The deeper they descended, the less the dungeon resembled stone and more it resembled something alive. The walls pulsed faintly with veins of dark energy, shadows twisting like worms beneath skin. No lantern nor spell of light seemed to penetrate the suffocating black. Even Orielle's flames sputtered and dimmed, swallowed by the corruption as though fire itself was forbidden here.
Knights stumbled, muttering prayers under their breath. Their torches were useless; their enchanted crystals only revealed their own trembling hands.
Shellia gritted her teeth. "I can't see a single step. How are we supposed to survive this?"
For once, even Yuki's calm voice trembled slightly. [This corruption… it's unlike anything I've felt before. It devours light itself.]
"Wonderful," Shellia muttered.
Then Orryn moved.
The stag's small chibi form stilled, his crystalline antlers glowing faintly. Then, like ice cracking across a frozen lake, the glow expanded. Pale-blue motes spread out, forming a thin pathway of frost across the dungeon floor. It shimmered faintly, untouched by the corruption.
The knights gasped.
Reinhard's eyes widened. "He… he's guiding us."
Indeed, Orryn trotted forward confidently, his frost weaving through the dark, forming an invisible compass. He looked back at Shellia and bleated softly, urging her forward.
Shellia blinked. "Wait. You mean—you can lead us? Through this?"
The stag lowered his head in confirmation. His glow cut a thin vein of safety through the pitch-black dungeon, just enough for them to walk without stumbling into the abyss.
Sylas chuckled under his breath. [Of course. Born from eternal ice atop the highest mountain… naturally he'd shine brightest where no light exists.]
Orielle huffed in awe. [Trust a beast to show up the rest of us spirits.]
Shellia rolled her eyes but felt relief flooding her chest. "All right, Orryn. Lead the way."
---
Step after step, the frost stag guided them deeper. The blackness pressed against their skins like drowning water, suffocating even the strongest knights. Many clenched their jaws, refusing to show weakness, but their pallor told the truth.
And then came the bones.
First, they noticed them at the edges of Orryn's faint glow—half-buried shapes along the path. Human skulls, broken ribs, claw marks etched into armor long rusted. The deeper they went, the more there were.
Alecia clutched Alex's arm. "Th-these are…"
"Adventurers," Reinhard confirmed grimly. "Those who came before. The dungeon's graveyard."
Shellia's throat tightened. "So many…"
Orielle's usual cheer softened into silence. Sylas muttered low, [This corruption doesn't just kill. It devours. The bones are what's left when even hope is gone.]
Yuki placed a hand on Shellia's shoulder. [Stay strong. They fell so you could stand here.]
Shellia swallowed hard, nodding. "Let's… keep moving."
---
Each floor of the dungeon offered new torments.
On the sixth floor, they faced swarms of shadow beasts shaped like wolves with too many eyes, their fangs dripping with black ichor. The knights fought desperately, shields raised, but every blow seemed to sink into tar. It was only when Shellia released a wave of Divine Purification that the monsters shrieked and melted into nothing.
On the seventh floor, bone serpents slithered through the dark, their rattling spines weaving nets across the path. Orielle's flames kept them at bay while Sylas froze their joints until the knights shattered them with axes. But even then, fragments writhed, trying to reform until Shellia's light burned them clean.
The eighth floor offered no enemies at first—only silence. They walked for what felt like hours, surrounded by absolute black, Orryn's glow the only proof the world existed. Then, without warning, hands clawed up from the ground, skeletal arms gripping ankles and pulling knights screaming into the soil. Only frantic purifications saved them, but two men emerged trembling, pale as death.
The ninth floor was worse. Here, bones were piled high like mountains, rattling as if whispering. The corruption dripped from them, forming shapes that mocked human faces.
Shellia clutched her staff tighter. "I hate this place."
Orielle tried for humor, though her voice shook. [At least you're burning calories from all the stress.]
"Not helping," Shellia muttered.
---
By the time they reached the tenth floor, the group was ragged, armor dented, spirits strained. But the chamber they entered froze them where they stood.
It was vast, ceiling unseen, walls hidden in black. In the center lay a throne made entirely of fused bones, jagged and grotesque. Upon it sat a creature—once human, perhaps—but now twisted beyond recognition.
Its body was skeletal, armor fused into its ribcage, eyes glowing with red fire. A corrupted crown of thorns rested on its skull. When it stood, bones rattled in chorus, echoing like a death knell.
Reinhard's voice hardened. "The Bone King."
The monster raised a sword of fused femurs, its voice a grinding scream. "INTRUDERS. YOU SHALL JOIN MY ARMY."
The walls shook as skeletal warriors erupted from the piles of bones, dozens, then hundreds.
Shellia's breath caught. "Oh, perfect. An army of bones. Because one wasn't enough."
---
The knights formed tight ranks, shields locking. Spirits burst into action—Orielle's flames roared, Sylas unleashed blizzards, Yuki shone like a star. Orryn, no longer chibi, expanded into his full stag form, antlers gleaming with cold fire.
[Follow me!] Orryn's voice thundered for the first time, echoing through their minds. He charged, antlers piercing the black, scattering the bone soldiers like brittle twigs.
Shellia lifted her staff, her light flaring against the suffocating dark. "Purification—now!"
A wave of holy energy ripped outward, dissolving the corruption clinging to the knights. They roared, pressing forward.
Reinhard clashed with the Bone King, blade sparking against the monster's bony sword. The impact reverberated like thunder, each strike shaking the chamber.
Orielle's fire seared through hordes, Sylas froze entire ranks, and Yuki magnified Shellia's strength until her aura burned like a sun.
But still, the Bone King laughed. "YOU CANNOT CLEANSE DEATH ITSELF."
With a roar, it slammed its blade into the ground. The floor cracked. Skeletal arms erupted in a wave, dragging knights into the dark.
Shellia screamed, pouring every ounce of power into her staff. Light burst forth, disintegrating the hands, freeing the trapped soldiers.
Orryn charged again, his antlers glowing brighter, illuminating paths where even Shellia's light failed. He locked horns—ice against bone—with the King's skeletal crown, forcing it back.
[Now, Shellia!]Yuki urged.
She raised her staff high, words ripping from her throat. "DIVINE PURIFICATION!"
The blast of light engulfed the throne, shattering bone, dissolving corruption. The Bone King shrieked, its body breaking apart into fragments that crumbled into ash.
For a moment, silence reigned.
Then, the throne collapsed, the chamber trembling.
---
The knights slumped to their knees, gasping. Orielle fanned herself dramatically. [Well… that was festive.]
Sylas merely sighed. [A tedious warm-up.]
Shellia collapsed onto the frost pathway Orryn created, panting hard. "Warm-up?! We nearly died six times!"
Orryn returned to her side, shrinking again into his chibi form, curling against her leg like a victorious cat.
Reinhard wiped blood from his blade, his voice grim. "We've reached the tenth floor. Halfway."
Shellia's head snapped up. "Halfway?! You're telling me there are ten more of these nightmares?"
The commander nodded. "Twenty floors in total. This was only the beginning."
The dungeon rumbled, shadows gathering again in the distance. A cold wind whispered through the chamber, carrying the sound of rattling bones deeper below.
Shellia felt the dread crawl down her spine. Her spirits tensed, even Sylas. Orryn lifted his head, antlers glowing faintly, as if warning of something worse waiting below.
Shellia swallowed. "We're not done, are we?"
Reinhard's jaw tightened. "No. The true darkness has yet to show itself."
And then, the floor beneath them cracked—splitting open into a yawning abyss that threatened to swallow them whole.
---