What Spyro and the others did was head back to the area that they had found Blink in, as he had decided that the next realm they were going to tackle would be Sunken Ruins, which meant exploring the tunnel that was near the shop pad they had discovered in that area, taking down any enemies that were over there, and then see if they could figure out where the ruins were located, since he figured that a realm that had the word 'sunken' in its name either had a teleport pad, a portal, or even a protected elevator for the residents of the land to use, something that would be proven as soon as they found the area they were looking for. As such it didn't take all of them long to return to the area they found Blink in and quickly found the tunnel they had spotted earlier, where a Gnorc Archer stood in their way and happened to be raising its bow so it could fire an arrow at one of them, something that was followed by Bianca freezing it with a burst of her Ice magic and opened the way for Ember to smash through it, dropping more gems for them to pick up, before they paused for a moment as they found some more of the seashell traps in the part of the tunnel that was in front of them, the swinging traps that were easy for them to dodge as they moved forward. There were also four Pygmy on the other side of the swinging seashells, who looked like they had a bone to pick with whoever was near them, to which Cynder took care of all of them by using her Shadow Play spell and knocked all four of her targets into the walls that were around them, restoring her foes to their true gem state, before discovering that there was another set of seashell traps that rested beyond the first set, something that she and the others carefully navigated around before they found a pair of metallic chests that rested near the end of the tunnel, which lead out to part of the land that had to be where the path to Sunken Ruins rested.
As such the group made sure to smash the chests as they walked outside, where they found an armored Gnorc Brute who was standing in the middle of the area, or rather it was close to the tunnel's exit, though that didn't stop Elora from using her feet to smash the armor off of their foe's body and opened the way for Spyro to strike it down before it even had a chance to retaliate, allowing the group to spread out and see what else the area had in store for them, before finding the way down to their destination. One thing they noticed was that this beach had some ruins under the water, meaning this was definitely the area that they needed to be in, though the first thing they did was smash open the straw basket, a pair of metallic chests, and a bullseye chest that were off on the right side of the area, coming out of the tunnel anyway, not to mention picking up the gems that had been resting in front of them, before the group paused as all of them noticed that all of the breakable containers had been taken care of and regrouped near some of the ruins that would allow them to access the next realm. Once they had regrouped Spyro was the first one to jump up onto the small ruined area that was in front of them, before jumping up into the ruined tower that rested behind it, before he jumped down onto the ruined walkway that was in front of him and carefully made his way over to the next ruined tower, something that was followed by Cynder, Spike, Ember, and the rest of the group following after him, though as they moved towards the next structure Aurora dropped into the water that was near the second tower and found a Light Gem for them to collect, one that caused Spike to return to where she was standing and collected the gem in question, before they headed over to where the rest of the group was waiting for them. After that they made sure to smash a couple of straw baskets that were on the lower level of the next structure, while at the same time smashing the bullseye chest that was on the upper level that the majority of them were walking on, before they spotted something interesting, one of the final structures of this area had a Dark Gem that had been stabbed into the floor and was in the middle of corrupting this area, while no doubt blocking the way into the next realm, which was why Spike stood still as he observed what happened next as Spyro smashed the sinister gem, which caused the ruins, a circular dome and some pillar, to rise out of the part of the beach that they had been trapped in and came to a stop once they reached a certain point.
With the Dark Gem destroyed the group jumped up the couple of pillars that were around the central dome and found out that something interesting, there were a number of cracks all over the glass dome and that was followed by Ember using her tail to smash it, even though both Flame and Aurora moved at the same time, showing Spike that they understood what needed to be done and didn't seem all that upset by the dome's destruction in the slightest, to which the group took a moment to jump down onto the platform that was in front of them and stopped as it shifted, sinking in the circular tube that seemed to take them to the next realm they would be exploring. It took the group a few minutes to reach the bottom of the circular tube, something that gave them a chance to see some odd windows that could have allowed them to see outside, if they had been freshly installed anyway since these ones were pretty dull from age, before the platform came to a stop and the group was able to move forward, finding that they were definitely in a circular chamber that looked like it belonged to a ruin that rested below the water, if the moss growing from the ceiling was any indication of the condition of this area, before they walked forward and smashed the small dark crystal that was in front of them, not to mention to pair of straw baskets that rested near it. In the next chamber they found three of the Swamp Critters, or in this case they were more like Ruin Critters given the area they were resting in, that seemed to be guarding a green scaled creature that looked like it had been a Gnorc at one point, though its legs had been merged into a fish tail that allowed it to slither around the area it was in, like a snake creature of sorts, and it looked more like a fish than the normal Gnorcs they had faced since this adventure had started, though it was carrying a trident that had three points, meaning it was armed and was likely trying to guard this ruin from them, or whoever tried to invade it. Bianca used a quick burst of Fire magic to burn the Ruin Critters into the ground and reduced them to a pile of gems in a matter of seconds, though once that was done Elora took a step towards the Trident Mer-Gnorc, as Spike was going to call it since he was sure there were other variations of this new type of enemy, where she kicked it in the chest and knocked it into the wall, something that was followed by another pile of gems falling onto the ground.
Once that was done Spike stepped forward and unlocked the golden chest that the Trident Mer-Gnorc had been guarding, even though he had to frown a little as he found a pair of Lightning Bombs, which were basically the same as the fire ones they had found earlier, inside the chest, though he added them to their collection as Flame smashed the bullseye chest that rested nearby, though as soon as all of that was done they turned towards the opening that was to the right of the short tunnel they had walked through to reach this chamber and smashed through a dark crystal as they headed into a new chamber that one of Moneybags' shop pads rested in, even though there was a door to the left of the first tunnel that was likely a backtrack point once they reached the end of the ruins. What they found inside the chamber with the shop pad were two more bullseye chests, which were smashed by Ember and Cynder, before they spotted a Trident Mer-Gnorc standing in front of a door that seemed to be the way forward, which was when Spike shocked it with his Lightning Breath and took it out, as he was sure he could save the majority of his power for later, when they were face to face with a larger group of enemies or something, though once the chamber was cleared out they walked towards the door and it opened up without any of them having to do something specific, like find a key or pull a lever. The chamber or tunnel that was on the other side of the door in question was blocked and part of the floor had been shattered at some point before they had arrived, a hole that revealed an underwater area for them to explore, to which Spike made sure everyone had the Water Safety rune on them, something that Bianca told Flame and Aurora about while he added the rune to them, though once all of them were equipped with the rune in question Spike nodded and Spyro dived into the water, where the rest of the group did the same thing not even a few seconds later, as it was time to see what they could find under the water and just how many enemies they would need to take out before they reached the next part of the ruins. For the most part it looked like this was going to be a small tunnel of sorts that allowed the group to get around the blockage that was the collapsed ceiling they had spotted when they walked through the door, though there were two Trident Mer-Gnorcs waiting for them and that caused Spike to rush forward and charge right into the chest of the one that was the closest to them, leaving the other one for Cynder to take down in the same way, before they smashed a few glass vases that were near them and then jumped out of the water, by using the other hole that was near their location.
As they jumped out of the water Spyro spotted one of the Trident Mer-Gnorcs standing in front of a golden chest, which was followed by Hunter rushing forward and using his blades against their foe, one blade parrying the incoming attack his foe sent his way while the other one cut the modified Gnorc down with ease, though once that was done he stepped aside and let Spike check out what was inside the golden chest, which was followed by a pink egg with the white flower design popping out of it, to which he made sure it was safe and sound before sending it to the Nursery. With that done the group returned to the hole that they had jumped out of and found a door that was on the other side of the area they happened to be standing in, to which they leapt over the hole and approached the next area of the ruins, which was a chamber that had a Dark Gem resting in the center of it, surrounded by a number of dark crystals, along with some metallic chests, a few metallic containers, and what appeared to be vents that might open some whirlwinds in this area for them to use, which would allow them to move deeper into the ruins. Elora smashed the Dark Gem not a few seconds later, while at the same time Flame and Aurora cleared out every dark crystal that rested around them, though once the sinister gem was broken the darkness faded from the chamber they were in and the four fans activated, creating four whirlwinds that would allow them to explore the rest of the area that the group was currently standing in, though as the majority of them focused on all of the sides of the chamber Spike used the four whirlwinds to access the highest point of the chamber, one that just so happened to be the resting place of another pink egg with a white flower design on it, though once the egg was sent off he glided over to a platform that had a bunch of gems, a bullseye chest, and a straw basket, to which he collected every gem that was in the area and then glided over to the next platform. The reason behind him doing that was because he found a golden chest up there and, possibly more important given the nature of what he found inside some of the previous chests in these lands, was a firework that would smash one or two of the metallic containers that were near where the Dark Gem had been resting, though the chest just so happened to contain a Light Gem and he added it to the collection, before he lit the firework's fuse and sent it flying through the air, where it flew down into the area below him and smashed three of the metallic containers to pieces, though as he flew down to where the others were waiting to watched as the freed gems that had been inside the containers were collected and added to their gem bag.
