"Haaa… haaa…"
Muffled, confused breaths filled the air as Des opened his eyes.
The last thing he felt was a chill that caused him to lose his senses for a few moments. He didn't know how long passed since he lost consciousness, but when he woke up, he found his body being pushed and pulled rapidly by Beck's strong hands.
His tight grip on both shoulders sent enough discomfort and slight pain to Des that he regained full awareness in no time.
"Are you up now? Can you hear me?"
"Yes… yes… are we there yet?" Des spoke, weakly rising to his feet before being drawn down by the heavy luggage he carried.
"Take it easy, Des."
Beck tried to help him up, but Des raised both hands in protest almost instantly.
"A-ah… I got it, I got it…" He muttered, putting more strength into his muscles so he could get up with the bag. This time, it ended in success.
"I did i—!"
"Stop dawdling with the kid and get over here already, Beck!" The mean girl's voice echoed loudly in the darkness.
It was only after she spoke that he realized just how empty, large, and incredibly dark the place around him was. He couldn't see anything beyond his immediate surroundings, and the only reason he could even see was due to the floating ball of light above everyone—the product of a Spell that Levi cast, no doubt.
"A-ah, sorry. Just had to check if he was alright." Beck replied to Lisa rather timidly, before tapping Des and returning to the main group.
'What's happening here?'
Des could only wonder to himself while taking another proper look around. The place seemed empty and deserted. It was cold… eerie… and very very scary.
Far scarier than anywhere he had ever been to before.
He moved closer to the main group, overhearing what they were saying in the process.
"That's exactly what I'm saying! Where the hell are we? This doesn't look like the Second Floor at all."
"Forget the Second Floor, it doesn't match any of the Floors we've been to before."
"The Compass isn't functioning here, which means this isn't even anywhere among the Ten Floors that has been registered with it."
"The hell? Are you sure it isn't just dysfunctional?"
"I bought it right before this Exploration. And it was from Liam! It couldn't have had any defects."
"Damnit! What the hell is this, though? I've never experienced this before."
"Me neither."
"I've heard of traps that transport you to a secret portion of a Floor, but never a Lower Floor. Maybe this is similar?"
"A trap in a Prime Premises? How is that even possible?"
"I don't know… I'm just saying…"
The more Des heard, the more he understood—these people knew just as much as he did in their current situation.
In essence, they knew nothing.
'We didn't get transported to the Second Floor, but a place that no one knows.'
That sounded horrible.
'What are we going to do? How will we get out of here?' Surely, his reliable teammates would figure it out.
He hated relying on others, but this moment was one of the exceptions. Something about the current situation made him sick to his stomach. He felt nauseous, and chills kept running through his body.
The feeling was almost similar to the one he had when the Skeleton Horror was behind him, but this was far worse.
No matter how many times he looked, he saw nothing.
Yet… he felt a constant presence.
Something was here. It was watching him—watching them.
He just couldn't see it.
~ZZZTTTZZZ!~
All of a sudden, following another loud buzz, bright lights suddenly began to fill the room. They all stemmed from several shiny crystals located on the walls, ceilings, and even littered all over the floors.
The crystals were massive—the smallest one bigger than an adult man's body.
With their radiation washing down on the room, the Explorers were nearly blinded by the influx of light. Thankfully, it was a mere stun.
Des also suffered this, but only for a few seconds.
Once his eyes acclimated to the change and he opened it… he found himself in a whole new world than what he expected.
'T-this is… MASSIVE!'
The room they were in was at least five times as large as the Prime Premises that amazed Des not too long ago. It was spectacularly decorated with crystals, ores, and a lot of treasure that would make any man drool—if not pass out.
Just one of the glowing crystals could guarantee any man a work-free life. Two or three were more than enough to feed a city for months.
'T-those are… of the utmost quality!' Des's thoughts echoed 'And even the Ores! The way they look… they look very rare and expensive!'
He had never seen anything like this in his whole life, so it was only normal for him to be amazed.
