Chapter 6: Seven Paths
Opening his eyes, Damon was met with the dark ceilings of the cavern. He felt the sensation of a moderately soft mattress against his back. He immediately recognized where he was.
"Shouldn't we be back? Why are we still in the dungeon?" Damon looked to his side, seeing Brian standing not too far away from him.
A cold sweat formed on Brian's face. "After you defeated the mutated demon, the dungeon didn't open, nor was there a status window saying that the dungeon had been cleared."
"Strange." Damon frowned. "Did you search the boss's room for anything of value or for a way to leave the dungeon?"
"We did and we found… I think it'd be easier to show you instead." Brian said, walking away.
Damon climbed off the portable mattress and followed after Brian.
***
After 5 minutes of following Brian, they arrived at their destination. Before them was a huge black stone gate with otherworldly inscriptions, spreading across the entire gate.
"Could this be... a dual dungeon?" Damon said, recalling what he had heard from his father.
Normally, dungeons have one boss who rules over the other demons, who are either of the same race or of a different race. However, dual dungeons, which were previously uncommon and only found in high-rank dungeons, have two bosses, the second of which is stronger than the first. Of course, this came with greater rewards if you were able to clear the dual dungeon.
"Everyone gather around. Let's have a meeting." Damon said.
The others gathered around as they were told and waited for Damon to speak.
"As you already know, we defeated the mutated demon spider-ant and have earned a great some of crystals and demon parts." Damon spoke, while sweeping his gaze over the hunters.
The hunters nodded as Damon continued, "Normally, we're supposed to relay the discovery of a dual dungeon back to the association and wait for their decision first, but... if we do that, we'll most likely end up handing over the task of killing the boss to other hunters, and we'd lose our chance of gaining greater earnings."
The complexions of the hunters crumpled. But Damon grinned. "That's why I'd prefer we kill the boss before leaving the dungeon... What do you think?"
"I agree."
"Count me in as well."
One by one, the hunters agreed, leaving one who hadn't said anything.
"I think… We shouldn't go. I have a bad feeling about this." Levi said, causing the hunters to glare at him.
Facing Levi, Damon said, "Loser, you don't have the right to have a say in this, so how about you keep silent? Unless, of course, you'd like to go back with several broken bones."
Lowering his head, Levi didn't say anymore as he didn't want Damon to give him another beating. After all, he already had plenty, just in the last several hours.
"Good." Damon placed his hands on the gate and pushed the dungeon's gate, and it creaked open.
Slam!
After opening it enough for a single man to go through the gate, the gate gradually opened automatically, slowly revealing the interior.
As they entered, a sudden wave of heat hit them, causing sweat to form on their foreheads.
"What the hell! Why did it suddenly become so hot!" Vanessa asked, irritatedly.
"Look dumbass! It's because of the dungeon's environment!" Alor pointed down below, at the edge of what looked to be a cliff.
Looking down at what Alor had pointed to, there was a huge expanse of rivers and lakes of magma below, with many rocky pathways dividing them apart. There was also lava geysers that shot out lava into the air, some times landing on the pathways.
However, that wasn't what gained her attention the most. Instead, there were seven large pillars of magma rock encircling a circular platform with similar inscriptions to the ones on the gate. On top of the seven pillars were seven statues; each had the body of a wolf with draconic wings, tail, and scaled legs. A draconic wolf, per se.
"What kind of boss room... is this?" Vanessa's mouth opened wide. She was shocked. She had seen many dungeons with various different environments, but this one seemed different.
The others were no different than Vanessa; they were all shocked. The only one who remained indifferent was Damon.
"Quit slacking, let's get down there already." Damon shouted from far down the pathway that led down to the base floor.
After breaking free from their shock, they followed Damon down the pathway onto the floor, where they traversed the pathways that divided the magma rivers and lakes, avoiding any areas where there were geysers.
Arriving at the platform, they found a stone slate on the center pillar before them. Their attention was focused on the runic words inscribed on the slate. Jason, who was closest, attempted to decipher the runic words.
"The Seven Paths of Sin." Jason read the first verse.
'I feel an eery feeling beginning to rise. The silence is odd as well. It is almost too silent.' Levi thought, looking around.
Even though Levi was considered affinity-less, he still could sense when something was amiss. But, he couldn't get the others to be wary as they wouldn't believe him.
In the meantime, Jason's voice continued on as he read the contents of the slate. "First Path: Sloth Above All. Second Path: Rage over Others. Third Path, gluttony on others. Fourth Path: Greed over others. Fifth Path: Envy over Others. Sixth Path: lust for others; Seventh Path: Arrogance over others! Those who fail to keep to these paths will die!"
Suddenly…
Slam! A loud slamming sound rang out, jolting everyone back to their senses.
"What was that?"
Arlo used his ability to sense the direction the sound came from. "It came from above, where the entrance was!"
As soon as Arlo's words came out, they shifted their gazes to the cliff, where the entrance was located.
"Shit! I can't take this anymore!"
A hunter at the back, who seemed to be on the verge of peeing his pants, spat out cusses as he bolted towards the cliff, where the entrance was.
"I'm going home, so you have fun with the boss and treasures! I'd rather live than die h—"
It happened, then...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone