Born from the deepest pits of hell, destined to stay there for all eternity— but why are they here? It's simple, they escaped their prison... So now they haunt us mortals, scouring for destruction and ripping themselves into worlds they never should've been in. They are the holes in life's creation.

  You know that very well, don't you, Miss?

  "...Of course."

  You know where I'm going with this—

  "No— no I don't. I want you to share it with me... What happened then?"

  …The entire place was a mess. The floor was faulted like a crack on the earth; glass and rocks... leaves everywhere on the ground. The image of that scene never left my mind. Forgive me for saying too much, but I feel the need to describe everything I've seen.

  "Go on."

  Imagine a morning, during the evening—

  cold, in an autumn spring weather

  What was sunlight, existed in the presence of a rising moon.

  When it dawned outside, In there was a sunrise. It was beautiful actually, I remember thinking that at the moment. It was almost enough to keep me convinced.

  Troubles and hardships come in all sorts of forms.

  In this, it had a short mane of gleaming white that reflected the sun like lamb's wool, a weathered coat inked with blood over a pale and silken smooth skin, a distinguishable and terrible horn that stuck out on one side of its child-like head— a deep phosphorescent red hue in its eyes that glared like a snake.

  With a fraudulent and young body and face, it was made to deceive, but in an impulse it could kill.

  They say you should never stare into a Durmian's eyes...

  I didn't know any better.

  

  

  CHAPTER VI

  **From the POV of GACHIZEN**

  || DASH—!

  Bino lunged at it. Holding a fragment of a shattered glass piece he took from the ground in his cloth-covered hand—

  || SLASH

  And bludgeoned it deep into the humanoid's neck, its crimson blood splattered on our faces. With that strike, a normal person would've died.

  But it wasn't normal at all. As it still retaliated, a whistling sound inclined.

  || Swoosh-- BANG-!

  Bino went flying extremely fast, my eyes couldn't even follow him. His rigged body full-force collided with the cobble wall behind us and he fell flat onto the floor with not a sound released. The impact created a large crack on the wall's surface. Small pixels and remains of mana were left in place like a trail.

  I was petrified, remaining there with my legs stuck to the floor.

  It was all within a fraction of a second— the Durmian didn't even incant, yet it was able to focus enough mana into its hand to release an extremely powerful burst of wind on Bino. My eyes felt as if it got stabbed the moment it happened, my mouth wide as I gazed at the Durmian whose entire body brimmed with a tremendous overflow of mana.

  It was like none I've ever seen before.

  The atmosphere became overwhelming, as if we were beginning to get devoured into an invisible domain. Is this what they call an 'Aural Field'...?!

  The Durmian limped back, both its hands now covering its neck that continuously leaked out red. Then it stumbled onto the floor in its own puddle of blood.

  This was an opportunity for us to run, but I was too scared to even stand...!

  || SLAP!

  I slapped myself hard enough to force my senses back into me, that I jumped up from my place and bolted to Bino.

  The back of his head was full of blood, continuing to leak down the side of his static face. He was unresponsive, but thankfully still alive— I noticed a gathering of his mana on the body parts that directly hit the wall, he saved himself. As I carried his ragdolled body up from the ground, and started to walk toward where we came—

  . "n-not there—!" Bino weakly murmured.

  He slipped himself out of my hold and stood on his own two feet. He wiggled and struggled to balance his body as he scurried into the dungeon.

  . "We— have to HIDE...!" Blood was still dripping from his head down. "GATEN—! CARRY ME THERE YOU IDIOT."

  The Durmian groaned like the creaking of an old wooden door, we had to flee as soon as possible. And with no other choice, I followed through with Bino's plan, sprinting to him and assisting his balance toward his path...

  We were now going inside the treacherous dungeon.

  Not too far from us was a forest of dead trees, it had sharp stems and branches like a black rose. The distance between the trees didn't even leave enough space for two people to squeeze through— but it was the only route we had. As I supported Bino with a shoulder hold, I took a last glance at the Durmian now already a bit far from us. I came to regret that almost immediately.