As soon as the containers were broken the group headed up some stone steps and approached a tunnel that had one of the dark crystals inside the start of it, where Aurora smashed it with a quick headbutt and picked up the gems it dropped a few seconds later, though once that was done they headed down the short tunnel, as it was rather short, and entered a small chamber that had some straw baskets, a bullseye chest, a golden chest, a hole that would allow them to head under water, and what Spyro and the others had to assume was a mermaid, a female figure who had pale skin, a light brown vest of some kind over her chest, and a fish tail that was striped, switching between blue and purple, and when they came to a stop the mermaid looked at them with interest in her eyes.
"Oh, hello there. What sort of fish are all of you?" the mermaid asked, showing them that she was incredibly interested in what they were and seemed to be mistaking all of them for the various types of fish they had seen in the past, making all of them wonder how long it had been since someone had come to visit the residents of the ruin, before she tilted her head for a moment as she stared at them for a few more seconds, almost like she was surprised to see that each of them were missing something important, in her eyes anyway, "Also, where are your fins?"
"We're not fish, nor do we have fins, as most of us are dragons, with some being Cheetahs and one being a rabbit," Spike replied, as he felt that correcting her now would be good for later on, so she didn't get stuck calling them fish all the time or pass on that information to the rest of the mermaids and their various allies, even though it was a little hard to make a call on what Elora was, since she was half faun half dragon, before he and the others focused on the mermaid as he told her what their names were and beckoned to the others as he revealed their names, "My name is Spike, and this is Spyro, Cynder, Ember, Elora, Hunter, Bianca, Amelia, Flame, and Aurora, and we're here to smash any Dark Gems that have been scattered around the ruins, take down Red's forces, and restore this realm's order to what it used to be."
"Well, dragon fish, cheetah fish, and rabbit fish, here's a hit to help you out," the mermaid said, showing the group that she sort of understood what they were saying and that she was only partly listening to what Spike had told her, even though this meant she believed that all of them were creatures of the sea or of the water that surrounded the ruins, but since she was willing to give them a hint on what they needed to do in this realm they were more than willing to listen to her for a few more minutes, "to get through these ruins, you'll have to follow the markers that were set up a long time ago, by who I honestly have no idea."
Spyro and the others glanced at each other for a moment, silently deciding that there was no reason for them to even try to correct the mermaid as to what their true races were, since they were sure she'd screw it up again and call them by yet another underwater species, like a sea dragon for instance, before Spike headed over to the golden chest and unlocked it with his magic, leaving the rest of the containers to the rest of the group, before he found a Light Gem resting inside it, one that was added to the rest of the Light Gems they had collected so far as the normal gems were added to the gem bag, but once that was done they headed into the hole and moved deeper into the ruins. What they discovered were a couple of red gems that seemed to be sort of floating in the water, almost like they were forming a path of some kind, and that there were two Trident Mer-Gnorcs in the underwater area, to which Cynder and Ember smashed their way through them with ease as the others made sure to pick up the gems, before they reached the other side of the tunnel and jumped out of the water, allowing them to open the door that was in front of them and find that an Armored Crab was standing between them and a gadget pad that the Professor's hologram was waiting at, so Elora kicked the crab and allowed Spike to take it out with the Horn Dive so they could approach the gadget pad.
