The deeper they descended the staircase, the heavier the humidity became. The damp scent of stone filled the air—stale, not unpleasant, yet suffocating in its weight. Alynia noticed it before Veil did. A faint, unsettling impression, as if they were stepping into a place sealed away for centuries.

  Behind her, Veil trudged on without energy. His gaze remained fixed on the floor, lost in thought.

  What’s the point? We didn’t even manage to clear the Trial of Judgment… he muttered inwardly, bitterness lacing every word.

  His fingers tightened around the hilt of his dagger, betraying his mood. Failure clung to him like a shadow. Everything had become harder, less predictable. Every past victory now felt fleeting, every obstacle insurmountable.

  Alynia said nothing. She didn’t even glance at him, simply moving forward with her usual measured precision. But she knew. She could feel his unrest in the uneven rhythm of his steps, in the faintly heavier sound of his breathing, dripping with frustration.

  She stopped in front of a massive door, its wood swollen and scarred by dampness, and pressed her hand against it. With effortless grace, she pushed it open.

  What awaited them froze them both in place.

  A cavern stretched out before them—immense, bathed in lunar light spilling through a natural opening far above, impossibly high to reach. The full moon loomed in the sky, casting its silver glow over slick stone, turning the cave into an otherworldly painting.

  But it wasn’t the moonlight that stole their breath.

  It was the lake.

  It sat in the very heart of the cavern, perfectly still, its surface smooth as glass. A silent expanse, mesmerizing, almost hypnotic.

  But its waters were… wrong.

  They gleamed red.

  A deep, vivid red, alive under the touch of moonlight. Every ripple of reflected light made the scene even more surreal—beautiful and terrifying all at once.

  Veil froze.

  A chill raced down his spine.

  “… No. That’s not possible,” he whispered, unable to move.

  That lake… it stirred something in him. A memory—no, a nightmare. A dream he had once had in the forest: dark waters, a boundless lake of blood swallowing him whole, dragging him into its suffocating depths. A vision he had wanted to forget… but here it was, standing before him in flesh and reality.

  “Little Wolf?” Alynia’s voice was calm, neutral, yet observant.

  He flinched slightly, averting his eyes at once.

  “It’s… beautiful. But unsettling,” Veil answered, hesitant, his tone detached.

  But Alynia saw through him immediately. The lie was too thin.

  Her sharp gaze lingered on him, piercing through the cracks he tried clumsily to hide. Yet she didn’t push further. Her focus shifted to the cavern instead.

  The walls were covered in patches of moss, glistening under the steady trickle of water that seeped from the ceiling. Small pools of clear water had formed on the ground, their pale blue shimmer clashing violently with the lake’s crimson glow.

  Veil shook his head, pushing away the thoughts clouding his mind, and swept his gaze across the cavern in search of an exit. But there was nothing. Only a massive collapse of stone, blocking what might once have been a passage.

  “Should we… take a break?” he asked, raising a brow.

  Alynia slowly shook her head.

  “No.” Her tone left no room for argument.

  “Why not? We’ve got nowhere to go,” Veil shot back, frowning.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “Remember the forest, Little Wolf. Do I really need to remind you how that ended?” Alynia said, calm but piercing.

  The memory struck Veil instantly. That peaceful clearing, the false tranquility… and the horror that had followed.

  “Nothing here is ever as calm as it seems,” she added quietly, her voice almost a whisper.

  A heavy silence fell between them.

  Veil cast one last glance at the blood-red lake, a dull unease gnawing at him.

  “Something’s waiting for us here,” he murmured tensely.

  He was certain of it.

  The atmosphere pressed against his shoulders, a crawling tension that refused to let go. The faint drip of water trickling down the stone walls echoed in the cavern, mingling with the uneven thrum of his heart. With a weary sigh, he brushed aside the discomfort and slumped onto a nearby rock close to the lake.

  The stone was cold, rough beneath his fingers. He dragged a hand through his messy hair, thoughts still stuck in the failure of the Judgment Hall.

  Alynia remained standing, watching him with a hint of exasperation.

  “You’re deciding to take a break now?” she growled, annoyed.

  Veil looked up at her, already bracing for the scolding.

  “Stay alert. If that mysterious voice was telling the truth, the slightest lapse will cost us dearly,” she continued, her gaze sharp and unwavering.

  He sighed, lifting his shoulders in defeat before pushing himself back to his feet.

  “Fine. But do what, exactly?” Veil asked, tired, tilting his head back.

  His eyes swept across the vast cavern. Nothing. No visible path forward. Just the rockfall, the damp walls… and that crimson lake that seemed to promise nothing but trouble.

  Cautiously, he stepped toward the water, his footsteps echoing faintly on the stone floor. Each step slowed him down, hesitation growing stronger, yet a strange curiosity urged him onward.

  He stopped at the edge, leaning slightly over the lake.

  The water was disturbingly clear, and yet its depths remained elusive. He peered into it—and the reflection staring back unsettled him more than he expected.

  His features looked sharper, harsher. His eyes darker, almost foreign. For an instant, he felt as though his reflection wasn’t moving quite in sync with him… as though it were watching him.

  He pulled back quickly, discomfort prickling through him.

  “What was that…?” he muttered tensely.

  Alynia, still standing behind, observed in silence.

  “What do you think we’re supposed to do?” he asked, still keeping his eyes locked on the water.

  Alynia crossed her arms, letting out a quiet sigh.

