Souls Online: Mythic Ascension-Chapter 259: The Dungeon Beckons

The further down the trail they walked, the darker their surroundings became. The air itself became damp and yet the ground felt dry as dead grass cracked beneath their feet.

The only sounds that could be heard was their own heartbeats and the sounds of their footsteps and yet it felt like someone was watching them with rough laboured breathing. freēwēbnovel.com

Penny felt nauseous as the unsettling feeling crawled over her skin.

"I think I am going to be sick." She whispered, somehow afraid to speak too loudly.

Crystal slowed her pace just enough to glance back in a hushed whisper of her own. "Stay sharp. If you feel something is off, trust it."

Luna’s hand tightened around the shaft of her axe. "This place is wrong," she muttered. "The deeper we go, the more it feels like it’s swallowing sound."

Rachel didn’t joke this time. Her usual grin was gone, replaced with a tight frown as she scanned the trees. "It’s too quiet. Even the orcs shouldn’t this good at hiding."

Leo raised his hand, motioning for them to stop. The group froze instantly, muscles tense and senses straining. He crouched low to the trail, brushing his fingers over a patch of earth that looked recently disturbed. No prints. No markings. Just a faint groove in the dirt, as if something had been dragged.

"This is it," he said quietly. "The dungeon entrance has to be close."

Greg stepped up beside him, glancing into the dark tree line ahead. "Does it feel like we’re being lured in?"

"It does," Leo replied. "But we’re going in anyway."

Rachel clutched her staff tightly, the feeling of dread washing over her. The shadows around them didn’t feel natural. She couldn’t feel a connection to them at all with her Shadow Magic. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a real shadow and that was terrifying.

"I can’t feel the dark," Rachel muttered, more to herself than anyone else. "It’s like it’s here but not here. Like someone painted it over everything."

That got Crystal’s attention. She shot Rachel a sharp glance. "You’re saying it’s fake?"

Rachel shook her head slowly. "Not fake. Just... not natural. Not something that belongs in this world."

A cold chill swept through the group, and Penny wrapped her arms around herself as if to push it away.

Leo stood up and narrowed his eyes at the dense tree line ahead. "Then we’re definitely in the right place."

The dragging groove in the dirt led them forward like a trail of breadcrumbs made by something that didn’t care if it was followed. The canopy above thickened, and soon even the faint light filtering through the trees vanished. Only Crystal’s softly glowing runes and the faint gleam of weapons caught what little light remained.

They continued forward, each step slower than the last, until Greg finally spoke again.

"Anyone else feel like we’re being watched?"

"Anyone else feel like we’re being watched?" Greg asked, his voice low.

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Then, just ahead, the trees began to thin. The light didn’t get brighter, but something shifted in the air. The scent of mold, wet stone, and something faintly metallic drifted toward them.

Pushing past a final curtain of vines, the group stopped.

Before them stood a massive, rotting church.

The structure loomed over the forest like a corpse that refused to decay. Jagged stone walls jutted out from the earth, cracked and covered in creeping ivy. A crooked bell tower leaned to one side, its peak broken off long ago. Faded stained-glass windows, most shattered, cast dull, fractured colors across the moss-choked ground. An iron gate, rusted through in places, hung crooked on one hinge. It groaned faintly in the wind.

"What... is this place?" Penny asked, voice barely above a whisper.

No one answered.

The group approached cautiously. The worn stone steps leading up to the main entrance were smeared with old dirt and dark streaks that might have once been blood. The heavy wooden doors loomed tall, cracked and warped from time, their surface scarred with deep gashes and strange symbols no one recognized.

Penny nearly jumped out of her own skin when she heard the unexpected chime of the system. She stared wide-eyed at the system prompt floating in front of them, the ghostly text casting an eerie glow against the ruined stone of the church.

Raid Dungeon Discovered: The Procession Gathers

Recommended Level: 15

Difficulty: EX

Your Clan is the first to discover this dungeon.

+100 Guild Fame

For the next 48 hours, Drop Rate for this Dungeon has increased by 100%.

Greg whistled under his breath. "Well... it’s official. This is the dungeon."

Rachel’s brows drew together as she read the prompt. "Level fifteen recommended? We’re only twelve. That’s not a gap. That’s a cliff."

Crystal exhaled slowly. "And EX difficulty. Just perfect."

Leo’s eyes were locked on the massive doors. His hand hovered near his weapon. "We knew it wouldn’t be easy. But we have no choice but to press forward. If we fail here. It all ends...for good."

Greg cracked his knuckles, his usual bravado faltering just for a moment. "No turning back now."

Rachel tightened her grip on her staff. "Let’s just get this over with."

Crystal drew her sword, the metal blade gleaming slightly in the dim light as she stepped forward. "Stay close. Watch each other’s backs."

Luna adjusted her stance, axe ready. "I won’t let any of you fall."

One by one, they crossed the threshold of the ancient church. The heavy wooden doors groaned and slammed shut behind them, sealing their fate.

Either they cleared it or the Darkness would swallow them whole.

-You have Entered the Vestibule of Light

-The Demon of Light Welcomes you

-The Demon of Light gives you his Blessing

-You have been Deprived of your Natural Light.

Luna, Lily, Penny, Aria and Rachel stumbled at the exact same moment.

"Adam! Where are you?!"

Penny’s desperate cry rang out despite her best efforts to remain calm.

Adam reached out and grabbed Penny’s arms "I’m right here! What’s wrong...Oh no..."

Penny had a vacant look in her eyes as she began to flail about in a panic.

"I can’t see you! Where are you?! What’s happening?! Why can’t I see anything?!"

Penny and the others had become blind.

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