My Overpowered Bunny Girls

The creatures did not follow them into the deep city.

Nathan looked back as the party slowed. The grey figures had stopped at the edge of the square. They stood in a line, hundreds of them, their black eyes fixed on the party. None of them moved past the square’s boundary. None of them made a sound.

"Why did they stop?" Garrett asked. He was breathing hard. Red’s wool was covered in grey ash.

Smithy looked at the line of creatures. "They’re afraid. Something in this part of the city scares them more than we do."

Nathan looked ahead. The black tower rose in the distance. It was still far away, but it looked bigger now. Its smooth black walls did not reflect the grey light. It was like a hole cut into the world.

"Then we know where we’re going," Nathan said. "The tower is our destination."

The party walked through the deep city. The buildings here were different. They were older. The stone was darker. The windows were narrow slits instead of wide openings. The doors were made of metal and they were closed. The ash was thinner here. It did not cover the ground completely. Nathan could see the streets beneath the ash. They were made of black stone.

"This part of the city was built differently," Elise said. She was looking at the buildings. "The architecture is defensive. Narrow windows. Metal doors. Thick walls. This was a fortress, not a city."

"Or a prison," Smithy said.

Nathan noticed something on the wall of a nearby building. Writing. The same old language from the library. But this writing was different. It was scratched into the stone. Desperate. "Elise, can you read this?"

Elise walked over and studied the writing. "It says, ’The King took our names. The King took our faces. The King left us only ash.’" She paused. "There’s more. ’We go to the tower to take them back. Do not follow. The tower takes everyone.’"

Nathan looked at the black tower. It was closer now. He could see its base. It rose from a field of broken stone and grey ash. There was nothing around it. No buildings. No ruins. Just empty ground.

"The tower takes everyone," Dillon repeated. "Great. That’s not ominous at all."

"We need to know what happened here," Nathan said. "The Sunken City. The King. The tower. There’s a connection. If we find it, we find the Clear Condition."

They kept walking. The buildings thinned out. The ground became flat and empty. The black tower loomed ahead. And then Nathan saw something on the ground.

Bones. Hundreds of them. Human bones scattered across the ash. Skulls and ribs and arms and legs. They formed a ring around the tower, like a barrier of death.

Nathan stopped. "Everyone stay back."

He walked forward slowly. The bones were old. Very old. Some of them were crushed. Some of them were burned. Some of them looked like they had been torn apart.

"These people died here," Garrett said quietly. "They tried to reach the tower. And something killed them."

Nathan looked at the black tower. It was very close now. He could see the entrance. A single door of black metal, set into the smooth stone. It was closed.

"The tower takes everyone," Nathan repeated. "These people came to take back their names. Their faces. They failed."

Kuro materialized beside him in humanoid form. Her dark eyes were fixed on the tower. ’There is something alive inside. I can feel it. It is old. It is watching us.’

Mirko shifted to humanoid form, Dragon’s Fang blazing. "Hmph! Let it watch! This Knight is not afraid of an old tower!"

Shiro stood at Nathan’s other side. "The Young Lord must decide. Do we enter?"

Nathan looked at the party. They were all watching him. Their faces were tired but determined. They had come this far. They would not turn back now.

"We enter," Nathan said. "But carefully. We don’t know what’s inside. We stay together. And we don’t touch anything."

The party moved toward the black door. The bones crunched under their feet. The tower rose above them, dark and silent. Nathan put his hand on the door.

It was warm.

He pushed. The door opened slowly, without a sound. Inside, there was only darkness. Nathan raised Moonlight and stepped through.

The party followed. The door closed behind them.

And the darkness swallowed them whole.

---

Inside the black tower, there was no light.

Nathan activated [Hunter’s Insight]. The darkness faded slightly. He could see shapes. Walls. A floor. A ceiling. The interior was smooth and empty. No furniture. No decorations. Just black stone.

"There’s nothing here," Dillon said. His voice echoed strangely. "It’s empty."

"Not empty," Smithy said. "Look."

He pointed at the floor. Nathan looked down. There were markings on the stone. Faint lines, carved into the floor. They formed a spiral. A spiral that led inward.

"It’s a path," Elise said. "A guide. It leads somewhere."

Nathan studied the spiral. It curled inward, toward the center of the tower. The lines were old. Very old. But they were still visible.

"Follow the path," Nathan said. "Stay close."

The party walked along the spiral. The walls curved around them. The darkness pressed in. Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] showed him the way, but even so, the darkness felt heavy. It felt like it was watching.

Then the spiral ended. Nathan stopped. At the center of the tower, there was a hole. A circular opening in the floor, leading down. The spiral markings continued downward, into the darkness below.

"It goes deeper," Garrett said. "Much deeper."

Nathan looked down the hole. He could not see the bottom. The darkness was absolute.

"The Sunken City," Smithy said quietly. "It’s beneath us. That’s why it’s called the Sunken City. It’s underground."

Nathan nocked an arrow. "Then we go down. Carefully."

They began the descent. The spiral staircase was narrow and steep. The black stone was smooth and cold. Nathan led the way, one hand on the wall. The darkness was total. Even [Hunter’s Insight] could only see a few feet ahead.

And then, far below, a light appeared.

It was faint. Pale. Grey, like the sky outside. It flickered, like a dying candle. And it was coming from the bottom of the tower.

"There’s something down there," Dillon whispered.

Nathan looked at the light. It was moving. Not like a flame. Like a shape. A figure. It was waiting for them.

"We keep going," Nathan said. "But be ready for anything."

They descended into the darkness, toward the light. The air grew colder. The silence grew deeper. And the light grew brighter.

At the bottom of the stairs, they found a door.

It was made of the same black metal as the entrance. It was open. Beyond it, the light flickered. Nathan stepped through.

And he saw the Sunken City.

It was a city of pale light and black stone. Buildings rose from the darkness, their windows glowing with faint grey light. The streets were narrow and winding. And in the center of the city, on a throne of black stone, sat a figure.

It was tall and thin. Its skin was grey, like the creatures outside. But its eyes were not black. They were pale. They burned with a strange light. And it was looking directly at Nathan.

"Welcome," the figure said. Its voice was soft. "Welcome to the Sunken City. I have been waiting for you."

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