This couldn't possibly be the [Silvernight] dungeon.

Sure, what I knew about dungeons was limited, even with the professor's lecture. Before coming to this world, I'd thought dungeons were the prisons underneath a castle. And apparently some dungeons were like that. [Silvernight] sounded like it'd be like that. This dungeon definitely was not that.

This dungeon looked like a world all its own, existing maybe even in another realm altogether from the one we'd come from, from the sky that was above us to the ground we stood on.

The sky wasn't a familiar midnight blue speckled with far-away stars that faded into the soft sunrise of dawn that'd welcomed us this morning; it was a dark purple that faded into the vibrant crimson of an inferno. That light didn't come from the sun but from underneath the ground where vibrant red light reached toward the sky like a geyser through missing patches of ground.

No matter where I looked, I saw the same hellscape I'd seen in the mirror at that Tespana party not too long ago. Behind the dungeon portal was a dense forest with the same blackened trees veined with red. If not for the red light coming up from under the ground, the forest would probably look like a red-veined black mass of nothingness. Who knew what kind of demons were lying there in wait.

In front of the dungeon portal, we faced a beach with tide pools of red light painting the darkened sky maroon. A tide of fire rushed up the length of the beach like water, staining the sky the color of blood more than any of the little missing patches of the ground.

There was no soothing ocean sound, only the roar of an endless hellfire growing louder each time the flames crawled a little closer to us. The heat of it was oppressive but not any more so than the constant heat of Brugge. The portal was raised onto a pathway that cut through the fire tide and led to the city on the notice, perched on a rocky island with a tower crowning the very top.

The notice had said this was the [10th Dominion], and I could believe that. What else could this be if not the underworld?

Professor Widhia cleared his throat. "This might appear differently from what you were expecting," he said, surveying our hellish surroundings casually. Like we were on safari or something. "There's no reason to be alarmed though. This dungeon is stable and, while it may change based on who enters, its core cannot change. Let us head to the city as the notice instructed."

The professor pointed to the path as if he'd discovered it and headed toward the city. I wouldn't say that notice had instructed us to go to the city. We just had no other option because the tide would eventually rise above the path. Didn't seem like we had a lot of time to spare.

Well, the other option would be to go back through the portal and call it quits. Which was what the professor had instructed us when the unimaginable happened, when you knew you were facing something you couldn't handle.

Garta regarded our surroundings with the suspicion I'd expected from the professor. "[Silvernight] is supposed to look like an ancient underground mining operation," Garta recited from the professor's lecture the night before. "Both the [Silver Serpent] and the [Frost Hounds] are ice creatures. We're surrounded by fire. There's no way those creatures would--"

"--We'll be cautious," the professor cut off Garta and smiled. Probably meant to be reassuring, and maybe it was for Rose, Rila, and Kadhi. "Of course, we'll be cautious. It doesn't matter whether the dungeon is stable or whether we have a map of it; one must always be cautious in a dungeon regardless. But as I said, the core of a dungeon does not change. We'll likely be able to map on a part of the city onto the map of the dungeon and go from there. So. Onwards."

Kadhi picked up his pace, his tail not even twitching nervously. "The original dungeon is probably that tower. Maybe it won’t be a handful of [Frost Hounds] and instead [Fire Hounds] waiting for us inside. And instead of a [Silver Serpent] guarding the treasure, it'll probably be something like a [Burned Wyvern]. That suits my abilities better anyway."

"Yeah, sure," Garta said, and we shared a look.

Well, at least that meant they were seeing what I was seeing, what Garta was seeing. The problem was the same as that Tespana party. The same as whenever there was a demon. A disconnect between reality and perception.

Rose and the others at Tespana's party hadn't registered that the mirror wasn't connecting us to the Plane of Shevirat but instead to the Plane of Demeot. After two demon attacks on campus, not a single student perceived that demons were a real and serious threat to the world. After being personally attacked by a demon, Danio had no recognition that what'd been beating down his door wasn't just an angry man but instead a creature of the underworld.

So even if Professor Widhia, Rose, and Kadhi saw the same hellscape as me, they weren't perceiving it as any more dangerous than the [Silvernight] dungeon.

Maybe it was still the [Silvernight] dungeon at its core. Was there a way to know if it was or wasn't? Was there a way to know whether we'd been transported to the 10th Dominion rather than a dungeon imitating it when the System and everyone connected to it was being influenced by the Demeot?

