[S2] Chapter 31: Reality

I'll probably never get rid of the butterflies in my stomach when I walk through a dungeon portal. Just like I can never keep my eyes open. Luckily, it's all over in a flash. Even before I can see again, I hear a collective murmur from our two guilds.

"That's strange," Luna whispers, standing a few steps in front of me. Kajsa goes straight to Lilith, who is at the head of our formation along with Jora. It takes me a few moments longer to realize what's wrong here.

At first glance, it seems as if we have not been sent to another place. Everything around us looks exactly the same as outside the dungeon. You could think we had landed in an alternative reality.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Miko and Luna shake their heads in unison, and my heart sinks a little.

"If you want to draw a connection between all the dungeons, it's that they have almost no similarity to our world. But this one is like a 1-to-1 copy. Whoever created this dungeon knows exactly what they're doing."

I would love to turn back, but despite everyone's surprise, they all seem focused and ready to stick to our plan. That's exactly what I should do as well. Which is why I stay wedged between Maisy and Miko and follow them wherever they lead.

Luna and a mage from the other guild begin to scan the area for mana signals. The fact that they both use the same forbidden spell is completely ignored. If I pay attention, I will probably catch a glimpse of one or two magic circles today.

"Absolutely nothing to be found. I doubt that there is nobody around. They also can't have zero mana because I can sense Kajsa just fine."

"All right. We'll start looking for visual contact now. Stay in your squads, report all enemy sightings, and anything else you think is worth mentioning. In case of emergency, return to the dungeon gate."

Out of reflex, I turn around to look at this very gate when it is mentioned, only to realize that it is no longer there. It takes my breath away, and I briefly question my sanity. I shudder all over, and for a moment, I get the feeling that things are about to go horribly wrong.

"The gate's gone..."

"What's going on here? Lilith, do you have any idea?" Miko asks for all of us.

"The only thing that seems logical is that the creator of this dungeon is nearby and has made live changes." For some reason, Lilith giggles briefly but quickly regains her composure.

The creator? Yes, we live by the theory that these places are created by individuals. Still, so far, no one, or at least I have ever imagined that you could actually meet a godlike mage like this. I, for one, can better live with the idea that dungeons are among the inexplicable natural phenomena of our and other worlds.

"Luna, keep searching for mana accumulations. If the Dungeon Master becomes active again, you will definitely be able to feel it. Two men protect her while the others swarm out and eliminate the enemy on sight."

Before I can form a thought, Miko starts running ahead of me, and I follow her along like a dog on a leash. We are the tail end of the mobile units, and our primary responsibility is to look after the injured and make sure that no one sneaks up on our backs. Suddenly, I hear explosions and see particles of mana rising into the air. At least I don't have to worry about falling debris hitting me when everything dissolves into shiny particles.

Several people confirm enemy encounters, and shortly afterward, I see the first foes with my own eyes. From a distance, they look more like humans than anything else, with only the strange colors of their skin and the different shapes of horns standing out.

While the destroyed surroundings dissolve, the dead bodies of these demons remain where they fell. I only look at the disfigured body of an enemy who has crashed into our path for a fraction of a second. But that's enough to make my stomach turn. I don't even want to know what goes on in Kajsa's head while she's dealing with her own kind.

"Watch out!" Maisy shouts at me, and within a moment, a magical barrier spreads out in front of my body, blocking an approaching projectile.

Even if I wasn't lost in thought, I probably wouldn't have seen it coming. But somehow, I manage to assess where the attack came from and see a demon with a crossbow. I raise my arm to point in its direction, but before I can utter a word, a salve of fireballs flies toward the enemy. Before they can even reach their target, Miko runs in the same direction with her sword in hand.

Instinctively, or perhaps just blindly, I run after her. I'm here to stay at her side, and if she goes into attack, so do I. I distribute mana in my legs and increase my speed so that I can match Miko's pace over this short distance. Don't trip now!

