough strength to rip metal with his bare hands!

Due to the automated safety features of his victim's suit, the torn combat armor eventually detached various modules that had sustained significant damage. This hastened Roshaw's attempt at stripping the Xona Stalker's body from his c.u.mbersome protection.

"Ah, that's better. There is no life in your armor. It's completely useless to us. We only want your body. More precisely, we want life that is intrinsically locked inside your biological tissue!"

To Ketis and everyone else's horror, the powerful pirate lord held the body with one arm and punched through his captive's chest with his other hand!

After ripping out the heart, the pirate lord grinned and began to throw it towards the ritual circle.

The still-beating heart did not land on the floor in a bloody mess. Instead, the statue projected some dark fog that enveloped the bloody organ, causing it to turn into a sphere of blood that seamlessly merged with the ritual circle shortly afterwards!

""The Unending One is pleased with your sacrifice!" Roshaw grinned as he swept his bloodied arm at the tentacles alien statue. "Though the heart is the strongest life-bearing organ, the remainder of your body has some value as well. Let me sacrifice what life you have left in order to please our greatest patron! Know that your body shall serve a great cause!"

The tentacle that kept the dying Xona Stalker immobilized suddenly pulsed. The body suddenly began to deflate as the dark tentacle drained moisture and some other energies.

It took only seconds for the Grand Protector to hold a mummified corpse!

The pirate lord then proceeded to recycle the waste. He tossed the dried and lifeless over his head. Some gravitic modules caught the falling mummy and automatically moved it to a hole in the floor.

The dry body dropped through the hole. It plunged straight into a tank that contained semi-processed ingredients!

Everyone who witnessed the pirate lord's actions increased their resistance against the strange restraints that kept them immobilized!

No one wanted to die in such a horrifying way!

No one wanted to turn into a mummy!

No one wanted their remains to be used as ingredients for nutrient packs!

Unfortunately, no matter how hard the captive defectors and Larkinsons tried to resist their unnatural bonds, they could not stop the cruel pirate lord from killing them one by one in order to fuel a completely incomprehensible and unscientific ritual!