  “I don’t know. From the very start, everything has slipped through our grasp. This dungeon… it’s nothing like any I’ve ever seen,” she replied gravely, her voice thoughtful and heavy.

  Her eyes narrowed slightly.

  And I doubt it ends here… she thought, wary.

  Veil nodded.

  “Yeah, I know. But the further we go, the more impossible it gets. How am I supposed to make it out of this when I…” Veil began bitterly.

  He cut himself short.

  Alynia arched a brow at the sudden shift in his voice.

  “…when I don’t even know why I’m here,” he finished more quietly.

  Alynia didn’t answer right away.

  She knew why Veil had followed her—there had never been any mystery about that. But this was the first time he had said it aloud, in such a way.

  Still, she didn’t press him. Asking questions wasn’t her style. If he wanted to talk, he would.

  She turned her gaze aside, fixing on some invisible point in the cavern’s shadows.

  But Veil’s voice snapped her back.

  “Alynia. Come here,” he called, urgency sharp in his tone.

  She lifted her eyes. Veil was still crouched at the water’s edge, his expression tighter, more focused than before.

  Alynia approached cautiously, her steps measured.

  “What do you see?” she asked, guarded.

  Veil pointed toward the surface of the lake.

  “Look closely. The bottom,” he said gravely.

  She narrowed her eyes, peering into the crimson water. At first, all she saw were faint shadows, distorted patterns of light refracted by the surface. But when she forced her focus, her expression hardened.

  Something massive lay beneath.

  It was hard to make out exactly what—it wavered and shifted as though the water itself blurred the truth of its form.

  “A black mass… enormous,” Alynia muttered tensely.

  She didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  Veil turned to her, hesitation flickering in his eyes.

  “Shouldn’t we take a closer look?” he suggested, serious yet intrigued.

  Alynia shot him a glare that left no room for doubt.

  “Bad idea,” she replied firmly.

  Veil frowned.

  “What if it’s a way out?” he pressed.

  “And what if it’s our grave?” Alynia snapped back, her voice sharp.

  The silence that followed was heavy.

  Veil bit the inside of his cheek, irritation simmering beneath the surface.

  She’s not wrong… but staying here won’t get us anywhere either, Veil thought, frustrated.

  He turned his head back toward the lake. That shape below the water… it wasn’t just a rock. He was sure of it.

  But as he sank deeper into his thoughts, a shiver crept down his spine.

  Veil stepped back slightly, then shook his head and went to sit beside a massive boulder. Nothing made sense. The lake, the suffocating tension in the air, the oppressive silence—everything here was wrong. He needed to think. To understand.

  Alynia remained by the shore, her eyes fixed on the crimson surface though she wasn’t truly looking at it. Her mind wandered—between the trials of the dungeon and the truths they revealed. Between Veil and his apparent recklessness, his way of facing danger without always measuring its weight.

  A faint crease formed between her brows.

  This dungeon is toying with us. None of it makes sense… Alynia thought, tense.

  Veil leaned absentmindedly against the boulder at his side—but stopped at once. The stone didn’t carry the usual coolness. It was warm.

  He frowned, sliding his palm across its rough surface. The warmth was strange, diffuse, as though the rock held some kind of buried energy. He turned toward Alynia, puzzled.

  “Hey, this boulder… it’s different from the others. It’s warm,” Veil called, raising his voice.

  Alynia, still focused on the lake, cast him a sidelong glance. But before he could finish, the stone beneath his hand shuddered.

  “Wait…” he muttered, suddenly on alert.

  A hiss of steam burst out from the fissures in the rock.

  Veil jerked his hand back and stumbled a step away.

  “Back. Now,” Alynia ordered sharply.

  He didn’t need to be told twice.

  The stone began to tremble before their eyes, faint cracks echoing through the cavern. The ground vibrated beneath them, a low rumble rising from deep below. Then, slowly, the boulder unfolded.

  A massive block lifted itself, entire slabs of stone shifting upward like plates of armor. A long, flexible tail emerged first, its tip forming a spiked mace of jagged stone, swaying lazily as if testing the air.

  Then came the body.

  A massive torso broke free, muscles sculpted from living rock. The illusion of inert stone shattered as the creature rose from its camouflage. Huge hind legs slammed into the ground, claws extending at the end—four long, one shorter and hooked to the side, ready to grasp and crush.

  Its forelimbs followed, equally colossal. With a grinding roar of stone, the beast straightened, revealing its head.

  A chill ran through Veil’s spine.

  Two long horns curved upward from its skull, twisted like jagged obsidian spires. From its jaw jutted twin blades of rock, carved with terrifying precision. But it was the eyes that froze the blood: two white slits, pupilless, radiating a cold, unyielding presence.

  Then, slowly, its maw opened—rows of serrated fangs revealed, sharp enough to crush stone itself.

  Veil sprang to his feet, hand instantly flying to his dagger. Alynia shifted to the side, her lupine claws flashing to life in one fluid motion.

  The creature moved, stone plates cracking with a deep, sharp resonance. Its body was lined with natural fissures—not weaknesses, but joints of flexibility, giving it a disturbing freedom of movement despite its monolithic frame.

  Veil swallowed hard.

  “How are we supposed to break through solid rock with nothing but blades…?” he thought grimly.

  The monster lifted its head ever so slightly toward them.

  And in the crushing silence of the cavern, it drew in a deep, earth-shaking breath.