Very soon, half an hour had passed, and the mission group reassembled back in the dead beast chamber with no one left unaccounted for.

“Any updates?” Claine asked with mild urgency. It seemed that his group had not found anything in the area they had explored either.

Two of the other three groups shook their heads disappointedly, including Dauma’s.

“…”

The only one that did not do so was Kara’s group.

However, the motormouth who would likely have happily reported her findings in a teasing manner as soon as they reassembled was quiet and looking away. Her face looked slightly pale, and she was shifting her eyes from side to side, seemingly trying her best not to look at him.

“Ahem.”

The Fox that accompanied her, Wald, cleared his throat and spoke on her behalf. He was also looking slightly uncomfortable, but he appeared to have shaken it off more easily.

“I believe we may have found what we were looking for, chief!” he proudly announced, and the group immediately burst into small chatter and cheers.

“Really?”

“That is great!”

“Well done,” Masse wore his awkward smile and warmly congratulated him, moving in to pat his back in an awfully sweet manner similar to what he did with Yuu earlier.

“Why didn’t you tell us the good news, Kara?” Claine, who was also excited at the news, asked.

“…”

Kara hesitated before putting on a considerably weaker smile than what she usually sported.

“…what is it?”

Sensing her distress, Claine and the other Foxes stopped cheering, except for Masse, who was still celebrating like a proud father with his son.

“I… can’t say. I think… we can’t handle this. Maybe we should turn back.”

Her face looked incredibly petrified and nervous, as though she was hiding something unexplainable, and Claine only became more concerned from it.

“Are you alright? You don’t seem to be yourself. What did you find?”

“It’s nothing. I… I’m fine. I just think that… we should abort this mission, that’s all.”

“Huh?!?!” Masse dropped his cheering and interjected, “come on, advisor. We’ve already come so far; we can’t turn back empty-handed.”

“He’s right,” Claine agreed, “at the very least, I think we should see it for ourselves before we make our decisions. I think it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at least.”

“I can’t allow…”

“Hmm???????? Say it, advisor.”

“If you can’t go back, just let me know and you can stay here.”

Under constant pressure from both of them, she clenched her fists and gulped.

“I won’t guarantee you’ll like what you’ll find.”

“Trust me,” Masse replied gleefully, already picking up his rifle and moving towards the corridor, “I think we will.”

**********************

The corridor this time was much, much longer than the previous one Dauma walked through.

It was a sloped path, slowly stretching down far and deep into a cavernous darkness. The walls were also wetter, with drops of water from the ceiling beginning to fall on their heads at a greater frequency.

The stench from the chamber was also still present, albeit much stronger than before. It smelled musty and metallic, like old blood that had been left to dry, forcing some of the Foxes to put their facial masks back on so that they could properly breathe.

However, that was not the group’s biggest concern.

Is it just me, or is the atmosphere getting kind of… heavy?

It was not just Dauma who felt the strange pressing sensation weighing down on him, either. Everyone seemed to be feeling it as well.

“Ghk…”

“Uhh…”

It was hard to describe, but the simplest analogy as to how that sensation felt to them was as if they were venturing underwater, and going deeper and deeper such that the water pressure was rapidly growing, holding their bodies down and pressing them together.

As they went down even further, the pressure got heavier, and their footsteps became more laborious and tired, with some of the Foxes beginning to clutch their heads and grit their teeth.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Even Dauma was getting slightly out of breath from the suffocating feeling as he endured the pressure.

This feels… unnatural.

It felt like the environment was actively pushing them back, trying to get them to stop and turn back, but none of them did as they continued to go down even deeper to their objective.

“…gh…”

Eventually however, one of them broke.

Matty, who had tried his best to endure it, stopped dead in his tracks and collapsed before he could take another step, forcing the others to stop and attend to him.

He was completely out of breath, his nose was bleeding, and his eyes were bloodshot. It did not look good for him to continue.

“Give him some air,” Kara panted as she tried to fan him, but her arms moved slowly and clumsily, as though they were made of lead, making her actions unhelpful.

“I’m. OK.”

“Of course you’re not.”

Masse stepped forward and knelt beside him, and even though he was also not in the best shape, he quickly pinched his nose, locked their mouths together and began sharing air with him until he could breathe consistently again.

“Wald, Riza,” he stood up and ordered once he was done with helping him manage for the time being, “take our ‘sightseer’ and go back up to the chamber. We’ll come up later.”

