My footsteps echoed across the empty stairwell as we descended even further. "Noticed anything weird so far?"
"None that I can see," Lise dutifully replied, her tone as serious as ever. "It's kind of quiet, though."
"Yeah..."
That's another thing as well. Based on previous experiences, the sounds of industry should be echoing through the stairwell by now, especially since we were probably past the halfway point if my estimates were correct. To descend further into hell and not hear the constant clanging and the throes of heavy machinery? It was eerily disturbing.
The heat intensified further the deeper we went on. A faint orange glow was starting to become visible in the distance as I eventually let the flame in my hand dim. The light source was decent enough for us to see the stairsteps anyway. I might as well conserve my energy for any sort of emergency.