They walked through winding tunnels. Until finally Elmar saw a gigantic cavern with a city within it. More of the murals were on the walls of the cavern. One of them depicted Hades dancing with a beautiful woman. Elmar thought that she must be Persephone.

“Have you ever seen Hades, Elaine?” Asked Elmar. Their nymph guide stopped.

“In the mirror, yes. But the mistress doesn’t want to see him anymore. How do you know of the dead one?” Asked Elaine. She regarded Elmar suspiciously. If he was sent by Hades, then they needed to send him on his way as soon as possible.

“I just do.” Lied Elmar. Diana sends him a look but he remained quiet. If Persephone didn’t want to see Hades, then his task became all the more difficult. But if he didn’t join them, then Hades will start to capture souls again.

“Probably you know it from grandpa Thinker’s books. He knows many things, that dungeon core. Well, this is as far as I’ll take you. A part of the tournament is to find your way to the starting point. You have an hour. Good luck.” Said Elaine, and then she ran off.

“An hour?” Asked Dereck. “But we have never been here before.”

“Maybe if we just find the biggest crowd, we will find the tournament grounds.” Said Diana. She too found that it was unfair that they had so little time to get to the tournament.

They decided to look at the paintings for direction. Hades and Persephone looked like they were dancing in a certain direction. To the left. The four fallowed the dancing pair and soon found a fork in the road. Hades’ painting was to the right, and he looked sad, while Persephone’s was to the left, and she looked angry.

“Where to now?” Asked Lucius. “They seem to like Persephone here and dislike Hades. Do we go left?”

“That is the obvious choice.” Said Dereck. “The way I see it, they want to get Persephone back. So, their wish is the same as Hades’.”

So, they went right. Soon, there was another fork in the route. This time there were two laughing rabbit paintings on either side. They each pointed in their own direction.

“What now?” Asked Diana. “The paintings could mean danger. Do we go back?”

“We don’t have the time for that.” Said Dereck, and he went right. The rest followed him. Then, they were in front of a lake. There were houses around it, but no dwarves.

“What if this is all a trap?” Asked Lucius. There was something swimming in the lake. It was small and red. He didn’t like the look of it.

“What do you mean?” Asked Diana. She, too, didn’t like the look of the lake.

“I mean, isn’t it suspicious we were searching for this Persephone and suddenly, someone in No Man’s Land knew of her? Besides, I think I know where we are.” Said Lucius, then he lowered his voice. “The dungeon of lies.”

“We are in a dungeon?” Asked Diana, suddenly fearful. Not all dungeons were like Theanore’s apple grotto. Almost none of them were. They could be in a serious trouble here.

“Possibly. If we are indeed in the dungeon of lies, then it is using our memories to show us what we want to see. Rumor has it that it sucks out the mana from those in it. But it is listed as a peaceful dungeon.” Said Lucius. Then he went in the lake. When he got out, he was dry.

“There is a tunnel beneath the lake. There is no water, don’t worry.” Said Lucius, and he went back inside. The three friends followed. They walked in the tunnel and marveled at the gold nuggets which were as big as a fist and were just sticking from the walls.

“Remember, it wants to keep us here as long as possible.” Said Lucius as Dereck reached for a nugget. Dereck ducked his head and smiled sheepishly.

“It would have been nice if we could get some gold from here. I mean, it is not as if the dungeon core could demand mana for something that is not there, can it?” Asked Dereck. His three companions stopped to look at him.

“What if it can? Remember, mana is life as much as blood is. If we run out of mana here, we will die.” Said Elmar. He gripped his staff tighter. Could it save them if he had no mana to power it?

“How did it get registered as a peaceful dungeon then, Lucius?” Asked Dereck. Sure, they were in No Man’s Land and all the nations of the world would consider it a favor if the dungeon took out a couple of Ogres, but the behavior of the core was anything but peaceful.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, look.” Said Lucius and pointed straight ahead. The four ran towards the bright light. The closer they got, the more they heard loud cheering.

Then they got out of the tunnel and saw an arena before them. On a raised platform, there was a spokeswoman. It was Elaine, but she looked different. Older and with gray skin and longer and chipped nails.

“Mobs of the dungeon of lies!” Said Elaine, and the crowd roared. “We have a new mana source. These here came for our teleportation ring. They are cats paw of Hades!”

The crowd booed. Elmar saw Dawin then, his skin was green. Dawin wasn’t a dwarf, he was a goblin. There were Giants and Ogres in the crowd too. And even what looked like hags.

“Are they worthy opponents to Arkok the Destroyer?” Asked Elaine. Booming laughter answered her. “I think so too, but just to be fair, let us give the four a chance to get what they want. It will make their bones taste all the sweeter later. I, Elaine the nymph, dungeon core of the dungeon of lies, proclaim this death match for approved!”

Thundering steps neared the arena and Elaine disappeared. The four prepared for a fight.