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From the damp cavern smell, creeping vines, and rusting equipment laid down by adventurers who most likely did not manage to destroy the dungeon core, rumors once said there is a magnificent crystal deep inside the dungeon that lures creatures and monsters alike. Like a cast spell, they follow the scent unknowingly, being controlled and corrupted by the dungeon.
As Lisa and Rite maneuver deeper into the cavern of monsters, eerily ghost-quiet for reasons unknown, almost tainted in darkness, the only dim light was from Lisa's light magic, creating the shape of a lantern.
Only able to see several feet in front of them, they slowly crept forward, avoiding traps and monsters alike.
Meanwhile, Yuna's steps were silent on the wet stone, her eyes scanning the darkness around her. She had been wandering the cavern for what felt like hours, every shadow a potential threat. She tried to push forward, to find a way out, but the oppressive silence of the dungeon seemed to hold her in place. The faint glow from Lisa's light magic, far ahead, made her hesitate.
The cavern stretched on, endless and claustrophobic. Yuna turned a corner, her fur prickling as the distant sound of dripping water echoed through the tunnels. There was no way forward—just more twisted corridors, more dead ends. She could feel the pull of the dungeon core, an invisible weight pressing down on her chest.
Meanwhile, Lisa and Rite entered a room with towering marble walls and a massive stone gate, its faces carved with ominous figures, their eyes seemingly locked onto them. The eerie silence in the room only heightened the sense of danger.
"Inside lays the god himself," Lisa whispered, reading from an ancient inscription on the gate. "The keeper of darkness, lord of the dead... once entered, those who deemed to leave will face the wrath of Cerberus."
Yuna paused, her ears flicking as the words seemed to resonate within her. She could feel them, like a whisper at the edge of her mind. "The keeper of darkness..." Her claws flexed as she instinctively stepped back, but something in her gut urged her forward. The dungeon, the crystal—it was all connected. She had to know.
Lisa and Rite stood before the gate, their voices low and tense.
"Total darkness, Lisa," Rite said as he peered through the narrow slit in the stone doors.
Yuna's breath caught as a figure shifted in the distance, barely visible in the pitch black of the cavern. She froze. Red eyes—glowing faintly—stared back at her. For a split second, she wondered if it was watching her, waiting for her next move. Her instincts flared, and she instinctively crouched, ready to spring.
"I could have probably guessed," Lisa said, her voice breaking through Yuna's tension. "Total darkness."
Despite the lighthearted tone, Yuna could feel the unease building inside her, the same feeling she had been battling since she first stepped into this cursed place. Something was wrong, and the dungeon was alive in a way she couldn't explain.
As Lisa and Rite continued their exploration, they quickly realized Yuna couldn't have gone inside the dungeon's heart. There was no trace of her presence—nothing to suggest she had ventured this far.
Yuna's thoughts raced. Where could you be, Yuna? She wished she could sense them, just as they seemed to feel her. But the distance between them felt insurmountable, like an invisible force pulling them further apart.
As Lisa smartly marked the path, memories of her adventures with her parents in the elven lands surfaced. She knew how to navigate through ancient ruins, though this dungeon was unlike any she had faced before.
Meanwhile, Yuna was still far behind them, caught in the labyrinth of stone and shadow. Her heart raced as the red eyes—those glowing, unsettling eyes—continued to haunt her. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were watching her every move.
At that moment, Yuna turned, walking back toward the path she had come from, hoping to return to the safety of her friends. But something deeper inside her urged her to keep going. She couldn't turn back—not yet.
The deeper she went, the more she felt it—an overwhelming sense that the dungeon itself was alive, aware of her, aware of them all.
Suddenly, a distant, low growl echoed through the darkness, followed by the sound of something large shifting in the shadows. Yuna's fur stood on end as she crouched low, instinctively preparing for whatever was lurking ahead.