Chapter 70: Delinquent and Delusional Party!

On the fourth floor, Ryuji felt a strange sense of disgust. His skin crawled with the feeling of something watching, gazing at him from every inch. After an hour of pacing through the spiralling tunnel, there were no monsters, creatures, or living things. Nothing had attacked or even made a sound. Ryuji stopped and activated his observation skills.

'For what? Am I searching for nothing?' he internally spat.

Erika stood beside him and mimicked his actions but said nothing as she moved her head from side to side, ears perked while leaning close to his arm, causing Yumiko's tail to swish violently.

"I don't like this place," Ryuji admitted his feelings, and they seemed to resonate with the party. Because Paul, Simon, and Alicia all nodded while Sheila's hands grasped her mace. "Let's keep moving forward, though." His observation skills mapped the dungeon and scanned for different minerals and monsters.

The feeling of being watched persisted until the spiral ended. Ryuji felt the walls breathing a strange sensation before the mist cleared to reveal a peculiar, narrow staircase. From the mouth of the cave, a red mist rolled in, its origin and effect a mystery.

"Wait... This doesn't give you deja vu, right?" Paul's voice quivered. He held two runes in his hands, feeling as if this moment was familiar.

Ryuji nodded and felt Sheila lean closer to him. Her eyes were wide with concern, and Yumiko's hackles had raised, her sharp teeth gleaming as her lips curled back into a vicious snarl. "I can sense a strange miasma from that opening, Ryuji." Sheila's stern words echoed down the stairs leading into the red mist. He didn't react for a moment because the mist felt pleasant on his skin.

Paul and Simon both had sweat trailing down their faces, and Ryuji felt a strange paranoia grip on Erika when she stepped behind him. He could feel her arms trembling, and her eyes looking into the darkness seemed to become confused, swirling with an odd pattern. 'That's not a defensive instinct—it's more dangerous.'

He only realised her change because of the observation. It told him that Erika suffered from several mental states: confusion, berserk, and terror. Ryuji reached back and gently grasped her shaking hand. Then felt her calm down before Paul yelled out.

"We need to go!" Paul's legs buckled under him as Simon staggered forward. "This place, the mist, is deadly; if we don't rush through, we might kill each other or ourselves!"

Ryuji couldn't argue because his observation showed him the mist carried a powerful hallucinogenic poison, and Paul was right—it would cause people to hurt themselves or their party. He grabbed Erika's hand and took the lead and raced into the red mist. Because he didn't seem to be affected, he reached out and grasped both Yumiko and Sheila and dragged them forward.

'Strange... when they are close to me, the effects seem to diminish.' Ryuji thought while Simon chugged a brown potion, his face turning pale while gagging before he almost vomited. Paul covered his face with a barrier, but the strange shapes in his eyes still formed, just at a slow and gradual pace.

"Alicia, Sheila, drink the brown potions. It's not a cure, but it'll suppress the effects!" Simon yelled and saw the pair quickly pull out the vile potions before taking a swig. Like Simon, the pair almost vomited, but Ryuji had no time to help them.

Desperate to finish them, Ryuji began racing down the steps. He led the party, ignoring the strange hallucinations that formed in his vision as he moved further down. Ryuji felt Erika's symptoms become worse as she gripped his arm and chest, her face close to his neck while tears streamed down her face.

Paul, Simon, Sheila, Alicia, and Erika - had a red substance in their veins that had entered the bloodstream, causing hallucinations and illusions.

Yumiko and Ryuji - had a red substance in their veins. Effects blocked by race.

'The dungeon did try to affect me. Then does it know I can't be affected or understand the hallucination effects?' He remembered the monster calling him a traitor or betrayer... those words continued to linger in his mind, though he never mentioned them to the party.

While mulling these things over, the end of the tunnel appeared. A strange madder-red light in the distance was approaching rapidly. Ryuji could sense no monsters, creatures, or living things within the room, only a cold, oppressive force of death.

'Observation cannot detect undead. Is it because they lack life? Or is there another reason, and there is nothing there?'

With each step closer, Ryuji became more irritated with the whispers from the woman around his neck. Sometimes, the woman blew hot breath down his neck with their erotic sighs. Their lips touched his skin, other's hysteric screams and terrors as they clawed his flesh. He swallowed a tremendous amount of air, preparing to shout.

"Wake up!" Ryuji bellowed.

His voice woke up Erika and the others, who shook their heads. Only Yumiko stayed calm because she only saw a pleasant illusion. Much to the irritation of the others, not to mention she recovered faster.

"Ryuji?" Erika shook her head, clearing the remaining effects, while Sheila and Alicia trembled as Paul regained control of his magic barriers.

"Simon, are you okay!?" Paul cried while his mana exploded out from him, forming a barrier around the group as they all shot through the red light, a sudden brightness blinding them all momentarily.

"Ready your weapons!" Ryuji's voice once again echoed before the clash of steel sounded, and cries of pain rang out.

Paul and Simon were the first to react to his order. Because Ryuji's voice shattered their dazed state, he could see dead bodies moving, eyes like glass, and bodies covered in armour and rusted weapons. However, they were shuffling towards the party.

The sudden appearance of an enormous cavern revealed skeletal archers, swordsmen, and mages with a strange corpse sitting on a throne in the distance, watching them with its dark eyes void of emotion and life.

"Oh god... an irregular floor and boss!?" Simon's gasp caused him to delay drawing his sword; he turned to Ryuji and the party before shouting. "Take care. These monsters will not act like mindless dungeon beasts! Your life is your responsibility!"