Gardenia's face lit up at that and she laughed, "Of course, that explains everything," she sighed suddenly, her expression turning a little sullen, "It also explains why no one's found it before, or at least no one that documented it."
Fel grumbled slightly, "Old stuck up idiots that think they know everything is why," when Ash's gentle pink eyes looked at her curiously she smiled in an almost apologetic way, "Followers of Prudentia tend to be very set in their ways these days. They like to say that the magic of the gods follows set rules and that to go against those rules is to go against the gods. Nevermind that the gods themselves have repeatedly said that's not the case. Nevermind that differences in casting are why middle-tier and upper level magic can't be taught by people," she sighed, "People that use magic in unconventional ways such as Fi and myself are looked down on, told that the gods hold nothing but disdain for us."
Ash nodded slightly, understanding what she meant, "And they say that the gods are merely being polite when told otherwise, that they will refuse to interfere in free will regardless of their opinion on it," she added gently, well-used to such arguments. That she was quite specifically crafted of Sidus' own magic was the only thing that had kept her from such criticism in her own world.
They moved on through the next few floors, becoming wary as the zombies slowly thinned out to be replaced with ghostly monsters. They found another use in Ash's discovered way of enchanting at that point. The regular elemental enchants did little damage to incorporeal monsters because they were only weak to elemental damage. Considering their usual enchantments caused damage over time, it made melee fighters all but useless against them. Giving them the ability to damage the monsters as if striking with spells made them able to participate and shortened the battles drastically.
They finally set foot onto the tenth floor at which point they almost cheered. The boss monster sat on a throne, its weapon leaned up against it. It seemed to be another phantom, this one with no armor to its name though it had a wicked scythe that it was likely to reach for the moment they stepped into the room. Already the void black of its eyes were watching them, waiting patiently. Behind its throne was a heavy door that wouldn't open until the boss was defeated rather than a stairway with a barrier to prevent entry. They were on the bottom floor of the dungeon.
Ash activated her Unicorn Eyes skill and looked up at the monster to appraise it, reeling back almost immediately as a voice that felt like it was dripping with every negative emotion possible spoke directly into her skull, "You will not."
The magic belonging to the voice didn't withdraw, instead it spent a moment examining her only yanking away when it touched her horns. She had no doubt that they didn't interact well with the being created of tainted magic.
She had no idea exactly when, but she'd collapsed to her knees at some point and everyone crowded around her, worried. She deactivated her appraisal skill, understanding that the monster would attack once more if she tried again to appraise it.
Ash's stomach twisted as she fully understood what had happened to turn the little meadow into the dungeon that it had become. She'd thought it would be something expected from the Godsborn, something small that they would ultimately view as harmless like staying too long and exhausting themselves in combat, eventually falling to monsters that shouldn't have normally won a fight against them. Someone had used the little meadow as a killing ground, luring people there under some pretense and executing them.
Considering the final boss monster seemed to have sentience, she wasn't even entirely certain it was just Godsborn that had perished in the meadow anymore. She already knew what the verdict would be for the dungeon, it had to be destroyed. It didn't provide any worthwhile rewards, its difficulty was far too high and sentient monsters increased the chance of a dungeon break a thousand times over.
"He's sentient," she said as she stood, looking up to see that the monster had stood once everyone's attention was off of him and gathered his weapon. He waited patiently, aware that the stairs were part of the safe zone and that they couldn't be attacked while they remained there, "He didn't appreciate being appraised."
His voice spoke once again, "You are far too weak to appraise me, pure one, far too weak to face me alongside these other warriors. You would do well to run though I would prefer you did not. Devouring you will be a delight, one I never would have thought to have the chance to experience without leaving this place."
Ash couldn't help it, a slight quiver ran through her at its words. Despite her willingness to die in order to save others considering it wouldn't be permanent, she had no desire to have that monster anywhere near her.
Just the sound of its voice brought images of countless deaths perpetrated in the little meadow that the crypt had once been. She only saw Godsborn, which meant nothing was permanent, but it was still horrific. Simple duels that should have ended when someone was too far injured to continue had gone on to turn into murders. Their possessions had been taken from them and used to lure them back, to convince them to fight again and die again. Someone had known what a dungeon morph was, someone had wanted to cause it. She didn't know why and was uncertain she'd find out unless she met the perpetrator.