"Oh, hello everyone, allow me to reveal my latest invention to you, the Invincibility Gadget," the Professor said, which was rather interesting when they considered the area that they were entering, which had a number of dark crystals, a couple of straw baskets, a Trident Mer-Gnorc, and Armored Crab resting nearby, though that was when they spotted a hole near the pair of enemies that seemed to head into an acid filled area that had to lead them to the Light Gem that was trapped on the other side of a wall to their left, before they focused on the hologram once more, "yes, I know, I'm updating all of the Invincibility Gates that rested throughout Avalar and Avilion, in fact I used the Powerup Gates as inspiration for the brand new gadgets you've seen so far, and this should allow you to enter the pool of acid that's nearby, without having to worry about being harmed in the process."
"That's amazing." Aurora replied, as she and Flame couldn't believe that the Professor had been designing something like that this entire time, before Red and the Dark Master had started their assault on the lands of Capora, though even as she said that there was something that came to her mind as she recalled the Ball Gadget and the Supercharge Gadget that the group had seen so far, especially since they had gotten one of them to work, "So, how many Light Gems do we need to collect to power this gadget? I'm sure we don't have the forty needed for the Supercharge Gadget, so we might not have enough for this gadget either."
"According to my calculations, you will need twenty-four Light Gems this time around," the Professor stated, though at the same time he checked his readings and seemed to figure something out all on his own, which wasn't a surprise when they considered everything he had done since the day they met him and discovered what he was capable of, before he shifted his gaze away from the clipboard that he was working on and faced the group once more, "and, based on the reading that I'm getting, you have more than enough Light Gems to power this gadget, so have fun with your temporary invincibility as you explore the rest of the ruins."
The group nodded their heads, to show that they understood what the Professor was saying, even though most of them were slightly surprised by the fact that their friend claimed that they had the necessary Light Gems, especially since they expected the number to be higher than forty this time around, before the hologram disappeared and the group took turns walking over the Invincibility Gadget, where Spyro found that his body was coated in what appeared to be liquid metal of some kind, instead of the more molten appearance that the Invincibility Gate gave him, though this time since this wasn't lava Spike and Ember had to join him. Once all of them had the metallic coating over their bodies, just to see what each of them looked like, the first thing they did was take down the Trident Mer-Gnorc and the Armored Crab, the former falling to Spike's Lightning Bolt while the latter collapsed as Elora kicked it so Flame could perform the Horn Dive on it, and once all of their enemies were taken care of they smashed the couple of containers that were in the area, took care of the couple of dark crystals that rested around the chamber, and then returned to the gadget pad to restore their coatings to their full strength as they headed for the hole that rested nearby. What they discovered was that there was a short passage under the chamber that the group had been standing in, one that, for some odd reason, had a pair of propellers that were slowly spinning, like they were trying to block the way forward, though it was rather easy for them to charge passed the blades and reach the end of the tunnel, allowing each of them to jump out into the chamber that the tunnel had brought them to, one that seemed to be where the Light Gem they had spotted earlier was located, which meant it was one less thing they would have to backtrack for later on. Save for a straw basket and a metallic chest there was nothing else in the area, which was why Spike focused on collecting the Light Gem that was in front of them while Ember smashed the containers, though once that was done the group found that one of the glass windows that was in front of them, which had prevented them from jumping up into the area the gem had been resting in, was loose and that they could open it with ease, allowing all of them to drop back down into the area that the gadget pad was resting in and head for the tunnel the Trident Mer-Gnorc had been guarding, as it had to be the way forward.
