*Wooosh*
A chilling wind swept across my face as I arrived on the 20th floor of the underground dungeon.
I squinted my eyes as the floor was brighter than the previous one.
Slowly opening my eyes, I was startled by the sight of an enormous icy tunnel before me.
I quickly squinted again as the wind stung my eyes.
Above and beside me were icy walls that emitted a mysterious blue glow, casting an eerie aura over the tunnel.
"Disgusting," I thought and shook my head.
The tunnel was mercilessly windy, with icy gusts that seemed intent on freezing anyone to death.
The wind carried tiny sand particles, and even I, with my layers of clothing, felt a slight stinging sensation on my skin.
I narrowed my eyes and looked down at the ground. I realized I was standing on sand, and there was a sandy path stretching into the distance.
It is about 20 meters wide and seemed to reach almost to the walls of the tunnel.
I wondered if my soldiers had melted the ice, as I could still see some ice fragments near the wall.
It appeared very smooth, which was fortunate, as I needed to follow this path. So, I did, and with each step, I heard the sand crunching under my feet.
The wind relentlessly attempted to drive me back, and every few hundred steps, I encountered the lifeless bodies of dungeon monsters.
"Revolting," I muttered, observing these abominations of the dungeon.
How could these grotesque creatures even conceive the idea of creating life?
Such blasphemy and arrogance!
My anger and disgust grew stronger, and I vowed that if I ever encountered one of these ice monsters, they would perish without knowing how.
I continued on with a sour mood.
After a while, the tunnel widened, forming an ice archway. Behind it lay a vast chamber.
In the center was an enormous iceberg.
I was awestruck and disgusted.
Until now, I had only read about dungeons and their uncanny ability to create massive things. And the dungeons I destroyed were no larger than five to maximal 10 floors.
What I could see now is an iceberg the size of Eisenburg, which already housed more than 500,000 people and was quite large.
(A/N: The iceberg is as large as the Greek island of Kos.)
I stood still in front of the stone archway and observed.
An unrelenting wind circulated in the chamber, swirling around the iceberg in the middle, carrying ice and sand particles. It seemed to have no pattern, coming from the right, left, above, and the ground.
What was strange was that the iceberg appeared to be floating, even though there was sand beneath it.
Through the storm that partially obstructed my view, I noticed it tilting slightly.
"What in the world?" I exclaimed as the wind suddenly ceased.
Just like that, the iceberg stopped floating and was now stuck in the sand. It looked slightly askew.
With the end-room wind stopped, the wind in the tunnel ceased as well. The iceberg was probably about a kilometer away, and due to its tilt, I could see some small protrusions on its surface.
The largest one in the center was quite noticeable. I watched it for a moment and thought I saw a wooden door on the peak, similar to the one that brought me to the other floors.
That was my first goal, to destroy this monstrosity!
Suddenly, something caught my eye as it moved over the sand towards me. It was a soldier.
I noticed his initial anger slowly dissipating as he got closer.
"Your Majesty!" he knelt in greeting.
I nodded in response. "Rise, my loyal soldier."
He did so. "What are you doing here?" he asked me.
"I am here to support you and fulfill my duty," I replied.
He looked at me quizzically.
"Manara has personally instructed me to carry out her will."
He gazed at me with wide eyes, utterly thrilled.
"Manara spoke to you?"
I nodded.
"She has blessed me with her grace. She tasked me with ridding the world of the evils, which includes these dungeons and Scalaris."
"Incredible," the soldier murmured with enthusiasm.
"But tell me, my loyal soldier, what are you doing here?"
He seemed lost in thought until I cleared my throat.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty," he said, bowing his head.
"Orion Darkwood assigned me and the purification squad to keep this floor monster-free, to some extent."
I nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you know your way around here?" I asked him.
"Absolutely, Your Majesty!"
"Then lead me to the door that leads to the next floor!"
"Do you really trust me with this?" he asked with wide eyes.
I nodded.
He was completely enthralled and began to tell me how much of an honor it was for him.
I listened for a moment, but impatience got the better of me, and I asked, "So, can we get going?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty! I think unfortunately, the storm is about to pick up again, and we won't make it to the iceberg in that time."
I gave him a puzzled look. "I'm not that weak; the storm won't kill me. Will it kill you?"
"It's not the storm that will kill you. It's the ground."
I looked at him, surprised. "Are there sand monsters or something?"
"Yes but this is not the problem, Your Majesty."
He nodded towards the sand and rubbed some sand out of his face; „You must have noticed that the iceberg seems to float when the storm rages. Orion Darkwood explained that when the wind blows through the sand, it becomes as fluid as water, and that's what's happening here. So, if you step on the sand during the storm, you'll suffocate."
I examined him briefly and then nodded.
"What a devious trap!" I said with frustration.
*Fuu*
A light breeze began to blow.
It gradually grew stronger until the storm raged once more.
As seen before, the iceberg swayed slightly in the storm.
I knelt in the shelter of the stone archway and felt the sand. It offered little resistance, and as the soldier explained, the sand had a water-like consistency during the storm.
"Your Majesty! This is dangerous!" he exclaimed.
I stood up and looked at him, ignoring the warning, and asked a different question. "Tell me, if the iceberg floats, could we use some sort of ship to cross this sandy ocean?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but sandfish inhabit the sand and fighting them out of a ship is very difficult."
"So, you've already tried that..." I nodded thoughtfully. "When will the storm end?"
"It's hard to say. It's a bit irregular. It could be minutes or hours."
I nodded and asked with a hint of bloodlust, as I was eager to finally confront this dungeon: "What kind of monsters are you dealing with here, and when do new ones appear?"
"There are mainly seven types of monsters on this floor, Your Majesty."
"Which are?"
"The bodies you've probably seen in the tunnel are what we call 'Ice Camouflagers.' They have smooth icy bodies and lie or stick to the ice, shooting ice spikes when someone gets too close."
I nodded, leaned against the archway, and crossed my arms.
"And there! Look!" the soldier pointed toward the storm. "If Your Majesty looks closely, you'll see 'Sandfish.' They're not actual fish, more like worms, but because they can swim through the liquid sand, we call them fish."
I squinted and tried to see something, and indeed, if you looked closely, you could spot worm-like creatures emerging from the icy blue sand. They were well camouflaged, having the same color as the sand.
"Don't you kill them?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"No, Your Majesty! Fortunately, the Sandfish only appear during the storm, and it's already dangerous enough during the storm without having to fight against monsters."
"Tsk," I clicked my tongue in annoyance, as all monsters deserved to die.
But wait, had I really picked up that habit from Mia? It's not something I usually do.
"What's the time it takes for the dungeon to form new tumors?"
"Tumors, Your Majesty?"
"The monsters!" I snapped. "They're the tumors of the dungeon, just as evil and abominable as hell!"
He bowed slightly and apologized for his ignorance and unintentional offense, though I didn't take it as an insult, and I repeated my question after acknowledging his apology.
"Twice a day, Your Majesty!" he replied.
"You've got quite a workload. Do you take breaks?"
"Yes. My team and I deal with the monsters, and when we're done, we have the rest of the time for breaks."
"Is that enough?"
"Yes, because every week we rotate with another team and return to the fourth floor, where the main camp is currently located."
...
About half an hour later, the soldier named Fabian suggested we should get ready.
We stood up and positioned ourselves to run.
I watched intently as Fabian concentrated on the end room.
The wind suddenly calmed.
"NOW, Your Majesty!" he called and sprinted forward.