Kate sat on a rock outside the entrance.
She was adjusting her bow.
She pulled the string back slightly, checking its tension before releasing it.
Her eyes remained fixed on the cave entrance.
The captain had told her to stay outside.
She sighed.
"How long are they going to take?"
Kate looked down at her bow again and made another small adjustment to the string
Then she heard something.
Her head immediately turned toward the forest.
Nothing.
She waited.
Silence.
Kate slowly looked back toward the cave.
Something about the quietness was beginning to bother her.
Then something moved between the trees.
Kate immediately raised her head.
A small bunny stepped out from the bushes.
It stopped.
Kate stared at it.
The bunny looked back at her.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then the bunny turned toward the dungeon.
It took a few steps toward the entrance.
Kate frowned.
"Where are you going?"
The bunny continued.
Kate slowly reached for an arrow and nocked it.
She raised her bow.
The moment she aimed toward the bunny, something felt wrong.
Her vision became strangely distorted.
The bunny was still there.
She could see its outline.
But something seemed to be obscuring it.
Kate narrowed her eyes and adjusted her aim.
Nothing changed.
She couldn't get a clear view of it.
Then the bunny stepped into the darkness of the entrance.
Kate lowered her bow.
She stared at the cave.
That wasn't normal.
She had been watching the entrance this entire time.
Why couldn't she see the bunny clearly?
Kate stood up.
She looked back toward the forest.
Then toward the entrance again.
The captain had told her to stay outside.
She knew that.
But something was wrong.
Kate grabbed her bow and walked toward the entrance.
"Just a quick look."
She stepped inside.
...
Merlin and the others followed the river upstream.
The water grew more crimson the farther they went.
The cavern was too wide.
Merlin didn't like it.
There were too many places for something to hide.
Up ahead, a group of two-legged beasts gathered near the riverbank.
The moment the crew entered their range, they charged.
Brody stepped forward.
Harvey moved beside him.
The two men met the beasts head-on.
Harvey caught Three of them with his staff, knocking them back before appearing beside them, finishing them with a final strike.
More beasts rushed toward them.
Merlin raised Requiem, preparing to help.
Then another group emerged from a passage along the cavern wall.
Brody glanced toward them.
"Harvey!"
"I've got them!"
The two split up, each moving toward a different group.
Merlin watched them disappear into the chaos.
The cavern suddenly filled with movement.
Beasts poured from several passages, forcing Brody and Harvey farther apart.
Merlin tightened his grip around Requiem.
He was about to move toward Brody when something shifted in one of the passages beside him.
He turned.
Several smaller beasts rushed out.
Merlin immediately raised Requiem.
He cut the first one down.
Another came.
He spun the scythe and caught it across the chest.
Then something much larger pushed through the passage behind them.
Merlin froze.
It was huge.
It moved on two legs, but its legs were strangely structured, the joints bending in an unnatural way that kept its enormous body unusually close to the ground.
Its long arms hung almost to the floor.
Sharp claws extended from its hands.
It pushed one of the smaller beasts violently aside as it stepped out.
Merlin slowly raised Requiem.
The beast charged.
Merlin swung.
The blade was already halfway toward its body when the beast raised one of its claws.
Clang!
The claw struck the side of Requiem.
The scythe was knocked away.
Merlin's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected that.
The beast swung it's second claw.
Merlin jumped backwards.
He quickly pulled Requiem back and swung again.
This time, he put more strength into it.
The blade struck the beast's claw.
Clang!
Requiem was knocked aside again.
Merlin stumbled.
It was stronger than him.
He looked at Requiem.
Then at the beast.
Is this how strong I am here? Merlin asked himself.
The power he felt didn't seem like his own. It felt borrowed.
I was never this strong.
Merlin gritted his teeth.
He tightened his grip.
He hadn't really tested his strength since entering the simulation.
Maybe I should stop holding back, he thought.
The beast charged.
Merlin stepped forward instead of retreating.
He swung Requiem with everything he had.
The blade collided with the beast's claw.
Clang!
The impact shook Merlin's arms.
But this time, Requiem scraped past the claw and cut into the beast's abdomen.
Merlin tightened his grip.
He charged again, using his body's momentum to swing.
The beast didn't block.
Instead, it charged straight toward him.
Merlin's eyes widened.
The massive claw was already coming toward his face.
It was only inches away.
Then—
A strange pulse passed through his arms.
Merlin's entire body went numb.
His mind suddenly went blank.
No thoughts.
No fear.
Nothing.
Yet his body moved.
He spun Requiem.
The blade flashed.
The beast's arm fell to the ground.
Merlin jumped backward.
He stared at the severed limb.
He hadn't even thought about doing that.
The beast staggered, blood pouring from the place where its arm had been.
Merlin stared at Requiem.
What just happened?
He didn't have time to think about it.
The beast roared.
Merlin tightened his grip.
He charged again, using his body's momentum to swing.
The blade swept toward the beast's side.
The beast pulled its body back.
Merlin's blade cut into its flesh.
Blood splattered across the ground.
The beast staggered.
Merlin stared at it.
It could take that much?
The creature roared and swung its remaining arm.
Merlin barely raised Requiem in time.
The claw struck the shaft.
The impact sent him stumbling backward.
The beast charged after him, enraged by the loss of its arm.
It swung its remaining claw, aiming to impale Merlin.
Merlin quickly rolled to the side.
As the beast passed over him, Merlin swung Requiem from underneath, using the scythe's long reach.
The blade tore through its neck.
The beast's head fell to the ground.
Merlin immediately moved backward, putting distance between himself and the falling body.
The massive corpse crashed to the ground.
Merlin sat there for a moment before getting back up and rejoining the others.
He helped Harvey and Brody finish off the remaining beasts.
They continued advancing.
Merlin glanced at Harvey and Brody.
Both of them looked exhausted.
But they had only been fighting the smaller beasts.
Merlin looked down at his own body.
He was starting to wonder if, at least physically, he was stronger than them.
Then he remembered his fight with Harvey.
Merlin instinctively held his wrist.
Well... maybe he couldn't beat them in a fight.
They continued walking for several more minutes.
Eventually, they reached a large red gate.
Strange symbols were carved across its surface, with a pair of horns protruding from the top on either side.
The crimson river flowed from beneath it.
Brody stopped.
"We found it," he whispered.
Harvey looked at the gate.
"What now?"
"We wait," Leon said.
He raised his pendant.
"Luna and the captain are on their way. I sensed them a while ago."
They all sat beside the river.
Merlin watched the crimson water flow from beneath the gate.
The sight was unsettling.
But the humming from Requiem now became even more disturbing.