Isabella sat down on the cold floor of the dungeon with a tired sigh. In the last battle with the thralls, she had to engage in close combat, which the girl was not at all happy about. She looked at the rest of her comrades and saw that they were just as tired as she was. The girl sighed again, releasing her fatigue, and closed her eyes. Many were wounded in this battle. Only Isabella felt good about her ability to regenerate. Sad, what she couldn't use it to heal others...

But Klein could. Which is what he did, treating the serious wounds of the grumbling dwarf. He took on the main wave of opponents, holding them back at the cost of his own wounds, and was in worse condition than anyone in the group. Anya helped with the wounds of the others. Non-dangerous injuries were simply bandaged, but to heal more serious wounds, healing potions had to be used.

- I'm done. – said Klein. - Mana has run out.

- Okay... - Robert answered weakly, waiting for the wound on his stomach to heal. - Have a rest. Well done. Well done to all of you. This place is much more dangerous than anything we've encountered before... Lia, how are you?

- Ah? – The elf answered detachedly. - Yes, good. I just can’t concentrate... This voice... I began to hear words. He has changed, and it seems... I recognize the speaker. But I don't understand who it is.

- How's your magic? – asked Klein.

- Yes... Everything is under control, really. Unless it’s better to refrain from long-term spells for now. It's hard to concentrate when every second someone is persistently trying to tell you something in your head.

- And what? – Vasily intervened, collecting arrows from the corpses of enemies. - Shall we retreat? It was hard here. It seems we can't handle it...

- No. – Klein answered decisively. - We'll stay. We must clear this dungeon. At any cost.

- Who is asking you, mediocrity? – Anya asked irritably. - Since when are you the commander of our squad?

The true leader of the squad stood up, looked at the paladin, and spoke:

- Tell me, Klein. What exactly is so important about this place? Why are you so insistent on cleaning it up? And why did Abbot Arthur personally ask us to take care of him?

- Necessary. It's just necessary. You were a soldier, Robert. Weren't you taught to just silently carry out orders given by your superiors? Should I remind you how much higher the master is than you?

The man frowned at the young man's remark.

- Was. And I was taught to listen to orders. I was also taught that an ordinary soldier cannot raise his voice against his commander. Otherwise, he will face a tribunal. So watch your language, kid.

- Quiet, quiet! – Isabella stood between those arguing, raising her hands tiredly. - We're all tired. It's been a tough battle and that annoying voice in my head isn't helping at all... Let's calm down. We are all comrades. So no need to quarrel. We already have enough enemies here.

- Wow, you are unexpectedly decisive. Everything is fine? – asked a concerned Klein. The Isabella he knew would rather be shaking with fear and excitement somewhere on the sidelines in such a situation. The girl looked at him, and the guy noticed that her pupil began to take on a predatory vertical shape.

- To be honest, I’m very tired... All my strength goes into restraining the Beast. – The girl raised her hand, showing lengthened claws and fur. - I just don’t have the energy to worry and be afraid.

- You're right. – Robert nodded and addressed the whole group: - We need to decide what we do next? Vasily offers to retreat, Klein - to stay. Lia, what do you think? You are our emergency escape route. Can you handle it?

- I? Can't handle it? Ha! – The sorceress put on a confident smile again. - Yes, I’m the coolest sorceress in this city, and in general, I’m an elf! You know, we are generally super cool! There's nothing I can't handle, I'm not a weak little paladin of Aronis!

- Hey!

- So this is what I'm getting at. Let's drive forward, we'll kill more dead people and whoever it was. You know, I can actually kill everyone here myself! And about the return - this whisper in my head is not a hindrance to such a chic sorceress like me! If necessary, I will return us home. So put your hands to your feet and go!

When the rest of the squad expressed their opinions, Robert concluded:

- Vasily, Anya and Isabella - for returning home, the others - for continuing. So let's clear a couple more rooms. As soon as we realize that we can’t do it anymore, Lia will take us home, we will rest, and return with new strength. Forward.

----------------------------------------

After an hour of walking, the group became even more tired. The most cheerful was Klein, leading everyone forward, looking for the first signs of danger. Suddenly, he stopped, which brought the others to their senses. Robert turned to the young man:

- Something happened? Why did you get up?

- I may be asking a stupid question, but... - Klein frowned, examining the walls and floor. - Weren’t we in a dilapidated dungeon under the temple?

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- What do you mean?

The adventurers, rubbing their eyes, carefully examined the corridor along which they had been walking down for the last half hour. It was a rich, well-kept corridor that would have been more suitable for some kind of castle, rather than a dark dungeon where no human had set foot for dozens, if not hundreds of years. There was an exquisite carpet on the floor, and portraits of some people on the walls. Chandeliers with many candles hung from the ceiling, illuminating the way.

- What's going on here? And how did we not notice this?

- Well, we actually suffer from this annoying bubbling here, - Anya answered angrily, - but why you, who can’t hear it, didn’t notice such a dramatic change is a good question!

- Hey, I was actually looking for traps all this way, and preparing for a possible attack!

Anya attacked Klein with renewed vigor, becoming more and more inflamed, she splashed out her aggression, and the guy could only desperately defend himself, trying not to resort to shouting and insults. When the girl suddenly appeared right in front of the young man’s face, poking him in the chest with her finger, he took a confused step back and felt a slab obediently going underground under his foot with a characteristic click.

