Something stirred in his mind.
A memory. Not a clear one, but enough. He remembered the voice. The one that had spoken to him earlier. The one that had filled him with power when he had needed it most.
He remembered the mist. The strange black haze that clung to the dungeon walls on the lower floors, drifting in slow, deliberate movements like it had a mind of its own.
His body went still.
The others looked at him with confusion, unsure what he was thinking. He barely noticed. Something deep inside him had begun to pull again. The same force that had awakened once before was still there, just beneath the surface.
Maybe it wasn't too late.
Fayde closed his eyes and took a slow breath. He didn't speak aloud. Instead, he reached inward, the same way he had during the battle. Not with his voice, but with his will.
Help me. Please. I'll give anything.
There was a pause. For a moment, he wondered if he had imagined it all, if the power he had drawn earlier had only been a fluke.
Then the voice returned, just as before. Cold, quiet, and ancient.
"What will you give me?"
Fayde didn't hesitate.
Anything. Just save her.
Another pause followed, heavier than the first.
"Then consume me."
As soon as the words entered his mind, the air shifted. A faint pressure pressed inward from the walls. Cracks formed along the edges of the stone floor. Dust began to swirl in unnatural patterns. A low hum rose through the air, vibrating in his bones. The others flinched. They couldn't see what he saw, but they could feel it.
Mist poured from the crevices in the stone, black and slow moving. It crept along the ground, circling Fayde's legs, rising higher with each second. The same wind that had lifted him once before returned, stronger this time, like a storm being pulled into a single point.
Fayde remained focused. His thoughts were clear. He gripped Reia's hand tightly and concentrated on the bond between them. The energy that surged into him no longer felt foreign. It was violent, yes, but he welcomed it.
The mist surged upward, surrounding both of them now. The others stepped back, shielding their faces as the wind howled and the light began to flicker.
"The vessel is still weak," the voice said again, now closer and sharper. "Do it quickly. Before your body breaks."
Fayde placed his hand over Reia's chest. He didn't know how it worked. He didn't need to. The power inside him responded to his intent, and that was enough. The black mist pulsed from his arm into her body, flowing through his hand and disappearing beneath her skin.
Her back arched violently as she gasped. The others cried out, but Fayde didn't stop.
Her bones shifted. Her wounds began to close. Torn muscle wove itself back together. The bruises faded. The color returned to her skin.
She screamed. The sound was raw, filled with pain, but it meant she was still alive.
Fayde held on.
The mist poured out of him in waves. His vision blurred at the edges. His body trembled, but he didn't let go.
Not yet.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the wind stopped.
The black mist vanished, pulled back into the stone as if it had never been there. The flickering light returned to normal. The oppressive weight in the air lifted.
Silence followed.
For a moment, no one moved. Fayde remained where he was, kneeling beside her with one hand still resting on her chest. His breathing was shallow. His limbs felt hollow. Most of the energy had left him, and what remained was barely enough to keep him upright.
Then Reia inhaled.
It was sharp and sudden, and it filled her lungs with a gasp that broke the silence in the room. Her eyes opened slowly. They were clear and bright, not clouded or dull. She blinked, confused, then looked up at him.
A small smile spread across her lips.
"You saved me," she whispered.
Fayde tried to answer, but his throat caught. His voice faltered, and nothing came out. Instead, he just nodded. His hand found hers, and he squeezed it tightly.
Her laughter came soft and light, carried on the tail of a breath that sounded almost like relief. It was the kind of laugh that came not from amusement, but from gratitude. She looked peaceful now. Alive. Whole.
And somehow, more radiant than he had ever seen her.
He stared at her, his chest tightening in a way that had nothing to do with exhaustion. Something had changed. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel it. The connection between them felt stronger than before, as if a part of him had been left behind inside her.
Then he noticed it.
A faint glow shimmered on her abdomen, just beneath the torn edge of her shirt. It pulsed once, dim and slow, then faded into her skin.
Fayde's breath caught again, but this time, it wasn't from fear.
It was something else. Something unknown. Something that had only just begun.
His eyes dropped to the source and he saw it, a strange mark, pulsing gently. It was shaped like a black whirlwind and looked as if it had been burned into her skin. The glow faded slowly, leaving behind the symbol. It wasn't very large, just beneath her navel, and her damaged armor had torn just enough for it to be visible.
Without thinking, Fayde reached out and touched it.
Was it a seal? A brand? Or something else entirely? He didn't know, but it felt important. Not just a side effect, but some kind of consequence.
"Fayde… what are you doing?"
"Sorry. Look," he said, pointing to the mark.
"What is that?" she asked, genuinely confused.
Allein and Nes approached, peering down at it curiously. Tris kept her distance. She looked conflicted, but whatever she was thinking, she kept to herself.
"I don't know. But I think it's connected to whatever I did to heal you," Fayde said.