  Even as it was slouched down and knelt on the floor, still covering the fountain of blood on its neck with its clawed hands— its haunting eyes were already widely glaring into mine. Its bloodlust struck me like a thundering bolt, striking my sight away and breaking eye contact.

  I have to focus on getting us to safety...!

  We were never supposed to be here, and I didn't even want to be this deep.

  Yet here we are, treading deeper into its bottomless hole.

  || rip—!

  Our clothes were getting torn by the crooked trees. My skin was so vulnerable to its sharp talons that I was getting impaled and tattooed in blood. As much as we endured however, Bino and I were sustaining too much injury, but most worryingly leaving a trail of blood for the Durmian to follow.

  The dead forest was brutal, extending about a hundred meters before we finally escaped its barricade of black knives. We were finally in a deciduous forest full of green, so much roof that could cover us until we found a place to hide.

  We can't get much farther if we just keep running, however, I have to find someplace to fit us both... Or just Bino at least.

  . "Bino." I tapped on his head, "Hey, Bino?"

  Bino isn't fully conscious... But it's fine, he's still moving his feet with me. His plan to run deeper in the dungeon to hide was the best option. Now that I think about it, if we ran back to the entrance, we may not have been able to outrun it... More so, the Magma Hound may have taken some time to activate.

  …Bino, you smart aleck.

  The 'sun' inside the dungeon floor was rising up in an artificial blue sky. It almost felt like a completely different world, but even so, in the yellowish-green and gray hues of the forest, we moved for a few minutes at full speed.

  Looking ahead, it was still a gallery of never-ending flourishing trees. A humid forest. I was already getting tired holding unto Bino, who was bigger than I am.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  But I found a great hiding spot.

  I struggled a little, pulling Bino into a pretty spacious burrow under a large tree, which perfectly hid it with its tough roots and thick leaves. 3 people probably fit here, but the smell was horrid. We'll stay for a bit until we're sure the Durmian isn't following. I made sure our blood trail stopped before we hid, covered with leaves and any other obstruction that I found, hopefully that works out.

  Crawling in myself, the idle nature sounds and breeze were getting filtered through the tree's roots. The vibrations on the ground and the faint chirping of the birds outside were pretty much all we could make out of a sound.

  Only now did I hear my heartbeat, it was frantic and loud. The longer we stayed, the heat from our bodies were getting trapped in the small space, such that it was slowly turning into a hot sauna here.

  Bino's breathing was stable, but too quiet for someone as injured as he was. The back of his head has a bloody open wound, his hair looked withered, falling off his head little by little. The once smooth skin looked rough and bristle, as the liquid crimson tainted on it had already become dry— he reeked of Iron... I have to find something to patch him up...!

  || COUGH* COUGH* || "my pocket bag—" Bino groaned, "get the green vial a-and PUT— put some on m-my head."

  I nodded, moving him aside to gain access to his leather inventory.

  . "But put some on your cuts— too…" || COUGH* || uttered Bino.

  "I'll disinfect yours first." I said softly. We couldn't risk being heard.

  I untied the cloth on his hand, it too was tainted a deep red— he seems to have gripped extremely tight on the sharp edges of the crystal he used and now his palms had an open cut.

  I poured the ointment into the cloth... the liquid I assume was made of herbs. Gently tapping the cloth onto his hand, the moment it touched the bruise, Bino grunted angrily and he twitched upward in response to pain.

  . "Bino— don't move too much, you might scratch the back of your head." I continued to tap the ointment a few more times.

  . "I KNOW— URGH...!" his body shook, and was flicking every other second.

  It was just a short while where I applied his treatment, quickly rubbing off the blood and sharp crumbs of glass off his bloodied palms. Bino already wrapped the cloth on his hand beforehand, I just wrapped it back the way it was. Tightening it to stop bleeding, thankfully, Bino didn't hurt as much then. Using the small blunt knife I took from his bag, excess cloth was cut. Reapplied with the ointment, I did the same procedure to the back of his head. It painted me how much Bino was enduring an evidently grueling and unbearable pain, where he wasn't even allowed to make any louder noises.

