Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc 15] Ch.2 Dragon Bento

"It's just a wall right? The outside is just on the other side. Right?" Becky had a manic expression on her face as if she had just snapped.

"Tali, stop her." I urged.

Talisa jumped into action and caught Becky's hand before she could swing her fist.

"Fool!" Talisa said with a roar of authority. "Cease this action at once and consider the safety of your party before you throw us all into reckless danger."

"But Alpha is dead!" Becky's body began shaking.

"Alpha was on the threshold, have you confirmed his death? He may simply be locked out or in a separate room. Calm your mind before you act, or I shall calm it for you." Talisa squeezed down on Becky's hand causing her to wince.

"Okay, okay. Let's take it easy here." Amanda decided to play mediator. "Tali is right. I've come across plenty of teleporting traps that could just be one of them to separate us. The last thing we want to do before we have a plan is to go around smashing things, trust me I have enough scars to know."

Kaina was next, although she just approached Becky from behind and slapped the back of her head. "Stupid. Think before you act, how many times have I told you?"

"I'm calm, I'm... mostly calm. So what is the plan?" Becky backed down. Talisa let go and Becky shook out her hand that was crushed by Tali's.

Everyone then looked at me.

"What did you mean about bad timing?" Kaina asked me.

"Let's go back to the other room... oh." I looked behind me and there was another endless hallway. And the light was getting dimmer as there were only candles lighting anything and half of them dark or empty. I pulled out a lantern and lit it. "Just everyone stay calm. This location just evolved into a festering dungeon, and we got caught up in it." Which was the reason there were lit candles, let alone the long endless hallway.

I sighed. Remembering the past festering dungeons that I'd been in didn't help much.

Honestly, the fastest plan may be to just smash the walls until we find a way out. But it was also the most dangerous. What if we ended up in the boss room or tripping the wrong side of a trap. The owner may also send all of its minions after us at once.

Festering dungeons... so annoying. There wasn't even a dungeon core to smash or an entrance to return to. We also couldn't expect this whole place to have the same geography as the building before us. Just like the Kallit estate, it was probably an endless loop no matter what direction we go.

"For now, we wait. The dungeon is still transforming. Building itself and its own set of rules, if we act rashly it will utilize those rules against us. Putting us in an even worse position." I said. "If we are lucky it may just let us go."

"And if we aren't lucky?" Amanda asked.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that question." I said as Tali returned to my side. "Did anyone else see that demon girl?"

Everyone nodded as they began taking out their own lanterns.

"She had an old slave crest on her cheek, from the northern continent." Kaina said. "They like to display their ownership of their hated enemies. Bloody human Zealots."

"So we can add demons to the list of undead, at least she wasn't corrupted by the Dungeon Lord yet." I chewed on my thumbnail. "So the first master did have slaves, and demons are no laughing matter. We can't assume that the Dungeon lord was the first owner; it could have been a powerful and resentful Demon Slave."