Mayank gazed at the paths from where the roar still echoed, seeing nothing but bare dungeon walls.
'I feel like being strangled to death.'
He stood with one hand on the wall and the other on his trembling legs.
Nobody spoke for a long while.
"Wh... what was that?" Cecily mumbled, breaking the silence.
She dragged her feet backward but hit something — something invisible to their eyes.
"What... what is this?" she said, moving her trembling hands across the invisible wall.
Vesta moved closer, put a hand on the invisible wall, and stared at it.
Alden put his hand on her shoulder as he saw her expression change to disbelief. "What is wrong?"
"We shouldn't have come here," she muttered as her knees lost strength and she collapsed.
Alden caught her before she fell.
Arthur rushed to them. "What happened?"
Vesta looked at the others, her face pale. "This dungeon is conscious."
"What?" Alden breathed out.
She caught Alden's hands and continued, "This... this is a special barrier that is used by such dungeons to trap those who dare challenge them."
"But how is that possible? Such dungeons are rare and are under the guild, only to be cleared by the best parties," Cecily said in a low, breaking voice as she stared at the barrier.
But Vesta didn't say anything. She just sat like a statue.
Arthur knelt and looked Vesta in the eyes. "Is there a way for us to escape?"
After a long silence, Vesta muttered in a low tone, "No."
"What should we do?" Alden asked, looking at Arthur, only for silence to answer him.
"We have to move forward," Mayank finally spoke, his eyes still fixed on the right path.
Alden moved his gaze toward him, his eyes frowning, but his voice still calm. "That would be suicide."
He finally turned his gaze toward the others. "Do you have any other plan?"
Nobody could answer. They didn't have an answer.
---
The party entered the right path, slowly walking, each step echoing through the cave.
Mayank walked in front while the others followed. Alden supported Vesta as she couldn't gather enough strength to walk.
"Edrik... is this really the right path?" Arthur questioned as he walked behind Mayank, his gaze piercing through the darkness.
"I do not know, but that path had an ominous energy radiating," Mayank said, his eyes fixed ahead, with a sliver of hope.
Time wasn't something anyone would worry about at such a moment, yet it doesn't wait.
After a long walk, a hint of relief appeared on everyone's face as they saw some light at the end of the tunnel.
Soon after, they exited the tunnel, coming out into a vast area inside the cave, covered with trees and greenery.
The place was inside the cave, yet strangely illuminated without any visible light source. The forest stretched at least half a mile before meeting the cave walls.
"Where did that tunnel go?" Alden muttered, examining the wall that had been a tunnel some time ago.
Mayank turned back and looked at the place where only a wall existed now.
'Why do I feel nothing even in such a situation... It's as if I am losing myself—'
"What is this place?" Arthur breathed out as he couldn't stop himself from glancing around.
"We... we might live," Vesta said in a low tone as a sense of relief crept onto her face.
Hearing this, everyone turned toward her except Mayank. He stood like a statue, unaware, unaffected, his eyes closed as if he were focusing on his other senses.
"What did you say, Vesta?" Alden questioned first, which was then followed by questions from the other two.
Vesta gazed around the trees, then at the ceiling of the cave. "If what I think is true, we might survive."
She then looked at Alden and continued, "I think this is a merged dungeon."
"But aren't merged dungeons more dangerous due to high mana density and stronger monsters?" Cecily said as her breathing became shallow.
Vesta looked at her trembling legs once, then into her eyes and continued, "That is true, but I think most of the mana was used when this dungeon gained consciousness, so there might not be any strong monsters except the main boss."
"And we can escape once we kill the boss?" Alden asked, tilting his head.
"Yes," Vesta said, nodding.
"What about the humans who were dragged here?" Arthur asked, turning his gaze toward Mayank.
Mayank finally opened his eyes, looked at the others, and breathed out in a serious tone. "We should move forward. I think I know where we should head."
Vesta took a long breath, clenching her fist. "You know what happened when we decided to follow you here?"
"Do it one last time," Mayank replied, looking her in the eyes.
"You have something on your mind, don't you?" Alden wondered, with a dazed gaze.
"Yes," Mayank replied.
The party moved inside the forest after some explanation from Mayank. Mayank led the way, followed by Arthur. Behind him were Vesta and Cecily, and at last Alden, gripping his bow tightly in his left hand.
As they moved deeper, the forest grew denser. Silence reeked, with only the faint rustle of bushes audible in the distance.
"Are you really Edrik?" Arthur questioned in a low tone, audible only to him. "You haven't been acting like the regular muscle-headed Edrik."
Mayank opened his mouth slightly but closed it again and moved forward, pretending as if he hadn't heard anything.
After walking for some time, they reached an open area, a place between the dense forest strangely void of trees, the ground covered with short grass.
They all looked around for some time as they stood in the center of the area.
But before anyone could say anything, they heard a rustle. As it grew closer, the sound increased.
Edrik turned to look at Arthur as he clenched his fists. "Are you ready?"
Arthur unsheathed his sword as he looked around the bushes. "Yes."
The next second, hundreds and hundreds of goblins swarmed the area, each one holding a different weapon, each one radiating an ominous aura.
To be continued....