The assassin girl reacted instantly, shouting:

- Trap! Behind!

The adventurers turned around to see a huge stone ball falling onto the floor of the corridor behind them, rolling towards the people, threatening to crush them.

- Lia, help break it! – Robert gave the command, intensely preparing his own spell. – [Stone Projectile]!

And only a block of the magician’s stone flew towards the target, which was completely insufficient to destroy or stop it.

- Lia! Where is your magic! Lia? Lia!?

In the confusion, no one noticed how the elf slowly sank to the floor, her eyes rolled back, and her mouth twitched convulsively, as if trying to say a dozen words at once.

Robert crouched down with fear to assess the girl’s condition, while the ball was inexorably approaching, bringing death. Suddenly Glen jumped forward, taking out his powerful two-handed hammer.

- [Rage]! - With feeling, the dwarf activated the rune, and it was filled with a bright, aggressive red color, enveloping the halfling in a faint glow.

The berserker raised his hammer and, with a battle cry, struck the stone ball. The shock wave lifted Klein's hair, and many small fragments flew towards the adventurers, threatening to pierce them through.

- Behind me! – Isabella shouted, suddenly stepping forward of the squad and transforming into a huge bear in a narrow corridor. Her sides rested against the walls, and, occupying the entire space, the werewolf girl absorbed all the damage from dozens of sharp pieces of stone.

The bear's desperate roar of pain echoed along the corridor, blood poured out of Isabella's body in streams, falling to the floor. The werewolf turned back into a frail little girl screaming in agony. She clutched the wounds; through dozens of holes in her body one could even see bones and internal organs. One of the fragments hit the face, depriving the girl of an eye and half of her jaw. She was lucky that the brain was not affected, and in tears and shock from incredible pain, Isabella desperately spent almost all her mana repeating one spell over and over again:

- [Regeneration], [Regeneration], [Regeneration]!

Klein grabbed Anya by the shoulder and ran to the girl writhing on the floor. The Assassin didn't even voice the slightest complaint as she eagerly poured the strongest healing potion she had into Isabella's mouth.

The wounds healed on the girl as if before her eyes, and she stopped screaming, only shed tears unhappily, hugging herself by the shoulders. Klein sat down next to her, stroking her back comfortingly.

Meanwhile, Glen, who had protected himself from the shrapnel, approached Lia, looking concerned at her condition.

- Hey, baby, how are you? Is everything okay? Oh, of course, not okay, I see, a complete ass with a girl. Hey, pointy-eared one, get up, come on, come to your senses, hey. You smart bastard, how can you help her?

- I don't know. - Robert rubbed his eyes wearily and repeated. - I don't know…

Lia was lying on the floor, foaming at the mouth, twitching in a fit. Klein walked up to her, supporting the deathly pale Isabella. He looked at the elf and, frowning, said:

- This... Maybe that voice? Has he gotten stronger since last time?

- Yes... It definitely has.

- Elves are very psychologically unstable…- Klein said. – It could be mental magic. And Lia couldn’t stand it. And if it's truly a mental spell, that would explain why I can't hear my voice.

The paladin touched the cube on his neck. It was a rather rare artifact that protected against weak effects on the mind... Apparently, it did not save its owner from the observation of the Lord, but it did not allow a voice into the mind. The only pity is that only the Chosen of Aronis could use this artifact... It worked on divine power, which Lia simply did not have. Therefore, Klein was unable to help her. However, Isabella was able to do it. She pulled herself together and used her last unit of mana:

- [Calm].

A soft green light enveloped the elf, and after a short time, the girl’s gaze acquired a meaningful expression, she sat down and looked around in confusion.

- Um... Did I miss something?

- So, we are returning home. – Robert said firmly, making sure that Lia was out of danger. – We need rest. And urgently. The one who lives here is clearly stronger than us. Let's leave. I'm sorry, Klein, but I will not risk your lives in vain, even for the sake of an order.

- Nothing, I understand. I myself did not expect that it would be so dangerous... Although we hardly even fought. You're absolutely right, let's go back.

- Nice. Lia, can you bring us back?

- A? – The sorceress perked up. - Oh, yes. Certainly. I'm cool, have you forgotten?

The girl concentrated and everyone gathered around her, waiting for the roots to appear. However, time passed and they never appeared. Glen gently touched the elf's shoulder.

- Hey, baby, are we flying or not in the end?

At the dwarf’s touch, Lia fell onto her side, and everyone saw that she had lost consciousness.

- Let's go on foot. Fast! – Robert commanded, lifting the unconscious Lia. Staying here any longer was becoming more and more dangerous with each passing second.

The squad walked quickly back along the corridor. They reached the ill-fated door, from which it all probably began, and Glen sharply opened it, freezing in place. There was a wall behind the door. However, they had definitely passed through it before. All this time, people walked along a straight corridor and could not get lost.

Everyone gathered, looking gloomily at the strong stone blocks of the wall. Glen hit it hard with his hammer, but it didn’t even give in. The dwarf cursed dirtyly, and Klein absolutely agreed with him this time. He turned towards the corridor leading somewhere far down. To new traps and enemies. He looked hard at the others and voiced their thoughts:

- Now we have only one way... Down. We can only get out by killing the one who did this. And... - The Paladin looked at the pale, emotionless face of Lia, who was carried in Robert’s arms. - It seems we need to do this as quickly as possible...