The deeper they descended the staircase, the more the rocky walls gave way to smooth surfaces. At first cracked and weathered by time, they slowly transitioned into the artificial structure that awaited them below. A heavy atmosphere settled over them, oppressive, as if the very place was judging their every step.
At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves facing a massive stone door. Alynia placed her hand on its cold surface, her fingers tracing symbols she didn't immediately recognize. With a slow but steady push, she opened it. The door creaked slightly as it moved, revealing a chamber of unsuspected splendor.
Inside was a masterpiece of ancient architecture, entirely crafted from white marble, veined with gold and silver. The high, vaulted ceiling soared above them, adorned with complex motifs intricately woven into near-divine harmony. Frescoes ran along the walls, depicting a forgotten story. Alynia narrowed her eyes, her sharp gaze deciphering the stylized faces and sacred scenes that unfolded before her. She recognized them.
"These frescoes… They look like they depict the Goddess… But why here? The Goddess doesn't create dungeons..." said Alynia, troubled.
A shiver ran down her spine. These images should never have been found in such an isolated and perilous place. She threw a glance at Veil, who watched her silently, his expression wavering between curiosity and concern.
"Do you know what it means?" asked Veil, worried.
"No... But it's not normal," Alynia replied coldly, her gaze locked onto the frescoes.
Their attention was soon drawn to an inscription engraved at the center of one of the murals. Elegant, perfectly etched letters formed a commanding phrase: "The Temple of Judgment."
Alynia felt her heart tighten. The name meant nothing to her, nor did the frescoes of the Goddess adorning the walls. Even the most seasoned adventurers had never mentioned such a place. It was as if this place existed outside all archives, all legends. A total anomaly.
"The Temple of Judgment... Have you ever heard of it?" asked Veil, perplexed.
Alynia slowly shook her head, though her expression betrayed her unease. Veil moved toward the center of the room, where the polished marble floor revealed an intriguing pattern.
Three perfectly drawn circles interlocked on the marble surface. The first circle, close to them, was segmented by several stone pillars, each cut into regular sections and arranged symmetrically. The second circle, further out, was separated from the first by these pillars, forming a strange and oppressive boundary. But it was the third circle that truly captured all attention.
Floating crystals, suspended in the air, slowly rotated around the perimeter of the final circle. Their midnight blue reflections radiated a soft, hypnotic light, shimmering across the marble in an almost surreal manner. No visible flow of magic, no apparent source of light in the ceiling that nonetheless glowed brightly. The whole setup seemed to breathe with an ancient and unfathomable energy.
"This is impossible… Such a sophisticated mechanism— even the great cities couldn't create something like this..." thought Alynia, tense.
She knelt down, brushing the smooth surface of the circles with her fingertips. No grain, no imperfection. It was unlike anything she had ever seen in ruins or other dungeon sanctuaries.
Veil crouched beside her, his eyes shining with open fascination.
"So that means we're the first ones here, right?" said Veil, enthusiastic.
"This isn't a game, Little Wolf . This place... It's beyond anything we've faced so far," Alynia replied sternly.
She stood back up, scanning the surroundings with heightened vigilance. Nothing in this temple was left to chance. Every detail seemed designed to test those daring enough to enter. The silence that hung over the place added to the heavy tension, broken only by the faint echo of their footsteps.
Veil watched Alynia, perplexed. He had never seen that glint of uncertainty in her eyes before.
"Do you think we should keep going...?" hesitated Veil.
Alynia rested her hand on her dagger, her gaze locked on the circles.
"The Judgment..." Alynia murmured to herself.
Then, lifting her eyes toward Veil, she declared sharply:
"We're moving forward. Stay close to me. No mistakes," she ordered firmly.
Veil nodded, his usual enthusiasm finally giving way to seriousness.
As they cautiously advanced toward the center of the room, a faint humming sound filled the air, making the crystals vibrate in a strange symphony.