Reia reached down to touch the symbol herself, running her fingers across its edges as she slowly sat up. Fayde helped her, still worried she might be fragile.
"I feel fine," she said. "Actually, I feel better than fine. Stronger, even. It's strange. I also feel… connected to you somehow."
She paused, studying his face with a look of wonder.
"Can you feel it too?"
He nodded. It wasn't just his imagination. Whatever bond had been created, it was real. He could sense her in a way he hadn't before, like her presence was stitched into his soul.
"Are we connected? What does this mean?"
"I'm not sure," Fayde admitted. "Whatever I did, it wasn't planned. I just didn't want to lose you."
"Then don't apologize," she said softly. "You saved my life. And… I don't hate this feeling. It makes me feel closer to you than I ever have. I'm happy."
Fayde couldn't find the words, but he could feel her happiness through that mysterious connection.
Then Allein's voice cut in sharply.
"What did you do to her?"
She stepped forward and shoved him away from Reia, her eyes burning with intensity.
"What the hell are you doing, Allein?!"
"Do whatever you did to her. Do it to me. Now."
Fayde could only assume she was jealous. Allein often confused him. She rarely showed open emotion, yet at times, she acted as though he belonged to her. Not with affection, exactly, but with a kind of quiet possessiveness. It was hard to tell what she truly felt, if she felt anything at all. But this, this was different. For the first time, she was showing something real, something sincere.
"I'm not really sure what I did," Fayde admitted cautiously.
Allein didn't seem convinced. Without a word, she reached out and grabbed his hand.
"Try to do it. Now."
Fayde didn't know if it would work, but he figured he would give it a try since he thought he might be able to understand it a little more if he could do it willingly. He reached out with his mind again, just like he had before, but there didn't seem to be much energy in the dungeon remaining. It seemed that he had used most of it. The dungeon itself felt strange, almost as if it were on the verge of dying.
It was a difficult feeling to explain, but he willed himself to absorb what little remained, and he could feel energy seeping into him again. It wasn't nearly as powerful as before. He needed more, and he tried his best to draw in every last drop he could reach with his mind. Then, strangely, he felt the energy leaving him and entering Allein through their joined hands.
Unlike before, this time he started to feel his own energy draining away. The dungeon's remnants didn't seem to be enough. His strength was slipping, and the more the energy transferred into Allein, the weaker he became. He tried to break free of her grasp, but she wouldn't let go. His vision began to blur and a wave of dizziness hit him as the energy continued to pour from his body.
"Allein, please, let go…"
Before she could respond, the draining stopped. The connection had formed. He could feel it now, just like with Reia.
What just happened?
Allein looked satisfied, even pleased.
"So this is what it feels like. I'm now connected with you as well."
This is getting out of hand!
He'd just have to deal with it. Thankfully, he only felt weaker. There didn't seem to be any other immediate effects.
"What did you do to my sister?" Nes snapped at him, stepping in between them.
"Get your hands off of her!" He slapped Fayde's hand away from Allein.
"It's kind of too late for that now, and she was the one who forced me to do it, so why don't you calm down? I can't deal with this right now."
He glared at him but relented, turning to Allein instead. "What did he do to you? Are you alright?"
"Relax, brother. You don't need to be so overprotective. Fayde would never let anything bad happen to me, right Fayde?"
He gave her a tired, sideways look. "It's not like you gave me a choice. Anyway, do you have a mark like Reia?"
She checked beneath her navel but found nothing.
"Maybe it's somewhere else?"
He looked around her arms and saw nothing. He gently turned her around and checked the back of her neck. There it was. The same black whirlwind symbol that Reia had. What did it mean?
Fayde rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't know what to make of it, but he was certain now that the connection had left a mark on each of them.
"Do you feel anything else, Allein?"
"I feel a little stronger too."
He would have to look into this more later.
"What did you do to them?" Tris had finally approached. Her voice was cautious, and her eyes wary.
"I don't really know, Tris. I somehow connected with them, I guess?"
One thing was clear. Whatever he had done, it created a strange bond and left behind a symbol.
Fayde didn't know how to explain it any better than he already had, and he certainly didn't want to tell Tris about the black mist or the voices he had heard. She might think he had lost his mind. And even if she believed him, what good would it do? It felt easier to keep those things to himself. It wasn't about trust, he did trust her, but he didn't want to burden her with something he didn't fully understand himself. If this power ended up causing problems, for him or anyone else, he would rather carry that weight alone.
With Reia, he hadn't had a choice, and with Allein, well, she had forced the issue. Those two were exceptions. As for Nes, he shrugged that thought off with a half-smile. Who cared what Nes thought?
The dungeon shook. It was a mild tremor, but strong enough to be felt by everyone.
"That's strange. What's going on with the dungeon?" Reia asked, her eyes darting around curiously.
