As they continued forward, the cave slowly began to change.
At the left passage, the cave wall was already unnaturally smoother and wider than normal. But after several minutes of walking, the floor became wider and the air felt strangely still, yet refreshing. As if the cave was full of life rather suffocating.
Then, far ahead, a faint glow appeared.
Ulon noticed it first.
He squinted and pointed forward.
"…Are we going out already?"
Everyone looked ahead.
The faint light shimmered at the end of the passage, soft and pale.
Ulon frowned and looked at Klaus.
"Don't tell me we just walked through the hill," he said. "We came all the way here just to pass to the other side?"
Klaus shook his head.
"No," he said calmly. "In fact, we're already underground."
Maddy crossed her arms.
"We were underground from the start," she said dryly.
Klaus waved his hand dismissively.
"That's not what I meant."
He pointed back toward the direction they had come from.
"We've already passed beneath the rocky hill above us."
Maddy raised an eyebrow.
"Really?"
Shalotte stepped forward slightly, holding his glowing staff closer to the ceiling as if measuring the distance.
"Yes," she said cautiously. "The hill outside was only about thirty meters wide. We passed under it halfway back there."
Ulon rubbed his chin.
"…Huh."
"Well that's comforting," he muttered.
They continued walking until they reached the source of the light.
The moment they stepped out of the passage, everyone instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes.
The brightness was overwhelming after the dark tunnel.
For a few seconds, no one could see clearly.
Then slowly, they lowered their hands.
And froze.
Before them stretched an enormous cavern.
The narrow tunnel had opened into a vast underground chamber so large that the ceiling disappeared into darkness far above. A wide stone pavement ran straight ahead, forming a path that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.
Massive crystal clusters grew from the cavern walls like frozen trees.
Red. Blue. Pale violet. Soft green.
The crystals glowed faintly from within, bathing the entire cavern in shifting colors that replaced the need for sunlight.
It was beautiful.
And deeply unsettling.
Shalotte lowered his staff, eyes widened with amazement.
Kiel stared upward with wide eyes.
"…Whoa."
Even Ulon fell silent for a moment.
"Alright," he said finally. "Now this is weird."
Near the edge of the cavern, tucked between two towering crystal clusters, few wagons stood abandoned.
The wooden frames were battered and scratched, but the wheels were still intact.
Petra stepped closer, studying them carefully.
"…Those are Kultian wagons," she said quietly.
Kiel hurried toward them.
"Then they were here!"
He looked around quickly.
"But… where are they?"
There was no answer.
No voices.
No movement.
Just the faint hum of the glowing crystals.
Ulon glanced around uneasily.
"So," he said slowly, turning to Shane, "should we continue, boss? Because this place is getting weirder by the minute."
Shane remained calm.
His eyes moved across the cavern, carefully studying the path ahead, the wagons, and the shadows between the crystals.
Then he nodded.
"We continue."
They began walking along the stone path.
The cavern swallowed their footsteps as they moved deeper inside.
Minutes passed.
Then more minutes.
Despite the endless glowing crystals and the massive open space, they saw no sign of people or even beasts.
No footprints.
No movement.
Nothing.
Eventually, Shalotte slowed down, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead.
"Boss…" he said carefully. "We've been walking for quite a while."
He glanced back at the distant tunnel behind them.
"I think… we've already spent an hour here."
Shane stopped walking.
The group gathered around him.
He looked at each of them one by one.
"Let's vote," he said simply. "Who wants to go back?"
Maddy raised her hand immediately.
Petra followed a moment later.
Shalotte hesitated… then slowly lifted his hand as well.
Shane scratched the back of his head.
"Alright," he said. "Who wants to continue?"
Ulon's hand shot up.
Klaus raised his hand lazily.
Kiel lifted his as well, though his expression was still uneasy.
Maddy sighed loudly.
"Men are idiots."
Shalotte blinked.
"I'm a man too," he said quietly.
Maddy ignored him completely and looked back at Shane.
"Well?"
Shane sighed softly.
"Looks like the decision is still mine."
He turned and stared down the endless glowing path ahead.
Then he glanced back toward the tunnel they had come from.