As they approached, their gazes were drawn to an imposing figure standing at the far end of the room. A colossal statue stood tall, motionless, both hands gripping an enormous hammer as if ready to strike. Its polished marble body was lined with fine silver filigree, tracing the curves of its armor and highlighting the details of a craftsmanship beyond anything they had ever seen. The statue's joints formed overlapping circles, interlocking with a mechanical fluidity that made it seem like it could come to life at any moment.
Alynia and Veil exchanged a look. The magnificence of the place fascinated them, every fresco, every carefully carved pattern bearing witness to a skill far surpassing anything they had encountered so far. Yet, beneath that perfection lurked a silent threat, something oppressive in the statue's stance and the heavy expectation it exuded.
"You think... we're gonna have to fight that thing?" asked Veil, hesitant.
"I don't know... but stay sharp," replied Alynia, her gaze dark and calm.
They hadn't taken another step when the air vibrated with a sharp, metallic sound.
CLACK.
The noise echoed, making Veil jump as the suspended crystals suddenly stopped spinning. The silence that followed was almost more oppressive than the previous hum. He glanced down at the floor, searching for a trap beneath his feet, but found nothing. He turned to Alynia, seeking an answer.
"Was that me? Did I touch something?" asked Veil, worried.
"Look at the pillars," snapped Alynia.
His gaze shifted back to the towering columns surrounding the circles on the floor. A subtle shudder ran along their surfaces, and then slowly, they began to pivot with a deep, rumbling sound, hidden mechanisms activating within the temple's depths. Each pillar rotated at a precise rhythm, revealing dark slots glowing with a faint light.
Veil instinctively moved closer to Alynia, his instincts screaming that things were about to get worse.
"Should we move?" whispered Veil, tense.
He barely finished his sentence when one of the pillars came to a sudden stop.
CLANK.
An opening appeared at its center, releasing a golden glow that quickly grew brighter. Alynia didn't hesitate. She grabbed Veil by the collar and shoved him to the side.
"Get down, Little Wolf !" barked Alynia, sharp and urgent.
A beam of pure light shot across the room, slicing through the air with a burning hiss and striking the opposite pillar. The impact lit up the entire room, casting their distorted shadows across the marble floor.
Veil rolled over and clumsily got back to his feet, panting. His eyes widened as he saw the pillar resume its rotation... until a second one stopped, this time revealing two openings.
"Stay focused!" Alynia snapped, tense and concentrated.
The first opening unleashed another beam that barely grazed Veil, the suffocating heat burning his skin without even touching him. He staggered back hastily, gasping for air.
Then the second opening, positioned higher, shot out another ray. This time, it struck one of the floating crystals directly. The beam shattered into a myriad of light fragments, ricocheting all around the room. Alynia and Veil threw themselves to the ground just in time, the beams slicing through the air above them.
"Don't let them touch you! These beams... they'd slice you clean through!" she shouted.
Alynia's uncompromising tone made Veil realize this was no idle warning. His heart hammered in his chest as he watched the rays dance wildly, bouncing off the smooth surfaces and multiplying their attack angles.
"I'm gonna die here... No... Focus!" Veil gasped in panic.
He crawled over to Alynia, the beams continuing to streak unpredictably around them. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead as he cast a worried glance toward the unmoving statue. The gigantic hammer in its hands weighed down on them like a silent threat.
Alynia scrutinized the pillars with a cold focus, searching for a pattern in their rotation.
"There has to be a rhythm... A logic... Find it before they trap us," Alynia calculated sharply.
"What do we do now?" Veil panted.
Alynia gritted her teeth, her voice sharper than ever.
"We move forward. Stay low and follow my signal. And above all, don't do anything stupid," Alynia ordered, determined.
The beams continued darting around them, grazing their crouched forms. Leading the way, Alynia studied each movement, searching for an opening. But the trap was closing in, and one misstep would mean death.
She suddenly froze, observing one of the beams that had just vanished. The corresponding pillar did not resume rotating. A heavy silence settled over the room, as if the temple itself hesitated to continue its relentless mechanism.
"Follow me," she whispered, focused.
Veil stared at her, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.
"Do you actually have a plan?" Veil whispered.
