CHAPTER 676: THE IRON MAW [3]

Around two hours passed after escaping the strange mouth that appeared in the dungeon room. The party covered in dirt and ash from the cavern walls found the path thanks to Logan and Nerim’s skills.

Nerim could detect things using her gills, while Logan studied the maw after his son vanished inside.

"Ack! This place is so confusing."

Logan complained often because his map wasn’t complete, and most people barely reached this far in the maw without dying. ’It seems Logan wasn’t lying before.’ Asmodeus thought he’d hide something, but it turned out he was wrong.

He just wanted to find his brother.

"Do you think this is the right way?" Nerim asked while pointing ahead.

Her finger pointed at the passage ahead, which led into three different tunnels, but unlike before, Asmodeus didn’t want to explore them all. He didn’t want to waste time clearing the lower levels before completing their dungeon.

’To learn more about this metal, I need to go deeper.’

Zahir stepped ahead and held a strange object up to the three passages. It swayed gently at the right passage that Nerim pointed to. Then faster for the central passage, but when he lifted it close to the last one, it suddenly began to judder.

"Hm?"

Asmodeus watched as Zahir’s face became pale and his body shook as if someone held his arms and flung him around. ’What’s going on?’

He struggled against the strange invisible atmosphere before eventually snatching the trinket away, and dropping to his knee’s sweating like mad.

"Haa... Haa.... We must take the right passageway."

His face slowly regained colour after putting the object away.

However, Asmodeus noticed that neither Nerim nor Logan appeared concerned, as if this was something normal or to be expected.

"What’s up lad?" Logan looked back at Asmodeus, who watched Zahir with a strange expression. "Do ye not know about the desert warriors emblem of fate?"

"Emblem of fate?"

Asmodeus didn’t mind learning new information, so he tilted his head, pretending to be confused.

"It’s an item said to contain the power of their god, and guides warriors in their time of need."

Logan watched as Zahir recovered completely, watching them for a moment before he nodded back. "It’s said only the most devout and powerful warriors are given this trinket though, quite interesting to see it for the first time."

Because the Empire on the mainland was vast, almost the same size as the continent, there were countless races and inhabitants.

’I never expected that...’

"Doesn’t that mean Zahir is amazing?"

When Asmodeus spoke, the young warrior’s cheeks turned slightly red as he rubbed his hair with a faint smile.

"Haha, of course lad. But I could say the same about you, or the lass. The entire party has interesting people."

"We should get going, the danger seems to grow the longer we wait." Nerim coughed while peeking at Asmodeus from time to time.

’So pretty.’

Asmodeus couldn’t help but enjoy the movements of her gills; sometimes they fluttered as if responding to her emotions, and since he complimented her scales and gills. She began to watch him silently before turning away when he noticed.

"Let’s go then, I’ll lead since I’m the sturdiest." Logan puffed up his chest and waddled ahead of the group, his little metal helmet with a tiny torch guiding them through the dark tunnels with several branching paths.

In the dungeon, the only sounds were the crackle of flames, squish of footsteps digging into the mud and the steady breathing of the group anxious about what they might find at the next turn.

***

The tunnel led through several rooms. The party found enemies inside, but only the Taken, some rooms with a group of four and others with almost ten. With relative ease, using the strength of Asmodeus and the magic of Zahir and Nerim, these groups vanished easily.

"I can’t believe all we get is lousy experience..."

The existence of levels wasn’t something hidden on the mainland, different from the continent; many people seemed to have been summoned and crossed over in the past. Asmodeus, who learned this, wondered why the continent treated them so badly.

"Hmm... this metal cannot be used like this." Logan complained again, but he still used his mining pick to separate some silver ore from one of the broken pillars.

"Is it worth taking then?" Nerim asked while cleaning her spear of the black ichor. She always asked the questions that Asmodeus wanted, so he enjoyed having her at the party. If he appeared too foolish or naïve, it would make him embarrassed.

"Well, It’s better than just leaving it." Asmodeus decided to support Logan, who looked like he might cry if they took the metal from him.

’I thought he hated this stuff, because of his son... dwarves are weird.’

