The heavy door to Level 1 gave way with a final, grinding shriek as Lyria forced it open. A wave of air washed over them, carrying bitter cold and a sharp metallic smell.
They stepped out onto a circular balcony. It seemed to hang over a huge dark shaft that dropped away into nothing with a railing being the only thing that kept them from the edge.
Across the open space, the far wall was filled with broken machines. The only light came from flickering strips of pale blue along the balcony floor. They pulsed in a steady rhythm that felt strangely familiar.
Aether's eyes widened in wonder and confusion. The curve of the balcony looked wrong, as if it was both near and far at the same time.
Another odd thing?
The pulsing lights didn't just glow.
They seemed to pull at his eyes, trying to drag his thoughts into their beat. A sudden sharp pain stabbed through his mind, making him groan and shake and he put a hand to his forehead as the world tilted sideways.
Lyria was at his side instantly, her grip firm on his arm. "The Ring's energy is attacking your sense of balance and mind."
Before she could do more, Mila stepped in. Her playful look was gone, replaced by soft focus.
"Look at me, Chief. Right here." She gently cupped his cheek with one hand. With her other thumb, she rubbed slow circles on his forehead while she leaned close and began to hum.
This was not her normal humming.
It was a gentle melody made from calming sounds. The tune seemed to vibrate in the air between them, building a wall against the chaotic energy of the Ring.
The awful pain in Aether's head did not vanish, but it pulled back layer by layer. The dizziness faded as the lights stopped pulling at him.
He took a breath, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Mila beamed, her golden eyes soft.
"Better?" At his nod, she took her hands away, leaving a cool patch on his skin. "Good!"
Lyria gave Mila a short nod of thanks, then turned her attention forward. "This place also has a delayed echo," she warned in a low tone. "Every sound comes back three seconds late. It makes it harder to notice approaching enemies."
"Then I'll map the area out," Mila whispered.
Her eyes took on a distant look as they glowed bright golden.
"What do you see, Mila?" Lyria asked.
"I can see some living things, but they aren't close to us, so I'll keep watch. Let's keep moving."
They continued forward in silence. Aether searched the shadows. Then he saw movement there before a ribbon-like shape peeling away from the dark far wall was a Noct-Eel.
He opened his mouth to warn Lyria. But the warning came from Lyria's own mouth three seconds later, a weird echo of his unspoken thought.
"Noct-Eel is on the left..."
The creature was already upon them by the time they heard it.
But Mila had already noticed as she moved, twisting her body. She threw one of her short blades, and it spun through the air and pierced the eel's glowing eye just as it coiled to strike Aether.
The creature dissolved with a wet pop.
The sound echoed three seconds later, making it seem like it died somewhere far behind them.
Aether's lips twitched in a faint smile. "Thank you," he said quietly. The word "you" bounced back a moment later, oddly alone.
They continued forward before pausing as they saw down below. The muck was trembling before a shape emerged from it and soon it revealed a Twitch Lurker.
The lurker vanished from one spot and reappeared two meters closer as sparks flew off its body. Then once more it vanished and appeared even closer. Lyria stepped forward, swinging her sword outward.
It swept through the air as the lurker flickered directly into the path of her blade. The creature didn't block but vanished at the last possible moment. The blade passed through empty air where it had been.
The lurker reappeared clinging to the railing right beside Aether. Its needle-fingers stabbed down toward his leg but Aether saw it coming. He shifted to the side with the creature's fingers almost scraping his pants without cutting through.
Then Aether slammed his weapon hard into its bulging head, making a crunching sound. The lurker pulled back, the slits on its face opening wide before Aether shoved his gun into its gaping mouth and pulled the trigger.
One shot blasted out before another and then a third. The energy bolts ripped through the monster from inside and split it apart as it turned to black mist.
Without pausing, Aether turned to find new targets. He spotted movement in the dark corners, more lurkers coming up from the mold and he fired quickly.
His shots hit the sludge where the creatures were trying to rise. One after another, they died before they could fully form. But for every group he killed, more appeared such as the six new lurkers rose from different patches of mold.
A lurker rushed toward Lyria from behind but Aether saw it and just fired. The bolt struck it mid-flicker and it dissolved before completing the skip.
Another lurker appeared beside Mila, needle-fingers reaching for her neck but she didn't stop moving.
As just then a lurker burst into mist from a blue bolt.
A lurker jumped down from the railing above him. Its sharp fingers aimed for his head, but Aether moved back just in time. The deadly points missed his face by inches. As he stepped away, he raised his gun and fired at close range. The creature burst into mist.
Without stopping, Aether spotted two more lurkers. They appeared on both sides of him at once, trying to trap him but he quickly stepped forward between them.
The creatures stabbed at the empty space where he had just been standing. Before they could react, Aether shot the one on his left, then turned and shot the one on his right.
Both monsters bursting into mist.
He then began focusing on evading for a bit to give time for the gun to recharge. After fifteen seconds, he had already recovered six bolts just as a lurker tried to attack from above.
It rushed towards him while a broken machine on the wall flickered. Aether fired at the machine's base, the bolt struck the weakened metal. The machine broke free and it began falling down before crashing into the lurker.
The creatures roared before its head burst from a blue bolt.
Aether then glances to see a lurker flickered toward Lyria while she was finishing another one. He kicked a piece of loose railing, and it flew through the air, striking the lurker mid-flicker.
The creature stumbled, its skip disrupted before Lyria's sword took its head.
Another lurker appeared near the edge of the shaft, but Aether fired at the frosted railing beside it.
The metal shattered.
The lurker lost its footing and fell into the dark shaft below, its shriek echoing as it disappeared.
But then more lurkers emerged and rushed towards them. Aether moved between attacks as he leaned, ducked, and spun around attacks.
When a lurker appeared behind him, Aether was already twisting with his weapon raised. The creature appeared directly in his sights, but they burst into a mist from a bolt.
Two lurkers attacked together, both blinking toward him at once. Aether stepped left as the creatures appeared in the same spot, their needle-arms tangling together.
Then one shot went through both, and they dissolved as one.
A lurker clung to the ceiling above Mila and without looking up, Aether fired a bolt that hit and the creatures burst.
A lurker appeared right in front of him, stabbing forward with needle-fingers. But Aether tilted his head slightly and the points brushed past his ear. Before he thrust the gun to the lurker chest and the creature burst apart point-blank.
He walked through the fading mist, already looking for the next enemy.
Then Aether saw six more of them from the other molds were able to rise up. And then even more bulbous heads were breaking the surface, their slits twitching hungrily.