Alpha Instinct-Chapter 77: "Into the Depths"

The dungeon revealed itself as a sprawling grotto: damp, with uneven, rocky walls and a low ceiling from which water dripped incessantly. The ground, made of packed dirt and pebbles, made for slippery footing.

Kaleb conjured a small fireball, which floated ahead, illuminating the path with an orange glow. Mikaela led, followed by Kaleb. Leonard and Evelyn brought up the rear.

Along the way, they encountered scattered groups of ghouls and zombies. The ghouls, emaciated and fast creatures, attacked with claws and teeth but were quickly cut down by Leonard’s swords and Evelyn’s daggers. The zombies, slower and clumsier, were easy prey for the group’s combined attacks.

The fights, though frequent, were brief and not very challenging.

"These are pushovers, compared to the Death Knights," Evelyn commented, wiping the blood from her daggers on a cloth.

"They’re treacherous, despite being weak," Mikaela cautioned. "Don’t let your guard down."

After a few minutes of walking and sporadic fighting, the corridor opened into a vast gallery. A subterranean lake, with dark, still waters, occupied part of the space. Pointed stalagmites and stalactites adorned the ceiling and floor, and natural rock columns, sculpted by water over millennia, supported the structure.

Evelyn, without a word, moved ahead. She activated Subterfuge and, using Shadow Steps, slipped through the shadows, becoming almost invisible.

Minutes later, she returned, her face serious.

"What is it?" Mikaela asked directly.

"Over two hundred Death Knights," Evelyn replied, her voice low. "At the end of the gallery. And… a lich. Sitting on a metal throne with skulls and bones. He has an iron crown and is holding a scepter… It looks like it’s made of… ribs." She paused. "And he’s surrounded by soul crystals, pulsating."

"Two hundred!? You’re only saying that ’cause you think I’d crap my pants! Are you nuts? ...Wait, that doesn’t make any sense..." Kaleb said, scratching his head, confused by his own joke.

Mikaela sighed. "That’s what I feared most. A horde like that... controlled by a Lich... it’s an immense destructive power. We need reinforcements, many experienced equalizers..."

"Impossible," Leonard interrupted, his voice heavy with frustration. "There’s no way we can face that. We need to go back. Now."

Mikaela, though visibly dejected, nodded slowly. "You’re right, Leonard. We need a raid, a large, well-coordinated group. We have to go back to the city and alert the Guild."

Kaleb, ever clumsy, as he turned to leave, bumped his backpack into a protruding stalagmite. The rock, fragile and hollow, couldn’t withstand the impact. With a sharp crack, the tip of the stalagmite broke off, and the rock fell heavily to the ground, causing a crash that echoed throughout the gallery.

The silence that followed was sharp and tense. The four of them looked at each other, paralyzed by fear.

A guttural, horrendous, and powerful scream tore through the air, coming from the depths of the cave. It was an inhuman sound, loaded with fury and ancestral power. The Lich had awakened.

"Find them!" a hoarse, guttural voice, magically amplified, echoed through the gallery, followed by the metallic sound of hundreds of armors moving in unison.

"Run!" Leonard shouted, breaking the paralyzing silence.

They dashed back the way they had come, adrenaline coursing through their veins. Evelyn, more agile and with a keen survival instinct, stayed behind everyone, creating small obstacles to delay the horde of undead. She knocked down stones from the ceiling with precise blows from her daggers and broke smaller stalagmites to create improvised barriers, all at an amazing speed.

At a narrower point in the corridor, Evelyn tossed a small white phosphorus grenade she carried with her toward one of the supporting columns.

The explosion, though small, was enough to shake the structure. Rocks and pebbles rained down from the ceiling, partially blocking the passage. She then ran as fast as she could to catch up.

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But the explosion had a cost. As she passed Kaleb, she saw him trip on a loose rock and fall heavily. As he tried to get up, the strap of his backpack got caught on a pointed rock.

"Damn it!" he cursed, struggling to free himself. "I’m always the screw-up!" He complained while trying to remove the backpack from his back, but it was too tight.

Evelyn turned to help, but a large amount of stones was falling right behind Kaleb. She hesitated. "I’m going to get buried too..." she thought.

The stones continued to fall behind him, getting closer and closer. The sound of the heavy footsteps of the Death Knights was approaching rapidly. The dust raised by the explosion made it difficult to see. It was a death trap.

Leonard, who was running ahead, noticed Kaleb and Evelyn’s absence. He then stopped abruptly and looked back. The scene he saw chilled his blood.

Without hesitation, he activated his ELEV using "Temporal Cognition" and "Ghostly Steps." His perception of time shifted. Everything around him seemed to move in slow motion. He became a blur, running back towards Kaleb at an impossible speed.

The stones fell around him like raindrops in slow motion. He dodged each one with pinpoint accuracy, his body moving instinctively and fluidly.

In an instant, he reached Kaleb. With a strong pull and using a knife, he broke the backpack strap, freeing his friend. At the same moment, he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away, as the rest of the column collapsed, completely closing the passage inches from them.

He put Kaleb on the ground, and they all continued to run. Evelyn positioned herself behind Kaleb, pushing him along, until they were a safe distance from the cave entrance.

The morning sun, which had seemed distant before, now hit them full force, warming their sweaty and panting faces. Exhausted, they turned to face the cave entrance, expecting at any moment to see a horde of undead emerging from the darkness. Each one’s breathing was loud and heavy, contrasting with the tense silence that followed.

Seconds passed, stretching into minutes. Nothing came out of the dungeon.

Relieved, but still tense, they collapsed to the ground, sitting with their backs against rocks and trees.

Leonard started to laugh, a nervous laugh, a mixture of relief and disbelief. "That... that was close!" he said, between gasps for air.

But the laughter died in his throat when Mikaela, who had remained silent until then, sitting with her eyes closed, interrupted abruptly, her voice filled with urgency and fear.

"Silence! Something’s wrong... I sense a presence... a dangerous one."

Before anyone could react, a figure emerged from the darkness of the cave. It wasn’t one of the clumsy Death Knights, nor a hungry Ghoul.

It was a Neumond.

He walked calmly, his hands elegantly clasped behind his back, as if he were on a morning stroll. A subtle, almost imperceptible smile played on his lips.

"I wasn’t expecting visitors..." he said, his voice soft, yet loaded with a sinister power that made every hair on the back of Leonard’s neck stand on end.