The second she heard the sound of shattering glass, she knew that their plan had worked. The vampiress' greatest creation had been destroyed but there was one slightly more serious problem for her. Liquid gold was pouring from the damaged vat and quickly flooding the room. Most of the golems fell apart the second they touched the strange golden liquid, all except for two who were still clinging to the walls, far above the liquid.

Dala swung from the rods and jumped from golem head to golem head until she reached the rails of the stairs. With a massive leap, she flung herself towards the rails, her hands hitting the metal hard as she clutched it. Using all of her arm strength she managed to pull herself over the rail and onto the stairs that led to the door. Nuri had simply flown next to the girl and when Raiz approached them, Nuri returned to his side. When Raiz ran up the stairs Dala grabbed him and pulled him to the doors. 

She kicked the doors open and slid down the ladder with such speed as to make her hands burn. The furnace was emptying its golden liquid into the laboratory but the flooding would continue if they didn't leave immediately. She had no intentions of becoming a gold statue or one of those golems. Whether Ekaterina survived or not wasn't her business. They came to stop her and destroying her lab was the best way of doing so. Dala ran, still pulling Raiz along with her, through the furnace. Just as they reached the doors back into the asylum, she could see gold liquid creeping out from the doors to the lab. They couldn't stop. 

Golems had abandoned their work in the asylum, all running towards the furnace and the laboratory beyond it. They were assigned to assist Ekaterina even if they were just simple creations they would understand their primary mission. One of the walls was smashed through, revealing a pale white creature escaping from one of the many labs. It had multiple arms and three faces along with several wings on its back. Instead of going for them, it attacked one of the golems. Gold liquid quickly consumed them both as it slowly crept through the asylum. Dala pushed herself to run faster, using her wayfinder to guide their way back. 

"We're almost there!" She shouted. 

Her legs burned and her lungs never seemed to get enough air but she forced herself to keep running. They were dead if they dared look back or stop for one moment. 

The overwhelming energy from the vat was almost drowning out his senses. Raizel stumbled and ran half-consciously out of the Sanctorium with Dala's help, pushing himself to keep going. The steaming heat of the Furnace, the alcohol-smelling halls of the Asylum, and finally–the crawlspace leading back into the Catacombs where it all began. Everything went by like a blur, adrenaline and panic temporarily blocking out any pain. Dala's voice cut through the mental haze like a knife through gauze: "We're almost there!" Sucking in another gasp of air, the artificer gave one last final push as they rounded the corner to where they had come in after taking out the undead. Dropping to the floor, he went through the hole and held his breath bracing for the incoming stench. Sounds of chaos were far away behind them, and for some reason the dark, dimly lit chambers of the outermost layer of the Crucible were quieter than before. As the liquid gold flooded into more of the chambers, it eroded the carefully-built facility that formed a great alchemical circle. And now that Ekaterina van Eisser's experiment was out of control–the runaway reaction led to a meltdown.

They were almost outside! They were almost free! He flung himself at the doors that he came through and pushed with all his strength. The stone creaked and scraped as fresh air swept in, while the shrieking wails of the undead grew louder. Sensing that a way was open, the trapped souls tried to flee. But the runes that had bound them to this place had weakened, so as soon as they made it past the outer walls they collapsed. Wraiths dissolved into ectoplasm while skeletons and rotting corpses were no longer animate. The spirits entered the Soulstream at last, liberated from their earthly confinement. As the undead died one last time, Raizel staggered out into the rain. Coughing and wheezing, the cold air felt good after breathing stale drafts. Nuri returned to its locket, not too keen on staying out in Railoch's stormy weather. The mud and grey skies were never a more welcome sight than they were now.

The oppressive aura that had been creeping up behind them was gone and he let out a sigh of relief. As they were both out of that accursed place at last, he began to tense up when he felt the aura return again. He remembered what he had done in the Sanctorium. "We better back up–maybe run at least a few meters." Raizel said in a hurry. "Pretty soon we'll see what happens when you mess up an alchemical circle mid-process." Once they were at a safe distance, there was a violent earth-shattering explosion! Waves of concentrated energy rippled out from the Crucible as it was released back into the world. And then, silence. It was finally over.

She dragged herself through the tunnel, grabbing onto the hard stone walls and crawling to the other side in seconds. The Catacombs were deadly silent as if the dead understood the incoming destruction like silent birds with an incoming storm. Her lungs burned as they ran together through the darkened halls and she could hear the sound of spirits fleeing the Catacombs. A few of the wailing spirits gave them a wave as they phased out of this building and into the afterlife. If it wasn't for the fact she was running for her life, she would have tried to make an attempt to wave back. When she spotted the last doorway, she threw herself against it and desperately shoved it open. The stone creaked and moaned before opening. She made one last bolt into the rain then fell to her knees in the mud when they were far enough from the catacombs. Dala gazed up at the sky as it cooled her off with its soft drops of rain. She gasped in and out as she tried to catch her breath. The stormy skies above her were a strange sort of comfort. Any other day it would have been worrying but after what they had been through, it seemed as cheery as the sun.

After she caught her breath, she pushed herself out of the mud and to her feet. Only able to give Raizel a nod, she ran a few meters more then turned around. Just as her eyes locked onto the Crucible, the earth began to shake violently as fire lit up the Crucible like a torch. She saw pieces of stone and earth fly into the air along with a wave of dust. Specks of fire and globs of gold were catapulted into the air as a large boom quickly reached her ears. Waves of energy rippled out and threatened to push them over with the amount of power it had. Still managing to stay to her feet, she heard the strange silence as she looked at the Crucible in shock. Finally, she was able to allow herself to process what they had just been through. The entire time while in the Crucible she hadn't allowed herself a moment of rest or a moment to process. The teenager had just pushed forwards and tried to focus only on survival. Now that they were no longer in danger, she could think about what happened there.

"Well…" She began before looking to Raizel, "I guess we just saved the world Golem Boy. "

There was a cheeky smirk on her face as she decided to focus on the here and now. She'd rather not think or even consider the things down there. It was long gone and there was never a good reason to look behind.

"Hey, if you ever need a travel buddy you can find me on the Isle of Koskaan." Dala offered.

She couldn't predict how he would react but a small part of her hoped he would at least consider it. He was a reliable person and she knew if she ever needed someone to help out with an adventure or two, he would be capable of handling it.