What they discovered was that there were three straw baskets in front of them, which Spyro smashed with a wave of his tail as he walked by them, before they glided down a small drop that was partway through the tunnel and landed on the rest of the path they were following, where it looked like they would have to follow the path that was in front of them and were unable to climb back up to the area they had been, though of course they just fly back up to the area in question if they really wanted to, which was followed by the group focusing on the area that was at the end of the tunnel, a shop pad that rested in front of a door. Since none of them needed to buy anything from Moneybags, even if the bear wasn't in the mood to sell them anything since he was trying to help them out, Spyro approached the door and the group marched into the large chamber that was on the other side, one that had an Invincibility Gadget in front of them, a mass of gems resting near one of the walls, a Sparx sign left by Zoe, a dark crystal, a pair of straw baskets, a pair of metallic chests, and a hole in the floor that seemed to give them access to another part of the ruins, even though it was hard to see an area that would require them to use the new gadget. As such the group waited around the sign while Sparx and the other dragonflies flew into the hole in the wall that the sign was resting near, because this was an area for their friends to take on and they would no doubt return with a dragon egg and another Light Gem, just like the last time they headed into one of the cracks, which allowed the group to scatter for a moment and took up positions around the large chamber that they were in, though as they did that Bianca stopped by Spike and asked him about the mermaids, more in the sense if one of their spells could transform them into a shape that was similar to the mermaid's. Spike thought about it and determined that such a thing was possible, especially since Elora was a prime example of Transmogrification Magic, even if it was more like Chaos Magic and less like what Morrigan used to create her monsters, but at the same time it wasn't worth spending time and energy manipulating their forms to match what the mermaids had, especially since they could easily make their way through the ruins and overcome whatever was in front of them, which was when Bianca informed him that she wasn't going to do that, rather she was simply curious about his thoughts on the spell, before she walked over to the area that Hunter was in and kept an eye open for any enemies that might be coming at them.
When Sparx and the others returned the first thing they returned to the group was one of the yellow dragon eggs, which Spike made sure was perfectly fine and hadn't been damaged by the Thieves that had stolen all of them, though once the egg was in their possession the dragonflies also revealed that they had found a Light Gem, so Spike quickly stored the gem inside the bag the others were in before sending the dragon egg back to the Nursery, though once that was done they got up from the areas they had been resting in and regrouped, as it was time to plan out where they were going next and take on whatever challenges would be waiting for them. As it turned out the way forward was below them, as there was a pair of pipes that formed an area that they could wall jump between, a power that Flame and Aurora revealed that they could learn from one of the Dragon Elders, a skill that neither of them had learned before this point due to them assuming that they would never need such a skill in the first place, which was followed by the group heading through the hole in the floor and descended into the lower area that was below them, where a number of containers, being straw baskets and bullseye chests, happened to be resting. Of course that wasn't the only thing that they found down there, as there were a few Ruin Critters wandering around the area in question, especially near the tunnel that appeared to be the only way forward right now, to which they glided down into the chamber that was below them and Spyro flamed all three of the Ruin Critters into the ground, allowing the others to spread out and smash all of the containers that were scattered around the area, though he did see a seashell platform that could be powered with their Lightning Breath, if they wanted to get back up to the area that the second Invincibility Gadget was resting in. There were also a few metallic containers and a dark crystal, where the group left the containers alone for the time being, since they didn't have any fireworks in their immediate area, but made sure to smash the dark crystal before jumping up to where the tunnel was located and headed through it, which allowed them to smash some straw baskets, a few metallic chests, and a dark crystal as they moved deeper into the ruins, even if it seemed like they were getting further and further away from where the start of this realm was located, before they found a door that let them enter another part of the ruins, another chamber that needed to be cleared out of containers and any enemies that might be lurking behind the pillars.
