The pale white fog became thicker as Nero descended, reducing the visibility to only a few metres ahead. As if that was not enough, the effective radius of Aether Pulse was also reduced drastically, making it so that he needed to use the card every few steps.
Considering their previous experience, it was odd that they faced no curses yet, but that could also be an effect of the fog. Despite its seeming harmlessness, it was by far the most dangerous thing here.
By the time they reached the third level, they faced no challenge, but instead of feeling relieved, Nero only felt more concerned. There were a few things causing such concern.
Visibility was obviously a big part of it, but another was that there were no more stairs heading downward after the third level. Yet when he was taking the test to gain access for the lower levels, he was certain he recalled mention of a fourth level. Lastly, it was because he felt no cursed energy at all.
One would think that the lack of cursed energy would mean they were safer, but Nero didn't think so. In his mind, that only meant that they were completely incapable of sensing the danger, not that there wasn't any.
"The door's broken," Harold's voice came muffled through the fog. Did the fog also reduce sound? That would explain the deafening silence on this floor. Even an empty room had some sound, of the air if nothing else. Yet here, in the basement, it was as if sound did not exist at all. Unless, of course, they were the ones to make it.
The group moved towards him and were alarmed to find that, indeed, the door was broken. It was shattered into pieces that still lay on the ground after all this time. That was another reason to be concerned, because so far they could not even scratch the building.
Nero strongly suspected that the only reason he had been able to break the reception desk was because the curse had weakened its internal structure over the course of many years.
But much more ominous than even the door was the cracked floor of the room beyond. The floor had caved in at certain parts, while in other areas it remained level. Yet the wide, dark cracks that seemed to split the ground spread everywhere, like a spiderweb.
Nero bent down and touched the dust that covered the ground, trying to determine if this break was recent or old. The way it had settled made Nero feel like it had been like this for a while, but whether that was a few months over countless years could not be ascertained. The earthquake that uncovered the city could have been responsible for this, or it could have easily predated it.
"Someone's using aether up ahead," Remi suddenly whispered. "No, wait. It's not one person. There are many people up ahead!"
Nero immediately stood up and looked ahead, but the fog was too heavy to see anything far. What he did see, however, was that there were no footprints in the heavy dust that hugged the floor.
"It might not be people," Nero said. "Stay cautious and don't take any rash actions."
He stepped forward, his team following him closely. No one noticed that the way Nero held his spear, pointed forward, allowed the rear end of the spear to come close to Wendy.
She brushed against it, but as if it was an accident, stepped aside and stayed clear of it as they moved forward.
The layout of the third floor was different from the second floor, as far as Nero could see. There were a few different corridors, but instead of sticking to the rectangular layout of the cathedral up above, they seemed to head in various other directions. It seemed like this level of the basement spread farther than the boundary of the cathedral.
For now, Nero chose to follow the direction Remi sensed other people, and Leonard and his team followed.
Yet before they went much farther, a vague silhouette appeared in the fog, and the sound of heavy footsteps appeared.
They halted as they waited for the person to reveal himself, only to be surprised to find something else instead.
The shape of the thing was humanoid, but it definitely wasn't human. It might have been a machine, based on how unusual Eldrim technology was, or it could just be some strange monster. Either way, it was not something Nero had ever seen before.
Its legs had several knee-like joints, meaning that even as it walked, its legs bent in odd ways, though it maintained a perfect balance. Its left arm was normal until the elbow, but after that turned into a sharp blade, or maybe that was just a very pointy bone. Its right hand was normal, save for the fact that it had two thumbs and eight fingers, forming a perfect circle.
Its face was hidden behind a mask, but based on how large the mask was, it definitely wasn't in normal human shape.
Most importantly, it had no cursed energy leaking from its body. Instead, at this range, even Nero could sense that its body was densely packed with aether.
"The third level is not open to research assistants," the creature spoke, its voice completely identical to the announcements they had heard on the upper floor. "Depart immediately. Failure to comply will result in the death penalty without opportunity for appeal."
Leonard brought his shield closer to his body while he raised his sword, and everyone also prepared their weapons. Nero, on the other hand, felt like trying something else instead.
"I have special permission to access this floor," he said. "There's a problem with the data node that I need to look at. You can confirm for yourself if that is true."
"Checking for exception permission allocation. Error. Unable to connect to the database. Unable to verify permission status. Searching for a proctor to verify status. Error.
Unable to detect any proctor!"
For a few seconds after that, the creature went silent, as if it did not know what to do in such a situation. Just as Nero was beginning to suspect it was broken, it looked directly at Nero. He could physically feel its gaze on his body, and even inside of it.
"Emergency situation detected. Research subjects need to be contained. Research assistant, you have been directed to aid in the containment of research subjects. Follow."
The thing turned around and began to walk into the fog. Everyone looked at each other, as if unsure they should follow, but Nero did not hesitate. He wasn't sure what he had gotten into, but he didn't want to risk losing sight of the thing in the fog. The rest followed without lowering their guard.
The cracks in the floor continued throughout the corridor, and in some places even extended to the walls, revealing darkness hidden between them.
"We're getting close to the rest of them," Remi whispered once more, her voice barely audible at this point. "There's something very strange about the others. I don't think this is a good idea."
That was the most the frightened girl had spoken so far, and the fact that she was finally voicing her fears did not mean Nero dismissed her thoughts. In fact, her stellar performance so far meant that Nero took her words very seriously.
Yet before he could decide any other course of action, they arrived at a large opening, a result of the floor and walls having collapsed completely, going down a level.
Nero's eyes flashed. He knew there was a fourth level. But before he could relish in discovering the hidden floor, he caught sight of the 'others' Remi was referring to.
Dozens of humans, frail, starved and skinny to the bone, walked around the floor like zombies. There were chains attached to their legs, though the chains weren't attached to anything. They had likely broken off when the floor collapsed.
Similarly, there were endless tubes attached to their bodies, but they too had been ripped free from whatever they were attacked to.
It was an eerie sight. They humans were so skinny they might as well have been just skin and bones. In fact, they very well just might be just that, with aether sustaining them instead of organs, for each of them radiated auras of thick aether.
Before the creature leading them could speak, or any of them could decide how to accurately react to such a horrific sight, one of the humans suddenly turned to look their way. It sniffed the air, as if it caught a whiff of something new. Then it bared its fangs, revealing impossibly sharp teeth.
"Contain research subjects before they display their corruption mutations," the creature loudly announced.
Its voice attracted the attention of the rest of the bony humans, and like a pack of hungry dogs, they launched themselves towards them.
But their frail exterior was misleading to their actual abilities. Nero barely had time to point his spear in the right direction before the first of the test subjects was on him.