The Pyramid of Light (I)

"This is the place." Elron stopped in front of a giant pyramid.

Zero and a large group of over eighty-two dragons and their companions arrived at the foot of the Pyramid. He was in his human form, looking around for the entrance to the Pyramid. His hands touched the rough texture that rubbed against his skin like sandpaper.

Elron's whole appearance had changed back into his usual form. No more was he an ugly monster elf, but a beautiful appearance that all elves had. The sharp slant of his eyes looked wide and elegant, with hair that was black as jade and even a masculine chin but feminine lips combined into one. He was living, breathing art.

Zero couldn't help but feel dwarfed compared to the monolithic building in front of him. He wondered how such a large building was created. It reminded him of the famous Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

"Where exactly is the entrance?" Agnis was beside him. "I don't see anything."

"I honestly don't know." Elron shrugged. "I mean, it was always like this from the start. There has never been an opening to get inside. If the elf queen said it is true, then the appearance should appear for us." His baby dragon companion, that was just recently born, Dede was resting on his shoulder like a scarf. Her silver scale glistened like water as it fluctuated every time she moved.

"So I'm going in there too, huh..." Dede spoke with a whisper. "Will I be okay?"

"Do you want the truth, or do you want me to lie?"

"Ugh. Good question. I want to hear a bit of reassurance about what my thoughts are thinking instead of heading into danger."

"Good, because I don't want to lie."

"As always, you're a goodie two shoes." Dede sighed.

"Hey, that's how I was brought up. It's chivalrous, and I enjoy it."

"I'm not so sure now if your motives are good after you said that."

"What? Come on; we've been childhood friends for a long time."

"Yea.…" Dede puffed up a black smoke that escaped from her breath.

"If you are that worried. Here." Zero rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the Silver Queen Beetle that wiggled in his hands, trying to get free. He brought it up before Dede's snout, telling her to eat.

"Ew! Gross! What are you trying to feed me?!" Dede cringed, and she slunk back. Her head swiveled away, trying to get out of Zero's hands.

"You need to eat it if you want to get stronger quickly. I'm not sure how strong it is there, but you won't survive."

"You're trying to kill me. Elron, what are you doing but not stopping him." Dedee hissed.

"Hey, I don't know much about being a dragon, so coming from an expert here might be a good idea."

"Hell no!" Dede stressed every word.

Zero did not listen to her riot and instead whipped his hands into her mouth when she momentarily opened it. The silver beetle disappeared, and he held down her snout. Dede thrashed around Elrond's shoulder, trying to pull back and get rid of the bug out of her mouth, but the sweet taste of the bug was gulped down in seconds.

Dede's eyes watered as if she was about to cry. She was so ashamed that she ate the bug that she writhed and tightened around Person's neck. Elron had to try his best to pry her back from choking him, but just as he was prying her away, Dede began to change.

Elron's whole face was being attacked by Dede's change. Dede's magic swirled around Elron like blades of wind. Each cut left a small red line on Elron's face. In alarm, Elron pulled out his magical barrier to combat Dede which was going out of control. He had to slip a thin physical barrier around his head to stall back the possible massive damage that Dede was going through.

The change went through another five minutes of struggle between Dede and Elron, and it became quite a funny sight. Zero couldn't help but snort with laughter as he saw the comedic act between the two. Dede did not let go of Elron's neck and head while Elron was busily trying his best to pry her off with magic but miserably failed.

Finally, Dede settled down, but her appearance did not change as much. She grew fatter but not as big as a large dog. Dede released a gasping breath of air as she slogged forward in exhaustion.

"W-what did you do to me." Dede gasped. Her silver face was hanging off Elron's shoulder, barely able to lift it.

"Help you grow." Zero had to hold back his laughter.

Elron looks worse. His face was littered with cuts, and his hair was disheveled. It reminds Zero of someone who got electrocuted from the way his hair stood.

"Let's..not...do that again." Dede painted. "I for sure do not enjoy that."

"Me too." Dede gasped. Her grasp loosened around Person's neck.

"Don't worry; you only can have one anyways."

"I'm glad to hear that..."

"Zero!" Agnis ran over with the last remaining group of dragons. Beside her, Zeraph came as well, and they both stopped next to him.

"Agnis. Glad you're here, though, Zeraph. You know this is a dragon and their companion only, right? I don't know if you could even enter inside.

"Doesn't hurt to try. If I can't, I'll roam until you come back out."

"M2 and his villagers will be staying back in the Draconis Village. They told me to tell you they hope you succeed." Zeraph passed on his words to Zero.

