The silence that followed the portal's disappearance felt unreal.
In the middle of the immense graveyard of bones, the remaining hunters stood frozen, their eyes fixed on the spot where Ryuji and Bayron had vanished only moments earlier. The wind slithered through the gigantic skeletons, making bleached ribs clatter together in a mournful rattle that sounded like the whispers of the ancient dead.
No one spoke.
As though a single word would make what had just happened impossible to deny.
It was Aeryn who finally broke the silence.
"Damn..."
For the first time, her usually steady voice betrayed her concern.
She turned sharply toward Édouard, her expression tense.
"We have to find them immediately. You know as well as I do that two people on their own don't stand a chance in a place like this."
The commander didn't answer right away.
His eyes slowly swept across the endless field of bones, studying every detail before he let out a quiet sigh.
"Beta."
The small black cat leaped gracefully from Aeryn's shoulder. The instant its paws touched the ground, a faint dark aura enveloped its body.
"Scan the area. Find their magical signatures."
The feline gave a slight nod.
Then it dropped to one knee.
Both hands pressed firmly against the dry earth.
Dark energy spread beneath the surface at once, branching in every direction like the roots of a colossal tree. It flowed beneath the countless bones, weaving around rocks before disappearing deeper and deeper into the vast cemetery.
For several long seconds, no one dared interrupt its concentration.
The silence grew almost suffocating.
Then Léon spoke in a voice as cold as ice.
"They're after the Dragon."
Every eye turned toward him.
His arms remained folded, his expression unreadable.
"This mission was a trap from the very beginning. They wanted to isolate him."
He paused briefly.
"If we move quickly... we might still be able to save Bayron."
His gaze hardened.
"As for the other..."
He never finished.
A black blade rested against his throat with surgical precision.
He hadn't even seen her draw it.
Aeryn stood before him.
Twin black daggers gleamed faintly beneath the pale sky.
Her face remained expressionless.
Only her eyes had turned ice cold.
"Say one more word..." she whispered.
A faint crackle answered her threat.
Her gaze shifted downward.
Léon's right arm was already wrapped in arcs of lightning that coiled around his forearm like glowing serpents.
He hadn't taken a single step back.
"You don't actually intend to kill me," he replied calmly.
His eyes never left hers.
"So what's stopping you?"
The air itself began to vibrate beneath the pressure of their magic.
Lightning hissed.
The daggers never wavered.
For one brief moment, everyone understood that a single movement... just one... would be enough to turn their argument into a battle.
Léon's fingers slowly began to close.
"That's enough."
Édouard's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
It wasn't louder.
It wasn't threatening.
It was simply impossible to ignore.
Without even looking at them, he continued,
"Beta found them."
Aeryn immediately lowered her daggers.
The lightning surrounding Léon's arm faded away with one final crackle.
The little black cat raised its head.
"Several kilometers from here... underground."
Édouard gave a slow nod.
A grim look crossed his face.
"Then we don't have a second to waste."
Without another word, the hunters set off once more.
Behind them, the wind continued to drift through the endless sea of bones, as though the ancient graveyard itself were watching them leave.
---
Meanwhile...
A violent wave of dizziness overwhelmed Ryuji.
The world spun around him until he could no longer tell up from down.
Then everything stopped.
BOOM!
His body slammed heavily against a stone floor.
The impact knocked the breath from his lungs.
A few meters away, Bayron crashed down as well, rolling several times before coming to a stop in a cloud of dust.
An unsettling silence filled the chamber.
Ryuji grimaced as he pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear the stars dancing before his eyes.
He spotted Bayron struggling to stand and offered him a hand.
"You alright?"
Bayron accepted it, brushing sand from his hair with a weary sigh.
"I've been through worse..."
Only then did they take in their surroundings.
An enormous chamber stretched before them.
Towering pillars disappeared into a ceiling swallowed by darkness. Massive stone braziers burned with eerie green flames, casting sickly light across black stone walls and sending enormous shadows dancing through the hall.
The air was cold.
Heavy with the scent of ancient dust and lingering magic.
Every sound echoed endlessly, as though the chamber itself were listening.
Ryuji stared at the room for a long moment before a faint smile crept across his face.
"This really looks like... a dungeon."
Bayron frowned.
"A what?"
Ryuji opened his mouth to explain.
Then his gaze froze.
At the far end of the chamber stood an enormous throne carved from black stone.
Empty.
Or so he thought.
"Bayron... look..."
He barely managed to speak before Bayron slammed into him with all his strength.
The two of them hit the ground and rolled across the stone floor.
A split second later, a spear of green energy pierced the exact spot where they had been standing.
It buried itself deep into the stone.
A chilling hiss filled the chamber.
The rock immediately began to melt, flowing like wax beneath an open flame.
A bead of sweat slid down Ryuji's temple.
Bayron was already back on his feet.
His axe rested firmly in his hands.
His eyes never left the throne.
Silence returned.
Then a deep voice echoed throughout the chamber.
Slow.
Ancient.
Carrying an almost refined sense of amusement.
"What a pleasant surprise..."
Both men looked up at the same time.
A figure now sat upon the throne.
It hadn't been there only moments before.
A skeleton.
Immense.
Far larger than any they had encountered before.
A long black robe embroidered with ancient symbols draped down the throne's steps. A dark metal crown rested upon its aged skull, while emerald flames burned quietly within its empty eye sockets.
With every passing second, an ominous aura spread farther through the chamber.
It seemed to seep into their very lungs.
The undead slowly tilted its head.
Its gaze lingered on Bayron.
Then settled upon Ryuji.
A smile slowly twisted its skeletal jaw.
"This time..."
Its voice echoed through the towering pillars before returning to them like a whisper rising from the depths of the earth.
"This time... I've captured a particularly interesting prey."
It slowly raised its staff.
The green aura surrounding it intensified immediately.
"A human..."
It paused deliberately.
As though savoring their reactions.
Then its smile widened.
"…and a Calamity."
Bayron's heart skipped a beat.
His eyes snapped toward Ryuji.
Then back to the King of the Dead.
Neither of them spoke.
Within that vast funerary hall, the silence had become heavier than any threat.
And that silence seemed to belong entirely to the master of this place.