The stone steps groaned under our feet as we descended, the dim glow from Lumen Veil barely illuminating the spiral staircase that led into the second floor. A cold breeze licked the back of my neck, and I could feel the others tense behind me. The air grew heavier with every step, thicker, colder. It smelled of mold, dust, and something else… decay.
When we stepped onto the second floor, the corridor ahead pulsed faintly with an eerie violet light. Vines like black veins clung to the walls, twitching slightly when we passed. It wasn't just dark down here, it felt wrong. Magic here had weight, like it was pressing down on my lungs.
Kael walked ahead without saying a word, his jaw tight, fingers twitching near the hilt of his dagger. Rina clung closer to me than usual, her eyes wide as they scanned every corner, every shadow.
We didn't speak.
At first, it seemed quiet. The hallway opened into a wide chamber littered with cracked tiles and shattered pillars. A few old skeletons lay scattered across the floor, armor rusted and broken. I stepped forward cautiously, casting Gale clearance, just a quick gust to clear the dust and test the air. It worked. The wind whooshed through the chamber and kicked up ancient dirt…
…and then everything went wrong.
The moment my spell touched the far wall, it shimmered, then cracked like glass. From it, a creature emerged. No, not one. Dozens.
They poured out like smoke turning solid, black-furred things with jagged teeth, too many eyes, and limbs that bent the wrong way. Their screeches echoed like metal being torn in half.
"Back! Stay back!" I shouted.
Kael moved fast, dark lightning lashing out as he struck the first few creatures down. "There's too many!" he barked, voice tight with panic.
Rina screamed, casting a frost wall that shattered moments after contact. One of the monsters leaped at me, and I barely used holy light blade in time. It disintegrated midair, but another replaced it instantly.
I couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.
They were faster than anything we'd faced on the first floor. Smarter too, working together, cutting off escape routes, herding us.
We ran.
Dodging between pillars and debris, we tried to retreat, but the exit door had vanished. Gone. Swallowed by the dungeon itself.
"This way!" Kael shouted, turning sharply down a side tunnel I hadn't noticed before. We followed, slipping on cracked stone, stumbling over bones and shattered traps.
Something howled behind us, a sound so sharp it felt like it pierced my skull.
I reached for another spell—anything—but panic made my mana unstable. A spark of Light flared in my palm and fizzled. No good.
"They're chasing us," Rina gasped, voice shaking. "We're gonna die down here!"
"No," I said, more to myself than to them. "We're not dying here."
A second wave of the creatures burst through a cracked wall up ahead. We slid to a halt, skidding across blood-stained tiles.
Kael snarled and cast Spatial Tears of flames, a precise rip through the air that swallowed three of them whole. But it drained him hard.
I pulled him up, throwing out a desperate light flare that lit up the tunnel in a blast of black and gold. For a moment, silence. Then the growl returned, louder, closer.
We turned and ran again.
The floor slanted downward, the tunnel narrowing. I could feel the dungeon pushing us deeper.
"This isn't a path!" Rina yelled. "It's a trap!"
"I know!" I yelled back.
The air felt colder the further we ran. The tunnel vibrated, and the stone beneath our feet cracked like ice.
Suddenly, Kael tripped, and I caught him just before he hit the floor. Rina stopped too, chest heaving, tears in her eyes.
We couldn't keep this up. My mana reserves were half-empty, and every spell took more effort than the last.
A pulse rocked the dungeon, and part of the ceiling collapsed behind us, sealing the way we came. We had no choice now, only forward.
We turned the corner, and there it was.
A vast chamber with a glowing sigil in the center, dark as obsidian, yet pulsing with silver light. Floating just above it was a single crystal… humming.
We didn't speak. Didn't breathe.
As soon as we entered, the door behind us slammed shut. Rina shrieked and spun around, but it was gone.
I reached for my magic again, hands trembling. The crystal pulsed.
Then the floor moved.
A massive centipede-like monsters with armor-plated bodies and mouths full of grinding teeth. Their red eyes fixated on us.
Kael didn't wait. He launched a barrage of dark lightning, screaming as he poured every drop of mana into it. It stunned one creature, but the others charged.
"Too fast!" she screamed.
I saw one lunge.
And then the floor cracked beneath our feet.
The sigil pulsed once more—then shattered.
We screamed as the stone gave way, and we fell into darkness.
The last thing I saw was Rina's hand reaching for mine, Kael twisting midair, the monsters shrieking above us.
Then silence.