For a moment, he remained silent.
He opened his mouth to speak—
CRACK.
The sharp sound of rock breaking echoed through the cavern walls.
Everyone froze.
A small piece of stone fell somewhere in the distance, clattering loudly against the floor.
The echo carried through the massive chamber like a warning.
Something had moved.
Shane's looked at where the sound came from..
"Did anyone move?" he asked calmly.
"No," Petra answered immediately, though her voice was a little tight.
Ulon looked around exaggeratedly. "Unless the rocks suddenly learned to walk."
"Not funny," Maddy muttered, though she still scanned the walls.
Klaus tilted his head slightly.
For a moment, he simply stood there, eyes half-closed, as if listening to something far away.
He repeatedly used his echolocation, yet he saw nothing.
"…Weird."
Shane glanced at him. "What is?"
Klaus scratched lightly behind his ear.
"I thought something moved earlier," he said casually. "But now… nothing."
Maddy crossed her arms. "That's not comforting."
Klaus ignored her.
Instead, he crouched slightly and tapped the ground again—this time harder.
Tok.
The sound traveled deeper through the cavern floor.
Klaus closed his eyes again.
The echoes came back.
His expression changed.
The usual lazy amusement faded, replaced by a thin line of concentration.
He frowned.
"…Well," he murmured quietly.
Shane noticed immediately. "What is it?"
Klaus slowly straightened.
Then he rolled his shoulders as if loosening up.
"Turns out," he said lightly, "we're not alone."
Ulon blinked. "Oh?"
Klaus stomped once more, sending another pulse through the ground.
This time he felt them clearly.
Shapes.
Hard.
Unmoving.
Surrounding them.
Not rocks.
Not crystal.
Something else…much harder.
Klaus sighed as if mildly inconvenienced.
Then he raised his voice.
"Alright," he called out across the cavern, his tone suddenly sharp. "Enough hiding."
The echoes carried his words far down the endless path.
"Show yourselves," he continued lazily, "or I'll blow you out of the walls myself."
The reaction was instant.
Petra stepped forward and swung her long black scythe from her back in one smooth motion. The blade glinted crimson under the crystal light.
Maddy slid both daggers into her hands, her shoulders tense.
"Of course something's hiding," she muttered. "I knew this place was wrong."
Shalotte nearly dropped his staff before catching it awkwardly.
"W-wait—"
The crystal tip of his staff flickered faintly as he raised it.
Ulon grinned widely and pulled the heavy mace from his belt.
"Finally!" he said happily. "I was starting to get bored."
Kiel said nothing.
But he drew his Devil's arm, his eyes moving from one wall to another.
The cavern fell silent again.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A soft grinding sound came from the left wall.
Everyone turned.
A section of crystal cluster shifted.
Not falling.
Moving.
Another sound came from the right.
And then behind them.
Stone figures began separating from the cavern walls like statues waking from a long sleep.
They stepped forward slowly.
Their bodies were humanoid—tall, smooth, and strangely featureless. No clothing. No hair. No clear sign of gender. Their pale blue skin looked like polished mineral rather than flesh.
Their faces were blank, almost mannequin-like.
Except for the eyes.
Amethyst crystals sat inside their eye sockets, glowing faintly under the cavern light.
More figures stepped out from between the crystal clusters.
Others emerged directly from the cavern walls themselves, as if they had been part of the rock.
Blocking the way back.
Another, blocking the path ahead.
Ulon lowered his voice slightly.
"…Okay," he admitted. "That's creepy."
Maddy clicked her tongue. "I hate caves."
Petra leaned closer to Shane.
"There are many," she whispered.
Shane nodded once.
"I see them."
At the far end of the pavement path, one figure stepped forward.
It was slightly larger than the others.
Its skin was a deeper shade of blue, almost dark stone.
The amethyst eyes were lighter, almost dimmer.
And it stood directly in the middle of the road ahead—silent and unmoving.
Blocking their path completely.
Klaus looked at it for a moment.
Then he smiled faintly.
"Well," he said under his breath.
Shane exhaled slowly..
"The Quartzmen," he said quietly.