Chapter 62

"Who would have thought there'd be a prison underneath the church?" Astaroth mused, scanning the dimly lit cell. The trapdoor was now concealed, blending seamlessly with the ceiling. Utilizing his immense strength, he effortlessly tore apart the prison door, the metal yielding like paper in his hands. Lalitha, sensing her master's wrath, followed closely behind as they stepped out into the corridor, the metal door twisted and bent in their wake.

"Allow me to lead the way and disable any traps we may encounter," Lalitha offered, brandishing her staff as she moved ahead of Astaroth.

"No need," Astaroth replied, his voice tinged with an unsettling calmness. "I don't sense any threats at the moment. However, the stench of blood and decay in this place is overwhelming. Whatever the church has been hiding down here, it's hardly worthy of a place of worship."

They proceeded down the seemingly endless corridor, encountering neither souls nor chambers as they pressed forward. Finally, they arrived at a flight of stairs leading deeper beneath the church. With no other choice but to continue, they descended.

The bottom of the stairs revealed a spacious room with three doors situated at the far end. Astaroth instinctively halted Lalitha before she could take another step forward. "Wait," he cautioned, his senses on high alert. "There's something here, something amiss."

As if they had been waiting for Astaroth to utter those words, the doors swung open, and three groups of robed figures emerged, encircling the pair. The presumed leader of the group, a man with a menacing aura, spoke in a slow, threatening tone, "Intruders, state your names and explain your presence here."

Astaroth surveyed the men, noting some of them brandishing weapons and preparing for an attack. He responded firmly, "We are not intruders. We were inside the church when we accidentally fell through a trapdoor and ended up here."

"You expect us to believe that?" the leader retorted. "The church hired us to capture anyone who dared enter that room. Men, seize them!"

"With the leader's command, the robed figures closed in, aiming to capture Astaroth and Lalitha. Lalitha slammed her staff onto the floor, causing a seismic wave to erupt from its tip. The robed figures were caught by surprise, stumbling and falling backward. Some of the more skilled figures managed to stabilize themselves and launched attacks against Astaroth.

Lalitha swiftly raised her staff and cast her next spell, freezing all the attacks in midair. Simultaneously, Astaroth clasped his hands together, and shadowy tentacles rose from the cracks in the floor, binding all the attackers. In a matter of seconds, Astaroth and Lalitha had captured their assailants, gaining complete control over them.

"Let me kill them, master," Lalitha requested, her bloodlust triggered by the chaos.

The room now lay in eerie silence as the captured figures struggled against their ethereal restraints. Astaroth studied them with an unsettling calmness, his eyes emanating a haunting intensity. The power of darkness enveloped him, and Lalitha could feel its icy grip tightening around her heart. Her master's malevolent strength was both fascinating and terrifying.

Astaroth's gaze remained fixed on the captives, his voice resonating with chilling authority, "Not yet, my dear Lalitha. Let them suffer the taste of terror before we deliver their fate."

"I understand, Master. I will send them to my domain," Lalitha said, raising her staff once more to open a large portal. A group of shadows emerged from the portal, dragging the screaming men into it, leaving only the leader of the group still bound by magic, lying on the floor. His face filled with terror, he knew that he had no chance against the formidable display of strength by this man and woman.

"Now, you will answer our questions. If you try to trick us or refuse to answer, you shall suffer immeasurable pain. Do you understand?" Astaroth stared intently into the person's eyes. "Tell us, what is your name and who do you work for?"

"My name is Derik, I am working... no, I am unable to tell you," Derik answered. He feared the man standing in front of him, but his fear of his master was even greater. He knew that if his master found out about his betrayal, the consequences would be far worse. He had witnessed how his master tortured those who betrayed him.

Lalitha took her staff and rammed it into Derik's hand, piercing through his hand and securing it to the floor. She then retrieved a black ceremonial dagger and sliced off his nose and ears. The pain from the injuries caused Derik to scream.

"There is a poison on this dagger. It will not kill you, but it will slowly melt your skin and muscles until you are left with bones." As Lalitha spoke, the flesh on Derik's face started to bubble around where his nose and ears had been, and bits and pieces turned black and fell off. The agony pierced his heart, leaving his face with only hanging tissues of flesh. Lalitha cast a slow healing magic on him, causing his face to constantly cycle between melting and recovering.

