The veil shattered like a mirror and the shimmer danced like the shine on the edges of glass. It was a myriad of colors, an explosion of emotion, and it all happened in a single instance. She could not tell whether it was a cry of joy or the lamentation of grief, but she knew there was no hate withing. There was only a longing.

Rana was not mistaken. There was no hatred to be found and the Dungeon bore no ill-will towards its intruders. However, knowing what nagged at the back of her mind and the source of her unease did not alleviate the sense of contradiction she was feeling.

She had to know what it was, what made this Dungeon feel more like it was alive than it simply being the obsession of a dying moment. However, she was surrounded by noise, a beautiful yet melancholic ensemble of broken fragments. There was nothing but a distance that could not be closed before her. Still, she had to grasp it. Her hands stretched forward and reached for the unknowable.

The shimmering light faded and her extended arm reached nothing but the cold breeze under a calm night sky.

Rana clenched her fist and lowered her arm back to her side. It seemed like this mystery was not one she could solve at this moment.

She stood on a landscape that stretched into the horizon, covered by a thin blanket of sand that flowed like a river. The sky was calm but the land was not as fissures shot out from the intersecting skyline like lightning, cracking the surface of the rough terrain and creating large abysses where giant shards of stone protruded out of.

It was an expansive piece of land with nothing but broken terrain. There were no monuments or unique land formations to act as guidance. There were no rooms to explore or directions to head towards.

Rana looked at the group behind her to see what their reactions were. However, it seemed like the abnormality of the Dungeon layout was the least of their worries. The marked ones clutched themselves with an embrace as their teeth and armor pieces shivered and shuddered. The sweat-soaked clothes that aided them against the scorch were now sapping their remaining body heat, and the sizzling sand was now like a river of snow.

“You seem awfully nonchalant about this whole thing,” Jin said, finally breaking her own restraint.

Rana knew this question would be coming her way. The body empowered by a mark was formidable and it gave them resistance against the harshest of weather conditions. However, strangely enough, a marked one still exhibited normal human physiological traits even if cold or heat had no damaging effect on their bodies. Therefore, she knew that the perks of her undead nature would exhibit some unnatural behavior that some would question.

She already had an answered prepared.

“This,” Rana said and pointed towards her jacket. Jin knew what she meant and instantly clicked her tongue. “I can sell you this equipment if you have the pellets.”

Jin’s eyes instantly lit up. There was no reason that such a piece of magical equipment would be cheap, but it seemed like the price was not an issue for her. For someone to be this confident with their financial capabilities, Rana wondered of Jin was secretly some heiress to some rich family.

“Really? How much?”

“How many grains of sand are there here?”

“I am currently thinking of murdering you right now.”

Rana chuckled and ignored what Jin continued to mutter about. She turned towards the other marked ones and approached their leader. She knew the man was not their actual commander, but he was at least on the surface.

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“I think we should make camp,” Rana said. Having those who want her dead continue forward without being in their best condition was a benefit to her. However, she still needed to demonstrate that she was concerned for their well being. Besides, she knew what the answer would be.

“No,” the leader said. “I believe my men could still march forward.”

“Are you sure? Jin seems like she is about to throw a fit.”

“Positive.”

“With Jin throwing a fit or marching forward?” Rana asked and she could hear the target of her ridicule throw a fit. “I guess its both.”

The leader frowned, now knowing how to respond or what Rana was trying to do. He was about to begin another round of explanation, an attempt to persuade her to follow his lead and to steer the conversation away from the topic of a fuming comrade. However, there was no need as Rana did not care to fight the leader on whether to stay or not.

“Where to then?”

“We wander and scout the perimeter first,” the leader said. He was taken aback by Rana’s easy cooperation but quickly recovered. “Once we get a good idea of what we are dealing with and our future prospects, then we shall rest.”

The idea was not bad, at least on paper. However, the issue was that it was dark and it was an unknown Dungeon. The act of scouting should be done when they were well-rested and prepared and when the discussion of tactics and strategy finished. The best course of action was to definitely rest up and be vigilant when making camp. If they ventured forth now, who knew what sort of dangers they would face and when they would to able, if even they were able, to rest. To explore and scout now was the unsafe option, an impatient one, and it only was able to give Rana an idea of what the duke’s marked ones were planning.

She knew that they wanted to hide their intentions, especially the one in charge of leading the actual Dungeon conquest. They went as far as to even hid the true nature of the Dungeon from their own allies. However, it seemed like now they did not even care for the subterfuge and could barely muster an effort to make their deception more believable. This meant that rather than their intentions, time and progress were more important aspects of the conquest.

It was no impatience but haste that was required now. The little stoppage on the journey to Sunset Spears were not the duke’s marked ones being vigilant. It was a matter of timing and making sure Rana and they arrived at a certain time.

Of course.

Rana and the group of marked ones continued forward, this time with the leader of the duke’s men at the helm. She observed the group around her but none of them paid her any attention or took any sort of action towards her. It seemed like the point of interest and the main stage for the conquest were still some distance away. The only exception, of course, was Jin. Her liaison was chattering and complaining about their current situation, and the one to suffer her verbal storm was Rana. The other marks ones had a hint of relief that they were not the ones to deal with what seemed like an ordinary occurrence for them.

Rana ignored what Jin said, mostly giving distracted nods of affirmation to what was being said. She paid attention to their surroundings. One thing immediately crossed her mind, and the further she walked the more certain she was of that thought.

There were no monsters.

She took a glance at the leader and she realized he was wandering aimlessly. He did not give his subordinates any commands or lead them to anywhere specific. The scouts that were sent forward did nothing but march further ahead. It was clear they knew nothing about this part of the Dungeon. She wondered what were they planning, and it seemed like their orders from the duke were to have Rana lead, and if she failed to even get to the point he wanted her to be at, she would then be considered not trustworthy of fulfilling his wishes.

It was a crude plan and made little sense, but the greedy and the deceitful often mistake their hubris for genius.

Rana continued to march and paid attention to the landmarks. It was a few hours before Rana went up to the leader.

“Let’s go towards that direction,” Rana said. The leader did nothing but nod and command his men to follow.

Nothing interesting happened, but whenever Jin started to voice their concerns, she rejected them and told them to continue. It was only after another few hours she was certain what was going on.

“We are walking in circles,” Rana said. The leader was obviously surprised and did not realize it, but it was not due to his negligence. His attentions were simply elsewhere. “The surface is an everlasting path, where the beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. I have discovered that where the land cracked and where the stones are strewn, although having no pattern, would inevitably repeat.”

“What are you suggesting? If this is another one of those mirage tricks, then how do you think we should escape this one? To think the entire Dungeon would be simply walking,” the leader said after pondering for some time. His initial thought was within reason but incorrect.

“Not necessarily,” Rana said as she moved forward. The group followed until she stopped before a large chasm. “We simply need to descend the abyss.”