The hallway was dark. Torches scattered throughout the walls barely lit up the place, and the very act of walking through this area was one full of danger and concern. In this environment, one must be cautious. Any sane man would keep an eye out for any potential dangers that lurked in the shadows, the rogue elements that stayed hidden to ambush any that dared to walk down this path.

However, the Crusader was not being cautious. Right now, what his mind was focused on was the entire series of events that had occurred in the past few days.

The way that all the battles have gone downhill. How he struggled to defeat several of the certain dangerous enemies. How helpless he was to watch his ally fall multiple times, being unable to assist in any way.

Well, besides the giant, but that was not one that counted in this situation. After all, he had to break his own morals by looting the dead, something that still hinged on his mind. While yes, that did slay the giant, that didn’t change anything at all.

He did something horrendous, a vile act that was most likely marked down in the Holy Bible as worthy of being smote. Though, that led to the thought of God–

He shook his head. No, that was wrong! There was no way that the Heavenly Father could be killed, that was impossible! Even if there were good reasons for why this world was so disgusting and broken, even though there was nothing he could bring up to argue this point. No, God worked in many mysterious ways, and he was not nearly wise enough to determine how his machinations worked. What he had to do was continue putting faith that all would go accordingly to his will, and that the only path forward was to maintain his beliefs no matter what.

Pit. Pat. Pit. His footsteps echoed throughout the stone brick hallway, constantly ringing in his ears as the same thought continued to drill into his thoughts. He tried to think of something, anything, but he could not. The disturbing idea had burrowed itself into his brain, and there was ultimately nothing he could do to even get this horrendous thought out of his head.

This was horrendous. He should be focused on the upcoming brawl with the monster that was plaguing this town with the fog, not worrying and dallying about all of this madness. He could not, no, he would not entertain these thoughts anymore! He had other things to worry about, like that woman that was whispering poison into the Spartan’s head!

Yes, that was right. That wench, akin to Eve who had poisoned the purity of Adam, was definitely trying to weave a false story to corrupt his ally. Though he might deny such accusations, the Crusader knew. The plain truth was visible, the act of feeling pity and emotions for that woman were present. While he did quite understand, considering the fact that she seemed akin to that of a princess stuck in a tower, her words and her actions betrayed otherwise.

Perhaps he was wrong, and the woman was nothing more than an innocent victim in all of this. That did not change the fact that, either way, an interrogation was necessary to obtain even more information. They knew nothing of the events that transpired in this world, and she was, quite honestly, the best option for that. Even though her words will definitely be skewed to fit her narrative, she was the best source of information at this time. All they would need to do was separate all the falsities from the truth, a task that was far more suited for his ally. The man knew more than him, considering his thought process and his actions.

Though… His actions…

The Crusader frowned behind his helmet as he kept walking. While yes, he did trust the man, he could not comfortably state that he had zero doubts about the man’s intentions. His ally was agreeable with many of his decisions, and he was receptive to the idea of rushing in to the town to save the people within, but everything else?

Suspicious. Overwhelmingly so.

He didn’t want to have his doubts about the man, for he was a competent and skilled warrior. The Spartan was a man that had a good understanding of tactics and capabilities, one that he wanted to trust with his back. However, his recent actions have been rather worrying.

The absorption of people’s souls to intake their divinity and increase his power. His lack of care for the dead and his willingness to loot the dead. Then there was the disrespect he had towards his God, and how he seemed to be getting more reckless with every battle.

He had to admit that he was getting worried. His ally, after all, was becoming slightly more unhinged. Perhaps absorbing all of that divinity was warping his mind and turning him into the same monsters that roamed these streets. Power was something that could corrupt others rather well, as he had heard from his priest discussing how their current lord would sometimes commit acts of peculiar interests out of greed and misplaced superiority. A warning on how having too much would invite the devil into their hearts and soul, something that he could see springing up into the Spartan.

The Crusader gave out a frustrated sigh as he continued to walk down the corridor. He had to wonder now, how long was this dark and damp pathway? Was he not meant to reach the end of this long hallway at this point in time? Why was there no end in sight? Did he and his ally get tricked by the woman and got put into a maze with no end in sight, or possibly trapped in a never-ending hallway to meet their immediate demise?

Those thoughts couldn’t escape his mind anymore, but they were successful in getting his mind away from the previous subjects, something he was grateful for. In any case, before things got too bad, he finally spotted it.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

The end of the tunnel that he had been searching for all this time. He gripped the handle of his greatsword tightly as he marched onwards, prepared to finish off this horrendous monster once and for all.

