The smell of rust and bat guano mixed together in the incredibly stuffy air. Kanos ducked slowly, walking past a giant iron pipe that was already half destroyed by corrosion. The tip of his shoe stepped into a puddle of murky water that instantly splashed onto his pants. He did not care. His focus was only on one thing. He kept his eyes locked on Papuyu’s back as the girl crouched and walked a dozen meters ahead of him.
They had been descending non stop for eight hours straight. They were walking through an ancient sewage disposal route that had never been touched by sunlight since the city of Marrath was first built.
"Stop," Papuyu’s voice was incredibly quiet, sounding almost like a faint breath of wind. The girl raised her left fist.
Kanos stopped walking immediately. Belida, who was walking right behind Kanos, also froze in place. The giant knight held his breath, his hand already resting heavily on the hilt of his massive black greatsword. In the very back of the line, Sili hurriedly covered his own mouth with both hands so his heavy panting would not make any noise.
Kanos’s black golem stood completely still next to Belida. The empty stone creature truly did not make a single sound. There was no breathing, no heartbeat. It was purely a block of absolute nothingness waiting for a command.
Papuyu pulled a small dagger from her waist. Her dead eyes stared sharply at a puddle of water right in front of the tip of her boots. The girl pried a small pebble off the dirty floor, then tossed the rock gently toward the tunnel wall covered in glowing blue moss.
The pebble hit the wall. The sound was very quiet. But suddenly, the water in the puddle in front of Papuyu began to boil rapidly. In just two seconds, the dirty water exploded upward, shooting out razor sharp ice spikes that reached as high as an adult’s stomach. If Papuyu had taken just one more step forward earlier, her leg would have been completely skewered straight through to her thigh.
Sili swallowed hard from the back. The skinny guy pushed his cracked glasses up with a trembling hand.
"Ice rune trap," Papuyu spoke flatly while sheathing her dagger back into its leather case. The girl took one step back, looking for a completely dry stone to stand on. "The Sensor Bureau apparently still sets up security nets this deep. They really do not want anyone accidentally wandering down to the tenth floor."
"Can you dismantle it?" Kanos asked quietly. His head was still throbbing from the leftover strain of forcing his brain to control the golem all night.
Papuyu squatted on the edge of the frozen puddle. Her hand felt the empty air above the sharp ice spikes, looking for the exact location of the invisible magic thread acting as the trigger. "Easy. An old model rune like this has a blind spot in the bottom corner. I just need to cut its mana core using an iron blade. Give me one minute."
Kanos leaned his shoulder against the damp tunnel wall. He took a long, deep breath. The air at this depth felt weirder the further down they went. It was not just stuffy, but there was some kind of static pressure that kept making the hairs on his neck stand up constantly.
He randomly opened his system interface panel out of curiosity. Usually, the transparent blue screen would pop up smoothly right in front of his eyes. But this time was different. The blue screen appeared accompanied by a harsh buzzing sound that actually hurt his ears. The edges of the screen were flickering terribly. His health and mana status texts kept shifting back and forth on their own, changing from normal numbers into rows of randomized, unreadable symbols.
The Yomalvara system was truly starting to lose its signal at this depth.
"Is the error getting worse?" Sili suddenly walked closer while pulling his leather jacket tight. The guy looked at Kanos, who was frowning while staring at the empty air. Sili immediately knew his boss was checking the system.
"My screen looks like a broken television with a rat chewing on its cables," Kanos closed the panel feeling deeply annoyed. "The minimap is completely dark too. Just a solid block of gray."
Sili grinned widely. His fear from the ice spikes a moment ago suddenly vanished, replaced by sheer enthusiasm. His true nature as an underground broker came out again.
"That means we are incredibly close to the border of the Dead Zone, boss," Sili spoke fast. His hand reached into his leather bag, making sure his stolen ancient books were safe. "This world’s system has a limit to its algorithm reach. They use giant crystal pillars in the middle of the upper city to broadcast their rule signals throughout the dungeon. But floor nine and below have way too many dead ends and magic resistant rocks. Their signal hits a dead end right here."
Belida snorted roughly. The giant knight stared into the pitch black tunnel ahead of them. "I would much rather face a mutant monster using a sword than walk blindly without knowing my own blood status."
"You are a frontline knight, Belida. You do not need blue numbers hovering in the air to know whether you are bleeding or not," Kanos answered casually. Kanos reached into his pants pocket, touching the small glass bottle filled with the leftover purple smoke ink from the bat monster core. Their logistics were still sufficient to draw one or two more shadow squads if the situation became desperate.
Papuyu stood up from her squatting position. The puddle of water that was just filled with sharp ice spikes had now returned to normal murky water. The trap rune was completely dead.
"Path is clear," Papuyu wiped her dagger on her cloth pants. "We are entering the lightless zone starting from this point. The blue moss stops growing ahead."
"Should I light a torch?" Belida asked while pulling a piece of dry wood from his backpack.
"Do not," Kanos immediately cut Belida off. His eyes stared straight into the pitch black tunnel ahead. "Chitala already warned me about this. The monsters inside the Dead Zone are completely blind. They do not need eyes to hunt. They hunt using heat sensors and mana fluctuations."
Kanos took a step forward. He closed his eyes for a second, calling upon whatever mental stamina he had left. His giant black golem instantly walked forward, passing Papuyu, and took the very front position exactly like a walking shield.
"This empty stone has a temperature equal to an ice cube and possesses absolutely zero mana," Kanos gave a brief explanation to the group. "Let it walk in front. If a monster attacks and hits it first, I will immediately give the signal for you two to start slashing."
Belida put his wooden torch away. The knight drew his greatsword, gripping the heavy hilt with both hands. He took a position on Kanos’s right side, while Papuyu moved to the left. Sili went back to hiding in the very rear while hugging his bag tightly to his chest.
They started walking again, pushing through the thick darkness. The sound of their boots echoed softly against the tunnel walls. The first ten minutes felt like a boring blackout simulation. But entering the twentieth minute, the cold air suddenly changed drastically.
The narrow stone tunnel slowly began to widen. The ceiling kept getting higher and higher until Kanos could no longer see the top at all. The smell of bat guano completely vanished, replaced by the scent of thick dust and a very pungent aroma of sulfur.
Kanos narrowed his eyes. Far ahead in the distance, there was a very dim red light. They picked up their pace. The moment they stepped out of the tunnel’s end, the view in front of them made Kanos’s breath stop for a second.
A completely ruined ancient underground city.
It was not just piles of rocks. There were actual remains of iron towers, suspension bridges snapped in the middle, and rusted minecart rails spiraling around a massive chasm. The buildings were carved directly into the steep stone cliffs. The dim red light actually came from a river of glowing magma flowing slowly far down at the bottom of the abyss.
This was the tenth floor. An ancient mining district entirely forgotten by history. A place where the Yomalvara system algorithm completely failed to touch the ground.
Kanos smiled slowly. His head still hurt, his body was terribly exhausted, but the sense of deep satisfaction in his chest could not be hidden. He had just found an incredibly massive blank canvas, completely ready for him to draw whatever the hell he wanted.
"Alright," Kanos took a long, deep breath. His black golem stood firmly by his side. "Let’s go find the best new house in this giant trash can."