The gates again opened, and now the entire Bartel’s platoon was going in with the support of the one truck that also was serving as a mobile base. Now they knew that there was something strange in the hallway itself; the lights coming from the truck and the flashlights pointed forward; the light just stopped at a point; it was like a wall of darkness.

‘Now form columns to the side and one in the middle, let’s walk, no need to rush this.’ Bartel spoke on the radio.

The backpack that the communication device was carried in was large because of the battery it needed to power it. They just didn’t have enough blue crystals to do a hand-sized device with enough power to overpower the dungeon effect.

‘And we are back again in the darkness; of course, the lieutenant volunteered us to do it again.’ Asher sighed.

‘Don’t be like that, Asher; everything is going to be fine, like last time.’ Samal gave him a small push forward.

‘What are you talking about, We almost died last time; if it wasn’t for our Santiest Eliza, the majority would have died.’ He spoke while doing a quick salute, thinking of Eliza.

‘Trust the goddess Asher, is the only thing we can do.’ Caleb looked behind.

'Why do I even try?’ Asher shook his head.

‘Hey, shut it; focus on the mission,’ Ethan spoke, looking behind him.

The platoon continued to go forward and finally reached the point of the last battle. One of the peculiar things they noticed was the smell coming from the dead bodies; it was very strong, to the point that Bartel ordered one part of his men to burn the bodies while the others made a path for the truck to pass through.

‘And of course, we are on the burning bodies duty.’ Asher grabbed the hand of a creature.

‘Not that bad; imagine being those guys there moving those rocks.' Oran pointed at the group of soldiers before helping Asher pull the other hand of the creature.

‘What are you talking about? They are just going to use grenades to blow it up.’ Asher looked behind him while pulling the body.

A series of explosions destroyed the big piles of rock on the way while the bodies of the creatures were being burned to the sides in some pills. Work was slow because after the explosions they needed to get the small pieces out of the way by hand. In the end, a day passed; they were still halfway.

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They had the equipment to sleep inside the dungeon. The reason was because of the amount of work they thought it would take to clear the rocks, the soldiers were taking shifts to be on the lookout, and the ones that were in patrols looked into the darkness, becoming ever more paranoid, making shifts shorter than they should be. Bartel and his squad leaders thought that it was something in the air that made them like this, or it was just fear of the darkness.

Another day of work and they finished cleaning the path for the truck to pass. Alon ordered them on behalf of the duchess that the platoon should sleep another night before moving forward. Bartel also thought it was a good idea and confirmed it through the radio; the only problem was, like the last, looking at the darkness made the soldiers paranoid.

‘Last night was the worst; when I looked at the darkness with everyone sleeping, it was like something was going to jump at me.’ Oran rubbed his eyes and yawed.

‘Right? It's just creepy but at the same time interesting that now I don’t feel the same.’ Caleb checked his backpack.

‘Let’s go guys; we will be taking the left wall as the other squad covers our backs behind the truck.’ Ethan walked out.

‘We are always at the front; I don’t get it.’ Asher picked up his backpack and followed Ethan.

‘Stop complaining; more for us.’ Samal followed closely.

‘You almost died a couple of days ago; why are you like this?’ Asher looked behind while shaking his head slowly.

‘Because he has faith in the goddess, that is all.’ Oran put his arm over Samal’s shoulder.

‘I forgot that now this is what we say every time we stick our heads into the mouths of beasts.’ Asher sigh.

The platoon got into position with one squad hugging the right wall, another the left wall, the truck right behind in the middle and the last squad behind the truck covering the rear. As they walked forward, the same entrances were found on the walls, some larger than others; one of those had even four sets of stairs going up.

Everything was reported back to Alon at the command tent; Ariadne was there too with Edmund by her side, which confirmed that everything was normal using his knowledge from the scriptures he never read, as the memories of the place came from the last hero.

He found it strange that it was dark inside; the first time the hero conquered the dungeon, lights were coming from the walls and ceiling; something about this wasn’t right, but he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to raise alarms about himself; he already knew too much.

All of a sudden they saw a light at the end. Egor gave the order to stop his squad and reported it to Bartel; at the same time, the other squad did the same. Bartel, his driver, and his gunner didn't see any light at all.

‘Humm…’ Bartel stroked his chin.

Everyone stood there in place waiting for orders; the lieutenant didn’t want to put everyone at risk, but that was their job; someone would need to do it.

‘Let’s continue.’ His voice was heard on the radio by the squad leads.

The squad leads looked behind them and gave them a nod or a signal with their hands, so the platoon moved on and by each step, another soldier could see the light, like passing a veil to another world.

When they finally got out of the hallway, a vast plain was reviled with a city in the distance. As Egor and other members of his squad looked up, he saw the source of the light, a giant crystal that shined bright; it looked far; they couldn’t imagine how tall the ceiling was.

Bartel got out of the truck, looking around and at the giant crystal on the ceiling that gave the city its light. Using a spyglass, he saw the city in the distance; it didn’t look familiar at all; a lot of what it looked like were three- or four-story buildings full of color; he just thought about the nightmare that it was going into that.

‘Command, this is Angel 3-6; we have found the city and you will need to see this for yourself, sir, over.’ Bartel's voice was full of insecurity.