Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game

They tried following the masked figure, which Sarissa was sure to be Shinji, but all they found were shadows and monsters – indescribable horrors and [Undead Ghouls], which only confirmed her suspicion – and after some serious skirmishes that left them bloodied and battered, Sarissa was still firm on her purpose.

"This isn’t enough..." Sarissa said, her voice sharp and breathless as she scanned the shifting corridor ahead. "We didn’t come here just to dip our toes and run."

Mara leaned against the wall, wiping ichor off her rifle.

"No, we came to survive, remember that part? Pretty sure nearly getting skinned alive by a wall counts as a valid reason to turn back and leave."

"We’ve mapped over half of the floor," Diego said, clutching a cracked [Star Stone] that flickered like a dying ember in his hands. His cloak was shredded. His left arm was still slightly limp from the shoulder wound he had just healed. "And I would like to point out we’ve been attacked four times by things I still can’t name."

"But we haven’t reached the end!" Sarissa insisted. "We need to know what’s waiting there. Otherwise, the next raid dies blind."

She turned, staring into the darkness ahead, where the hallway twisted like a spiral staircase laid on its side. Black vines pulsed across the walls like veins. The air had long stopped smelling like air.

It was thick, acrid, like breathing through a dying lung.

"You’re too damn noble for your own good." Mara swore under her breath.

"Then stay here!" Sarissa snapped. "I’ll go alone if I have to."

The silence that followed was taut, heavy. Then, Diego pushed off the wall.