As we neared the city, the fire overtook the path behind us so there'd be no going back. If we wanted to leave, we'd have to beat the dungeon boss. A [Silver Serpent] or a [Burned Wyvern] would be preferable to the Rashirat that ruled this dominion, Zolmuroth.

I wasn't exactly strong enough to defeat a low-level demon, so my chances against a Rashira were shit. Given that I didn't trust that Professor Widhia could accurately assess the danger we might be in here, the fact that he was the strongest of us as a professor of Caemor, his robes indicating an S-Class Soul, meant that we were pretty fucked.

Worst, the existence of a dungeon replication of the [10th Dominion] might indicate that there was also one for each of the ten Dominions of hell. The notice had said we'd entered the [10th Dominion], not that the dungeon was named the [10th Dominion]. Would clearing the [10th Dominion] only lead us to the [9th Dominion]? Would we have to fight through every one of them to clear the dungeon? ...Or to get back to our own plane of existence?

The city gates were a pair of oversized doors set into a three-story tall wall that seemed to wrap all the way around the island city. The stonework was scorched at the bottom, as was the wood of the door.

"It looks like the city gates are opening for us," Rose said as we approached. The crack between the two sides widened as the doors opened toward us, revealing a courtyard paved in sun-bleached stone that resembled something we'd see in Brugge. "How welcoming..."

Inside the gates, we couldn't see the sea of fire or the black forest of red-veined trees. It was just as hot as Brugge, too, but the air here carried a slight smoky scent and the taste of ash. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard, a statue of a demon with the horns and legs of a ram pouring water from its ridiculously huge dick.

"That doesn't seem anatomically correct," Kadhi said with a cough.

The professor gave a chuckle and clapped the lizardkin on the shoulder. "It isn't always. That's the nature of the beast. Now, this doesn't seem too unfamiliar, does it? Seems we'll blend right in here."

He wasn't wrong about that. As the city gates closed behind us, the sound of music and singing and good cheer filled the courtyard. Suddenly I realized the courtyard was surrounded on three sides by restaurants, and there was a man by the fountain playing a fiddle and collecting coins. The courtyard was suddenly full of people having a good time, sharing good food, and enjoying what felt like a slight sea breeze.

I didn't think I'd been distracted enough not to notice it all in the first place, but nothing about it was setting off any of my instincts, either. My gaze swept over the scene quickly, taking in as much as possible. Nothing stood out.

[Notice]

Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%. R

There were too many people to know what was triggering my increased mastery of [Demeot Eyes]. Was there a number of people here who had demon blood like Rajal? Or was there a demon hiding in the crowd? No--if it was a demon, they would've attacked by now.

A paradise for those who wish to reflect their inner worth had been how the [Dungeon Notice] had described the [10th Dominion]. But even if my gut couldn't tell there was something off, logic told me there definitely was. It was too perfect, save for the smell of hell lingering in the air.

"Seems like the only way up is this way," Rila said, facing a street that ran against the side of the wall to our left. She'd been quiet this whole time but had stuck close to Rose.

Rose put an arm around her shoulder. "Rila's right. We can map the way as we head up to the tower. Right, Professor?"

The professor smiled that same kind smile as before and urged us along down the street. "Correct. Yes, let's head that way, but we can't let our guards down too low since this is still a dungeon, as familiar as it may seem. Perhaps we'll simply map the city tonight, then eat, rest up, and make our plan tomorrow. Time isn't the same in the dungeon, so we can take as long as we need."

I didn't like the idea of staying here at all, but we couldn't stay outside of the city either. Perhaps at low tide, we could return down the same path that'd led us here all the way back to the portal. I didn't like the idea of quitting, either, but I didn't like the idea that I was trapped in hell even more than that.

The main street led us through a couple different little neighborhoods, winding its way to the tower. Mostly the street was lined with the same Mediterranean style flat-roof homes as Brugge, blocks separated by smaller roads. As we walked, no one paid us any attention--not the people we passed, the ones beating their rugs on their second story deck, nor the ones putting a pie to cool down on their kitchen windowsill.

About half-way up, we found another large courtyard with restaurants rather than little shops. The demon pissing into the fountain was different though. A large group of people gathered around a dance performance that filled half the courtyard. As we rounded the other side of the fountain, I studied the crowd.

[Notice]

Mastery of [Demeot Eyes] has increased by 1%. U