Behind the iron door was an endless darkness, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold and dampness.
A smell, a mixture of strong rust, aged mold, and an indescribable... faint fishy odor, permeated Lucy's nostrils.
"Why does it reek so much in here?" Lucy asked, covering her nose and mouth.
"Analyzing scent components: multiple mold spores... humus... trace... blood and... excrement odors," Christian's precise data stream made Lucy feel a suffocating pressure.
"Ahead... life signs detected... strong... quantity: thirteen... physiological state: weak... energy level: extremely low..."
"Life signs? Suffering?" Lucy's heart clenched, and an ominous premonition wrapped around her.
The stairs were steep and long, as if leading to the depths of hell. The walls were rough, cold rock, covered in slimy moss. Only at very distant intervals on the walls were dim, flickering oil lamps, casting distorted shadows on the damp walls and stairs.
Oppressive, intermittent whimpers faintly drifted from the darkness below.
At the end of the stairs was a crude wooden door, riddled with wormholes. Through the cracks, an even dimmer, flickering firelight, and those heartbreaking whimpers, could be seen.
Christian once again mimicked a pendant, clinging to Lucy's skin, delivering a final warning: "Behind the door... high concentration of negative emotional field... and... target 'Golden Owl Statue' energy source... mental induction wave... confirmed. Prepare for... psychological impact."
Lucy's hand trembled slightly, but her eyes were firm. She held her breath and gently pushed open the heavy wooden door.
The sight before her instantly struck Lucy like lightning, her blood seemingly frozen!
This was no basement; it was clearly a gloomy and terrifying ancient dungeon!
On the cold, glistening rock walls hung rusty, heavy shackles and chains.
On the ground, dirty, damp, foul-smelling straw lay. A dozen people—men and women, white-haired elders, and teenagers who looked no older than their teens—were shackled like livestock by thick iron chains around their necks or ankles, huddled in cold corners.
They were dressed in rags, barely covering themselves, and their exposed skin was covered in bruises, whip marks, and festering wounds. They were emaciated, with sunken eyes, and their gaze was as hollow as a dry well, filled only with endless fear and despair. The air was permeated with the nauseating stench of excrement and rotting wounds.
And in the center of the cell, on a slightly "cleaner" stone platform covered with a dirty blanket, stood a half-meter-tall, gleaming golden owl statue! In the dim, flickering light of the wall torches, the owl's eyes, inlaid with huge pigeon's blood rubies, shimmered with an eerie, greedy, evil red light that seemed to suck souls! It was precisely the "heirloom" described by Duke Ebal!
"This is... the stolen... heirloom?" Lucy's voice trembled violently with extreme anger, every word squeezed out between her teeth.
"He... he actually locked living people here like animals! And accused them of theft?!"
"Bastard!!" Lucy's rage completely overwhelmed her reason. She no longer cared about hiding, and she violently pushed open the door and rushed in!
"Don't be afraid, everyone! We are Mages from Fairy Tail! We're here to save you!"
"Who?!" The people in the cell, like startled birds, let out frightened whimpers and huddled even more desperately into the corners, their chains clanking.
"Save... save us?" A white-haired old man, so thin he was just skin and bones, trembled as he raised his head, a faint glimmer of hope in his cloudy eyes, which was immediately drowned out by deeper fear.
"No... no! Run! The Duke... he's not human! He'll kill you! He... he has the power of a demon! He can control shadows!"
"The power of a demon?" Lucy's heart tightened.
Duke Ebal! His obese body, like a mountain of flesh, blocked the only exit, a cruel and satisfied smile on his face, as if he were enjoying a magnificent play.
His butler stood by like a ghost, his eyes sinister. Several guards, armed with sharp swords and magic staffs, whose aura was clearly stronger than ordinary bodyguards, spread out like wolves, blocking all escape routes. On Ebal's fingers, the jewel rings sparkled with an even more ominous light in the dimness.
"Miss Lucy Heartfilia... and your... blue Slime pet?"
"Should I commend your bravery... or mock your foolishness? To dare to break into my... treasure display room?"
He spread his arms, taking a deep, intoxicated breath of the dungeon's foul, fear-filled air. "What a wonderful scent of despair... This is my kingdom! Every bit of fear, every drop of painful tears here, is my supreme collection! And you..." He pointed at Lucy, his eyes glinting with mad greed.
"Especially you, Miss Lucy... your beauty, your vitality, and your impending fear and wailing... will surely become the most brilliant treasure in my collection!" He seemed to already see victory.
Just then!
"Heh heh heh... what a bunch of disobedient bugs, and... a few mice that snuck in." A greasy, cold voice, with the playful tone of a cat toying with a mouse, came from the stairs behind them!