Level 57 of the Dungeon.
Darkness peeled away from their senses and heat returned first. Erend felt sand beneath his feet again, warmer and finer than before, packed hard by time and wind.
When his vision cleared, he realized they were no longer standing on the outskirts of the ruins. They stood inside them.
Level 57 opened into the heart of a ruined city that they saw from level 56.
They saw broken streets with stone bodies cracked and hollowed stretched between leaning structures, yet unmistakably shaped by deliberate hands. Towers had collapsed inward, leaving jagged ribs of masonry exposed to the sky. Archways stood half-buried in sand with curves that were worn smooth by centuries of erosion.
The desert had not swallowed this place entirely. It had merely claimed it slowly.
"This isn't just rubble." Aesa said.
Eccar turned in a slow circle, his eyes scanning rooftops, windows, shadows. His body stayed tense and ready to react. He said. "Yeah. This looks like… a city."
