"That may be," the man replied thoughtfully,
"but a healer could still make all the difference in a raid like this."
Timothy tilted his head slightly.
"You’re not from around here, are you?"
The man offered a faint smile.
"That’s... classified."
Timothy shrugged, undeterred.
"In that case, how about we join your team instead? I’m self-sufficient, I follow orders, and I won’t drain your resources."
The man stepped back, briefly exchanging hushed words with each of his team mbers.
After a round of whispers, he turned back toward them.
"What about your companion?" he asked.
"The sa applies to ," Miriam replied calmly.
"Are you both mages?"
"I’m a warrior," Timothy answered simply.
That earned him a satisfied nod.
"You’re in."
After that, their team quickly selected a cara operator, bringing their number to eleven.
With everything in order, they registered under Vanessa’s supervision.
Timothy’s group was the fifth team to enter the dungeon.
The mont they crossed the threshold, a sudden pressure settled around them.
The air was dense, the energy strange, not chaotic like most gates, but calm.
Too calm.
That unnatural stillness made it more unsettling.
Everyone paused instinctively, eyes narrowing.
Ding
> [You have entered a World Shard]
[Ergency Quest: Free the Maiden]
[Do you accept? Y/N]
Timothy hesitated for just a second before pressing [Y].
He didn’t have a full theory on what World Shards truly were, this was only the second he’d ever entered.
But instinct told him they weren’t like typical dungeons.
Still, he accepted the quest without hesitation.
They stood now at the edge of a temple-like structure. Towering statues resembling gargoyles flanked a massive stone gate.
The size of the doorway and its "guards" was imposing, almost like the stone creatures were ant to open the doors themselves.
Despite its grandeur, carved beneath the colossal entrance was a smaller, human-sized door.
Their team moved in a tight formation, veterans? Clearly.
Their pace was calculated and precise.
Warriors and fighters led in front, mages, and support at the rear, protected by one designated guard and the cara operator.
Timothy and Miriam moved in perfect sync with them, adapting to their pace with ease.
He was positioned near the front, close enough to Miriam to react if anything happened.
It was a tactical setup but it also ant their approach to the door was painfully slow.
Eventually, one of the n sent a focused gust of wind forward.
It hit the small door just right, forcing it open with a controlled creak.
It was a clever, semi-efficient way to test for traps without putting anyone at imdiate risk.
No one was surprised by the tactic.
These weren’t greenhorns.
The team entered the temple, weapons ready.
Tension held in the air, but there was no ambush.
Only silence.
The hallway ahead was lined with unsettling statues.
Timothy’s eyes narrowed as he examined them.
The figures were twisted, grotesque works of art carved in the image of won, their eyes stitched open and bleeding.
Their faces were contorted in agony, and their bodies were bound to the stone.
It looked almost as if they had been molded alive into the statues themselves.
Each one was different in posture, expression, and angle but all shared the sa feature: wide, bleeding eyes forced open in eternal tornt.
A sickening artistic consistency.
The floor beneath them was stone old and cold, yet intact.
The hallway had no artificial lighting, yet there was illumination ahead.
A natural light source glowed further down the path, growing stronger the closer they got.
They advanced cautiously.
Eventually, the corridor opened up, revealing a large window spanning the length of the hall.
From it, heavy gusts of wind flowed in waves, carrying the distinct scent of the ocean.
"Salty," one of the n muttered, narrowing his eyes at the breeze.
"We must be near a large body of water," the team leader confird.
The view outside the window offered no ground in sight only sky and sea.
The temple wasn’t sitting on land, it was elevated, possibly even floating.
"Wouldn’t want to fight near water in a place like this," soone muttered.
"No kidding," another replied.
"That explains the dungeon’s high difficulty rating."
"Good thing we ca prepared, huh?"
The group exchanged knowing glances.
Timothy, anwhile, stayed quiet his eyes scanning the strange temple, the unnatural calm, and the statues that felt like they were still watching.
Sothing about this place whispered danger or maybe he was just paranoia
And whatever "Maiden" this quest referred to, he had the gut feeling they weren’t here to rescue a damsel in distress.
