The team stepped on the next floor and looked in awe at the technological marvel that was Event Horizon. The sheer size and pressure this structure gave off made it sink in why this is the most secure prison on the Kaledonian content.

  “Wha… this is quite intimidating. Hearing stories or watching videos about it is completely different from experiencing it.” Toxic Donkey said as he sent out shadow clones to investigate the area.

  “There seems to be nobody out here, there are people inside. Is that… a mall?” Giana pointed at the entrance.

  “Do you think the guys went shopping before breaking Raishin out?”

  “Don’t be silly Noelle! It’s a prison! Also, that black hole is intimidating. Doesn’t time flow slower the closer you get to it? I can feel it, there is a lot of spatiotemporal mana in the air. Every second out here could be hours in there.” Giana turned to the party. “It might sound selfish but do you mind if we approach this floor with urgency? As if one of us was locked inside?”

  The party nodded.

  “There is one problem though… I can’t see further inside than the mall. It’s blocking my eyes…”

  “Wait isn’t this bad?! Look at this place it’s huge! How are we supposed to find our target?!” Noelle panicked.

  A shadow clone returned and reported its findings to Toxic Donkey. “Hmm, I think that’s part of the problem. There is also a possibility that this dungeon will guide us a bit. The few parties that have entered this floor seemed to all be put on a similar path. This place is probably too big for Agnis to remember all of it. How do your race’s illusions work exactly Giana?”

  “Hmm, Knowing what we’re creating illusions of is quite important but there are several ways around it like padding illusions or looping unimportant areas and stitching them together. I can’t use them well but I do know the theory behind it.” Giana gazed at the intimidating prison. “If I were to guess, most of the insides will be what he experienced with some freedom around those areas. As long as he could see it or experience it, it will be in here. Anything else would probably overcomplicate the illusion. But that comes with another problem…”

  Toxic Donkey got shivers through his spine as he didn’t like the sound of there being a ‘but’.

  “The problem is that if he cut out anything that’s redundant, the illusion might be extremely realistic, it might even be worse than the real deal.”

  “Huh? How does that work? Didn’t you need me to strengthen your illusions to get a real effect?” Noelle asked as she wasn’t fully aware on how the 9t illusions work.

  “Well yes but most my illusions are created out of my imagination. These….” Giana stretched out her hand and tried to feel the flow and complexity of the illusions. “These were made out of experience and emotions. I know it’s an illusion but I can’t sense them at all. They might as well be real. He was still young when this happened right?”

  Toxic Donkey nodded.

  “Someone’s experience might not line up with reality, his experience in this place might be worse than the real deal is. His friend Raishin was locked up after all…”

  “So, you’re saying that the real Event Horizon might be easier than this floor?” Giana nodded to Vinny’s question.

  “This stupid fox! Can’t he do anything normal!” Toxic Donkey grabbed his head and dramatically fell to the ground.

  “I think I can counter the time dilation. I think it’s a good idea to stick together. And uhh where is Io?” Giana asked as she hadn't seen Io since Toxic Donkey's clones returned.

  The party looked around as Io had disappeared.

  “Noo!” Toxic Donkey got up and ran into the mall area. “Anyone with a good nose please find the nearest place that sells meat!”

  Yvonne and Vinny rushed inside. Giana and Noelle tried but they severely lagged behind.

  “Ohh it seems you got faster Noelle!”

  “Heh you too! Let’s see who reaches the mall first!”

  The mall was quite modern. People of all ages were walking around but not buying anything. When paid close attention most people seemed to have similar faces. Their actions were also relatively simple. Illusions often tell those experiencing them about its user.

  “Heh, no attention to detail if it concerns other people.” Noelle said after noticing the same man pass by 4 times.

  “The people Boshi town looked more realistic and diverse though. Where is the rest?” Giana and Noelle looked around. They only saw illusions of people. They didn’t see Vinny, Toxic Donkey or Io.

  “Do you think this is one of lil’ bro’s traps?”

  “I don’t think so. My eyes don’t work so well in here. Kyle did say to use our noses. Get to it Noelle!”

  “Hey! Foxes have good noses too don’t push everything on me! but well… that way!”

