Chapter 43: New Domain
They pushed deeper into the web-draped tunnels. The air grew thick and heavy, carrying the faint, acrid smell of something chemical. Fin walked near the back, his mind still snagged on the dissolving spiders.
Monsters in dungeons usually left corpses, cores, something. These just... melted. It felt wrong, unnatural, even for a dungeon.
The tunnel opened into a vast, circular chamber. Unlike the rough caverns before, the walls here were unnaturally smooth, almost polished black stone. Dominating the space were eight colossal spider statues, carved from the same dark stone, facing inward toward the center of the room.
They were unnervingly lifelike, their multiple eyes seeming to watch the team’s entry.
"Creepy," Joe muttered, scanning the statues warily. "Feels like a boss room, but empty."
"Map shows this chamber connects to three other passages," Hana said, consulting her device. "Let’s check the exits. Gary, Susan, cover the rear."
Fin stepped further into the room, looking up at the statues. They seemed ancient, emanating a cold stillness. He reached out, touching the leg of the nearest one. His power gave him nothing – just cold, dead stone. No residual mana, no history whispered through his touch.
CLANG!
The heavy sound echoed through the chamber. Everyone spun around. The stone door they’d entered through had slammed shut, the seams vanishing, leaving only a smooth, unbroken wall.
"What the—?" Gary rushed back, pounding his fist against the stone. It didn’t budge. "Trapped!"
A low hiss started, coming from vents opening near the ceiling. A familiar greenish liquid began to drip, then pour down the walls, pooling on the floor.