Alynia nodded and pointed at the first circle on the ground. No beam had crossed it yet. The untouched smooth marble betrayed a potential blind spot in the deadly trap surrounding them.
"This circle. No ray has touched it. If we stay within this zone, we can move forward without getting roasted," Alynia explained calmly and determinedly.
Veil nodded, his breathing short. Still crouched low, they began moving forward slowly, sliding across the cold marble. The air vibrated around them from the heat, making every movement suffocating.
But just as Alynia was about to pass him, Veil suddenly closed his eyes and raised a hand backward.
"Stop, stop... Wait," said Veil, embarrassed.
"What's wrong, Little Wolf ?" Alynia whispered, irritated.
Veil turned his head slightly and pointed to her legs, still too close to him.
"It would... be better if I went first," Veil admitted, awkwardly.
Alynia felt a different kind of heat rush to her cheeks. A small sigh escaped her lips. In her focus, she hadn't even noticed how close they were.
"Idiot... stay focused," Alynia grumbled, flustered.
She quickly averted her gaze and nodded, feigning indifference.
"Go ahead, but hurry," she said shortly and coldly.
Veil moved in front, carefully crawling along the ground. Alynia followed closely, watching his every step. They soon reached the border separating the first and second circle, a crucial point they had to cross.
But just as Veil placed a foot into the new zone, a CLICK echoed through the hall, sharp and unforgiving.
"Run!" Alynia commanded sharply.
The pillars opened all at once with a deafening clang, revealing a multitude of glowing orifices. Sparks of light began pulsing from within the structures, heralding the inevitable.
They sprang to their feet and sprinted toward the nearest pillars, their boots pounding against the marble floor. The room was suddenly flooded with blinding light, forcing them to squeeze their eyes shut momentarily under the brutal intensity of the colliding beams.
Alynia and Veil dove behind a massive pillar, panting. Their backs pressed against the cold stone, their breaths ragged. All around them, the suspended crystals shot beams in every direction, turning the room into a searing inferno.
"We're gonna roast alive here!" Veil gasped, panicking.
Alynia threw a quick glance outward, her sharp eyes piercing through the light barrier. The heat radiating from it was suffocating, oppressive, making every breath harder to take. Sweat beaded on her forehead, but she refused to give in to panic.
"Focus. The light reflects off the crystals... we can use the pillars' shadows to move forward," Alynia answered firmly.
Alynia narrowed her eyes, observing the infernal ballet of beams crisscrossing the room. Each crystal projected rays in every direction, leaving no exploitable shadow. Their refuge behind the pillar seemed temporary, a flimsy protection against the oppressive intensity surrounding them.
Veil, crouched beside her, was casting frantic glances around. The heat was becoming almost unbearable, beads of sweat burning down his forehead. He nervously wiped his neck, his breathing short.
"We're trapped... There's light everywhere. What do we do now?" asked Veil, panting and anxious.
Alynia remained silent, her piercing gaze analyzing every reflection, every movement of the suspended crystals. No discernible rhythm, no predictable pattern. It was a perfect trap, designed to leave no escape.
"There are no shadows... No respite. Impossible to move without getting hit... They've cornered us," murmured Alynia, tense.
She clenched her teeth. The situation was slipping out of her hands, and it was a feeling she hated. Her mind searched desperately for a flaw, but everything seemed perfectly calculated to trap them here until they exhausted themselves or made a fatal mistake.
"Tell me there's a way out..." Veil whispered, panicking.
Alynia glanced at him, reading the fear in his eyes, but she couldn't afford to share it. Not now.
"Stay focused, Little Wolf. Don't panic. There has to be a way," said Alynia, sharp and calm.
She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to steady her breathing. Each heartbeat echoed in her head, drumming in sync with the pulsating lights around them. Then she reopened her eyes, scanning the pillars.
"They triggered when Little Wolf crossed... So, a floor trigger... or a sensor?" she thought, analytical.
She observed the floor around the pillar where they were sheltering. A fine line discreetly ran along its base, slightly embedded into the marble.
"A mechanism... If there's a trigger, there might be a shutdown switch," she pondered, focused.