  The two took a right turn and started running. They kept running and running.

  “Hey, I think this corridor is endless, we’ve been running for a while but the source of the smell is hardly getting closer.”

  “Hmm, this corridor seems consistent. It doesn’t look as if it was stretched to make it seem longer.” Giana said as she looked to the side and noticed a woman with a babystroller pass them by.

  “Hey what are you two doing! Hurry up!” Vinny was waving at them and pointing at a shop to his right. Vinny waited for a bit and walked over to them and picked them up. “What’s wrong? Do you 2 have [Slow] on you? Why does it seem that you two can walk faster than you can run? Are you two cursed?”

  “No… why does everyone think that…”

  “Oh! Sorry I forgot!” Yvonne reunited with her dear friends while eating a salad.

  “It’s fine Yv. What is going on?” They looked over at an angry Io. Toxic Donkey was doing his best to calm her down and get her away from this small restaurant.

  “Well Io tried to order meat but these illusions don’t respond well. And Yvonne tried to order a salad but somehow that did work.” Vinny pointed at Yvonne who was eating a salad. “This pissed Io off even more.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Io! Leave it be! It’s just an illusion! Didn’t we promise Giana to act out of urgency?! Imagine if I was stuck in here! Every second that you waste could be days or weeks!” This snapped Io back to reality.

  “I forgot! I don’t have time for this! If I take too long you will turn into dust! Let’s go!”

  “Huh what?”

  Io grabbed Toxic Donkey by his hood and dragged him off. “Sorry guys! I will focus! Let’s get this over with!”

  “Aww how cute!” Noelle had a grin on her face that annoyed Io a bit.

  “My shadow clone had found an entry point. Io you can let go now…”

  “Only if you don’t turn into dust!”

  “I will be fine but thank you for worrying.” Toxic Donkey got released and he fixed his donkey suit. “I need to ask Agnis if he has another one.”

  Yvonne looked at Toxic Donkey’s suit. “W…wait is that from Jarn?” Her aura shifted again. “Do you know where he got it?!”

  Io turned around. “Oh Jarn! Agnis and I had gotten the assignment to assassinate the king hahaha! He did clear out any clothing store in the capital before that! It was a fun mission!”

  Toxic Donkey looked at his donkey outfit and then to Io. “Huh wait Io you never told me that you and Agnis were responsible for the assassination of the king!”

  “Oh ehh Agnis told me that I might not want to tell anyone. Keep it a secret please! But his mustard weapon was strong yet tasty… I bet it will go well with meat!”

  “So the shitty state of the textile industry was your fault!? What else did Agnis tell you to keep quiet about?! And what's with this mustard weapon?” Toxic Donkey inquired.

  “He one-shot the king with mustard! It almost one-shot me, a dragon!”

  Toxic Donkey looked at the rest of the group. “Hey, am I stupid or does nothing she says make sense?”

  Giana’s eye color changed again. “Coming here was a wonderful idea! I’m learning so much about Agnis! But I’m curious too Io, what else has he told you to be quiet about?”

  “Ooh the rain smell again! Oh something about that smell, he also told me to stop pretending to be a goddess or that we killed a group of people that he calls cultists. Uhhm what else oh I once caught him staring at Thalia’s chest and he told me to keep quiet! Oh Thalia… sorry Kyle…”

  “It’s fine. let’s go.” Toxic Donkey looked at the group. He could see that they were curious. He sighed. “I will tell you about her later, I’m just worried. I will say just this. At one point Thalia, Agnis and I encountered a demigod. We’re fucked if he put that in this dungeon. The longer I’m in this dungeon the more my vexation turns into worry. Let’s get out of this dungeon before he gets into another situation like this”

  “D…do Gregory and Raishin have this same problem?”

  “I don’t know Yvonne. I only know Agnis but if they’re anything like Agnis, they probably have the same problem. You’ve all seen it right? The rain of fire over Bizax? I’m sure that was him. Or the fight against that enormous snake. Gregory was a shadow cat, right? That enormous shadow cat must have been his and I also saw it raining lightning. And even before that there were multiple [Meteors] and pillars of lightning. Gregory might be relatively quiet but it seems that Agnis and Raishin tend to blow up a lot of things.”

