Isaac awoke on a stone platform completely blind. The pulsing dark portal was nowhere to be seen. No matter how much he blinked, his eyes never adjusted. It's not that he couldn't see but that there was no light around.
Isaac felt like he had woken up from a long sleep.
"U-Uewk…"
Isaac could only wander his surroundings and feel the walls with his hands. The walls that surrounded him were made of the same cold stone, and vines as thick as his arms growing along the walls.
"Dammit."
The place was moist and still, and when he inhaled, there was even a slightly sweet smell to the air. Above him was far more of the vines, like a mass of tendrils that infested this entire lightless abyss.
Isaac closed his eyes and explored his memories of all the regions of the Labyrinth. No area in his mind could match the dark maze he was trapped in. It must've been a structure instead.
The vines and the sweet scent gave it away for the blonde haired youth. His eyes widened and then the corners of his mouth rose into a smile.
"If this really is where I think it is…"
The uncomfortable silence was broken by the sound of something moving behind him. Isaac's heart sank into his chest, seeing two dim red circles in the darkness.
It moved in a slow deliberate crawl towards Isaac. Its body scraped against the floor like a knife. The blonde boy took one step back. And then another. He backed himself against the wall.
His fingers searched for anything, coiling around a loose vine. The red circles grew bigger. And bigger.
And the scraping sound grew louder until it sounded right in front of him.
The Labyrinth beast was so close that its ruby eyes illuminated just enough of its own face to make out its shape.
It was a giant serpent, its body easily towering over Isaac, and the scales on its head alone looked as hard as metal. Its head lashed towards him, biting hard into the vine Isaac was holding. He threw his body aside and landed on his rear and quickly picked himself up.
'If this really is where I think it is, then…"
Isaac still saw the red circles in the darkness. No second attack came from the killer serpent. He swallowed hard and neither of them moved for a short moment. Something else moved first.
The vine that it bit began to pulsate and then lunged towards the Labyrinth beast with frightening force, wrapping around its body.
The serpent thrashed against the thick vines, which wrapped around it with an iron grip. The vines tightened more. And more.
Its body whipped itself against the vines, which managed to cut deeply into a couple of vines holding it. But they were shallow, and only made the vines double their effort of subduing the monster.
The creature's entire body was wrapped in the crushing embrace of the tendrils. They kept tightening. The monster stopped struggling.
It was dead.
Isaac stepped away from the wall cautiously with a slow smile. And then suddenly, he laughed.
The vines retreated back into themselves slowly, and became lifeless again, as if nothing had happened at all. Isaac quietly walked towards the body of the killer serpent.
"I knew it… So this really is the Eternal Tomb!"
"Ah… it's a shame I couldn't claim the kill."
He grabbed the killer serpent by its massive head, slowly dragging it across the floor like a broken doll.
He used the still glowing scarlet eyes of the killer serpent to illuminate a few inches in front of him like a flashlight.
Now he could see the room more clearly. There were two diverging paths.
Although the blonde was aware of the location and circumstances of the Eternal Tomb, no one had ever left the tomb alive.
It was not to say leaving was difficult on its own. Yet not a single person ever managed to leave this place. And it was all because of the Honorable that had merged with this place.
Isaac sighed, glancing at the two paths with unease.
'If I were Blade...'
Isaac moved left and entered the tunnel.
The entire tomb was a maze and covered in vines and the sweet scent that slowly became sickening to his nose. Isaac often walked long stretches, only stopping to take a rest every couple of hours.
And then he'd continue walking again.
There were endless connecting hallways. Some led to dead ends, while others took him in a loop. The walking wasn't even the worst part. It was the darkness and silence.
Even with the eyes of the killer serpent, he could only see more darkness in front of him. And the silence was also unbearable. He spent hours walking, escaping into his thoughts. But often he thought of nothing and navigated the maze.
Time had lost meaning. Had it been days? Weeks? Isaac had no idea. A part of him almost wanted to see a Labyrinth monster. But the images of the demon dog invaded his mind, and he shook his head hard.
Isaac was resting on the floor and dug his arm inside the serpent's mouth and tore off a piece of meat.
He closed his eyes and chewed. He couldn't believe that even the nutrient block he shared with Blade seemed appetizing now. The blonde sighed and wondered what his companion was doing right now. That thought may have been his tether to reality.
Then he rose to his feet and continued moving. After an hour of walking, Isaac heard a sound.
His heart sank as he looked in the darkness in front of him and heard the sound again. It sounded like a heavy stone pounding against the floor. And then Isaac heard a different sound. It was the sound of two rocks rubbing against each other.
Isaac took an instinctual step backwards. The red glow finally hit something. A surface. Stone. The light crawled upwards little by little until his arms froze.
The thing was still going up. He caught a glimpse of it. Two massive hooks of stone above him. Then Isaac saw it. The head of the beast was also made of stone. Its front leg was bigger than his entire body. And the hooks. They were sharp stone fangs.
Isaac forgot to breathe for a long moment. And then the colossal stone beast took a step forward.
And the Eternal Tomb shook.