Page 174 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
Onward into darkness fight
Or safely walk where light is right?
I shifted and Julian put me down. I patted him once on the arm then walked to the front of the group. After scanning the other walls to see if I was missing anything, I turned back to the riddle and read the words over carefully while unconsciously tapping my chin.
Then I checked my [Map] function and smiled. “That’s fun.”
“What’s the answer?” Julian asked.
“The tunnel turns west, but the sun rises in the east. It’s saying that if we follow the path, it will set off a trap, but if we go east, then we will reach the end,” I explained. “By the old and ancient verse, I’m going to assume level ten is the boss battle and the final floor of the dungeon.”
Originally, that would have been cause to celebrate, but instead, it put everyone on edge. We still hadn’t caught up to the other party in the dungeon or received a notification that they had captured the dungeon ahead of us. That meant we were potentially going to drop into the middle of someone else’s boss battle, or we were walking into a trap.
Or both.
“Let’s push forward.” Julian decided. He turned to me, “I want you to stay in the back. If this is an ambush, I might not be able to protect you.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
In order to bypass the puzzle, I told him to walk up to the writing, close his eyes, and turn right facing the tunnel wall. He didn’t hesitate when I told him to walk straight into the wall, and then he was gone, having passed straight through.
It was an illusion.
We followed him cautiously, but there was no attack waiting on the other side. Instead, we were in another wide cavern open to the sky above. Sunlight shone down, playing off the rocks. In the middle was a large portal platform that would take us to the next level.
And blocking the platform was a giant pink-tinted Void bubble.
I cursed aloud.
“It’s Alice,” I explained, waving a frustrated hand at the bubble. “She’sthe one who’s found the dungeon ahead of us and is waiting for us on the other side.”
“But … why? Doesn’t ithelp usif she clears the dungeon and stops the monster surges?” Jeffry unequipped his see-in-the-dark glasses and reequipped his Eye of Effeldor broach.
“Shehasn’tstopped the monster surges. The dungeon is still undefeated,” Julian noted.
“Maybe she was hunting Miss Gerda all the way to this dungeon and reached the end only to realize we hadn’t been there yet, so she set up this barrier that’ll inform her when we break it, letting her set up an ambush on the other side to kill us all and finally have her revenge?” Pram pointed out.
“Buthow? How did she get here before us?” Visha asked, stepping forward to examine the bubble. Black flecks gleamed in the pink barrier.
Previously, when King Keith had been trapped inside a similar-looking bubble, anything that touched the surface would take Void damage. The celestial so far had displayed Fate, Void, Light, Rogue, Charm, and Portal-based abilities. I’dassumed she was level sixty, but if she was level seventy, then she might have Barrier abilities as well.
But based on my previous battle with the celestial, I couldn’t see her as that powerful yet.
“She and I have similar powers; we can see the future, and we have portal abilities.” I clenched my fist at my side, looking around the party until I met Julian’s eyes.
“She knew where I was going, helping you find this dungeon. Who knows how quickly she could’ve gotten here. Hells, she could have portaled hererightafter our battle at the Northern Fortress, or gathered a party and arrived minutes before we did. Either way, she’s here now, and we will have to deal with her.”
“Do we really?” Tully asked, drawing our attention.
“What does that mean?” Visha eyed the paladin.
Tully shrugged.
“Can’t we just let Guild Mistress Alice defeat the dungeon and go home? You have your special bridge powers now. We could just leave..” The paladin waved a hand at the bubble blocking their path. “I don’t think Alice can hole up in the dungeon for a wholeweek. Fighting the same boss monster again and again and never claiming the prize?I couldn’t.I’d get bored after a day and then go home.”
I didn’t know what to say … because I might not be here in a week.
We all turned to Julian to see what he would decide.