  I cut the few remaining inches of cloth to treat my own cuts and bruises. Bino seemed to have relaxed, eyes closed and resting, taking deep and heavy breaths with the dirt-scented air in our inconspicuous space. He stretched his legs forward, there was enough room in the burrow for some leg space. I too found myself in a position where I was comfortable enough to still relax my body and thoughts. I closed my eyes, as I gently rubbed the oil-wet cloth on my dirty skin.

  Remaining like this, all my senses focused on my hearing.

  Though the sound is faint from down here, the breeze calmed me a little...

  ...But I have to think of a way to get us out of here. I still remember the direction back where we came from.

  Right now, Bino is too injured to run... If he rests for a while however, he may return to his senses.

  …

  …That Durmian's Lodia is definitely in the form of wind...

  But it sounds different from the natural breeze I hear now.

  || Swoosh~

  Even back in the entrance, we both already heard it casting its Lodia. The abnormal pattern of wind all had that preemptive sound... a faint whistling beforehand. What it did to Bino pretty much confirms that. It was the one who tore down that dead-end, it might've also been the one that carved the tunnel out in the first place.

  ...Though I was sweating profusely from the heat, my body was shivering.

  

  

  "Gaten."

  "...what."

  "To be honest with you... I can't feel my head AT ALL..."

  "...You're probably fine."

  "No, seriously, I don't even wanna imagine how much BACTERIA is in my body right now."

  "Bino, think optimistically. We can easily get treated once we're out."

  "Tsk— we don't even know where we are."

  "..."

  "Phew~ although I THINK I can move just fine now... Do you know the way we came?"

  "I... I forgot..."

  "what...?"

  "I forgot, Bino... I forgot."

  "...So then what do we do?!"

  || Brush–!

  I arose from underneath the tree's burrow, helping Bino regain his footing. A small gathering of roots and weed that stuck on us were pulled out of the burrow as well. I estimate it's been around a full hour since we hid, yet nothing happened in the environment outside. The only problem was that I don't remember the way we came from at all... Not even a sense of familiarity with the surroundings that I carefully observed earlier... I shouldn't have relaxed...

  . "There's only the other option then..." I said. Our voices were still a little quiet. "We're just gonna have to trust our guts."

  . "Oh I'm stuck in a hellhole with an idiot—" he spoke in monotone. Lowering his almost fully bandaged head down on his hand.

  . "Hey?! I'm serious here."

  . "TRUST YOUR— Do you even hear yourself?! You want us to go on a RANDOM direction?!" He was getting angry in tone, but he still spoke quietly.

  . "By 'trust our guts', that's not exactly what I'm saying." I said.

  I've read so many books about Asofus Atopuscele before.

  

  ' Each floor has a unique property. But each – is limited to the capabilities of Vel as a planet. The manipulation of atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere are the more common anomalies in each floor. '

  ' One, you might find yourself in a desolate landscape, with seemingly endless space— but the area still has edges... These edges manifest as an invisible magnetic force field preventing us from leaving... Some believe it a direct portal to hell. But the walls have two particular sides opposite to each other that contain a giant staircase to the next floor. There are cases of a dungeon opening an entrance in a random location, but such entrances get closed off by the rejuvenating property of the dungeon walls, usually within an hour. '

  The hole we came in through wasn't an 'entrance' the dungeon created... So it must still be open, but we don't know where it is. I have to resort to something else.

  

  ' Two, you might stumble upon an endless sea, or a giant creature's den— there's a variety of creatures in Asofus Atopuscele that are specific to their own floors. But, there's one creature that is prevalent all throughout, and the creature all must avoid at all costs — the Durmian, a two-horned species of hellborne, and the most aggressive of the kind, even worse than the snake. '

  The one we've just encountered... But it only had 1 full horn. The other... was partially gone— what does this mean?

