Eternal Malediction (RE)

Chapter 119: Uneven Ground

Roy sat slightly apart from the others but not far enough to seem detached. The perfect distance; he didn’t want to make them uncomfortable.

The chamber remained quiet aside from the occasional crackle of torch fire and the distant groaning of old stone somewhere deep within the Trial Chambers. Everyone had settled into an uneasy silence after the scream from earlier.

Waiting. That was all they were doing now.

Waiting for more people. Waiting for courage. Waiting for someone else to make the decision first, because they didn’t want to be the reason to be blamed.

Roy rested against the wall with one knee raised loosely, his gaze drifting across the room without really focusing on anything specific. The group he’d joined wasn’t truly a group. Not really. It was more of a convenience, fear pushing strangers together because isolation felt worse.

Still, people continued arriving; some were injured, some alone, and some were visibly shaken. Every new arrival carried the same expression. Confusion first. Then fear. Then exhaustion.

After enough people gathered, the room slowly shifted from a temporary stop into something resembling a camp.

Roughly twelve people now. Not ideal but survivable.

Victor finally pushed himself away from the wall with a tired sigh. "We can’t stay here forever."

Nobody argued because everyone already knew that. Marcus adjusted the cloth wrapped around his injured arm before grimacing slightly.

"The screams are getting closer."

That alone was enough to make several people visibly tense.

Daniel stood next. "So, we move together."

The young couple exchanged nervous looks but nodded reluctantly, Sophia looked toward Roy briefly.

"Are you coming?"

Roy shrugged lightly before standing. "Might as well."

There wasn’t really another option. The group gathered themselves slowly before approaching the next stone door deeper within the chamber. Victor and Daniel pushed it open together, and the stone once again groaned loudly as dust drifted outward. Then the corridor beyond revealed itself.

Long. Extraordinarily long.

Unlike the previous winding paths, this one stretched almost completely straight ahead. At the far end sat another stone door barely visible beneath flickering torchlight.

The floor, however, was uneven and rocky, and Roy’s eyes narrowed slightly from the pain of trying to balance when he could just fly over it instead.

The stone pathway was jagged and broken in multiple places, almost as though the ground itself had shifted violently long ago. Some sections dipped lower while others rose awkwardly upward.

Loose rubble covered parts of the path. Careless footing would absolutely get someone hurt.

"Well," Daniel muttered quietly. "That doesn’t look suspicious at all."

Nobody laughed.

The group started moving cautiously through the corridor together. Footsteps echoed unevenly against the stone as everyone tried navigating the rough terrain carefully. The atmosphere felt heavier now with less panic and more frustration. Fear only stayed sharp for so long before exhaustion turned it bitter.

One of the newer arrivals, a broad man with a bruised jaw, finally spoke up. "This is insane."

Nobody responded immediately, so he continued. "We got dragged into this place for what? Some kind of game?"

Victor exhaled quietly. "We don’t know that."

"Then what do we know?" the man snapped back. "We can’t leave. Monsters are trying to kill us. People are dying. How is any of this normal?"

"It isn’t," Sophia replied flatly.

The man laughed bitterly. "No shit."

The tension thickened slightly, and Lily tightened her grip around Ethan’s arm.

"There has to be a way out," she said quietly. "Right?"

Nobody answered immediately because nobody knew.

Daniel kicked a loose stone aside as he walked. "Honestly?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I think this place wants us to keep moving."

Marcus glanced toward him. "Yeah. We figured that out already."

"No, I mean literally." Daniel frowned slightly. "Everything pushes us forward. The monsters. The layout. Even the doors."

Roy listened quietly. Daniel wasn’t wrong, as the structure of the Trial Chambers felt directional. This was intentional. Like progression itself was part of the system.

Then Victor spoke next, his voice quieter this time. "What if there isn’t an exit?"

That stopped the group momentarily. Several faces shifted immediately. Fear sprawled out again. Real fear, and Lily became pale.

"Don’t say things like that."

"I’m just saying we don’t know," Victor replied tiredly.

The broad man cursed under his breath. "This whole thing is bullshit."

"Agreed," Marcus muttered.

The corridor grew quieter after that. Not calm but heavier. Everyone was thinking the same thing now.

What if this never ends?

The jagged floor forced them to slow repeatedly as they continued deeper through the corridor. Careful and uneven.

Then suddenly... Lily slipped.

A loose piece of stone shifted beneath her foot unexpectedly, and her balance gave out immediately.

She stumbled sideways and collided directly into Roy; her hand instinctively grabbed onto his shoulder to steady herself.

Roy caught her arm before she fully fell. "You alright?"

Lily blinked rapidly. "Y-Yeah."

Her voice came out strangely rushed. "Yeah, I’m fine."

Roy released her once she regained balance. "You sure?"

"Yuh, yeah."

She stepped back almost immediately before returning beside Ethan again, but something had changed.

Roy noticed it instantly. Her expression, the fear from earlier, was still there, but now there was something else mixed into it.

Confusion. No. Shock.

Her eyes avoided his afterward.

A bit rude?

Ethan noticed too.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

Lily nodded too quickly. "I said I’m fine."

Roy stared at her briefly before looking forward again.

He didn’t comment, but Sophia narrowed her eyes slightly from further back in the group; even she noticed it too, and the group continued walking. The corridor somehow felt quieter now despite the number of people inside it.

Then Marcus suddenly broke the silence. "You know what I hate most about this?"

Daniel glanced toward him. "What?"

Marcus adjusted the cloth around his injured arm again. "That we’re already getting used to this."

Nobody responded immediately. People were speaking about monsters casually now and also talking about survival probabilities. The horrifying had already started becoming normal and Marcus let out a dry laugh. "A few hours ago, I would’ve lost my mind seeing a walking tree."

Sophia stared ahead blankly. "And now?"

Marcus exhaled slowly. "Now I’m wondering how many are behind the next door."