The moment they crossed into the next floor, the difference was immediate.

The space narrowed slightly, the wide expanse of the first floor gave way to narrowed corridor lined with walls instead of pillars.

On the walls was something unique to the floor.

"Murals," he said.

Damaged murals took up the space, they were worn down, with some of them scraped away while others seemed to have been shattered.

Entire sections were missing as though someone had deliberately tried to erase them.

Even with that, enough remained to at least help in making sense.

Lilith’s steps slowed, her gaze flickering on them as she walked.

Unlike Atheline, she didn’t stop to study them. She just looked as she moved forward.

In the first section of the mural, a figure dominated the whole place.

He was seated on what looked like a throne his considerable height visible despite being seated.

Around him, darkness draped over him like it belonged. His Majesty could be felt even from the painting.

Just from that one drawing, it looked as though it was alive.

He was like an overload that commanded darkness itself.

Lilith did a double-take on the mural.

"He seems important, " Atheline said almost to himself.

Lilith didn’t respond to him. Her gaze continued forward.

Further along more figures knelt before the man, not in a subservient kind of way but in a way that indicated that they were worshipping him.

He steps slowed for just a fraction then she moved on.

The next section was wrong. It was horrifyingly scratched, an outline that had clearly been there had been removed.

The scratches seem violent even.

"Someone didn’t want that seen or remembered, " he said quietly.

"Or couldn’t erase it, " she replied.

The movement was cut short. This time, the attack came faster.

The shapes that emerged were more tangible and clearly stronger. They wore armour over their shadow, darkness pouring out through the openings.

They had weapons, some broken, some full.

Unlike the shadows on the first floor, this one attacked directly.

It was clear they only had one thing in mind, killing.

They disintegrated before they could even move far.

One lunged directly at Atheline but it never reached him. Lilith stepped in first.

Her finger touched the weapon, dark tendrils wrapping around the armoured constructs.

Then crush.

Amour fell to the ground, five crystals rolling down with it.

"It seems more power means more crystals," Atheline said.

"Mmh."

The fight ended with no climax, all crushed under her might.

"What do you think about the mural?" Atheline asked while they climbed to the third floor.

"Two friends turned enemies," she said quietly, almost unsure of her answer.

"I believe so, since they were drawn together," he said.

"But it might also be enemies, it irks me that the mural isn’t complete," he said.

"Can you still feel the location of the moon crystals? ," he added.

That had been their main objective but things seemed to have gotten more convoluted as things went by.

’I thought we would fight some monster that was guarding the mine and get it over with but it seems gods do love their games."

The more they climbed the stairs to the third floor, the more the temple seemed to have started to reveal its initial state.

The somewhat clean walls had started to break off, cracks had gotten wider and mold had been growing on wet patches.

By the time they reached the third floor, all the facade had simply stopped.

The narrow space opened again into a large hall. Parts of it were intact while parts of it seemed to have fallen off long ago.

A broken section flickered slightly, restored for a fraction then broke, falling back to its ruined state.

Atheline exhaled slowly, "I don’t like this one."

"It’s close," she said softly.

Atheline looked at her in confusion.

"To what?"

She didn’t respond. At that moment, there was a shift in the air, and at a single fractured moment, they weren’t alone.

Figures moved past them, panic in their eyes as they ran blood dripping everywhere.

They glanced back towards the fourth floor, before one shouted something.

At the back, the escaping crew, one stumbled and fell dissolving into dust.

There wasn’t a sound from start to finish only motion, then everything snapped back to place as though nothing had happened.

Both of them were tense and confused throughout.

"Tell me you saw that too."

"Yes."

A sigh of relief left him. He wiped his sweaty hands on his robe.

"What do you think that is?" He asked.

"A will," she said, her gaze calmly on the fourth floor.

"A warning perhaps?"

"I’m not sure."

Lilith herself couldn’t even understand how that had happened. In her years alive, she had never seen anything like than even in the ruins she had entered both dangerous and not dangerous ones.

"Something is teleporting," Lilith said, pulling him back.

The ground where they were standing was split open, dust rising with it.

Suddenly, a huge sense of danger filled the floor. Atheline reacted immediately, and he pulled Lilith back.

A glint of metal, then the sound of air being cut followed. The ground where they had been standing broke into pieces, falling on the second floor.

"What in the world. "

The massive sword retracted back into space, then a portal formed. From the circle, the next construct confidently steps out.

It was fully armoured, its sword dragging behind it leaving sparks on the floor. Atheline could feel the power pouring out of it in waves.

Unlike the others, this was strong. Instincts told him he would have been crashed if he went against it alone.

The construct walked towards them, slow and deliberate. It skipped the hole on the ground approaching them slowly.

Her gaze hardened.

"That’s a different one."

"Yeah," Atheline quietly, " I noticed. "

This time, she didn’t wait. She lifted her hand, power gathering around her.

Dark tendrils shot towards the construct coiling in the air beautifully. Her attack struck and for the first time, the construct resisted.

The sword swung down, cutting a few tendrils of her power but more joined.

The construct fell, disintegrating into nothing even the armour was gone. All of this happened so fast that it left both of them hanging.

Lilith hadn’t given it a strong blow. It just left.

The room fell into complete silence, the pressure vanishing.

Atheline let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

"Tell me that wasn’t important. "

She turned towards the final stare case.

"It was."

He ran his hand through his hair.

"Haa... let’s just get this over with."