  

  ' Three, Floors can have its own 'solar system' – whether a day or night cycle, a constant presence of a star like the sun, or a permanent weather. But there is a pattern that was observed, and the Capital makes use of this pattern as advice for lost capital members, civilians, travelers, and others in a unique circumstance. '

  Outside Asofus Atopuscele, it's currently evening and slowly turning to dark, but here... The lower floors that have a sun makes identifying a direction easy. The location of a capital base is easy to predict just as long as the 2-4 pattern is applied.

  Assuming it's an 8 hour-difference, which this floor definitely is compared to outside, then sun here moves Northeast to Southwest... As weird as it may be, I've read that compared to an ordinary planet, the ground here doesn't move, only the artificial sun, so that means that the opposite direction from the sun is... South east.

  . "Yeah, let's just WALK a RANDOM direction and find ourselves in a SAFE location, Hm?!!" Bino was roaming around close, I could see his nerves about to pop from here.

  . "You're currently heading south, Bino." .

  . "...! You know which directions we're going...? " Bino's eyes widen,

  Even as I knew which direction was which, there was still a conundrum at hand.

  . "By trusting our guts, I mean it in a fifty-fifty fashion... either north or south. The Capital has a base in one of those directions... And I'm very sure of that— trust me... "

  . "..."

  The main entrance of the first floor faces north;

  The second floor— south;

  The third— north again... and so on.

  But I don't know which exact floor this is— a forest floor is too common...! What if we went the wrong way?

  My heart started beating so fast as I continued to think of the worst that could happen.

  If the Capital base is too far, would we even get there?! How would we even—

  . "Gatey-boy—" Bino laid his wounded hand on my shoulder, his other hand's finger pointed straight to my gloomy face.

  . "Don't get all anxious now, it seems you're all we've got... We don't really have a lot of options... I don't even know a PENNY's worth of information about this ONE BIG HECKIN' PLACE."

  I replied to him, "But if we choose wrong—"

  . "EVEN SO, North or South— we walk miles and miles ahead and HIT our heads on a heckin' DEAD END— that just means the OTHER direction IS the right one."

  'But Bino, you're too injured to even run...' I thought.

  "But IF YOU DARE make your legs give UP on me... I'm gonna carry you all the way if that's the last thing I do, you barely weigh MORE than A STICK."

  He's trying to encourage me...

  But I can't say it didn't work. Mother told me once— "a constant state of panic will get you nowhere... so keep calm at all times..."

  Bino... you really are a true leader... and you've always been.

  . "Then... shall we head north?" I smiled at him.

  . "Yes...! That's the way to go about it! But you lead, you know what's up, Dungeon nerd."

  . "He, he, he"

  We were back in higher spirits... But the looming threat of Durmians, or even any other potential life here should never be overlooked.

  What should we do If we encounter another Durmian, would we survive it...?

  Bino slit the Durmian's throat, it's not that tough, but it's wind is violent. It looks like a child actually, that must be why it's still weak. Though if it sees us from afar, I don't think another escape is an option.

  ...Do we actually have a good chance?

  My adrenaline ran out... consequently I'm getting tired... But I've never felt this excited...!

  . "Sniff~" There was suddenly much snot in my nose.

  . "Gaten... you good?"

  'Huh...? Don't worry, I'm still all green.'

  . "...Hey, you're shivering—" Bino used his one hand to balance me up for some reason... And somehow my vision was getting blurry too.

  'I'm... just starting to feel a little cold... somehow'.

  We've been walking for a few minutes after all, I just need some sun...'

  . "Gaten...? GATEN— YOU ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW." Bino's voice was somehow so mumbled, I could barely make it out.

  '... aren't you cold as well...?'

  || THUD!

  ******

  ******

  Gaten fell flat, his body had extremely high temperatures. And as much as Bino tried to wake him up and push him around, he was completely unconscious... This happened all too fast.

  . "Oh, what in the world— bake a ham and cheese and THROW IT IN MY FACE...!" Bino started grinding his teeth, the nerves on his head and arms completely exposed all around. His skin started to turn red as he turned into a completely 'pissed-off state'.

  'Worst case scenario...' He thought to himself, 'THIS DWEEB HAS GOT TO BE KIDDING ME—!'