They couldn't go back to the 16th level. If they didn't want to proceed further, they still had to cross this level and reach the keypoint.
The Highswords were right behind them, many students just assumed they could ask for help if needed—yet another way they were interfering with Damian's dungeon run. If his so-called "brave" teammates weren't terrified for their lives, they would keep following him all the way to the dungeon's end.
Level 17 was a strange one. The single available path was swarming with magma golems of all shapes and sizes, while the sky above the lava river teemed with the same fiery-winged bugs they had been dealing with all along. Here, though, they numbered in the thousands. The constant buzzing of their wings grated on everyone's nerves.
"What exactly is the plan here?" Maelor asked.
