CHAPTER 1 -PART 4

Sitting on the remnants of a collapsed column, I scanned the surroundings while Marcus and Liana recovered their strength. They had spent the most energy so far, so we had to wait until they were rested before continuing. I informed the group that I needed to urinate and moved to the far right of the cave where we were. Arriving near the wall, facing my friends, I began to empty my bladder. As I was occupied, my urine strangely flowed towards the wall of the cave and disappeared. Curious, I kicked the wall lightly, and it cracked. Surprised, I did it again, and cracks spread over a large area before the wall finally collapsed. The accident made a tremendous noise and attracted the attention of the team. Quickly putting away my equipment, I explained the situation to the others as the dust settled.

"Let me see, it might be dangerous," Thomas ordered. The dust had settled, revealing a new door in front of us. "This passage is not on my map, be careful," he continued, advancing slowly towards it. The double door was dark and covered in unknown symbols.

"If it's not on your map, could it be a unique boss that no one has discovered yet, or maybe the dungeon has mutated?" Liana, who knew a bit more than the others, asked.

Thomas hesitated, displaying the uncertainty that afflicted him. "Maybe, I'm not sure, but in either case, it could be dangerous and cost us our lives. So without wanting to force anything upon you, we're going to have a secret vote to decide whether we continue towards the unknown or finish the boss right away and report our discovery."

He took out some pieces of paper and a pencil, turning to us and telling us to write 'boss' or 'mysterious door', one at a time.

Since there were six of us, Thomas abstained from voting to avoid a tie and proceeded to read them aloud once we had finished.

"Mysterious door, mysterious door, boss, boss, and finally... mysterious door!" He exclaimed with suspense.

I had voted for the mysterious door, after all, our team was strong and the base dungeon was rank D, which meant that even if it had mutated to rank C, we would still be able to get out alive without too much effort.

Thomas pushed the doors open, and a vast hall unfolded before us, plunged into an almost tangible darkness where the remnants of its past splendor mingled with thick rocky walls.

Majestic columns appeared to be carved directly out of the rock, giving the place an unyielding heaviness and solidity, while a veil of shadow clung to every corner, creating a suffocating and oppressive atmosphere.

At the heart of this room sat a dark and colossal entity, seated upon a massive throne of raw rocks, adorned with agonizing faces carved directly into the stone.

The entity, hidden behind a veil of indifference, radiated a presence of infinite calm, accentuated by the dark and rocky atmosphere of the room.

Its face, a smile without eyes, revealed a vicious expression, devoid of any compassion. Its features, akin to those carved in stone, were free of emotion or remorse. Paradoxically, in its left hand, it held a large golden roulette, offering a striking contrast to the monochrome of the room.

The candles, once bright, now cast a flickering glow, enhancing the terrifying atmosphere of the place. As we moved forward, I noted that the thick walls were embedded with torture devices, adding to the horror of the room. Their dark silhouettes blended into the shadows, orchestrating a macabre symphony in echo to the ambient cruelty.

At the sudden closure of the large door, with a muffled creak, an oppressive semi-darkness enveloped us. Worried glances were exchanged among the team. Marcus, his eyes fixed on the now-locked door, asked Thomas with a voice tinged with palpable anxiety, "What do we do, Thomas?"

"It's morbid here... We need to find a way out, and fast," responded Émilie, her voice betraying a disturbance at the sight of the torture instruments integrated into the walls.

Thomas, after vainly attempting to open the doors, urged us to be cautious in a more measured tone, revealing his protective nature, "The exit seems compromised for now. Let's stay together and be especially cautious of that statue in the center. It gives me the chills."

Émilie, captivated by the golden roulette, shared a hypothesis, her intuition shining through her remark, "What if that roulette is the key to getting out of here?"

Marcus, with a hint of hesitation in his voice, suggested, "Let's first explore the area before thinking about interacting with that statue."

"Let's evaluate all our options carefully," concluded Thomas, his natural leadership asserting itself in this tense situation. "Our priority is to stay alive."

Aware of the strangeness of the statue but intrigued by the golden roulette, the room's most distinctive element, I decided to follow the group towards the statue.

In front of the statue, a heavy silence settled, broken only by the slow and sinister movement of the entity. Its massive arms moved with terrifying fluidity, each contact with the rock producing a macabre crack. The entity then pointed a rocky finger at Ethan, an action that seemed to suspend time itself.

The tension was palpable when, with a theatrical gesture, the entity spun the golden roulette. Mystical symbols appeared, each emanating a sinister aura. The roulette stopped on a particularly menacing symbol, and without warning, black chains sprang forth, ensnaring Ethan and dragging him towards a torture device. His screams tore through the silence, a torment to our ears as much as to his body.

Horror spread like a shadow, each team member being designated in turn by the ruthless entity. Thomas heroically attempted to save Liana, but his efforts were in vain, as the chains tightened relentlessly around her, then around him, in a desperate act of sacrifice.

"No!" I cried out, seeing Thomas being taken. Marcus held me firmly, a silent but powerful solidarity between us. The room, already laden with despair, seemed to close in on us, the muffled screams of our friends sounding like the toll of our own demise.

When my turn came, the entity pointed at me. The roulette spun one last time, stopping on an enigmatically small division. Instead of being dragged towards a device, I was chained in place, a sword of Damocles hanging over my head.

The entity leaned forward, breaking a crystal containing a black liquid in front of me. This liquid, animated by a malevolent will, seeped into every pore of my skin, burning my being from the inside. As I succumbed to the pain, one question remained: why this specific trial? The answer, carried away by the enveloping darkness, remained out of reach.