Chapter 96: Reyna Dumbass.
The moment Ethan’s boot touched solid ground on the other side of the bridge, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
Behind him, Daniel stumbled forward, muttering, "Holy shit, I thought we were done for."
Reyna landed beside him with a heavy thud, flexing her arms, trying to look cool. "Phew," she exhaled. "We really saved our asses. That damn sludge didn’t look friendly at all."
Liora stepped last, her boots splashing through the remaining mist clinging to the broken stone. "That wasn’t water," she said grimly, wringing moisture from her sleeve. "It was acidic mana. If we had fallen in... our bones would’ve turned to ash in milliseconds. That thing maybe was around couple of years old."
"Charming thought," Daniel replied, dragging a sleeve across his brow. "Melted to paste under some ancient soup."
Ethan ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Let’s just keep moving. The faster we get through this place, the less likely we end up like the last idiots who wandered in here."
The group pressed on, weaving through broken pillars and damp corridors, the path growing narrower the farther they went.
The chill was constant, pressing into their skin like invisible fingers. And though the bridge was behind them, none of them could shake the feeling they were still being watched.
Eventually, the tight passage gave way to a wider room. It looked... normal.
Simple stone flooring. A few faded tapestries on the wall, barely hanging on to threads. Dust swirled lazily in the air as their boots disturbed it.
There were no skeletons. No strange glyphs. Just a long room stretching ahead with a door at the end.
Reyna cracked her knuckles. "Finally," she grinned. "A room that doesn’t reek of death. Let’s move before this one starts growling at us too."