Acht and Leislet were able to swiftly quit the tunnel and climb back up from the whole. They stayed in that hole for no more than 20 minutes yet they felt as if they were stuck there for an eternity. They had no idea if that encounter was fruitful or if it was a glaring red flag for the fate of the lower world and the people in it.
When they reached back up, they looked around them to check their surroundings. The area was almost as they left it, desolate and silent. There were no sounds of orcs or humans. In fact, there were no sounds at all, as if the world had been frozen in time.
Acht didn't think much about it since it could be that the team ended the mission and now they are waiting. So, they decided to call them through a special device made to communicate inside dungeons.
In these kinds of places, there was no way people could use normal phones since there was no signal inside a dungeon. So, they invented these special devices called 'DC' short for Dungeon Communicators to erase that problem.
Leislet sent a voice message to all of them to see where they are and they waited for the reply patiently. However, no reply came back.
Minutes passed and there was no reply at all. The calm atmosphere around them made the waiting all the more tense and eerie.
"Did they get very far?" Acht asked calmly. There was no reason to panic when there could be many possibilities to look at.
"I don't think that's the case. Let me check their location." She said as she tapped on her DC.
Then, a few seconds later, she looked up again and muttered.
"Nothing…there is no trace of them in a radius of 500 kilometers."
Leislet was now really confused. Even if they were dead or even stuck 1000 feet underground, the chips they had planted in their bodies made it possible to find them no matter where they were. Not to mention that passing 500 kilometers in 20 minutes is not something easy to do, especially in the muddy soil of this dungeon.
In a nutshell, their disappearance is really odd and almost impossible to happen.
"Are they…dead?" The boy said with a wary look. Suddenly, the calm village around them became not so comfortable and the howling of the wind was now more like screeches of the devil.
They had no other choice but to leave this place to search for the team and also to find the dungeon boss.
'Fuck. This is getting really out of hand.' Acht clenched his fists as he cursed under his breath.
He knew that if the whole team just got killed, that would not only make the expedition a big failure, but it would also be a huge blow to Leislet's family and she could even lose her position as the hunter association president.
But, even with all of that in mind, Leislet looked very calm and composed at the moment since there was no point in panicking at such crucial times.
"We should leave this place." She said as she placed her DC in the spatial ring and blasted into the horizon at a fast speed.
Acht looked at her with a complicated gaze and muttered.
"She's trying to stay composed but her actions say otherwise."
Then, he followed after her, leaving behind the hollow village they had destroyed with their hands. What was deeper into the dungeon might be more dangerous but it was something they had to do.
****************************
A few hours passed and the duo had already walked so deep into the dungeon that it would take them at least one day to go back to the entrance. The soil was still thick and muddy so they grew tired once or twice during the trip and stopped to rest.
But, even with all of their extensive search and their countless messages, they couldn't find nor contact the other team members.
While none of them said anything, both of them knew that something wrong had happened...gravely wrong.
"Should we rest for the night?" Leislet asked as she sipped on her cup of tea. They had been in constant movement the whole day so even with her strong stamina and physique, she would get slightly exhausted. She also needed to organize her thoughts to find a solution to the catastrophe she was facing now.
Acht nodded his head and they started setting the camp. Each one of them had a special tent for dungeon camping and also many other artifacts to have a somewhat acceptable night inside a dangerous place like this.
After that, they made a small dinner for each one of them and sat down to eat it. It wasn't anything fancy, a simple bowl of noodles with beef broth and vegetables. It was delicious even though it was not fancy.
"Hey…do you think they are dead?" Leislet suddenly asked Acht who was slurping the noodles silently.
He stopped his chopsticks from moving and looked at her and then at the bowl in his hand.
"You want my true feelings?" He asked.
"Yes."
Acht sighed and then spoke again.
"I don't think they are dead. But, something wrong must've happened. Either way, you should always be prepared for the worst-case scenario."
Leislet didn't answer immediately as she nodded her head.
But, as they were about to continue their dinner, a weird thing happened. Acht felt the ground wiggle under him. It was very faint but also noticeable for him since he was alert most of the time.
He looked under him and asked.
"Did you feel that?"
Leislet nodded as she took a fighting pose. Acht also took out his sword and Ooze as he kept his eyes on the ground.
A few seconds later, the ground wiggled again, more intensely this time. But this time, it came along with another thing.
A sticky substance that resembles saliva started oozing out of the ground intensively.
"What's going on?" The boy muttered as he pulled out his leg from the soil.
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