The fireballs explode a few meters behind the initial target. At the same time, Miko's blade makes contact with the demon's body and cuts off a limb or two. The view is so gruesome that my brain makes me think I must be dreaming. All this is pure horror. Living creatures are dying right before my eyes. I can't ask for this to be resolved without violence or at least to spare lives, but I will never again make fun of those pacifist heroes from games and movies.

"We need a healer. Sending signal in three, two, one."

I look up at the sky as we agreed and see a rainbow-like explosion that resembles a small firework. We set off immediately. Due to our current positions, Maisy takes the lead of our small group, and Miko covers my back.

It's still feeling surreal that everything here looks like the big city where we've been living and working for the past few weeks. Right in front of a clothing store, Krystoff is standing and beckoning us inside. Right next to the entrance, one of his guild mates is lying in a small puddle of blood. Without asking what happened, I begin to cast healing magic. One look at the injured man's face is enough to see the relief of his pain. When he tries to get up again, Maisy holds him down by the shoulder.

"Wait a little while until the magic has left your body. Once you feel better, you can get up."

Something else I recently learned during the healing sessions of the dungeon raid is that healing magic initially functions like a potent anesthetic. Regardless of whether the wound is actually healed or not, the person being treated experiences no pain for the first few moments.

"Where are Jora and Lilith?" Miko asks Wace, who is sitting under a window drinking a sip of water.

"I don't know. I lost sight of them relatively quickly. You're not worried about them, are you?"

"We don't know how dangerous this Dungeon Master is."

"If there is one. It's all just speculation."

"But they exist, don't they? You're from another world, too. You must know if they exist."

"I was just born in another world, but why should I know any more than you? Most of what I know about magic and dungeons I learned from the same books as you."

"We're being surrounded," Krystoff reports as he walks into the building in a relatively relaxed mood. Wace sighs and puts his water bottle down.

"They probably saw the green light."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Maisy grumbles at me.

"Use your barriers. So far, not a single demon has used magic, which confirms what Kajsa said. They are not capable of using magic at all."

Kajsa had explained that her family could not use magic. This is why the demons of her people regularly abducted other races in order to have mages in their own ranks, mostly humans and elves.

Unlike what I had expected, these captives are not forced to work with the demons through cruel torture. Instead, they are offered a better life than the one that awaited them. It all sounds a little too good to be true, but I have no reason to doubt her.

I watch silently as everyone prepares to throw themselves into the next battle. Miko also seems to intend to help Wace's troop while Maisy continues to kneel next to the mage that I healed.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Wace says what I couldn't. I also want to ask Miko why she is preparing to go outside with the others when she should be staying with me.

"Nothing," she declares, transforming her sword into a black gauntlet that wraps around her arm. I can't say whether it was my gaze that she briefly met or Wace's tone of voice that convinced her not to go, though for now, that doesn't matter. Although I know how easily Miko has sliced through the enemies so far, I am relieved.

"At my signal."

Wace gives a hand sign and runs off. A second later, he is gone and the building in which we had taken cover just vanished with him. Everyone present looks at each other in confusion before Miko starts speaking into her microphone.

"Wace, where are you?"

"Where are you is the question?"

Apparently, we are the ones who have been relocated, not him. It takes a while for my brain to realize the situation.

"I have a signal!" Luna says in an excited voice. Just as Lilith suspected, she could sense when the Dungeon Master changed something. "It's near me, I'll call back later," she adds, sounding slightly defeated.

My eyes wander to Miko, who is biting her lip. She notices my gaze and clicks her tongue in annoyance. I have no idea what I did to her, but that just hurt more than I could have imagined.

"Follow me," she announces and starts running. The rest of Wace's squad are also accompanying us without saying a word. Miko doesn't seem to know where we are or where we're going, but there's no point in questioning it.

It may only be two or three minutes of absolute silence, with no one saying a word, either in person or over the radio. Every single second feels unbearably long. Sometimes, I wish we were encountering demons to fight... but instead, we are tirelessly wandering through the empty streets of this enormous city. Never before have these masses of asphalt been so depressing, and yet they are not even real. I am about to lose myself.

