Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

"Yes," she said, more confidently this time and pointed at her face. "If you're with me, it means you were cleared to enter."

"I thought we were going in stealthily," I said.

"We are," she agreed. "But in case someone sees us, first we act like I'm bringing you to Abrathion for business. Which means--"

"No funny business," Louie interjected.

"Exactly," she said and nodded. "So no buffs and no parties. If we get caught, then we take them out as silently and quickly as possible. Clear?"

"As a unicorn's arse," Rory bellowed, and the rest of us gave each other a kind of "what the fuck" look before stepping forward.

As we climbed the few stairs of the building in front of us, our surroundings darkened and all sounds became distant. By the time we reached the iron door, I felt as if we'd traveled to a completely different place.

You have entered Don Halciu's Dungeon.

This is a level 39 dungeon.

Don Halciu? Who the fuck he thinks he is, the Godfather?

"Hey, I got a notification about the dungeon," I said. "Does that mean that they know we're here?"

"No," Viki replied and touched the doorknob. "As far as I know, it appears every time you reach the door."

She pulled the door and it opened silently, revealing a dark veil that waved in the breeze like a thin cloth. Without hesitating, she pushed forward and was soon gone from sight, her body having disappeared into the black hole of the dungeon entrance. Rory shrugged and walked through it, but Louie hesitated and glanced at me before we followed their example.

The dungeon looked a lot like a hospital, but something was terribly wrong with this place. There was a metallic tang to the air and the buzzing of flickering lights on the ceiling was discomforting to say the least.

What was even worse, however, were the cold-white walls of the corridors we were walking through. Or rather, the previously white walls, since they were now splattered and smeared with what looked an awful lot like blood. There were red handprints on the wall, spatters that resembled the ones that forensic experts would examine in a crime thriller, and little pools of blood on the floor. And between them, dismembered bodies--heads separated from their necks, and torsos that looked like they'd been mauled by a grizzly bear.

"I don't suppose this is normal, is it?" Louie asked as he tiptoed around a small pool of blood.

"This is definitely not normal," Viki said, moving forward carefully. "There must have been an attack."

"An attack?" I asked, surprised. "Who would have attacked this place?"

"And why today?" Louie added.

"I do not know," she replied as she bent over one of the bodies, examining its clothes. "These are definitely Abrathion's men. Perhaps another competitor?"

"It doesn't matter," Rory said, and a notification flashed on my periphery. "Our goals haven't changed, but now we go in prepared."

Rory Battleforge has invited you to a party.

Party Members: 3/9

Party Leader: Rory Battleforge

Do you accept the invitation? Yes No

"In that case," Louie said, as I accepted the invitation, "Let's continue with buffs."

We stood still but alert as Louie cast Fortitude and Might on all of us before we were ready to proceed. We moved through the corridors according to the map Viki had provided, skipping a lot of closed doors. Corpses littered the floors the whole way, and by touching one of the deceased I understood that this hadn't happened too long ago. The man's body was still relatively warm.

"They're probably still here," I said, this time dropping my voice down to a whisper.

"What do we do then?" Louie asked. "We can't leave. Who knows what they'll do to the prisoners."

"Could it be Leo's family?" I asked, a little disconcerted at the thought.

"Could be," Rory said. "They're definitely capable of taking down a level 39 dungeon. But that doesn't mean we should stop being careful--"

Rory stopped mid-sentence as a clicking sound echoed down the corridor. It was coming from around a relatively dark turn to the right of where we were standing. Exactly the way we needed to go. The noise reminded me of the sound a pencil would make when it was tapped on glass or any other hard surface. Only it wasn't one sound, but multiple in rapid succession.

The lights down that path were flickering and so we stood still, leaning forward to peer around the corner, waiting to see what was making the noise. The first buzz from the lights revealed nothing but the blood-spattered white walls. The second flicker lasted a while longer, and the hint of a short shadow appeared. The third time the white fluorescent lamps buzzed on, they spread a bulbous shadow toward the intersection. It looked like a cockroach but was the size of a German Shephard.

Rory pulled me back by my elbow as Viki pushed against one of the doors next to us. Luckily, the door opened without making any noise and we all rushed into the brightly lit room, closing the door behind us very carefully. Viki put one finger in front of her mouth and we all held our breath for a few seconds. She then fell to the ground, putting her ear to the floor, and waited.

"It went to the left," she said eventually. "Our path is open again."

"What was that thing?" I asked.

"I don't know," Rory replied, "but I doubt it was something the DiFiores would use in a raid."

There was a low hissing sound from inside the room we were in and only then did I look at our surroundings. There were long tables lined up against the walls and on them, a series of electronic devices I didn't recognize. It all looked like laboratory equipment, but that wasn't the source of the sickening hissing sound. It was coming from one of the tall closets in the opposite corner of the room.

"What the fuck is that sound?" I whispered and moved toward it. "It's gonna give away our