On the second floor of the dungeon, inside the cave that had been ravaged by Erich's fireball.
A long time after Erich left, in an inconspicuous corner deep within the cave, the rock wall suddenly loosened. A few pieces of earth and stone were pushed aside from the inside, and a hand reached out. Then, half a shoulder squeezed through. The person got stuck for a moment, struggling with all their might to squeeze out of the narrow opening. As soon as they emerged, they collapsed onto the ground, gasping heavily for air.
With the first came a second, then a third. Eventually, a total of seven people crawled out of the small hole. Not a single one of them could stand steady; they all lay sprawled on the ground, panting incessantly.
This small hole was a temporary shelter they had dug just before the fireball blasted in. Having heard the unusual commotion from afar, their leader had shouted, and they scrambled into the secluded chamber, sealing the entrance layer by layer with earth magic.
Then, the fireball had erupted in the cave. Huddled in that tiny space, they listened to the rumbling outside, not even daring to breathe loudly.
Later, the noise outside quieted down. They could vaguely hear the footsteps of Treants and humans, but they still didn't dare move. Anyone capable of unleashing such magic was certainly not someone to be trifled with. If they were discovered, they would be finished.
Still later, the footsteps faded as well. Yet they still didn't dare move, waiting in silence until the air in the chamber grew increasingly thin and some began to feel dizzy. Finally unable to take it anymore, the leader was the first to start clawing at the sealed entrance.
The hole was small to begin with, and cramming seven people inside was a tight squeeze. If they stayed any longer, they would likely suffocate to death.
After the seven of them had lain on the ground gasping for quite some time, the first one who had crawled out slowly pushed himself up. He leaned on his staff to steady himself as he stood upright.
“Get up, quick! How can we make any progress looking like this? You have no dignity at all!”
He had been gasping harder than anyone else just moments ago, but now he was putting on airs about dignity.
The subordinates exchanged looks on the ground. None of them said a word, only gasping for breath as they climbed up and stood at attention.
The leader swept his gaze over them, locking onto the sturdiest one. “Bru, go out and take a look at the situation!”
Bru, who had been named, shuddered. Although he had been hiding in the chamber, the devastating flames had left a deep psychological scar. Who could guarantee that the mage had already departed?
Bru stood frozen in place, his legs utterly refusing to budge forward.
The leader barked again, “What are you dazing off for? Go!”
Just as the Treants dared not defy Erich's terrifying might, Bru dared not defy the leader's authority. He began to shuffle helplessly toward the exit, taking two steps and stopping for one. He poked his head out to peek, then quickly pulled it back, his retreating figure looking incredibly pitiful.
Watching Bru's pathetic display, the remaining few quietly breathed a sigh of relief. At least they weren't the ones chosen for such a dangerous task.
Staring at Bru's dawdling back, the leader was already in a foul mood. Seeing the relieved expressions on his other subordinates' faces only made him feel more irritated.
As a leader, the last thing he wanted to see was his subordinates taking it easy.
“What are you guys standing around for?” he raised his voice. “Hurry up and check on the ritual setup! See how badly it's damaged!”
The relief vanished from the subordinates' faces instantly. Reluctantly, they scattered and began searching through the cave.
And when they looked, it hurt their hearts even more.
For this ritual, they had poured in so much effort from start to finish. The money to buy the materials had been saved up bit by bit, and they had spent countless hours transporting them into this dungeon. They had even endured staying in this wretched cave with spiders for so many days just to set up the spell circle and sacrifices properly.
Now, it was all gone. Once the fireball passed, not even a speck was left. Squatting on the ground and sifting through the blackened rubble, they gasped in pain, looking more miserable than if they had lost half their lives.
“Everything we set up is ruined,” one subordinate said, straightening his back, his voice dripping with heartache. “Even the runes carved into the stone are gone. The stone itself has cracked from the heat.”
“How long is it going to take to set it all up again?!”
But in truth, they should have been grateful instead of complaining. After all, if any traces had been left behind, Erich would surely have noticed. And if he had, he certainly wouldn't have departed so easily, and they would have been in deep trouble.
They understood this reasoning as well, but when they thought of the materials they had spent so much effort to bring in, and realized they would have to start all over again, their expressions collapsed in despair.
Rate on N.U.