The sound of an explosion above us abruptly jolts me out of the slumber I had fallen into. I recognize the emergency signal. We turn into a side street and hurry to the injured person. I have lost my pace and find myself further back than everyone else, so I reach our destination a little later. I look for Maisy, and I discover her kneeling in front of someone. For some reason, I felt relaxed once I saw her at the scene. I didn't interpret the ongoing silence between our companions any further.

When I arrive at the scene, she suddenly turns her head and reveals her desperate, tear-stained face to me. My attention is immediately drawn to the person in front of us.

"Please save him," Maisy whimpers in a frail voice that almost breaks my heart.

I look into Jora's empty eyes. He has obviously lost consciousness, and the amount of blood that has gathered around him suggests that he can no longer have much left in his body. When I touch his skin, it is freezing cold, but something tells me that he is still alive. With my hands on his chest, my healing magic flowing into him, I dare to look at his injuries, or rather search for them, because I can't find any. It didn't occur to me until a little later that Maisy had been at work before me.

It may be my imagination, but it seems as if Jora is breathing better again, and he has also closed his eyes after staring apathetically into nothingness. I feel cold sweat running down my neck. I have no idea how long I have been healing him. I feel a bit nauseous and dizzy and settle down next to Jora, leaning against the wall without sitting directly in the blood. I slowly look up and see Maisy, who is the only one still here.

"Where is Miko?" I ask.

"She's gone with the others to keep looking for Luna and Wace."

"We mustn't split up."

"I know."

We could pretty much abandon the whole plan once it became clear that the dungeon creator was here with us. Would it have been wiser to try to abort the mission after realizing this? I'm not in a position to make such decisions… the only thing I should focus on is staying with Miko and Maisy, but even that didn't work out.

I take a deep breath before getting up again. Maisy doesn't take her eyes off Jora for a second, which makes it all the more worrying when she suddenly shows pure panic on her face. I follow her gaze and watch as the king of mages slowly but surely dissolves into mana.

His eyes suddenly open, and he looks in our direction, a weak smile spreading across his face.

"I'm sorry for the deception."

The voice that comes out of his mouth is not his own. It sounds like a woman, and her tone suggests that she actually feels something like remorse.

"We have to find the others."

I grab Maisy by the hand and pull her with me. I notice how the blood on her skin dissolves into mana. Why am I even surprised that someone who can create worlds can also fake a person bleeding out and dying?

"Can anyone hear me? This is Kayla. The enemy is able to create copies of us! Be careful!"

At least this mage does not seem to be able to imitate voices, which should make it relatively easy to recognize a copy if you just talk to it. Nobody answered even after a minute; the silence on our radio channel was worse than any possible response to my call.

Shit, the strain on my body on top of my mana exhaustion is killing me. I start to feel like throwing up. I don't wanna do this anymore. Could someone please help me?

"It feels like we're running in circles. Something's not right." Maisy stops abruptly and brings me to a halt, too.

Even though we don't have much time, a short break is just what I need. While I squat down and try to breathe, Maisy takes a few steps away from me and begins to destroy the ground beneath us with wind magic. When she has made a hole in the ground as big as her head, she lies down on her stomach. Without saying a word, she turns onto her back, puts an arm over her eyes, and starts to giggle nervously.

Before I ask what's going on, I slowly approach the hole and take a look through it myself. I can see, but I don't understand. Countless cubes are floating around below us, apparently containing parts of the city in which we were. It's as if the town had been cut into equal-sized pieces, then separated from each other and mixed up.

"If this mage has so much power, I wonder why we're still alive," Maisy says somewhat dejectedly while I feel exactly the way she sounds.

"I'm staying here. There's nothing we can do anyway."

I would like to encourage her and tell her that everything will be fine, but as so often in recent months, I feel absolutely helpless when it really comes down to it.

I'm not made for this stuff. It wouldn't be helpful if I started to cry now, right?