They stepped into a hallway, the passageway leading further into the cave. The walls were a solid gem-like surface as if someone had carved the path into a giant diamond for them to explore. The entire place glowed slightly reflecting its own light such that it sparkled constantly capturing the eye.

“This place is beautiful…” Hailey commented as they all stared into the enchanting abyss

“Pretty it may be, but never forget this place is above all else trying to eat you.” The Demon King reminded them

Ali scoffed “Ironic coming from you.”

“I don't eat people.”

"Only tables and knives." Giel added with a smile, "what's with that?"

"I can digest most inorganic material." The demon tapped on his own metallic hands, bringing attention to them, "but I don't eat people. That's completely immoral."

Ali's glare was dagger-like, “I think destroying the world is worse…”

“That’s debatable”

“It really isn-Ah!” the gnome stumbled as the part of the floor she stepped on sank into the ground

Click

Giel’s sensitive ears picked up a small sound from behind them

“Guys…”

But it was too late, the walls behind them retracted folding into themselves and releasing a wave of thick liquid that began to flow toward them, threatening to flood the hall.

“Guys, trap!!!”

“Wha?” Kenn exclaimed the party turning to look at the oncoming flood.

“Oh no!”

“RUN!!!” Giel yelled taking off at top speed down the hall. His party members trailing behind soon after.

They tore down the hall with the flood gaining on them. The liquid was thick and moved like syrup, but there was enough of it that its own weight pushed it such that it threatened to overtake them. As they ran on the hallway slowly began to fill every step the beast-kin took splashing a bit in the gel. Slowly his footsteps seemed to grow heavier, with a glance down Giel saw that the leather soles of his boots had been petrified and were little more now than jagged crystal.

If it did this to leather he didn’t want to see what happened to skin!

He raised his tail just a bit higher keeping it far from the drink and put on more speed.

“What is this stuff?” Hailey wondered

“Beats me, but I’ll take a wild guess and say It’s the reason this hall is crystallized!”

“I am not going to die a statue!” Ali growled over taking Giel with her short legs.

Crap Crap Crap!!! The Flood was to their ankles now! If they went all wearing boots their feet would already be precious stones.

With the situation as it currently was Giel’s favorite adventuring shoes were now a fairly fancy pair of glass slippers.

He felt like Cinderella already...

And It was still rising! If it got above their boots collars it was going to start being a problem. There were a few parts in that area that Giel would be damned if he let be crystallized.

Above his ankles now. And nearing Ali’s thigh. With a grunt, Giel reached down and scooped the Gnome, who shrieked with surprise as he lifted her over his shoulder.

“Hey! Watch where you’re grabbing!”

“I think what you mean to say is thank you!”

“What I mean to say is if your hand gets any lower I’m going to fireball you”

“Dually noted,” Giel conceded, adjusting his grip.

“There's the door!” Kenn pointed ahead of them to a rectangular divot in the wall to Giel left

“Open it! Open it now!!!”

Twisting Giel slammed his shoulder into the door, busting into the room with all the force his beastly strength could provide.

“OW! That’s the shoulder I’m on dipshit!”

“Sorry, Sorry” He apologized as the others all piled in behind.

Excluding the Demon King who simply appeared before them unperturbed “Just a suggestion, but you might want to close the door now.”

“Oh crap!” Giel yipped slamming the door as quickly as he could, just as the wave of fluid crashed over it. A few drops landing right in front

“That was..that was…” Hailey huffed out of breath, “What was that!?”

“We call those traps Elfy” The Demon King snarked

“We… We almost died…AGAIN!! I hope this isn't becoming the norm…” Kenn

Sandra’s... ‘Sandra-ness’ was undiminished “At least it was exciting.”

“Really! That All you have to say” Ali fussed from Giel’s shoulder “And put me down you big furry”

Giel did so, albeit a bit less gently than was strictly necessary

“Y’know” The Demon King interrupted “I’m surprised you guys have time to just and chat like this. I mean if I were you I’d be more worried about the golems.”

“Golems?”

Giel looked up, and sure enough, saw several large humanoids faceless made of Green gemstones Clomping towards their group.

There were five in all, each ten foot plus with arms as thick as Hailey’s entire torso and hands that could palm Giel’s head like a tennis ball.

‘One to crush each of us’ Giel thought bitterly

“Damn” Ali cursed, Readying an icebolt in her palm

“Oh that reminds me,” The demon broke in “Try out some of those spells In your books this time, Kenn I would suggest Manacut in this situation, and Giel a force field never hurts. Page 2 and page four respectively. The rest of you do whatever you want”

Hurriedly flipping to the correct page, Giel saw the sigil and began trying to trace it within his hand. It felt slow and clumsy. IT was like the mana didn't want to move like it didn't want to be formed. Seconds that felt like hours passed as his magic refused to work. He had expected something to change when he became a mage, but it hadn’t.

At that point, Kenn was already sending crescents of silver light into the monster's emerald flesh.

The warrior's casts would form as he swung his blade The sword becoming a silver flash at the apex and send an arc of pure sharpness into the emerald golem he was targeting.

The manacut would chop into the construct, cracking and scratching their crystal bodies.

All while Giel was struggling to do so once! What was wrong with him? He hadn't had this issue with the mage hand spell!

With an animalistic growl, Giel decided he didn't have time for this! It was time to turn back to old reliable.

He clocked his Spellarm loading the chamber and pumped mana into the weapon. Usually, he used what he now recognized as his force mana, amplifying the bullet's speed and power. This time he pumped in his metal mana curious of its effect on his projectiles. He felt the iron-gray power of his metal core drain into the weapon filling it with the necessary power and a little something extra.

Then he pulled the trigger.

The air rang with the shot, time seeming to slow as Giel watched the bullet zip through the air.

It spun, twirling like a dancer as it neared its target. About Five feet from the golem something changed, the bullet began to elongate and split until it was not a single pellet of lead but a congregation of needles that all pierced into the Golem’s chest all at the same time!

The needles didn't seem to bother the construct all that much as it continued to lumber forward but some that moment, Where the beast kin stare in wonder at both his weapon and the tiny bullet holes in the crystal construct before him felt to Giel like the moment where the fight really began.