What was interesting was the fact that there were no enemies in the part of the chamber that they walked into, giving the group a chance to simply smash all of the straw baskets, metallic chests, a bullseye chest, and some dark crystals that just so happened to be scattered around this chamber, before they found some stone steps that seemed to lead up to another level, something that was followed by them clearing out the rest of the floor they were on and then climbed up the steps so they could access the next floor. Once they reached the top step it was easy to find a golden chest resting nearby, not to mention a number of fish statues that seemed to be in the middle of firing what could be laser beams or bolts of energy at the wall that was opposite of where they were resting, to which Spike approached the chest and unlocked it, revealing one of the light green eggs with blue swirls, something that was immediately returned to the Nursery with his Teleportation Breath, allowing the others to focus on the area all of the statues were resting in. What they had to do next was easy for them to figure out, as they came to a stop after Spike recovered the latest egg and simply watched where all of the lasers went when they were fired from the statue they came from, which was when Spyro nodded and Amelia jumped into the area that was in front of them, where she jumped over the areas that all of the lasers were in, leapt across the gaps that rested between each set of fish statues, and quickly reached the end of the floor that they were standing on, landing next to a Light Gem that Spike could add to their collection, though as she did that the rest of the group followed her lead and quickly overcame the fish statues that were apparently protecting this area. As such it was easy for them to overcome the trap that had been set up in this chamber and collect the Light Gem that Amelia had landed near, along with smashing a bullseye chest and a pair of metallic chests, though once that was done they noticed that there was a seashell platform to the left of where the Light Gem had been resting and Spike used a Lightning Bolt to empower it, allowing the others to ride it up to the area it was supposed to take them to in groups of two, even though it actually brought them to a tunnel that ended with a dark crystal at the very end and a new chamber beyond that.
This chamber seemed to be more of a cylinder in shape and had a coiled ramp that allowed them to descend towards the bottom of it, something that was easy for the group to do since most of them glided down to the lowest part of this area and smash the dark crystal they found in front of another door, which lead them into yet another chamber, one that was full of scattered gems, metallic containers, straw baskets, metallic chests, dark crystals, an Invincibility Pad, a pool of acid, a bullseye chest, and some steps that lead to the area that was far above them. Of course the first thing the group did was smash all of the containers they could break, pooling the gems into the bag that Spike had created for the normal gems so none would be left on the floor for Red to come back and manipulate into enemies that would attack them later on, when they reached one of the later realms to help out, though once that was done the group walked over the Invincibility Pad and dived into the acid without delay, where it was easy for them to discover that there was a Light Gem resting below the floor they had been walking on, even though Spike realized the power it had been giving off must have protected the gem from the acid, to which they grabbed it and headed for the other opening that would allow them to leave the pool of acid that they were currently swimming through. When they reached the chamber that the other opening lead them to it was easy to see that there was a ruined statue that seemed to be freshly broken, to which Cynder smashed a pair of metallic chests and collected the gems that were around it, while Aurora smashed a bullseye chest and Flame dealt with a pair of straw baskets that rested near a dark crystal, before the group got back together as Spyro flew up to an area that a button was resting in, one that he smashed into the ground with the Horn Dive, though while he was expecting something in this chamber to change he and the others discovered that nothing new happened, to which Spike opened a temporary portal back to the other chamber and found that some poles had moved into position, something that caused Ember to head right through the portal so she could be in the other chamber.
What Ember was able to do was locate another button and used the Horn Dive on it as well, which caused three poles in the chamber that Spyro and Spike were in to emerge from their hiding spots and open the way to the highest point of this area, something that allowed Cynder, who volunteered to move next, to reach the highest point of this chamber and found a Dark Gem, surrounded by four dark crystals, up there, something that she smashed to pieces with her Horn Dive, where the destruction of the sinister gemstone caused the pair of statues and a tunnel to be restored to their former glory, even if it was a little odd that the statues looked like the Mer-Gnorcs, even though it was possible that the male merpeople were like this and Red took their form when he was messing with all of the Gnorcs that were guarding this place. Cynder also found a short tunnel that allowed her to access a firework that took care of the metallic containers that were in the other chamber, the one Ember was in, so that allowed her to break the containers and let Ember collect the gems that had been freed, which was around the time Cynder informed Spike of a golden chest she had found, to which he followed her over to where the chest was located and flew over to it, though when he unlocked it he discovered a light green egg with blue swirls resting inside it, one that he sent back to Nanny not even a few seconds after recovering it. Once that was done they regrouped with the rest of the group and headed through the tunnel that had been reconstructed, though it was in that moment that they found a Mer-Gnorc that happened to be holding some starfish, or maybe they were shuriken that had been made in the shape of starfish, but its weapons weren't enough to stop the group as Ember struck the Starfish Mer-Gnorc in the chest with her Emission skill, allowing the others to smash the bullseye chest and the dark crystal that were in the middle of the tunnel, which meant the area was cleared out in a matter of seconds and they proceeded to move even further into the ruins, making them wonder just how much more they would have to overcome before they reached the end of the structure and were allowed to return to the surface, as there had to be an exit that would take them to another part of the main beach they had been exploring earlier.