"For sure." Zero nodded. "Well then, let's get started, though I don't know where to be"

Rumble. Rumble.

The Pyramid shook as dirt and stone started to tumble down from the size. Finally, a large hole the size of a bus opened up. An eerie dry wind seeped out from the darkness, beckoning them in. Zero had an inkling of what could be inside; he had heard stories about how the pyramids were the large tombs of dead pharaohs. Riding a dead person's tomb sounded like a horrible idea.

Worse, the possibility of getting cursed sounded like something that he wouldn't want to get. One curse was enough, but two? He was not too keen on such a subject.

"Are we going to step in?" Dede whispered. "I mean, fighting against dead people does not sound like something I enjoy."

Agnis gulped. She, too, was not too fond of entering something that they did not know about. Then, a dreadful scream echoed throughout the hallway and burst out from the entrance making everyone shiver. They peered into the unknown darkness, wondering what was inside, but even still, the majority of the dragons and their companions took a couple of steps back with unease.

"I'm not liking this at all," Agnis whispered. "Why the heck do we even have to do this?"

"Because the queen said so." Zero dryly spoke. He was the first one to take the step in. Agnis followed after glancing around the darkness anxiously. She summoned her holy fire to light up the darkness surrounding them at every corner. The bright blue light floated above Zero allowing him to see in the pitch-black darkness.

The Pharaoh's curse has been activated. All statuses have decreased by twenty points. However, for the first adventurer to enter the Pyramid of Darkness, all experience points and drops have increased by 2x for the next week.

Raid Dungeon has been activated. Only a total of forty-one dragons and their companions may enter at the same time.

Zero groaned. The message pasted in front of him was like a lullaby that crippled their power. This made the fight inside five times more dangerous than before, making it even harder to accomplish.

Everyone slowly moved into the Pyramid after Zero, and they, too, had the same message that Zero was given. What was more surprising was that Zeraph had stepped through. The message that he got only allowed forty-one people, not forty-two. How Zeraph got in, he was not even sure.

"Zeraph," Zero asked.

"Yea?"

"How did you get past the entrance?"

"I'm not quite sure. For some reason, I'm a different party.

"Really? I mean, I thought only one party could go through a raid at one time."

"What Zero said is true," Elron spoke. "Until we all die or all of us get out, nobody can enter inside. Raid Dungeons are made specifically made like that, though there aren't many out there that we know of. So far, there are seven Raid Dungeons throughout the whole Fire Continent itself. This would be the eighth. So the only thing I could think of is that you're an anomaly that's somehow connected to this dungeon." Elron spoke with reassurance. He nodded, and he stroked Deede's head.

"Possibly. Doesn't matter, though; one extra person will help, right?" Zeraph shrugged his shoulders without much thought. He did not care much about why he could get in without much trouble.

"True. One more person to help is better to survive this dungeon."

The thick walls were slowly opening up, becoming larger, and the path continued to wind through the darkness left and right without a pointless direction.

"Arrrggghhh..." With a deep sound, the dead mummy was seen walking around in front of them with its bandages partially falling off its body. A pungent smell of rotting flesh and dead skin was shown, making it look grotesque.

"We got company." Agnis quickly pulled out her bow and aimed. She carefully lined up her arrow and swirled around her holy fire at the tip of its edge. Then, letting go, she took the first shot, in which case the arrow pierced through the mummy's head. Then, stuttering backward, it rose back up again.

"Arugula!" The mummy cried out and stumbled forward towards Agnis.

"Great. A mummy. That means there is possibly more." Dede frowned.

"Don't jinx us," Elron spoke with haste. He pulled out his heavy sword, which was decorated with floral patterns.

Both Zero and Zeraph followed after, and everyone else as well. Even though the pathway allowed ten people across to walk side-by-side, the room was still tight for them to fight without disrupting each other's flow. Not only that, Zero couldn't shift into his dragon form without being stuck between the tight walls.

More and more appeared from the darkness and were drawn by the mummy's voice. Finally, Agnis' arrows flew straight at its mark, making a pin cushion out of the first mummy. It fell forward dead.

"That's not too hard. It took, what, six arrows?" Agnis spoke with confidence. "My senses are telling me that these things are weaklings." She fired more, causing three more to fall without much of a hitch.

"I must say, you've been doing quite well, aren't you?" Zeraph stormed into the heat of the numerous mummies that made up the scrub. His sword dangerously whipped around him, cutting the monster's half like grass.