Chapter 5: Betrayal:

“Keep running!” Yana shouted behind me as we sprinted frantically from the Grave Moles and the Void Spiders chasing us.

After our formation was easily broken by the monsters and Aric Kelltins was killed, everyone scattered in panic, fleeing for their lives. Many more adventurers were killed back there in the antechamber, and those who remained had escaped through the many corridors that branched off from the antechamber.

I heard Yana shout, “Inferno Burst!” and a deafening explosion shook the corridor behind us. The ground quaked as the ceiling began collapsing with a thunderous roar. We barely managed to dive into a chamber before the ceiling caved in.

Panting and disoriented, yet glad to see Yana beside me, I glanced around. Four other adventurers were with us, including Jax, Lena, and Henry. We all took a moment to catch our breath and regain our senses. Everything had happened so quickly. Too quickly.

“Are you okay?” Yana whispered as she sat on the ground beside me.

“Yeah.” I nodded, still breathing heavily. “And you?”

“I’m fine.” She replied, exhaling lightly. “You got me worried there...with the moles.”

I let out a short, nervous laugh, remembering how one of the Grave Moles had almost taken my head off with its claw.

“Yeah, I guess it was blind or something.” I joked.

Yana bit her lip, trying to stifle a laugh. “God, I missed this...” she murmured, but then her expression turned serious. “I just wish we weren’t in this shitty situation.”

I couldn’t help but agree - silently.

“What now, Master Jax?” Henry asked loud enough for all of us to hear, his eyes wide and pleading. “How are we supposed to survive this?”

Jax’s gaze darted around, reflecting the fear that gripped him, before he stammered. “I – I – We...We need to find the guild masters.”

“But how?” Henry’s voice grew tense and desperate, his hands clutching Jax’s shoulders as if he was trying to shake the answer out of him.

Jax shrugged him off. “Give me a minute, Henry!” His eyes scanned our faces and levels frantically until they landed on Yana. “You’re the highest level here. Lead us to your guild master!”

Yana raised an eyebrow. If there was one thing I knew she hated, it was people - especially those like Jax - trying to order her around. Yet, surprisingly, she kept her composure and stepped into the role of the party leader. “I will. Prepare yourselves. We’ll head out soon.”

“No, no, no!” A woman - a level 59 Enchantress - shook her head violently. “I’m not going anywhere!”

“Then stay here and die for all we care!” Jax spat out harshly.

“Take it easy, mage guy. You’re just as scared as she is.” Yana countered, rising to her feet. She turned to the woman, her voice gentler. “Your name is Melissa, right? I heard it earlier.”

Melissa nodded nervously as Yana approached her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, we’re all scared. But if we want to survive, we need to move. Staying here isn’t an option. The Grave Moles can likely dig through the collapsed corridor as well.”

I watched from the sidelines, stunned by the maturity and compassion Yana showed. These two years apart had changed her for the better.

Good. Good...

Yana then turned to the rest of us. “Quickly, state your names and classes. I need to know what we’re working with so I can organize an effective formation.”

***

The formation Yana chose and the orders she gave us proved to be highly effective.

We managed to navigate through various peculiar chambers and cryptic corridors, descending deeper into the tomb and encountering more Undead Warriors along the way. They were the same level 40 we encountered earlier, making even someone like me useful in the skirmishes. I was even able to loot some stuff along the way. Not something incredible, but still better than nothing...

[Item Acquired: Lesser Health Potion – Added to Inventory #1]

[Item Acquired: Gold Coins x15 – Added to Inventory #1]

Everyone pulled their weight and, seemingly against all odds, we survived - until we finally ran into Lady Mikaela and her high-level party. However, the group was half the size it had been when they initially left. The Lady herself looked like she’d been through several gruelling fights, her armor dented in a few spots and smeared with blood.

“Yana?” she called out when she saw us, her voice filled with surprise. “Darling, what are you doing here?”

Yana hurried to her guild master’s side, quickly explaining everything that had happened while the rest of us hung back, feeling a wave of relief wash over us. With Lady Mikaela’s presence, we felt a measure of safety – protected by someone truly powerful.

“Kelltins...is dead?” Lady Mikaela whispered in disbelief as Yana finished her briefing.

Jax, showing zero tact, jumped into their conversation. “Lady Mikaela, what about the rest of your party? I remember you and Master Lorren leaving with way more adventurers.”

She shook her head, avoiding eye contact. “They’re dead. A group of Level 90 Wraiths ambushed us two chambers ago.”

“No way...” Jax murmured, his face paling. The he exploded, his voice cracking under the strain. “But we’re only what? Five levels deep inside the tomb? Isn’t this place supposed to have thirty-something levels? You’re telling me they had level 90 monsters on the fifth level already?”