The group pressed deeper into the winding corridors, their torchlight flickering against walls slippery with condensed moisture. The air grew heavier with the faint stench of decay and rusted metal. Logan kept muttering under his breath, humming a strange dwarven song while using his hammer to tap the walls now and then. Zahir remained unusually quiet, his eyes flicking to the left and right, while holding his dual blades quietly.

"I don’t like this silence..." Nerim complained, her voice deep yet soft as her gills clenched tight. "It’s really hard to breathe in this place."

"Let’s stay alert." Asmodeus said flatly, scanning the dark ahead. His hand gripped the sword at his hip. "Something’s not right..."

They entered a wider cavern lit faintly by glowing moss clinging to the ceiling. Broken stone pillars and torn banners littered the floor. The remains of what looked like a ritual circle marked the centre, scrawled in dried black blood.

It differed from the previous rooms and tunnel, although resembling the first room where they fought the golems; there was only broken slag and stone in here.

"Ah, I hate this kind of place," Logan grumbled.

"I thought dwarves loved dark, damp mountains?"

"Ack!"

Logan seemed shocked by Nerim’s joke, but then he calmed down and started observing the room properly. Zahir never messed around, and so Asmodeus only needed to focus on the dwarf and mermaid, since anything could happen this deep.

Zahir suddenly lifted his hand and waved. "Shh, something!"

The air trembled after his vague warning, but Asmodeus didn’t take it for granted and instead gripped his axe tight and moved to the central position, able to protect any of the three members if needed.

Cracks formed between the stones as a low, chittering noise rose from the silence, and before the party could reform, hundreds of red eyes opened in the dark. Eerie glances appeared from the cracks. Shadows detached from the walls, as Taken poured from the darkness, crawling, running, and clawing their way across the ground.

"Formations!"

Asmodeus shouted, stepping forward with his crimson axe, slicing the first wave, he killed two and sent another pair flying back. Nerim slipped beside him and thrust at those who attacked after his swing.

Logan’s hammer blazed with molten heat as he crushed the ground, shattering several at once, the young desert warrior supporting him with dual blades as the two groups became split apart on either side of the room while slaying countless Taken.

Asmodeus and Nerim fought in almost perfect sync, his axe efficient, merciless and powerful, while she supported him with graceful thrusts and water magic to delay the ones they couldn’t handle easily.

"Nerim to the left!"

"On it!"

Soon their instructions became simple, clear and direct.

She followed his movements, and he guided them to a safe point where they could easily fight with their backs safe.

Until the ground began to shake, a strange quake grew rapidly.

"An earthquake!?" Logan Yelled.

"No... this is different!" Nerim’s eyes widened as she jumped back; the ground where she stood vanished.

Cracks split the ground beneath them. The floor caved in before anyone could react. Asmodeus reached out and grabbed Nerim’s arm, but the stone gave way entirely. Both fell into the void below, swallowed by dust and roaring air.

Zahir shouted something, but it became muffled by the falling rocks, as Logan tried to grab the edge of a stone statue, but failed.

The pair fell for what felt like minutes before slamming into a lower level, cushioned by a pile of debris and loose soil.

A crash echoed through the vast hollow chamber.

Nerim groaned, pushing herself up while rolling onto Asmodeus’s chest. She pushed herself up and glanced around. Her scales glimmered faintly under the eerie blue light of the crystals embedded in the cavern walls.

"Are you alive?"

Asmodeus slowly opened his eyes while sucking in a deep breath and exhaling. He wrapped an arm around Nerim and lifted her off his chest, rising to his feet quickly and brushing himself clean. "Yeah." He looked around with a baffled expression.

’It’s cold... but the stench is gone.’

He looked around using his demon vision, but no mana or life could be detected in the room, which meant Logan and Zahir fell somewhere else, and only the dark blue light kept this place from being pitch black.

"Are you alright, Nerim?"

"Y-Yes..." Nerim turned away and swallowed. "I cannot sense the others anymore, and this place is clearly a new zone or area as there’s nothing on the map."

"Then it’s just us..." Asmodeus grabbed his axe and rolled his neck. "Stay close, since we don’t know what might be down here."

Although he sensed something dangerous in the distance, Asmodeus said nothing.

"Let’s go."