Veil, meanwhile, had eyes only for the beams. His breathing quickened as the heat became more and more suffocating.
"I can't just sit here doing nothing..." Veil growled, clenching his teeth.
Alynia raised a hand, signaling him to stay silent.
"Don't move," Alynia ordered, low and firm.
She placed her gloved hand on the pillar's base, sliding her fingers along the carved patterns. There had to be a way to disable the trap, but the slightest wrong move could doom them.
Suddenly, a faint click was heard. Alynia froze, her gaze lifting to the still-rotating crystals.
"What did you do?" asked Veil, worried.
"Nothing... yet," she replied tensely.
The deafening sound of the fusion beams echoed through the room, each pulse seeming to inch closer. The crystals, in their endless rotation, traced a deadly network closing in on them.
Then everything stopped.
Although the heat was still suffocating, the light vanished instantly, leaving them in a heavy silence. Veil blinked, his breath still rapid, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
"You... you did something?" Veil panted, incredulous.
Alynia, still crouching, scanned the surroundings warily. She slowly shook her head, her piercing blue eyes sweeping the room.
"No... and that's exactly what worries me," Alynia replied, dark and wary.
The sudden calm wasn't a relief; it was an anomaly. Her muscles remained tense, her lupine ears twitching at the slightest sound, alert for any sign of danger.
Veil glanced toward the center of the room. The ambient light, which had intensified during the beam attack, had returned to the soft glow they had noticed upon entering. Slowly, the heat began to dissipate, leaving a sticky dampness clinging to their clothes.
"Do we move? Or... do we wait?" Veil hesitated.
Alynia didn't answer immediately. Her sharp gaze was fixed on a strange phenomenon at the center of the room. A subtle distortion, like an invisible wave bending the air. A blue glow rose from the floor, forming a light column that reflected off the immaculate marble. The beam pulsed softly, casting dancing reflections on the sculpted walls, before suddenly dissipating.
"What was that?" he whispered.
Alynia remained silent, her eyes locked onto the object now floating at the center of the room: a box of unusual shape, entirely blue and slightly translucent. Its outline seemed to shimmer faintly, as if it wasn't fully anchored in their reality.
"A reward... or another trap?" Alynia breathed, wary.
Without a word, she slowly straightened up and moved forward on silent steps, every movement controlled. Her fingers instinctively rested on the hilt of her dagger, ready to draw it at the slightest sign of danger. Her gaze never left the floating box. Veil, more hesitant, followed her while keeping a cautious distance.
"Stay sharp, Little Wolf," she murmured, focused.
When she was just a few steps from the object, she stopped, analyzing every detail. The box emitted no sound, except for a faint trembling she noticed when she reached out her hand. She frowned.
"This is too easy..." she whispered, wary.
Veil approached as well, observing the bluish surface of the object with a curious look.
"Maybe we should wait? See if it does... I don't know, something sketchy?" Veil suggested, skeptical.
Alynia didn't answer, gently placing a hand on the box. Instantly, a vibration rippled through the air in a subtle wave. The resulting low, continuous sound extended throughout the room, making the walls tremble as if something far greater had been set in motion.
Alynia quickly withdrew her hand, her gaze darkening.
"Step back..." Alynia ordered, her voice tight.
Before they could take a step back, the box projected a thin light that spread along the floor, slithering through the silver inlays embedded in the marble. In a fraction of a second, the light raced along each engraved pattern with surgical precision. The silver veins lit up, running across the entire room instantly.
"Wow... that's... impressive," Veil breathed, both awed and uneasy.
Alynia didn't share his enthusiasm. She knew that in a dungeon, every spectacle came with a price. The patterns were lighting up at an alarming speed, slowly converging toward the colossal statue that remained menacingly still.
"This is not a good thing..." Alynia replied in a cold voice.
The light reached the statue's pedestal, wrapping around it like a living vine, climbing up its marble feet. A deep rumble echoed, vibrating through the air like an ancient breath awakening after centuries of stillness.
"Little Wolf, we move. Now," she declared firmly.
Veil, finally realizing the scale of the danger, nodded quickly. There wasn't a second to lose.