“Yes.” Lady Mikaela replied calmly.

Jax couldn’t hold it in any longer and unleashed his frustration. “What are we even doing here? Why were we invited into this death trap? It’s your fault! You clearly didn’t scout it properly if this is what we’re up against!”

Yana quickly intervened, stepping between them. “Don’t talk to Lady Mikaela like that!”

“It’s okay, Yana. Let him vent.” Lady Mikaela said, keeping her calm.

Jax pointed at Henry, who stood trembling at the back of the chamber. “I have a responsibility here! I’m supposed to protect him – my apprentice. I brought him along believing it would be a great opportunity, not a death sentence!” his voice shook with guilt and anger. “What am I supposed to do now?”

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I probably wouldn’t have said it out loud like he did, but he was right. I trusted the level 100 adventurers with all my heart, and the trust was clearly misplaced.

“Are you finished?” Lady Mikaela asked softly. “I understand how you feel. I had a similar responsibility to the ninety-nine adventurers who joined me here today, and now we’ll be lucky if even a third of them make it out alive.” She paused, her gaze steely. “All of this is my fault, and I’ll pay the price when we get out of here. But rest assured - we will get out of here. I’ll see to that.”

Jax lowered his head and sighed deeply. “Please tell me that you at least found the Keystone...”

Everyone braced for a grim response, but Lady Mikaela reignited the fire in our spirits.

“Lorren did.” She said, her voice firm. “He contacted me using one of his magical projections. We were on our way to meet him just before you arrived.”

Faces lit up as hope returned, and people began looking at Lady Mikaela and her party like they were our saviors. All except for me.

I couldn’t shake that gnawing feeling that something far worse was going to happen.

***

We reunited with Stephan Lorren and his party a few chambers away from where we had met Lady Mikaela, still on the fifth level of the tomb. The mage’s group was even smaller than Lady Mikaela’s with only two adventurers beside him. All in all, there were thirteen of us gathered in the chamber.

Lorren held the shining Keystone in his hand, but his expression was anything but triumphant.

His gaze swept over us low-leveled adventurers. “Let me guess, you were attacked after we left?”

Jax rushed to his guild master’s side. “Yes, Master Lorren. It’s fair to assume everyone else is dead.”

“It’s not fair to assume.” Yana cut in sharply. “We don’t know that for sure. Some could’ve survived and still be out there - just like we did.”

“If you want to go look for them, be my guest.” Jax shot back.

His comment angered Yana, and Lady Mikaela stepped in to back her up. “Lorren, speak some sense into your guild member.” Her voice turning more commanding. “We won’t be leaving anyone behind. Is that clear?”

Stephan Lorren remained silent for a moment before he nodded slowly. “Of course.”

Lady Mikaela turned to address everyone in the room. “Rest and prepare. We’ll head for the entrance in five.”

Taking advantage of the first relatively calm moment we’d had since before the Grave Moles attacked, I wandered around the chamber, further from the rest of the remaining adventurers, examining the strange murals on the walls. They were similar in style to the one we saw on our way to Lady Mikaela.

One image, in particular, caught my attention. It depicted a woman in a colorful dress and a helm adorned with what looked like two large stag horns. Four other figures, dressed in simple white robes, encircled her, each holding a torch. Curious, I ran my hand along the wall to brush away the dust that had settled, revealing the continuation of the scene - or rather, a new image that showed the next part of whatever ritual the first one depicted.

In this image, the woman was seemingly hovering above the ground, while the figures in white stood behind her. Before her were new figures, draped in green, kneeling in submission.

What a strange mural for a tomb...

I wanted to see the next part of the sequence, but sadly, the mural was broken, the next piece lying shattered on the ground.

“Aidan, are you ready?” Yana called from behind me. “Stay near me, okay?”

I knew she meant well, but getting treated like a child was infuriating.

“Sure.” I replied simply, keeping my anger inside.

It seemed like she wanted to say something more, but then her expression suddenly shifted. “Wait, is it just me, or did it suddenly turn cold?”

I quickly realized she was right as my system window flashed up with a message.

[Condition Applied: Freeze lvl.1 – Movement Speed reduced by 10%.]

Everyone else seemed to get the same notification, as evidenced by their confused murmurs and worried expressions.

“What the hell is going on?” Stephan Lorren muttered, and the answer revealed itself almost immediately.

A figure of a woman, appearing from thin air, descended from the ceiling, levitating in the mid-air. She wore a helm adorned with stag horns – the same I’d seen on the mural, her robes decayed and tattered, revealing patches of rotting skin underneath. Above her head, her name appeared: Priestess of Axul, level 98.

Axul? That name...

