As soon as Daneel returned to the room where he had undertaken the Test of Self, he saw that there were a few changes which he had not noticed the last time, as things had been very hectic right after his return.
The almost bare room which had had only the entrance that they had rushed in through now had another door, and the object that had looked like a galaxy before into which Daneel had been kicked was absent.
"It popped up after you returned, so the condition to make it appear must be for you to pass. Each Nightmare Dungeon is reordered after every time it is activated, so there is really no information whatsoever regarding what one might expect from it. Also…will I ever find out how you were able to make a mission pause?"
Perfect asked the question in a morose tone, but Daneel chuckled and said, "I'm sorry, but no. Well…maybe some day soon, if things go well. Anyway, let's go."
Faxul and Elanev looked at each other and smiled as they heard this, knowing what their King was referring to.
If the day did come when he could reveal his identity…then it would mean that he had reached his ultimate goal, and that would really be something to behold.
Daneel boldly walked to the door and turned the ancient-looking door handle, and the door creaked open.
Beyond, he could only see darkness, but as he stepped in, it was as if someone had turned the lights on.
This was another bare room with those same yellowish walls, but what was weird was that there was a single piece of furniture on one of them: a board, of sorts, on which a piece of parchment could be seen.
Walking up to it, Daneel read the contents while the others also made their way over.
"Welcome to the Nightmare Dungeon. By passing the first test, you have gained access to the Path which might lead you to glory, or ruin. Pass all three tests, and gain rewards beyond your dreams. Fail in any one, and no man or woman or demon or god can save you. Tread lightly, for if you step back, only death shall lay its claim on you."
While Daneel, Elanev, and Faxul went over the words, Perfect glanced at them once and said, "The message! So it was true…I talked to someone who almost passed, but failed at the last moment and lived only because of a stroke of luck. He said that the message is actually the most important part of the dungeon: and that the true difficulties only start after it is delivered. From here, if I'm not wrong, we enter the true dungeon where we will have to find the other two tests and pass them. Err…it's not too late to turn back, you know. But the farther we go from here, the more difficult it will be to leave. So…wanna call it a day?"
As the three fiends whom he had found himself with all turned around and gave Perfect a look, he sighed and turned to the side before muttering, "All right, fine. My girlfriend said she wanted to see me finish something for once, anyway."
Shaking his head and remarking that this was the first lazy yet talented individual he had interacted with on Angaria, Daneel walked to the other door and opened it, and just as Perfect had said, there was a passageway which forked into three different directions that was indicative of a maze.
The four walked forward, and no matter how much they searched, they found no clue to help them pick one path over the other.
Daneel asked the system, too, but it had no clue as again, it's Champion-level complexity was not enough to overcome the Hero-level formations present here.
With a shrug, Daneel said, "I plan to defeat this thing in as straight-forward a manner as possible, so let's just go right ahead!"
Declaring his intention in this manner, he marched forward while flanked by Faxul and Elanev, who had satisfied expressions on their face.
Indeed, they were really loving this change in their King.
Resisting the urge to smack his forehead his frustration, Perfect reluctantly followed while dreaming of the beautiful fountain with charming ladies that he had had to leave to come here.
Grumbling something under his breath, he walked forward while looking down, and hence, he could only collide into the back of those in front of him as they had had to come to a stop right after walking a few steps forward.
The way the fork had been arranged was that the paths beyond had been entirely shrouded in darkness. It looked like one needed to walk into them to make the light turn on, and the central path had just gotten illuminated.
And what was in front of them…was a small group of bony dogs, exactly like the ones which had chased them before.
"Damn them! Let's leave quickly, before a group shows up!"
Saying so, Perfect was about to turn to one of the paths on the left and right, which were also available if they got past the dogs.
Yet, to his astonishment…the Overlord whose name was ringing throughout the Order seemed to have different plans.
From his pockets, he took out a few objects with a flourish, and Perfect understood it as an intention to fight as revenge for them having pushed him into that test before.
"We should only fight when-huh?!"
Perfect's remark was stopped midway, when he actually saw what had been whipped out.
There were 3 objects, and they were…a large bowl, a cup of mixed spices and a bucket of water.
What the f*ck?!
"Bone soup is on the menu, boys! Get 'em! After all, what better way to get revenge than to make them wish they never saw us?"
With a gleeful shout, Daneel sprinted forward, and after exchanging dubious looks, Elanev and Faxul did so, too, while Perfect watched on with a hanging jaw and a completely dumbfounded expression.
The dogs barked in their eerie manner and sprang forth to attack, not knowing the fate that awaited them.
In a group, each of these dogs which were half the height of a fully grown man would be a nightmare to take on.