The rest of the Party Members were also gawking in shock.
For the first time, they also lost their composure, and it appeared like they were all like him—absolutely clueless and mesmerized by the treasures that surrounded them.
"We… we're set for life!" Someone yelled out loud.
No one argued or even muttered a word of complaint. He wasn't wrong in the slightest.
… Or was he?
"H-hey guys… what's that?"
Everyone turned in the direction that Lisa pointed at—something that everyone had overlooked for the first time since it was assumed to be a part of the weird structure.
But now… something about it looked different.
The 'thing' they all looked at was at least thirty meters tall, with many Crystals stuck to its body. It looked like a spider… or was it a crab? Perhaps a combination of the two.
It had several appendages—almost like a centipede, with the stinger of a scorpion, and… were those… EYES?!
The numerous eyes of the thing were fixated on them just as their eyes were fixated on it.
It was looking right at them!
"I-it's not… alive, is it?" Lisa's voice was quivering now, her legs shifting backwards as sweat began to fall from her face.
Fear crept into the hearts of everyone who saw the thing.
It was too scary to be real… too frightening to exist.
There was no doubt about it.
This was a Horror.
"N-no way… something so big…!" Lisa whimpered.
"Shhh! Don't speak!" Philip swiftly responded
"You're speaking!"
"Shut it!"
The mere fact that these two, who were previously kissing and performing the act of lovers, could turn against each other in a matter of moments spoke of this creature's intimidating presence.
"D-don't move! It's not moving yet… so don't move…" Beck mumbled, his eyes mainly focused on Des.
The poor lad was too scared to even think, talkless of move.
"Be quiet everyone!" Levi yelled frantically—probably making the loudest sound out of everyone thus far. "L-let's hear what the leader has to say. Lord Dredd? Dredd? Dre…?"
At this point, everyone turned to look at their leader, only to find the face of someone they didn't recognise.
"E-eeeeek!"
The tough expression of the valiant warrior was nowhere to be found.
Replacing it was a pale, nearly sickly face that reflected nothing short of absolute terror. Tears fell from the man's eyes, and mucus dripped from his two nostrils.
He looked like an imbecile—an absolutely frightened baby.
"T-that is… I don't… it… what… the… why… t-this…"
He could form no coherent words, almost as if his brain ceased to function.
Then–
~CREAK~
—At the notice of just the slightest sound, Dredd bolted from his position.
"Uwahhhhh!!! I don't want to dieeeee!!!"
The moment he did this, everyone was silently in shock. They witnessed him flee like a toddler, stumbling around as he ran as far away from the Horror as possible.
Before they realized it… they had already started running in the same direction too.
As soon as they took a few steps forward, though—
~BOOOOOOOOOM!~
—They heard a loud rumble from behind them, along with an updraft of wind that pushed them all to the ground.
The next thing they saw was a dark shadow on the ground… with Dredd at the center of it.
Anyone who raised their head up would have seen why.
The Horror had jumped up… and it was now descending on the leader who had now completely lost his mind.
"HELP ME! SAVE ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
He tried picking up his pace, getting rid of his sword and armor as the creature inevitably descended.
No matter how many things he got rid of… he could not escape the shadow of the creature.
"PLEASE SPARE M—!"
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~
The sound of squishing flesh and grating bones was lost in the loud rumble that echoed within the room.
No one heard the last words of their leader.
They only witnessed him get crushed by the monstrosity that now stood before them—all of its eyes staring.
The crimson blood he had flowed from the feet of the Horror, seeping unto the ground as it flowed forward.
Splattered entrails remained close to the area of impact, and the stench of gore began to waft through the cold air.
Everyone took it in.
Everyone witnessed the quick, yet horrific death of the strongest among them.
"H-hiii…?!"
Des witnessed all of this too, with bulging eyes and a gaping mouth.
There was only one question on his mind after that.
'Am I next?'
*
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you stick stick for more. This is merely a prologue… a taste of the bone-chilling horrors to come.