As we have already done many other times: [Dungeon path]. I and Sylviette arrive at the islet of coral error.

Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin!

Hot! I hop from one foot to the other, trying not to trip on that slippery and hot floor!

I will never be able to cross if—AH!

Sylviette picks me up, placing one hand under my knees and the other behind my shoulders. I blush, how embarrassing! I can't look her in the face!

She lets out a giggle and then starts walking towards the hole.

“I would say it's lucky that the dead don't feel temperature and pain.”

Still red with embarrassment, I moan something and lower my ears. It's lucky, yes, but was it possible that on my own I would have been stopped by a banal coral platform?

The branches, arched and tubular formations of coral break under Sylviette's steps. They produce a crackling sound, very different from that produced by burrowing insects. The noise of geological forces here is intense and lava geysers can be seen in the background.

At the mouth of the coral well I breathe a sigh of relief. The [Devil] didn't waste its time and created a real cavity. It is abundantly large and even an elephant would pass through it effortlessly.

“I can't see the bottom.” Sylviette leans forward slightly. I have now wrapped my hands around her neck, while I still hold the swords bundled with her tails.

The bottom is not visible. The luminescence of the coral is even weaker than that of the slime. The light of the dissolved minerals covers the latter.

“The idea of throwing myself doesn't convince me.” I try to lean further, but neither I nor my snake-headed tail sees anything new.

“You are immortal, no matter what happens I will reappear upstairs, right?”

“If it doesn't obliterate you…”

“The lava certainly won't obliterate me.”

“Look, just because you don't feel heat or pain doesn't mean your stats aren't affected! If I use Scan now, you would notice—AHH!!!”

Sylviette throws herself into the void with me in her arms!

[Dungeon path]!

Tok!

Ci-cin!

We land on our feet, Sylviette's arms give way under my weight but she manages to recover. She grimaces, definitely not in pain.

The area around us is bright. Iridescent crystals grow from the corals and lava veins run through the walls. As if the structure was blooming due to depth pressure.

“My body is actually at its limit,” Sylviette admits it, but I wouldn't have guessed it from her tone and expression.

“Wait.” I try to place my toe on the ground. It's warm and slippery but nothing hot. The crystals seem sharp here and there, I'll have to be careful.

I leave the hug and stand on my feet.

“Can you?”

“Yes, the material is different here. I should be able to.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well, we have only one gallery to choose.”

“An iridescent, interesting gallery. Hehe.”

♦

The landscape changes, the noises change but the game is always the same.

Sylviette and I walk for hours and nothing interesting happens.

It has been clear to me since our first meeting that Sylviette is not a talker, but only now do I realize how much I would like the opposite.

I'd like to talk about some nonsense, just so I don't have to think about the hunting and the tiredness and the heat.

I'm tired. My legs don't hurt, [Immortality] in this sense is superior to any regeneration [skills].

However—

Despite the anxiety and pressure…

…how boring! How hot!

We walk. We walk. We walk.

Now and then the tunnel turns. I use [Dungeon path] over and over again when the tunnel goes down or up or when a jet of magma has managed to penetrate. When this happens, an absurd phenomenon occurs: the lava crystallizes in mid-air, creating intricate coral networks.

[Dungeon path]

[Dungeon path]

[Dungeon path]

We walk.

[Dungeon path]

We walk…

…until the gallery ends.

“Now that's a surprise.” Sylviette's voice seems to affirm the opposite of the words. But it is normal, even without foresight her habits must not be changed.

“I don't understand… where did it go?” I touch the wall with my hand and follow the pattern of a coral with my fingers.

“Did you say someone else had already moved into the dungeon unexpectedly, or am I remembering correctly?”

“Are you talking about Kirlh’iau?”

“I honestly don't remember the name. The one that arrived at the core in much less time than expected.”

Kirlh'iau, precisely.

This is a big problem. A shiver runs down my spine. What if in this place there was the key to a teleporter?

I have to check, I'm about to say «Open» but, in the end, I give up. I remember the sound of the siren.

If the [Devil] got to the [core], I'm sure the System would warn me. So where is it?

Where did it go?

“What if the Devil had thrown itself into the lava? Without producing new corals I mean.”

“I've thought about this hypothesis, but I would rule it out. Mistakes are a consequence, not a will.” I take my hand away from the wall and push my soaked hair away from my forehead.

At this point the structure is different, the intertwining of corals is denser and more vertical.

“And why?”

“Because it would mean that the Devil doesn't know the way. It would start from scratch and then? No sense, especially considering that, with Dungeon path, I can reach the core regardless.”

“So, Devil can't throw you off?”

“I would say no.”

Sylviette puts a hand around her neck and cracks it. “But does it know?”

“I really think so.”

Sylviette looks around her and clasps her hands together and brings them up to her forehead.

“What are you doing?”

“Shh, I have to concentrate. I cast a spell to reveal invisible traces.” Sylviette closes her eyes.

I'm not sure what Sylviette means by invisible traces but I'm sure she wants to use it to find the [Devil]. Or at least the path it took. So, I stay quiet and wander around this last area of the tunnel.

An aroma emanates from Sylviette's body. It gradually becomes more intense, covering the sulfur content.

When she reopens her eyes, the elf looks around her nervously. She pulls a lock of her hair and curls it around her finger as she follows a path invisible to me. She reaches the point on the wall that I abandoned. She places her hand and hit with her index finger. She withdraws her hand.

“I think it passed through here.” Sylviette pulls out a blade, she doesn't wait for my response.

She strikes.

Then she sinks again and again.

An iridescent green speech bubble comes out from where she nicked the wall. “Yeah, it stopped by here.”

“Did it close the door behind itself?” I approach curiously. Apart from the density and verticality of the coral—

“I do not believe. Here the ceiling has caved in. My skill allows me to notice superficial inhomogeneities. It emanates particles of the body, visible only to the caster.”

“I do not understand.”

“I'm telling you that this wall is different from the others. You see, don't you?”

“I noticed, but it couldn't be—”

“No. The upper part is cooler, a sign that lava has flowed. There was a crack up there.”

“Umm, so… if I used Dungeon path…”

Sylviette puts the blade away, turns to me, and nods. “We should try the continuation of the tunnel.”

“A leap into the void… we could find ourselves in lava.”

“Alternatives?”

Right, there are no valid alternatives. It's annoying to have to risk it like that. Sylviette would be fine, she doesn't feel the pain...

…being submerged by lava…

…brr. I close my eyes. I shake with shivers.

When I reopen them, I find Sylviette's hand in front of her face. She is open and tense. She smiles at me.

“Shall we try?”

Even though I get goosebumps and my body rejects the idea, I know there's no point in me complaining. I am the [Empress] of this hellish place too, it is my duty to continue.

Obstacles painful or not.

I grab Sylviette's hand and smile at her.

[Dungeon path]