Before we could even process the threat, she raised her skeletal arms as if preparing to cast a spell, but Stephan Lorren didn’t waste a second. He raised his staff and shouted, “Arcane Burst!” A searing blast of magic shot from his staff and struck the monster head-on, seemingly obliterating her to dust.

Some people began cheering, momentarily relieved that the mage had dispatched of such a powerful foe so effortlessly.

“Nice job, Lorren.” Lady Mikaela complimented.

But the celebration died instantly.

[Status Effect: Freeze lvl.5 – Max Freeze level. You are Frozen in place. Movement Speed reduced by 100%. Agility reduced by 100%. Unable to move or take any physical actions for 25 seconds]

Within seconds we were encased in ice up to our necks, completely immobilized.

Then, a group of five more level 98 Priestess of Axul materialized before us and hovered above us next to the ceiling, channelling some combined spell.

Yana, having progressed down the Fire Magic branch of her skill tree, used her Freeze Resistance to shatter the ice encasing her. A few others, including Stephan Lorren and Lady Mikaela, managed to break free as well, unleashing their magic in a counterattack, accompanied by another Arcane Burst from the guild master. But this time, some sort of invisible barrier protected the priestesses, shielding them as they continued to channel their combined spell. The air around them swirled ominously, as if something big was about to be unleashed.

“Quickly, come to me if you want to live!” Stephan Lorren shouted to those who were free.

“Damn it!” Yana cursed, turning back to me. She raised her hand, using her fire magic to melt the ice that held me in place, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Lorren, I said we’re not leaving anyone behind!” Lady Mikaela snapped.

“Don’t be foolish Mikaela, we don’t have time! They’ll finish their channeling in a few seconds, and who knows what will happen? With what we’ve seen from this dungeon so far, I can’t guarantee my barriers will hold!”

Lady Mikaela visibly struggled with the decision, and my heart sank as I realized they were going to leave us frozen ones on the other side of the room behind. But at the same time, a part of me felt relieved - at least Yana wouldn’t die here.

“Yana!” Lady Mikaela called out, her voice strained. “I’m sorry, but you have to leave your friend behind and come with me!”

“No!” Yana shouted back, still desperately trying to free me.

“Yana, go!” I urged her, panic rising in my chest. “It’s okay. Leave me!”

She turned to me, fury in her eyes for even suggesting that. “I’m not leaving you behind again!”

“Yana!” Lady Mikaela shouted again, more insistent.

“No!” Yana refused, shaking her head.

Realizing there was only a second left before the spell would be unleashed, Stephan Lorren activated his teleportation magic, vanishing along with Lady Mikaela and the others, leaving me, Yana, and three other frozen adventurers behind.

The Priestesses of Axul seemed to complete their channel, and Yana turned to face them, bracing herself, activating her barrier magic. But then something unexpected happened.

The priestesses simply dispersed, vanishing into thin air the same as they appeared. The ice around us melted away, and then a cold, echoing laugh filled the chamber – a twisted laugh that belonged to none other than Gaelith.

“Your leaders betrayed you.” His voice echoed, tinged of amusement. “Just like my king betrayed me.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “But don’t worry - they won’t escape. You’re all my prisoners now.”

As he finished, a violent tremor suddenly rocked the chamber, and I feared we would be buried alive. But just as quickly as it started, the quake stopped, and to my surprise, the chamber remained intact.

[Condition applied: You are no longer Frozen. Movement Speed restored. Agility restored]

“Let’s get out of here, Aidan.” Yana ducked beside me, helping me to my feet.

But it wasn’t that easy. Nothing was in this cursed place.

We looked around the chamber with the other three adventurers, only to realize that all of the corridors had completely collapsed.

***

“I can’t believe they left us behind!” Melissa cried out as we searched for an exit.

“They didn’t have a choice…” a burly man, another survivor, sighed deeply, only for his friend, a tall mage, to snap at him.

“What do you mean they didn’t have a choice? Those bastards brought us here and then abandoned us!” he growled, his voice filled with anger.

He wasn’t wrong. They had brought us here, promising one thing, but they were clearly unprepared for everything that followed.

Yana was visibly on edge, and I could tell she was fuming at Lady Mikaela for leaving us behind.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I whispered to her, but she just shook her head, her expression tight, and I decided to drop it.

In one corner of the chamber, we stumbled upon some oddly shaped tunnel, assuming the Grave Moles had dug it. With no other way to escape – using explosive magic might bring the ceiling and the upper levels down on us - we decided to venture through the tunnels instead, with Yana leading as the highest-leveled adventurer among us.

The paths seemed to lead ever downward, and after about twenty minutes of descent, we found ourselves in another extremely large chamber, the size of a wheat field. To my surprise, there was Goren, sitting in center of it, calmly sharpening his blade with a whetstone.

He was the epitome of calmness.