[Lancelot's POV]
I slowly opened my eyes, disoriented and confused. As I tried to sit up, I realized we were trapped in some kind of a prison cell underground. There was no window, and the only light was coming from a single torch on a wall.
The air was thick with the stench of decay and rot, and I could hear the sounds of insects and rodents scurrying about. The cell was damp and musty, with no windows or doors, and I could barely see anything in the darkness.
I immediately spot the others on the floor, unconscious. I woke them up, and after a moment of disorientation, they soon realized our situation.
"W-What happened? Where are we?" Yun asked, clutching his head.
"I think she drugged us," I said. "We need to find a way out of here."
To my glee, I could still summon my weapons and perform my skills and spells, but once I struck it against the bars, a magical force repelled my attacks. The force also sent me flying, and my back hit the wall. If that wasn't bad enough, I suffered blunt damage as well.
"Lance!" Nanally was quick to summon her staff and used her healing spell on me.
At least we could still protect ourselves but for how long were we going to last without food and water? I could probably last longer, but the others . . .
As the reality of our situation sank in, intense feelings of fear, anger, and desperation consumed me. For the first time, I had no idea what to do. I was so confident with my Chosen One class that I was so dependent on it, and now that it wasn't working like it was supposed to be . . . I had found myself succumbing to helplessness.
The idea of dying . . . was consuming me. My limbs were shaking, and my brain couldn't think logically. The fear ate what little courage and resolve in my heart, bit by bit.
"What are we going to do?" Francine was getting hysterical. "We have to get out of here."
Nanally was silent for a moment before she asked when she turned left and right. "Where's Alexa?"
All of us went quiet, and that was when we noticed that Alexa was missing.
"Could she have been . . ." Francine uttered, face paler than paper.
She couldn't continue her words but we knew what she meant even if she didn't finish her sentence. Alexa's fate might be the same as Yun's.
The mere thought set my stomach boiling, and I wanted to hurl all that I ate. The only thing preventing me from doing so was that I didn't want to cause more panic.
Right now, I was the only one which they drew for strength. If I buckled now, then it would really be over.
I felt a fierce determination to break free and fight whoever had imprisoned us. "Yun, immediately assess our surroundings and look for any tools or materials we could use to break out. It seemed like magic and skills didn't work against that metal bars. But maybe we could destroy the lock with a stone or something."
"R-right." Though worried and not in his right mind, Yun did what I said, and he looked around the cell for anything that would be useful.
"It's useless."
We heard someone say.
Francine quickly lit the edge of her staff with her fire spell and found creatures of different races in other cells.
All of them looked battered. Broken. Some were missing limbs, others were rotting, and most had no more light in their eyes like all hope was sapped out from them.
They were more like corpses at this point.
"Once you're inside this hell . . . there's no going out. We're all going to become the old hag's experiments. Or meals for her sons. We're all going to die."
I didn't know whose voice it was, but it did not matter anymore. Most of my teammates broke down and cried to the floor.
Staring at those broken bodies felt like staring at our future, and any sane person would break down at the sight.
Despite shaking herself, Nanally tried to comfort and reassure the wailing Francine to no avail.
I, on the other hand, slapped my cheeks to refocus my thoughts on the current situation. I tried my hardest not to think of our future in the hands of Alice who was really the Old Hag.
I began to formulate a plan of escape, analyzing every detail of our situation and searching for any weaknesses in the defenses of this cell.
But my concentration was disrupted when the hinges of a door opened and came in the giggling laughter of the witch.
The Old Hag stopped in front of our cell together with three ugly trolls. The witch was still in her deceptive form, but at this point, no one really cared about appearances.
Yun scrambled to his feet and slammed the cell. "Let us out of here!"
Francine summoned her staff and fired and spell on the Old Hag's way, but it was all futile, for a magic barrier prevented anything from passing through those metal bars.
The Old Hag laughed. "Calm now. I have brought you food." She then nodded at the trolls way, and one of them slid a plate passed a small space on the floor. The crevice was enough to put a hand over and a plate of food, just like those on the door of a cell back in the real world.
But it wasn't food on the plate but severed limbs and Alexa's eyeballs and crumples of her hair.
Francine stumbled back, falling on her butt. She yelled and trashed away from the body. At the same time, Yun couldn't hold it in and puked his guts out.
The Old Hag only sweetly smiled, eyes turning crescent. "Don't starve now. I hate for my ingredients to rot. I need you all fresh and plump."
Wails and cries resounded in the cell, mixed with the Old Hag's laughter.
Our emotions intensified, driving us to the brink of insanity. I knew that this was the Old Hag's way of destroying our spirit. To make us weak and bridled with hopelessness.
I knew.
I knew it . . . but I couldn't erase this fear inside of me as Alexa's eyes stared right back at me.
I couldn't hold it anymore, I puked my heart out, and my legs gave way.
Even for me . . . this was too much.
I was only nineteen . . . I shouldn't be experiencing something like this. I should be enjoying life and not stuck in here waiting to be tortured and butchered.
I clutched my head and pounded it against the floor.
Please . . . please.
Curling on the stone floor, I sobbed uncontrollably.
Make this go away.
. . .
. . .
I didn't know how long I fell asleep, but I was woken up by loud screeching voices. My eyes opened wide, and I scrambled to get up when Francine was trashing on the back of a troll why the two hideous monsters were keeping Yun and Nanally at bay.
"Lance! Help!" Francine shouted with tears in her eyes and a snout on her nose. She was trashing and summoning fire spells on the trolls, but her attack felt like a candle against the trolls' thick skin.
They didn't even suffer any major damage except -1.
Just how high was their ATP?
But this was our chance, the cell was opened and we could use our skills and spells here. Without thinking, I charged at the trolls but was flung back by hundreds of black crows.
"Be a good boy and girl, and stay where you are."
Looking over at our new attacker, it was that Old Hag.
The Old Hag smiled and warned us when we were about to get up from being pushed by the crows.
"Ah. Ah. Ah." she raised a finger and swayed it side to side.
"Sure that you can use your weapons here, but certain spells and skills don't work around here, like teleportation and blinking, for example. You'll also find that your ATP is reduced to half while you're stuck in my domain.
"So don't even think about resisting if you don't want to anger me and I'll make you all my darling son's food. All of you would be no match for us even if you combined your strength. Be good and stay here. Don't worry. When I perfect this array, your weapons and abilities will be nulled here."
Our faces paled when we couldn't do anything but watch as Francine was dragged away by the trolls.
"Help! Help me! Please!"
Her screams of cries felt like they were clawing ay my heart and the fear grip me like thin metal strings that prevented me to utter a word or even move.
Nanally broke down on the floors, her body rocking with sobs while Yun turned nothing more than a wax at the side, appearing like he had already accepted our date.
And that was to die in here.
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