The eleventh floor was silent—too silent. The walls of smooth obsidian reflected distorted images of us as we moved cautiously through the hallway. My distorted reflection caught my eye, the warped version of myself seeming almost sinister in the dim, ambient glow. There were no visible enemies, no obvious traps, just an oppressive quiet that pressed against my chest like an iron weight. Every breath felt heavy, every step too loud in the unnatural stillness.

“Stay alert,” Sarah murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. Even that tiny sound seemed to reverberate endlessly in the emptiness. I gave her a sharp nod, keeping my grip firm on my weapon. The silence stretched on, and every second of it was maddening.

Then, they came. Shadows peeled away from the obsidian walls as if the reflections themselves had come to life. They morphed into humanoid figures with elongated limbs and blades for hands, their edges gleaming with a dark, unholy light. My breath caught as they moved, faster than anything we’d faced before, their strikes nearly impossible to predict.

“Cover each other!” Sarah shouted, her voice slicing through the chaos as the creatures surged toward us.

I moved instinctively, falling into rhythm beside Sarah. My weapon shifted into a shield just in time to deflect a blade aimed at her side. She countered with a precise slash, the edge of her sword cutting through the shadow’s form. My focus was absolute as I fought, my weapon morphing between a broadsword to block, a spear to thrust, and a dagger to exploit openings. I tried to move subtly, but I caught Nicholas’s gaze lingering on me more than once, his brow furrowing with questions he hadn’t yet dared to voice.

The battle was chaos. Nicholas held off two of the creatures at once, his raw strength barely keeping pace with their relentless speed. Dominique darted in and out of the fray like a wraith, her daggers finding their mark in the creatures’ weak spots, though each strike seemed to take a little more out of her. Andrew’s radiant magic filled the air, each burst of light weakening the shadows and giving us fleeting moments of respite. Jacob’s healing spells wove through the battle like threads of gold, mending wounds almost as quickly as they were inflicted.

Finally, the last shadow fell. The silence returned, broken only by the sound of our ragged breathing. I leaned against a wall, my weapon—back to its original form—still in hand, though my arms trembled with exhaustion. Jacob approached me, a soft glow surrounding his hands as he pressed them against my shoulder. Warmth spread through me as my injuries mended, but the tension in my chest didn’t ease.

“These things aren’t playing around anymore,” Dominique muttered, wiping one of her daggers clean on her cloak. Her voice was edged with frustration, but I could see the fatigue in her eyes.

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Andrew nodded grimly. “The deeper we go, the more it feels like this dungeon is adapting to us.”

His words hung in the air, a weighty truth we couldn’t ignore. The twelfth floor was a dense jungle, every step treacherous as venomous beasts lurked behind every vine and shadow. I’d lost count of how many times Sarah’s blade had flashed out to save one of us from a venomous strike. My weapon, too, adapted to the terrain, becoming a bow at times to pick off threats from a distance or a machete to carve through the thick foliage.

The thirteenth floor was no kinder. A labyrinth of shifting sands awaited us, every step threatening to pull us under if we lingered too long. Dominique’s agility shone here, her movements swift and deliberate as she navigated the treacherous terrain. Nicholas, ever the powerhouse, carried both himself and Andrew across one particularly unstable section. By the time we reached the staircase leading to the fourteenth floor, even he seemed subdued, his usual bravado replaced by a heavy silence.

The fourteenth floor—hell itself. The air reeked of sulfur, and the ground beneath us felt unstable like it might crumble under our weight at any moment. Lava pits dotted the landscape, their heat licking at our skin even from a distance. Fire elementals roamed freely, their flames casting flickering shadows across the walls. Each fight here was a grueling test of endurance and coordination. Andrew’s frost magic was invaluable, his spells quelling the fiery creatures long enough for us to strike them down, but even he was beginning to falter.

We pressed on, step by agonizing step until we reached the staircase to the fifteenth floor. The descent was slow, each of us bracing ourselves for whatever fresh hell awaited us. The air grew heavier with each step, the oppressive energy almost palpable. The walls around us pulsed faintly with veins of red and black, and the floor seemed to hum with an unsettling vibration that I felt in my bones.

“This is it,” Sarah said, her voice steady despite the tension etched into her features. She met each of our gazes, her determination unwavering. I drew in a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever lay ahead. There was no turning back now.

The chamber we entered was massive, its scale almost incomprehensible. At its center stood a towering figure clad in dark armor, its presence radiating an aura of pure malice that made my skin crawl. The figure turned its gaze toward us, and my breath caught at the sheer weight of its attention. Its voice was a low rumble, each word vibrating through the chamber like the tolling of a death knell.

“You dare disturb my slumber? Foolish mortals. You will not leave here alive.”

Sarah stepped forward, her sword raised and her voice firm. “We’ve come too far to back down now. Everyone, prepare for the fight of your lives.”

We formed up, each of us taking our positions without hesitation. My grip tightened on my weapon, its form shifting into a halberd, its weight reassuring in my hands. My heart pounded in my chest, but I forced myself to breathe deeply, to focus. The final battle was here, and failure was not an option.

The figure raised its massive weapon. The ground beneath us trembled as it charged, its steps shaking the very foundation of the chamber. Time seemed to slow as I locked eyes with Sarah, her determined nod grounding me. Whatever happened next, we would face it together as a team.