Ferdykion drew his sword, which was imbued with fiery energy, and everyone tensed their senses at his words.
The sound of hard, small objects colliding with each other.
Rune identified their nature from the smell of rust and the sound of metal weapons being wielded.
'Bones. Rusty iron weapons. The smell of death.'
"They're skeleton pirates. Beings that won't die even when killed."
Ferdykion immediately stepped forward, and Dullahan stood beside him, nodding at Rune's signal.
Ferdykion, with a red flame in one hand, fixed his eyes on the approaching shadows.
In a place filled with the aura of water and curses, Ferdykion wielded his power without hesitation.
"Answer my call. Red and blue flames."
Ferdykion's sword was enveloped in blue flames, and the seawater it touched began to boil.
For a moment, it hissed and sizzled, then Ferdykion's figure vanished in an instant.
The five skeletons at the front, still holding their swords, froze and were enveloped in blue flames, their bones melting away.
However, due to the damp darkness, the fire gradually died down.
Just as one of the collapsing skeletons reached out toward Ferdykion's face,
Ferdykion extended his fist, which held the red flame, and burst the skeleton's face with a red flame.
The charred skull crumbled to pieces.
Seizing the opportunity, Dullahan leaped into the back row.
He grabbed the handle of the giant hammer on his back and brought it down on the skeleton's head.
The bones turned to powder and small fragments, swept away by the current.
The other skeletons around them rushed at Dullahan, clinging to his dark steel arms and biting his legs.
As he was weighed down by the cumbersome skeletons, Dullahan's chest heaved.
"Everyone, cover your ears."
Rune covered his ears, and the others, who had experienced this before, quickly followed suit.
"Sir Ferdykion! Your ears! Your ears!"
Ferdykion, experienced in combat, quickly covered his ears.
A wailing scream erupted from the depths of the soul.
A terrifying, destructive roar that made the hair on one's body stand on end.
Rune extended his hand, confirming that the monsters' attention was focused on Dullahan.
"O long-abandoned powers, return to your master."
The darkness and curses that permeated the monsters seeped out from between the bones and were drawn into Rune.
The skeletons crumbled, turning into powerless bone fragments.
A chilling, eerie voice rang out.
"Damn! The flight spell isn't working!"
The pit collapsed, and the floor began to sink.
Despite Ramel and Byakuya's struggles to move and their resistance, even the flight spell was useless, and their bodies were sucked down endlessly.
Rune, frowning, left a message that needed to be remembered.
"Everyone, keep the pearls and don't lose them."
Rune, more familiar with the attribute of darkness than anyone else, could naturally predict what would follow.
'The very bottom of the darkness, perhaps.'
The call of the darkness from the depths.
The darkness that had long awaited Rune and harbored hatred for him opened its maw and swallowed them.
Suddenly, all sounds disappeared.
Whether his eyes were closed or open, it was always the same darkness.
His senses were disoriented, and he couldn't even tell if he was extending his hand or walking.
Rune straightened his body.
He already knew this feeling, where the sense of time was lost.
The sensation of a fleeting moment that felt eternal, something the living could not feel.
'I've only felt this when I was dead.'
Rune felt the water, fire, and darkness within him, confirming that he was truly alive.
He slowly surveyed his surroundings, but there were no other presences.
'The others must be in similar situations.'
He thought about each of them one by one.
'Amelia is immune to darkness. Blackie is adaptable. Dullahan, born from death itself, should be fine, and Byakuya, the phoenix, has the most perfect immunity to death.'
Rune decided on his priorities.
'The first one I need to find is Ferdykion.'
Rune took out the black pearl and activated its power.
At that moment, the pearl was enveloped in an even more ominous aura.
Rune held the pearl and looked into the air.
A soft sound tickled his ears.
A figure appeared, as if shrouded in mist, with pale white skin and long, wavy silver hair.
At first glance, it seemed to be a small girl with a serene atmosphere.
She bowed her head slightly and looked at Rune with murky silver eyes that sparkled.
"You're not the original owner of the dungeon. Who are you?"
The woman floating before him, indifferent to his question, exhaled a breath like a winter wind and spoke.
[I am. The fairy of the deep night.]
An elegant yet chilling resonance lingered in his ears.
[An existence that no one welcomes.]
[Death. Endless darkness.]
The woman in the air slowly descended in front of Rune.
Her white hand reached out toward Rune.
[Did you like my invitation?]
His gaze, mixed with curiosity and discomfort, was directed at the small fairy without reservation.
However, the fairy casually raised her fingertips and pointed at Rune's hand.
[The power that led you here.]
Then, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he looked at the fairy.
"Surely, you're talking about this."
In Rune's hand, the <Magic Key> floated.
The fairy's eyes sparkled, and she smiled faintly, nodding once.
[My path. Connected with power.]
'So, I see. I'm starting to understand what this key is.'
Putting the key back in his hand, he asked another question.
"What about the others who came with me?"
"I need to find them. Tell me or show me the way."
At that moment, the fairy, with an expressionless face, stared at him intently.
"I'm going to clear this dungeon with them and leave. We're just passing through."
The plural reference made Rune's senses sharpen reflexively.
Sensing the result, he realized that the darkness as a whole was one with the fairy standing before him.
'A personality born from the darkness.'
The power of the darkness clan is close to death, so a long-abandoned ruin would be no different.
Such a place often harbors beings that cannot coexist with the living.
The fairy, who had been staring at Rune, spread her thin hands to the sides.
[You can't go. Can't go.]
Suddenly, Rune felt the darkness around him become dense.
It felt more suffocating, as if trapped in clumped mud, making it hard to breathe.
The spirit began to sing a faint song.
[No one welcomes us, darkness and death. We are close, but not welcomed. Never. Why?]
A haunting, sorrowful, and beautiful song that was mesmerizing.
Its enchanting power enveloped Rune, but he slowly channeled his own magic to dispel it.
"That's right. A world where people fear death more than those who flee life through death is much better."
Rune had felt a strange, eerie sensation from the moment he saw the spirit.
However, hearing the story of this spirit, who seemed to have skipped time, made him understand the reason for the eeriness.
"Everyone fears what they cannot overcome. It's not just death. People avoid even trivial and light matters."
Those who fear their superiors who will scold them tomorrow.
Those who tremble with anxiety about their uncertain future.
The weak who must live a life that cannot end in death amidst war.
The powerless thrown into a quagmire of despair with no hope of salvation.
The instinct to reject and fear threats while striving to live is inherent in those who seek to live.
"Many cannot bear to lose something due to death. Those who struggle through a hard and tiring life wonder if they will die like this, or if there will ever be a better day, experiencing the futility of life."
The regret of no longer having a chance.
The sorrow of permanently parting with loved ones.
Or the sinners who will be judged after death, having to give up the glory they enjoyed in this life.
All these people mourn and fear 'death.'
Rune spoke in a calm voice.
"But... think about it. How terrifying would a world be where the living welcome death?"
It was something that anyone walking in the darkness might have thought about.
The spirit looked around.
This space, filled only with darkness and death, was the answer.
"If the living value death more than life, that world would be hell."
'And the end would look like this.'
Although he didn't say it out loud, he felt that the spirit, who was watching him, had the same thought.
[Forever, alone. Just watching, is what we...?]
The suffocating darkness receded slightly.
Rune took a deep breath and continued.
"Not exactly to comfort you, but sometimes there are those who