The path the Starfish Mer-Gnorc happened to be guarding happened to be coiled and allowed them to ascend to another level, one that happened to have another shop pad in front of a door, which seemed to be the telltale sign that they had reached a brand new area in the lands of Capora, based on what they had seen of the other realms, which was followed by the group walking into a circular chapter that had a floor that was mostly made of acid, save for a circular walkway that would allow them to access the rest of the chamber without having to deal with the pool of acid. What they had to do was head over to where a seashell platform was resting, which allowed them to see that there were a few metallic containers in this area and a golden chest in the area near the entrance they had walked through, to which Spyro and Spike took on all of the challenges of this chamber while the others remained near the ruined tunnel that would be restored once the Dark Gem that was responsible for its destruction was smashed to pieces, though Spyro focused on making his way around the area while Spike focused on the golden chest. As it turned out there were three buttons that were scattered around this chamber, ones that Spyro had to use the Horn Dive on, though when the first one was smashed into the ground a statue of a Mer-Gnorc rose out of the acid, or at least part of it did, and that revealed the location of the Dark Gem, though when he found and pressed the second button he and the others could see that the statue was attached to a platform that did seem to fit the pool of acid, so Spike figured that once all of the buttons had been pressed the pool of acid would be a thing of the past, even though that was when he noticed there were actually four buttons, not three. Once all four of the buttons had been pressed the statue rose out of the acid and put the Dark Gem high enough to where one of them could smash the sinister gem with ease, so while Flame did that Spyro made sure to ignite the firework that was nearby and let it blow apart the three metallic containers, freeing the gems that were inside it, before Flame broke the gemstone and the ruined entrance for the next tunnel restored itself a few seconds later, though once that was done Spike finally unlocked the golden chest and claimed the Light Gem that had been locked inside it, allowing him to catch up with the others not a few seconds later so they could head through the new tunnel and see what was on the other side.
The pair of Trident Mer-Gnorcs that were on the other side of the tunnel's entrance weren't expecting the group to enter the tunnel they were guarding, though Hunter and Amelia loosed their arrows into the first one and took it down within a few seconds, which was followed by Bianca blasting the second one in the chest with a Fireball, allowing them to enter a much smaller chamber that had two Crabs and an Armored Crab guarding the area, where Spyro flamed the smaller Crabs as Ember slammed into the Armored Crab to knock it onto its back, which was when Cynder smashed it into the ground as a few more normal Crabs appeared in another tunnel, though she used her Shadow Breath to take them out. There were another pair of Mer-Gnorcs standing past the second group of Crabs, one of the Starfish variety and the other being of the Trident variety, where Spike loosed an Ice Shard into the Starfish Mer-Gnorc's chest and took it down, opening the way for Elora to reach the Trident Mer-Gnorc and kick it into the wall to its right, which eliminated all of the enemies in this tunnel and allowed them to enter a smaller chamber, one that had a few metallic chests and a few dark crystals for them to break open. As such it didn't take the group all that long to clear out the small chamber of breakables, which included a couple of straw baskets, before they found that there was a platform, which just so happened to have a propeller in the middle of the stone it was made from, moving between part of the area they were in and the next part of the chamber, to which the group waited for a few moments and then got up onto the moving platform, which brought them to the level that was just above them and revealed a golden chest for Spike to open, one that happened to have another Light Gem inside it, though once it was collected they found some steps that lead them up to a tunnel that had a button inside it, one that opened the door behind it, something that let them return to the start of the ruins at long last, to which they headed back to the main platform that had brought them down into the ruins and headed back up to the surface, as it was time for them to head out and look for the path to the final realm of this homeworld, before they worried about Ineptune and whatever Red was planning for the rest of Capora.