Caelum and Erta stood in front of the stone castle shrouded by night. A faint scent of rusted iron hung in the air.
It was deathly silent, not even the sound of their own breaths reached their ears. The gentle breeze was so frigid that it seemed more like a knife gently cutting through flesh.
And above them, in place of the morning sun was a crimson moon. It seemed to bleed with ecstasy at their arrival, but it was just an illusion. Or was it?
The path toward the dungeon's entrance was clear and unhindered, inviting even. It looked like a peaceful and beautiful castle, albeit lonely. It tried desperately to show them the way in, but it could not hide the thorns sticking out behind the walls. Caelum smirked in ridicule.
"It seems we're being expected. They even rolled out the red carpet."
"That's nice and all, but don't you think we should dress for the occasion, Honey?"
With Erta's words, their suits materialised over their bodies. Ciel accurately controlled the Wing of Reason to make it so they would not need to expend any effort when changing in and out of their clothes.
Margaret and the others who came to see them off were surprised, but it seems they had already accepted that anything was possible for these two.
"Alright, let's head on in. We wouldn't want to keep him waiting."
"You know who the dungeon master is, Cal?"
"I have an idea. It's not like he's fully hiding his identity after all."
They walked forward calmly, confident that the enemy would not suddenly attack them. It was foolish to think that way, but Caelum knew he was correct.
Perhaps it was a gut feeling, but he felt that the dungeon master's personality would likely not permit it to do something so boorish.
And as though to prove him correct, they remained safe even as they drew closer to the castle. As they neared, the gates opened on their own.
The slight shrill sound of metal creaking broke the silence, but even then, everything felt right. As though nothing was out of the ordinary, a gentle breeze seemed to urge them further forward.
Past a garden of red roses, large metal doors awaited them and opened. And when they were all inside, a deep yet smooth voice echoed throughout the castle.
[Greetings, dear guests. Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely. And leave something of the happiness you bring.]
"What will you do if I decide to destroy your castle?"
[I do understand your concern. But I assure you, there is nothing for you to gain by destroying these walls.]
The voice vanished leaving behind a dimly lit castle. And although it was gone, every word seemed to hang in the air, making it difficult to breathe. The power behind the voice was strong enough to make anyone weaker shiver.
But that was definitely not the case for Caelum and Erta. Amidst all this darkness, they should have felt so vulnerable and weak. But a gentle golden light wrapped around them, keeping them warm and focused. Caelum's voice followed.
"Darkness is strong within these walls. We need to be careful. I have a feeling this darkness does not belong in this dungeon."
Indeed, the thick blanket of darkness that filled the halls was like a living being. Caelum felt a distinct presence from it similar to his Eternal Flame.
It was dreadful to think that there would be such a thing, a divine darkness that could perhaps devour anything that gets lost in it.
He instinctively knew that this anomaly should not be something naturally existed or came with the formation of the dungeon. There was something else at play, but he did not know what.
[Father, the darkness is too thick. It is preventing me from analysing the castle's structure and layout.]
"It's fine, Ciel. Just focus on mapping while we explore. Erta, you must have noticed already, but this darkness has a trace of Divinity. I don't know how much it will weaken your Holy Flame and Holy Light, but be careful."
"Don't worry, Honey. I'm your support, so just focus on fighting."
"Alright, then let's move."
They trudged through the darkness, cautious of what may lie ahead. It felt like hours had passed since they entered the dungeon, but they have still not found a single being.
Time seemed to mean less and less in this darkness. The longer they remained in it, the more their sense of time slipped away from them.
They passed through numerous hallways and corridors, inspecting the multitude of rooms they passed by.
Every single wall in the castle was decorated quite grandly. It was almost a shame that the darkness hid their beauty. The many ornaments and antiquities that lined the halls exuded an aura of history. Museums all over the world would line up to take even a single piece back with them.
The silence, save for the sound of their footsteps, seemed to try to eat away at their minds. Despite being under Erta's mental fortification spell, the base instinct that is fear could not easily be tamed. The darkness did wonders for their imagination as they began to hallucinate.
Both Caelum and Erta noticed their minds' slow enfeeblement. The fact that it seemed so natural made them suspicious, especially since Erta's spell could not remedy it.
Even with their strong mental fortitude, they both were plagued by many fears and anxieties. It was not their fault nor their incompetence that they were affected. This was simply how powerful the divine darkness was.
It was mental corrosion that was a level above simple mental manipulations. Illusions were like child's play compared to this. Because the darkness was not creating fears, but was enhancing what was already there. In the end, Caelum decided to take a break.
"Alright, let's rest here for now. We cannot continue without fixing our minds. This darkness is too dangerous for that."
Erta surrounded them in a barrier of holy light to help them recover. And since it would not last long with the divine darkness eating away at it, Caelum reinforced it with his Eternal Flame.
The two divine elements resisted each other to a stalemate, but the divine darkness was still in an advantageous position. After all, it had pervaded the entirety of the castle while the Eternal Flame's only source was Caelum himself.
Caelum did not mind, however. He only continued inspecting the map that Ciel had been charting. The castle was truly huge. They have been exploring its interior for so long already and yet there still seemed to be more.
Similar to the dungeon created by Morgan le Fay, this castle bended space within it thus becoming much larger inside than its appearance outside suggested. Caelum was dreading the thought of having to explore this dungeon so slowly when something interrupted his thoughts.
It was a low sound that did not seem to be coming anywhere near them, but it was definitely the voice of a person. Or at least, it sounded like one.
"Did you hear that? It sounded like a moan. Maybe it's a person?"
"I heard it too. Cal, it's coming from the room to the right."
Caelum thought he was just being paranoid and was about to dismiss it as an auditory hallucination, but since Erta said she heard it as well, he became alert.
The room they pointed to was the one they passed by just before taking a break. There was nothing in it that made it more special than the others.
It really seemed like a normal room like all the others, but since he trusted Erta entirely, he released his mana coated with Eternal Flame all around him. The darkness in the room was briefly pushed back, and he found a cavity in the wall leading down to a basement.
"The darkness was preventing us from noticing it. It's powerful enough to do that? I guess I was still underestimating it. There's no way something with Divinity would be so simple."
Erta also saw the wall vanish for a brief moment. She was just as surprised as Caelum. They already knew the darkness in the castle was akin to magic. And with the addition of Divinity, its effect on the mind was powerful enough to actually blind them from what was real.
However, the way it concealed the illusion from even their eyes made them realise that it did not act like magical darkness would.
It was closer to being just raw power of darkness so pure that it managed to obtain a trace of Divinity.
Had it not been for that sound, they would not have even thought to look.
"Let's see what's in there."
"Be careful, Cal."
Taking the lead, Caelum descended the stone staircase. The moment they arrived at where it led, they both gasped in shock. Before them was a sea of lethargy.
In another part of the castle, a girl desperately tried to cover her ears with her hands. She could hear a voice whispering to her, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not get rid of it.
It was not the voice of a man, but that of a woman that haunted her to no end. It whispered sweetly, but with every word, she felt her heart shiver.
Her mind threatened to disappear, but she held on. The cage did not only lock herself in. It also locked away the voice in her head.
[Dearest, if your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation, I live in your warm life. And you shall die, die, sweetly die into mine.]