The two Foxes nodded as they squatted down and, supporting Matty up with their shoulders, the three of them slowly made their way back up the sloped path.

“Be… safe…” Claine yelled in short bursts behind them, his call quickly echoed by both Kara and Masse as their figures became smaller and smaller.

“…mm…”

At that point, Yuu’s hand, which had been clenched against Dauma’s back, began pushing on him harder as she softly moaned.

“Are you alright, Yuu? Can you continue?”

“…”

Yuu slowly nodded. Her face was tensed up and squeezed inwards, but she still put on her best determined look and gave him a small thumbs-up in response.

Ok, this is really strange.

Him feeling the effects was fine by itself, since he could still feel sensations like normal humans, but for even her to feel them was something else entirely, and downright unsettling, especially since none of them still had a clear handle on what she was.

What the hell is this place hiding? No, I’ve already asked that question.

He gritted his teeth in frustration as he looked at her pain as they continued ever downward.

The real question is, what have we gotten ourselves involved in?

**********************

“We’re… here…”

After the remaining members of the group had recovered as much as they can, they made the final push down to the very bottom of the slope, where Kara stopped them in front of a closed door.

For some reason, the pressure had suddenly completely disappeared at soon as they reached that point, but the metallic stench remained in the air.

Regardless, that meant that they could finally take some proper deep breaths and speak normally for now as they slowly adjusted to their surroundings and what was in front of them.

The first thing that stood out to all of them was the door itself. It seemed to have been made with a metallic-colored hard material in contrast to the stone-lined temple.

In fact, while its surroundings looked quite old and traditional, it looked surprisingly new and modern, even if it was a little bent and dented in certain parts of its surface.

Perhaps even more ominously, a beaten up, faded yellow sign hung on it, showing what looked like a strange unidentified creature walking on all fours and baring its claws and fangs, ready to strike.

“…”

To Dauma, it reminded him of the wolf beast, so he quickly tried to focus on something else other than the sign to take his mind off the mental image.

“This seems promising,” Masse meanwhile remarked as he gazed hopefully at the sign, “open it, advisor.”

“…”

However, Kara had stood in front of them, holding her hands out and blocking their way.

“…what’s the hold-up?”

“Listen…” she took a deep breath before muttering, “I think we should take turns going in. That way, I think it’ll be safer.”

“What are you talking about, advisor?” the general smugly retorted, “I don’t think it really matters if we all see it in the end.”

“I’m sorry but… I must insist,” she strongly responded as she focused her attention on the one person whose opinion really mattered, trying to get him to agree to her request.

In response, Claine sighed and turned to him.

“You heard her. You, the devil and Azwar stay in this area for now. Once—”

“I think… Mister Dau can come with us too,” she quickly added before he could finish his order, “I think his knowledge would come in handy for us.”

Knowledge?

He puzzledly looked at her, but she shook her head and raised a finger to her lips. It was just for a few seconds, so no one caught her action except for him.

I guess I should listen to her.

“Fine,” Claine corrected, “Masse and Azwar, stay put. We’ll come back once we’ve figured out what exactly it is she’s found.”

“…”

Masse’s expression was furious and downright murderous as he glared at Kara, but he seemed to have kept his doubts to himself as he obeyed him.

“Yes, chief,” he grumbled, adding in a few soft unintelligible mutters to himself.

“There, all good now, Kara?”

“Yes,” Kara nodded, “for now, at least.”

And so, satisfied by his choice, she turned around, placed her hands on the door and pushed against it.

With a deafening scraping and creaking noise, it slowly moved, and a small gap showing what was behind it became larger and larger, but there was still nothing they could see except for some white wall tiles and a polished floor.

“I think that’s all we need.”

After a short while, she stopped and proclaimed the completion of her task.

“…”

The door looked barely open. Aside from the narrow sliver that was the opening, it was still easily blocking more than three-quarters of the way inside.

“…you serious?” Masse commented.

“It’s… very hard to move this door. At this part, I think all of us should be fine squeezing through.”

To prove her point, she began to shove herself into the opening, forcing her way into the room, all while her massive backpack was being completely squished by the tiny gap and causing her even more problems in trying to get in.

“There… we… go!”

Despite her difficulty, she eventually squeezed into the room, and without hesitation, she signaled for the other three who could come in to do so as well.

Alright, time to see what all this is about, Dauma thought to himself as he made his slow, difficult way into it.