Yet, in a small group of three…they held no chance.
Each of them had power at the level of an Amateur Champion, but in merely a minute…all that was left of them was a pile of bones, with the sinew that had been allowing their skeletons to remain in place mostly squashed due to the hammers that had been used by all three people to bash the poor dogs.
Indeed, the lead had been from the Overlord, who conjured super-imposed hammers, and as if competing against him, another had conjured larger hammers with a strange attractive force to them.
As for the third man, who was clearly a Fighter…he had taken out an actual hammer trinket and enlarged it, resulting in him making the biggest sound.
After this task was done, the Overlord started to hum a merry tune while heating the water, adding the bones(which still looked like they were moving, which added a macabre atmosphere to these entire proceedings) and then using the spices to balance the flavors.
He was done in a few minutes, and as he tasted the soup, his eyebrows flitted up as he exclaimed, "Excellent! I daresay that I'm pretty damn skilled in cooking! If this whole magic thing doesn't work out, I can always find a job in a restaurant!"
This dialogue put the icing on the cake, and made Perfect feel convinced that he was dealing with madmen.
While the three continued relishing the soup, he started to ignore them while dreaming of being back in his bed after refusing an offer to try it.
Meanwhile, Daneel had his eyes on this man surreptitiously while looking as if he was thoroughly enjoying his handiwork.
His purpose…was actually to circumvent this intruder upon their mission, and make him feel as if these were just the odd antics of someone who wanted revenge.
In reality, though…he was waiting for a message from the system, which soon arrived in his mind.
[Make-up of Reanimated Dogs analyzed due to ingestion of specimens. Further analysis underway. Specimens seem to have been reanimated by adding the split consciousnesses of living dogs to these bodies which underwent a certain process. Phenomena Analysis Module is analyzing the spell and the process in order to replicate, as per host's instructions.]
A smirk came on his face as he heard this. Indeed, Daneel's offhand remark about bone soup had coincidentally ended up becoming reality, as he had been told that he should find a way to stay in contact with the dogs for a long time in order for the system to analyze them. He had been very interested in this display of necromancy which was the first since he had come to Angaria, and hence, he had hatched this plan to distract their companion.
After all, if it became known that he was able to study and then replicate Hero-level stuff…it would not be good for him, so this method might allow him to keep this ability, which was one of those that only the system could use, hidden.
As for Elanev and Faxul, they had been told to play along, and they would be explained later.
A few minutes later, they were done, and Daneel smacked his lips and got up before stretching his body, as if he had had a hearty meal and would now like a place to rest.
Yet, he said, "On with it, then," and started walking on the path to left, which led to Perfect breaking out of his daydream of being fed grapes by his girlfriend and following along as he did not want to be caught alone.
The Path kept going and going, and more forks started to appear. They were assaulted a few times by the dogs, but these creatures now seemed vaguely apprehensive, almost as if they had no intention to become a meal, yet were still being forced to attack by an unseen force.
It was easy to deal with them because they weren't too many, but most teams with weaker members might already have gotten overwhelmed by this point.
Soon, though, they finally reached another room similar to the one where the Test of Self had been carried out.
That same swirling galaxy of misty lights was present, and it looked identical to the one before.
Thankfully, this time, there were no dogs to force them forward, so they could wait and analyze it.
Alas, it was too complex, so after a few moments, all of the mages could only shrug and give up.
Following this, Daneel had a small discussion with Elanev and Faxul, who tried to argue that they would be the ones who would handle this one, as the other had been passed by Daneel.
Yet, Daneel told them in direct terms that their priority was to end this and get out of here ASAP to get on to their other tasks. So, understanding the underlying connotation that they were not strong enough yet, both of them decided that they would train harder than ever after getting back before relenting and allowing their King to walk forth.
Of course, there was no need to ask Perfect, who was even leaning against a wall and whistling to himself, as if bored out of his mind.
Ignoring him, Daneel braced himself and walked into that array of lights, but to his surprise…it didn't make him enter a simulation right away.
Instead, it actually…spread outward, like a leviathan outstretching its tentacles, and in the process, it enveloped the other three who were present.
Elanev and Faxul were merely surprised, but Perfect shouted, "Wait! I didn't sign up for this!"
Sadly, the lights didn't listen, and in the next moment, all of their bodies slumped to the ground almost lifelessly.
As for the team who had entered the Nightmare Dungeon…they found themselves waking up groggily, while a voice reverberated in their minds.
"Welcome to the Test of Bonding. For any team, a bond is crucial, whether it be in life, or battle. In this test, that bond will be tested. Step forth, or welcome death."