"Ahhhh... wait... I will tell you... the pain... stop..." Derik screamed at the top of his lungs, but Lalitha and Astaroth had no intention of stopping.

"We are working for Zephyrus... haaahhh... stop..." Derik finally spat out the name of his master. "He is the master of this dungeon."

Astaroth and Lalitha exchanged glances, surprised by the name Zephyrus. They had encountered the lich in the forbidden forest and had killed him, witnessed by the adventurers accompanying them.

"That lich was killed by my master. Do you think such a lie would not be discovered?" Lalitha replied with anger, waving her ceremonial dagger and cutting Derik's arm and leg. She then cast the slow recovery spell, causing the flesh to cycle between melting and healing.

"You better tell us the truth, or I will give you a thousand cuts, and you will be a walking skeleton," Lalitha threatened.

"I am telling you the truth. We are working for Zephyrus, and whoever you killed wasn't my master. No one had seen his real face, not even us. But... he surely wasn't a lich," Derik screamed out the sentences while trembling under the enormous pain. His flesh wriggled under the torchlight on the wall.

Astaroth raised his hand to stop Lalitha when she attempted to cut Derik once more. He had sensed a presence in the dungeon with a familiar magical signature, but he couldn't recall where he had encountered it before. However, when Derik mentioned the name Zephyrus, it jogged his memory. "I will believe you for now. If Zephyrus is the master of this dungeon, what is his purpose here, and what is his relationship with the church?"

"I am not sure," Derik replied nervously, his eyes locked on Lalitha's dagger, fearing that any hesitation in his answer might provoke her. "He doesn't trust us enough to reveal such information. Since we joined him, he has been operating here, and we haven't encountered anyone from the church."

"Our instructions were to capture anyone who fell into the prison and bring them to his laboratory, where he conducts his experiments. That's the only task we were given," Derik continued.

"Before us, was there a girl with pink hair who fell into the prison cell?" Astaroth inquired.

"Yes, the girl was sent to Zephyrus' laboratory," Derik responded carefully, sensing that the man's question indicated a connection to the girl.

"Lead us to the laboratory," Astaroth commanded, turning to Lalitha. "Release him so he can walk. If he tries to run, you have my permission to kill him."

Derik expressed fear in his voice as Lalitha released the shadows that had bound him. Slowly, he stood up and led them out of the room through one of the doors.

They soon arrived at a massive metal door, and Derik stopped in his tracks. "This is Zephyrus' laboratory. I have no keys to the door."

Astaroth placed his hand on the door, causing it to blow apart into many pieces, leaving Derik shocked and falling backward onto the floor. Lalitha poised her staff, ready to cast her magic if anyone inside the laboratory launched an attack. She knew her master was more than capable of tearing any attacker to pieces, just as he had done to the door, but she was ready as well to protect her master.

As the dust settled, they both surveyed the laboratory's interior. The place was well-kept, with a table in the middle and a platform against one wall, adorned with numerous tools and machinery.

The atmosphere inside the laboratory seemed ominous as they prepared to confront the enigmatic mastermind behind it all. Astaroth and Lalitha stepped into the room, leaving Derik behind. The laboratory was brightly lit with what seemed to be magic stones, emanating a bright white light from the ceiling. Astaroth fixed his gaze on the table in the middle of the room, upon which lay a figure covered in a white sheet. He couldn't discern what lay beneath the sheet, but its size and observable contours suggested a female human.

Lalitha sensed her master's intent and cautiously approached the table, her staff raised and ready to strike as she slowly reached out toward the sheet. With a quick yank, she pulled the sheet off, revealing Glenda lying naked on the table. There were no marks or signs of torture on her body, and she appeared as if she were merely sleeping.

Astaroth's eyes narrowed with suspicion, and he exchanged a silent glance with Lalitha, both sensing that something was amiss. The eerie silence in the laboratory amplified their apprehension as they attempted to unravel the unsettling puzzle before them.

Lalitha's mind raced with questions, wondering why Glenda, who had been missing for weeks, was found in such a peculiar state. Her heart pounded in her chest, torn between relief at finding Glenda unharmed and trepidation over what secrets the laboratory held.

Astaroth's voice, usually calm and composed, now wavered slightly with uncertainty, "This doesn't feel right, Lalitha. Keep your guard up; there's more to this than meets the eye."