He did not expect to see what appeared to be a regular human, lounging on what seemed to be a red stone slab. This person, another woman, was fully dressed and seemed almost normal. Well, besides the fact that her long hair happened to be a dark blue, as well as the fact that her clothes were nothing more than rags that were shredded here and there.

Her eyes were closed as she laid there, looking almost peacefully happy with her current state of things. One thing that did catch his eyes were the fact that she seemed to have manacles on all four of her limbs, each of them on the ankle and wrist. Not only that, but there seemed to be some malicious aura surrounding her, something that sent chills up his back.

He took a few more steps closer, his grip on the handle tightening. However, the moment he got in even further into the room was when the trap sprung.

The entryway slammed shut as several stones appeared from nowhere and covered up the opening. Thus, he was left alone in this room with the strange woman, something that made him clench his teeth and get ready for a fight.

The woman stayed there, not moving at all. For a few seconds, the two stayed where they were, none of them moving a single inch.

Then she opened her eyes and there was nothing but pure yellow. He couldn’t tell if she was staring at him or some other random direction, for there were no pupils or irises to go off of. No, the only thing present was the bright yellow that covered up the entire eye, seemingly looking all around at once.

“My. A newcomer? It has been quite a while since I have met anyone in this prisoner. Perhaps you are here for a discussion?”

His teeth started to get tighter as he stared down this mysterious entity in front of him. He did not make any noise yet, for he did not want to give any words to this potential enemy.

In the end, he didn’t need to, as the woman floated up into the air. She then repositioned herself into a sitting position, before leaning forward and placing her head on top of her palms.

“Ah, the silent type. Though, I will say, being intruded upon like this is rather rude, wouldn’t you say? Isn’t there something that you should say? An apology of some sorts?”

“Don’t treat me for a fool, wench.” He spat as he pointed his sword at the floating woman, “Your words will not confuse me. I know you are responsible for the fog that plagues this land!”

“So what if I am?” She snickered, “Just because some mist shows up and blocks the view doesn’t mean I am the malicious sort. Perhaps you should go after the one in control of all the beasts that roam around these parts? Ah, there should be a convenient wretch responsible, a pitiful woman that stays in a tower. Have you considered going there?”

“Why you–”

“Ah, no need to answer that, I can smell her disgusting scent and filthy divinity off of you,” she waved her hand while covering her nose, “Do you need something to clean yourself up? Apologies, I do not do well when confronted with the smell of such disgusting nature.”

“Enough! I am not here to entertain such foolish behavior!”

“Oh? But I was under the assumption we were all merely having a laugh,” she snickered again, this time her voice seemingly taking over the room, “Why, you come in here all scared like a small child facing a wolf for the first time, prepared to kill over the words of a woman so over her head. You come in here, aware that my divinity far outstrips you, all to follow the lies of a woman so high up in a tower that she might as well be mentally defunct. Is that not perhaps the height of foolishness itself?”

The Crusader opened his mouth to retort, only for his fighting spirit to die on its tongue. He struggled to come up with anything to say. After all, she had a point.

Following that despicable wench’s words was, in fact, the height of foolishness. There was no way he could lie about such a thing, going through with her words was truly moronic. Why, he was merely carrying out her will regardless of the outcome.

The fact was that the woman in front of him was responsible for the fog. There was no argument against that, nor anything that denied such a though. After all, she had simply accepted that role. The question then became–

“Who is in control of the monsters of this land, correct?”

He flinched and staggered back. “Wh-wh-wh–”

“Oh, please. It was quite obvious what your next train of thought would be.” The woman sighed as she twirled around and leaned back, “It’s rather obvious. The knight in shining armor coming to save the people of this land from all the beasts and terrifying fog. It’s all so… predictable, so much so that it’s painful seeing this live.”

“Then speak! T–”

“I can tell you that I’m certainly not in control of the monsters. If that was the case, I’d have the load of them protecting my little domain.” She shrugged, before giving off a giant sneer that showed off all of her pointy teeth, “I think it’s rather blatantly obvious who’s lying. Why–”

“Don’t believe that bastard’s words!”

The sudden words of that despicable wench came from above. The two of them quickly looked up to see absolutely nothing but the air. However, the Crusader knew what was going on.

The portal. She must be using that to communicate.

“She’s the one responsible for all this madness! Slay her now and save the town! Do it now!”

“Oh come now, you’re going to believe that pathetic coward’s words? Really?” The woman started to laugh, “Do you really think you can trust her with your life like that!”

“No! Listen to me! She’s dangerous! She’s doing all of this to confuse you, understand?!”

He looked up and down, trying to figure out what to do. He could not lie, right at this moment, he was completely confused.

Who the hell should he listen to?