Zach, Dukiel, and Julius were silent as realization sunk in. They were trapped beneath tons upon tons upon tons of solid stone. They had an entire mountain between themselves and the open air.
It was hard not to feel claustrophobic even in the spacious corridors with such a weight bearing down on their hearts.
"Wait, what about the tunnel that brought us into the mountain?!" Julius burst out with hope and looked at the other two. Zach and Dukiel's eyes also shone for a moment.
"...That tunnel could be unrelated, not lead anywhere, or a trap." Zach's words were like cold water down Julius' back.
"...But it doesn't hurt looking for it. It's better than sinking into despair." Dukiel's words were like a towel wiping up the cold water Zach had spilled.
Zach and Julius happily grabbed and held onto that towel as they systematically moved through the Underworld's Giupusta Locale in search of an exit. Since there was no daylight, it was impossible to track the time.
They rested when they were tired and ate when they were hungry. They didn't eat or sleep much due to stress, but they did as much as they could since they had to continue moving.
The Locale was both bigger and smaller than the group thought it would be. Since everything looked the same, it felt like they weren't making any progress, no matter how much they walked.
But eventually, they started finding places they had already discovered, even when they took other paths. It was like a maze.
However, they still didn't find an exit. Every path that led to a dead end or circled back sank them deeper into hopelessness.
Zach started wondering if Yanael and the Sentinel could maybe dig their way out if they cooperated. The Sentinel's lasers were powerful, and Zach didn't doubt that Yanael could cut through stone with her sword and strength.
The problem was how deep in the stone they were and where under the mountain.
If they were unlucky, Yanael and the Sentinel might have to dig until they reach the mountain peak, which could take ages.
Even if that didn't happen, Zach had freefallen for several seconds through solid stone before he ended up in the cell. It wasn't a long time. But it was a fair distance.
Zach sighed just thinking about it. It was loud enough to grab the others' attention in the lonely silence, otherwise only broken by the sounds of their footsteps and the rustling of their clothes.
As Julius looked back to question Zach on his morale-stealing behavior, he stumbled. He didn't fall but quickly caught himself with a hard step instead.
Still, Zach and Julius looked at him.
"You okay?" Zach looked worryingly at Julius. It had been some time since they had proper rest, after all. He was also starting to feel like falling down and passing out.
"Y-yeah," Julius answered without looking at Zach. Instead, he was focused on the floor. He even knelt and swept his hand over it.
After a couple of passes at the ground, Julius looked at Dukiel.
"Can I borrow some water?"
Dukiel raised an eyebrow.
"Okay?" Dukiel grabbed one of the water bottles they had taken from the canteen and gave it to Julius, who proceeded to pour a little on the ground where he had tripped on nothing.
Julius' eyes slowly lit up as the water ran away from where he poured it. The water flowed in the direction they came from.
Julius looked up at the other two. They met his gaze. All three of them had excited expressions.
Julius stood up and they burst into a cheer before engaging in a group hug.
They had found a tunnel leading upward. It was the way out.
Dukiel cleared his throat.
Well, it could be the way out.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's celebrate when we're out of here, okay?" Dukiel looked at the other two and had them stop jumping around.
"...Okay."
"Yes."
Both Zach and Julius agreed, but there was no way they couldn't feel hopeful when they had found the first path with any kind of slope aside from the entrance to the second layer. Even if it didn't lead all the way to the surface, just coming closer would make it easier to dig their way out.
Zach and Julius were tireless as they continued walking, at least for the first hour or so. Then, the incline had their legs burning enough to triumph over the hope of seeing sunlight again.
Dukiel repeatedly told them it was fine to rest for a moment. So, they did. By having their familiars carry them.
There was no way they were stopping when they were this close to finding a way out.
Eventually, to keep up, Dukiel also had to ask the Sentinel to carry him.
It was a little uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it was so much more efficient that they wondered why they hadn't done it from the start. The Mannequin stumbling and dropping Julius quickly answered that.
The pain in his leg that he had forgotten for a moment quickly resurfaced and forced them to take a proper break.
After a while, they continued.
And finally, they arrived at a dead end.
Zach and the others weren't bothered.
"Go all out." Zach pointed at the wall in front of them and ordered Yanael.
"You too." Dukiel urged his Sentinel to help.
Unfortunately, the Mannequin would only get in the way, so it sat this one out while the Sentinel brought out four lasers and Yanael transformed her bracelet into a sword.
It was slightly different from before this incident. Zach couldn't put his finger on it, but something about it had changed.
Dukiel could feel something similar from the Sentinel, but he didn't know what.
However, they soon got their answers.
Both the familiars were stronger.
The Sentinel's lasers were thicker and brighter than before, and they burrowed into the stone, melting and pulverizing it. As soon as the lasers cut off, Yanael stepped forward with both hands on her sword and unleashed a blow that could split stone.
The already-softened stone wall didn't stand a chance against the combined assault.