"I'm not exactly sure," Fayde said, tilting his head. "But I think the dungeon might be dying. If that's even the right word."
"Dying? That only happens when the Dungeon Core is removed. What makes you so sure?" Tris asked, her tone sharper than usual.
"I don't know. It's just a feeling. And I think that tremor was only the beginning. It won't collapse right away, but the energy that was sustaining it is weakening. I doubt it'll last much longer."
"We should listen to Fayde," Reia said softly, her trust in him unwavering.
Tris sighed. "Fine. But what about the Dungeon Core? We should at least retrieve it."
There was something off in her voice. Annoyance, maybe. Or fear. Fayde couldn't quite tell, but it was clear that something about the whole situation was bothering her. Maybe it was everything that had just happened. Everyone processes shock in their own way.
"I have a feeling it might not even be there," he muttered, then straightened and said more clearly, "Let's go search the temple on the fifth floor. That's the most likely place for the Dungeon Core to be. After that, we should regroup with the other adventurers and let them know what happened. Let's also collect proof of what we've done here."
They spent a long time harvesting what they needed from the slain Lizardmen. It was slow work, but uninterrupted. No more enemies came, and no more traps sprung. Even the Lizard King's body yielded parts they could use as evidence of their success.
An hour later, they descended to the fifth floor and entered the ruined temple. The search was thorough and exhausting. Eventually, they found a place that looked like it had once held the Dungeon Core, but it was now empty. There was nothing. No glow, no energy, not even fragments.
They had no choice but to give up and begin the journey back to the base camp on the first floor. Fayde wasn't quite sure how he would explain the absence of a Dungeon Core to Orban, but he would deal with that when the time came.
With no more monsters blocking their path, the return trip took only a day and a half. They didn't encounter any other adventuring parties either. The floors were massive, so that wasn't particularly surprising. The occasional tremors that continued as they ascended suggested the others had probably figured out something was wrong and might already be gathering on the first floor.
Conversation was sparse during the climb. Fayde was still adjusting to the strange new bond he shared with Reia and Allein. It wasn't constant, but when emotions ran strong, he could feel something stir between them, a pulse of warmth or tension, something subtle but unmistakable. He couldn't always tell exactly what they were feeling, but he knew when something was there.
The only one who truly seemed out of sorts was Tris. She kept her distance, walking a little behind the group and rarely speaking. Fayde noticed it more and more as they traveled. Was she afraid? Maybe. He wouldn't blame her. Seeing someone rise from near death and then carve through a monster like the Lizard King would rattle anyone. Nonetheless, he thought about calling out to her more than once, but the look in her eyes made him hesitate. It wasn't just fear. It felt heavier, like doubt.
He knew he needed to talk to her eventually. He wasn't planning on revealing everything, but he wanted to at least check on her. Whatever else happened, he didn't want to lose the friendship they had built over something like this.
"Looks like we made it," Fayde said wistfully.
He was genuinely relieved that they had reached the first floor without incident. They were all exhausted, running on very little rest from the long journey back up the dungeon.
The base camp, set up by Orban and the Guild, was already alive with movement. The quaking dungeon had stirred everyone into action. What Fayde hadn't realized at the time was that the tremors had served as a clear signal to the surface: the dungeon had been conquered. Merchants, laborers, and adventurers were busy hauling loot, sorting crates, and preparing for departure.
As soon as their group came into view, Orban jogged over to them with a familiar grin.
"Why am I not surprised it was you guys?" he said, chuckling as if he'd already known the answer.
Fayde let out a long sigh, half from exhaustion, half from relief. "How did you know?"
"You were the only adventuring party still inside. The others returned as soon as the tremors started. Since you were the last group out, it had to be you!"
There was pride in Orban's voice, like a proud parent boasting about his children. Maybe it was his bond with Reia, or maybe it was just that he knew them well enough to expect nothing less.
"Yeah, well, we killed the dungeon boss," Fayde muttered. He didn't have the energy to give a proper explanation, so he kept it short.
Orban's eyes lit up. "Did you find the dungeon core then? How big was it?"
It was a reasonable question. Anyone would be curious.
"Eh… about that…" Fayde scratched his head, words escaping him. He had been trying to figure out how to explain the situation for most of the way back, but still had nothing good to say.
Reia stepped forward. "Orban, we're completely exhausted. Can we rest first? We'll explain everything later."
Her voice was gentle but firm, and it was just what Fayde needed.
"Ah, right. Of course," Orban said with an apologetic laugh. "I couldn't help myself. Go rest. There's still a lot to do, but you've already done more than enough. We'll spend the next few days gathering as much as we can before the dungeon collapses entirely, but you won't need to be part of that."
"Thanks for understanding," Fayde said.
Orban nodded and turned back to help with the logistics, leaving their group to finally find a quiet place to rest.
They had survived.
And just like that, their dungeon expedition had come to an end.