  Nobody responded. They just followed Toxic Donkey. They were all thinking about what it meant to be a mythical or legendary being. Io had been rejected by her family because she loved humans too much and preferred to hang around them. Vinny was in a similar situation. He was accused of being not dragon enough because he actually takes things seriously.

  Giana, Noelle and Yvonne had lost their home at a young age and don’t know how to act like their race. It must have been the same for Agnis, Gregory and Raishin. They all knew that but each of them felt that Agnis, Gregory and Raishin were getting close to what they were supposed to do. Vinny had picked up on his role but the other 4 had no idea what they were supposed to do or how.

  Vinny stopped. “Hey do you think?”

  “Yeah, I think we all should talk to team Hourai after we’re done here.” Giana said while thinking about Toxic Donkey’s words.

  “We’re going too right Kyle?”

  “Yeah I need to kick Agnis’ ass, he could use a punch but… it would also be nice to see what he’s up to.” Toxic Donkey unlocked the door that barred unauthorized access. The door opened and Toxic Donkey turned around. “I want to yet again extend a warning. This is the place where one of his friends died. We need to take things seriously as our lives depend on it.”

  The idols went in with a heavy heart. They didn’t know Ted well but they had some interactions with him. Moreover, he was from Hourai.

  Toxic Donkey navigated the team successfully to layer 9 as suddenly everything seemed realistic. Every person had a different face and build. No duplicates. No cutting corners. Toxic Donkey had to split off to deal with anti-shadow magic guards. Io did her best to lead the rest to a safer area.

  Toxic Donkey returned 20 minutes later.

  “Holy shit that was rough, we almost got caught there. Io, I know you’re not experienced in dealing with anti-shadow magic guards but I need you to pay attention to them and try to assassinate them, got it?”

  “Yes!” Io said in an uncharacteristically stiff manner.

  “I think I already see how this went. I’m sorry guys but I need to split up. I will go in front and disable every anti shadow guard I can find and then save the target. I need you guys to complete the other objectives.”

  “Here is a [Time Bead]. It should help you against the time dilation.” Giana handed a dark purple bead to Toxic Donkey and the rest of the party.

  “I created a [Gravity Crystal] it can only protect you from increased gravity for 30 minutes. It should recharge swiftly in places with normal gravity so make sure to get a safe spot every 30 minutes.”

  “Thank you, Giana and Noelle. Keep each other safe and Io... I’m counting on you.” Toxic Donkey disappeared but the team could see some guards in the distance disappear ‘magically.’

  “Ok since Kyle is gone, I will be your Toxic Donkey in charge!”

  Giana tried to make sense of Io’s words. “Are you sure you’re a Toxic Donkey? I haven’t seen you move or behave like an assassin all this time…”

  “That’s because I’m a dragon!”

  The idols looked at Vinny who shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I also think that being an assassin is a poor choice for a dragon, that’s why I’m an Unstoppable Beast.”

  Io kept the stealth up and brought the party to the teleporters.

  “This is not a regular stealth, is it?” Giana asked after careful observation.

  “Oh, that it’s a magic tool Kyle bought for me from the AA. It was expensive but I treasure it.” Io showed a peculiar glove that she was wearing. Not all Toxic Donkeys are blessed with shadow magic affinities and the AA was selling this expensive tool that allowed them to use stealth.

  “Ehhm I can lead you with my Toxic Donkey stuff but I’m not good with the smart stuff. Can you do that Vinny?”

  “Uhh right. We need to sabotage some teleporters to make sure we can get back. Now this is not my expertise but I’ve studied the footage on how Agnis sabotaged these. It needs a lot of technical knowledge to come up with but the execution is simple if the aim is to copy what he did.” Vinny fiddled with the transporter. “Did you get this Io; can you send out clones to do this with the others?”

  “Uhh, I can’t use clones sorry.”

  Vinny sighed. “… Just one teleporter it is… I surely hope this won’t kill us…”

  The party stepped through the teleporter wondering what they woud encounter next.