The team had barely settled into their advance when the leader raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.
The formation ca to a halt with practiced precision.
"What is it, boss?" one of the n whispered to him.
"Nothing... yet," the leader replied, scanning the surroundings. "But we’re changing formation. Caraman to the center. Mages and assassins form the second line. Warriors, we’ll cover the flanks and rear."
There was no healer among them, so the caraman alone moved to the center while the remaining mbers shifted seamlessly.
Three mages, one assassin, and four warriors surrounded the core in a tight, protective formation.
The leader himself took point, advancing slightly ahead of the group.
They were just about to move again when a voice called out.
"Excuse , sir!" Miriam said, raising her hand slightly.
Everyone turned to look at her including Timothy, who raised a brow.
"We were eleven when we entered, weren’t we? So how co there are only nine of us now?" she asked.
The leader paused.
"We were eight before. Then you two joined, that made ten... plus the caraman..."
His voice trailed off as realization dawned.
Eyes widened.
Weapons tensed.
They all turned, glancing back along the hallway. But it was impossible.
The path behind was a straight corridor with no turns, no forks. There hadn’t been a single chance to get lost.
Yet two were missing.
The formation loosened in confusion.
The caraman instinctively drifted toward the back, while Miriam subtly shifted closer to Timothy.
Together, the group stared down the corridor in silence.
Timothy was already deep in thought.
Could the door they entered from be so kind of gatekeeper only letting in certain people or triggering based on identity like in the goblin dungeon? But there had been no system prompt.
No alert.
His perception hadn’t detected anything off either...
Still, sothing was off.
Gray, tucked away in the scarf on his back, began twitching its antenna.
It was subtle. Only Timothy noticed, but he welcod the cue. The termite’s senses had proven sharper than most in odd scenarios like this.
"Don’t these statues remind you of back then?" Miriam asked suddenly, voice low.
Timothy’s eyes flicked to her.
"No," he replied.
"They don’t compare. Not even close."
The leader suddenly shouted,
"Joe!?"
His voice echoed down the stone hallway.
No reply.
"Chris!?"
Again, nothing.
Just echoes bouncing eerily off the walls.
Timothy grimaced.
"That’s not going to help," he muttered.
Then, without warning, Gray sent a ntal pulse sharp and urgent.
Timothy’s eyes narrowed.
"The statues."
Heads turned toward him in confusion.
"There’s sothing wrong with the statues," he said quietly, walking forward.
He focused on one near the entrance the sa one that had unsettled him earlier.
His instincts scread now.
He’d been on edge the entire ti, but sohow the threat had slipped through.
There was no warning, no system alert, no spike in hostility. And yet...
Then he slled it faint, tallic.
Blood.
He stepped up to the statue and turned to the leader.
"Tell ... was one of the missing guys short, fat, with a lean build?" he asked.
The leader’s face shifted.
"You noticed him? He was with us when we recruited you. He prefers the term ’fit.’"
Timothy pointed to the statue.
"I think I’ve found him."
The leader hurried forward.
His eyes widened as he leaned in, etched into the body of the statue was the vague outline of a human face, twisted in pain.
Blood was seeping into the stone, vanishing slowly as though consud.
The caraman rushed over, face pale with shock.
Then a voice behind them cracked the silence.
"Eka... Eka was just standing beside ," a younger hunter said, his voice trembling.
Behind him stood a new statue, stitched eyes, a feminine form, and a disturbing smile.
Miriam had already positioned herself beside Timothy.
Instinct or not, she stayed close.
The leader didn’t hesitate.
"Destroy the statues!" he barked.
With a shout, he drove his arm-shield into the closest statue, shattering it.
But it was chaos.
How were they supposed to destroy statues that only moved when unseen? The entire path was filled with them, lined wall to wall, silent and watching.
Then things got worse.
The sound of flapping wings echoed from outside the tall window.
It was followed by the crash of water, splashes that didn’t sound like sothing diving in, but rather sothing erging.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l
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