“I’ve found another.” John held up one hand, blocking the group from progressing.

  John found most of the traps on his own, while I was called on for the puzzles and riddles.

  From moving wall parts that slotted together to open hidden doors, to discovering that the only way across a spike pit was to sent Jeffry up to the ceiling and pull a disguised lever that raised ice pillars in the pit to walk across.

  One time, the answer was simply yelling, “Albus Rolling Yarn.”

  This was the eighth so far, and I was still in Julian’s arms.

  He’d used the excuse that I was the only one without a fast travel skill… but we both knew he just liked carrying me around.

  I liked it too, so I didn’t fight all that hard.

  Currently, we were stopped at a sharp bend in the tunnel where it veered left and out of sight. On the wall, ten feet ahead, words were faintly carved into the dirt.

  How can the sun rise in the deep.

  Where the old and ancient sleep,

  Onward into darkness fight

  Or safely walk where light is right.

  I shifted and Julian put me down. I patted him once on the arm and then walked to the front of the group.

  After scanning the other walls to see if I were missing anything, I turned back to the riddle and read the words over carefully while unconsciously tapping my chin.

  Then I checked my [Map] Function and smiled. “That’s fun.”

  “What’s the answer?” Julian asked.

  “The tunnel turns west, but the sun rises in the east. It’s saying that if we follow the path, it will set off a trap, but if we go east then we will reach the end.” I explained. “By the old and ancient verse, I’m going to assume level ten is the boss battle and the final floor of the dungeon.”

  Originally that would have been cause to celebrate, but instead it put the party on edge. They still hadn’t caught up to the other party in the dungeon, or received a notification that they had captured the dungeon ahead of them. That meant they were potentially going to drop into the middle of someone else’s boss battle, or they were walking into a trap.

  Or both.

  “No matter the case,” Julian spoke firmly, “We have to push forward. Here.”

  He put up a [Guard] on me.

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  “Thank you, are we all ready to go?” I asked.

  “I’ll go first.” Julian said, lifting his shield. “In case it’s a trap.”

  In order to by-pass the puzzle, I told him to walk up to the writing, close his eyes and turn right facing the tunnel wall. He didn’t hesitate when I told him to walk straight into the wall, and then he was gone, having passed straight through.

  It was an illusion.

  We followed him through, cautious, but there was no attack waiting on the other side.

  Instead, we were in another wide cavern open to the sky above. Sunlight shone down into the cavern, playing off the rocks. In the middle was a large portal platform that would take them to the next dungeon level.

  And blocking the platform was a giant pink tinted void bubble.

  I cursed aloud.

  “It’s Alice.” I explained, waving a frustrated hand at the bubble. “She’s the one who’s found the dungeon ahead of us and is waiting for us on the other side.”

  “But… why? Doesn’t it help us if she clears the dungeon and stops the monster surges?” Jeffry unequipped his see-in-the-dark glasses and re-equipped his Eye of Effeldor broach.

  “She hasn’t stopped the monster surges. The dungeon is still undefeated.” Julian.

  “Maybe she was hunting Miss Gerda all the way to this dungeon and reached the end only to realize we hadn’t been there yet, so she set up this barrier that’ll inform her when we break it, letting her set up an ambush on the other side of the portal to kill us all and finally have her revenge?” Pram pointed out.

  “But how? How did she get here before us?” Visha asked, stepping forward to examine the bubble. Black flecks gleamed in the pink barrier.

  Previously, when King Keith had been trapped inside a similar looking bubble, anything that touched the surface would take [Void] damage. The celestial so far had displaying Fate, Void, Light, Rogue, Charm and Portal based abilities. I’d assumed she was level sixty, but if she was level seventy then she might have Barrier abilities as well.

  But based on my previous battle with the celestial, I couldn’t see her as that powerful yet.

  “She and I have similar powers; we can see the future and we have portal abilities. But where I am limited by my bridge restrictions, she can portal around the entire map.” I clenched my fist at my side, looking around the party until I met Julian’s eyes. “And she knew that I was here, helping you find this dungeon. Who knows how quickly she could've gotten here– hells, she could have portalled here right after our battle at the Northern Fortress. Or gathered a party and arrived minutes before we did… either way, she’s here now, and we will have to deal with her.”

  “Do we really?” Tully asked, drawing attention.

  “What does that mean?” Visha eyed the paladin.

  Tully shrugged.

  “Can’t we just let Guild Mistress Alice defeat the dungeon and go home? You have your special bridge powers now. We could just set one up on the other side of the hill and leave for a week.” The paladin waved a hand at the bubble blocking their path. "I don’t think Alice can hole up in the dungeon for a whole week. Fighting the same boss monster again and again and never claiming the prize? I couldn’t. I’d get bored after a day and then go home.”

  I didn’t know what to say… because I might not be here in a week.

  We all turned to Julian to see what he would decide.

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