The dim torchlight flickered off the damp, moss-covered stone walls as Kazuma cautiously led the party deeper into the dungeon. Kazuma sighed "Are you sure this is the right way, Megumin?" he grumbled, eyeing the crumbling corridor ahead.

"I felt powerful magic nearby," Megumin insisted, puffing up her chest proudly. “There’s bound to be treasure!”

"Yeah, or death," Kazuma muttered.

Aqua skipped behind him, humming. "I bet it’s a sealed evil spirit! I’m ready to purify it!"

Darkness shivered in delight. "Monsters, death, danger... this dungeon has everything I dreamed of."

Kazuma groaned. "You're Not helping darkness."

Suddenly, a metallic clank echoed through the hallway. The party froze. Another clank—followed by a snap and a muffled cry. The noise was coming from behind a heavy iron door.

"Sounds like someone’s in trouble," Kazuma said warily. "Probably a trap."

"But what if it’s a prisoner?" Aqua gasped. "We have to help them unless if there a demon then we leave them to rot!"

With effort, Kazuma pushed open the creaking door—and they all froze.

Inside the dim chamber, chains hung from the walls. You were suspended by enchanted binds, barely conscious. A robed man with a crazed expression raised a whip for another strike.

Kazuma's eyes bulged. "What the hell?!"

The man turned. "Intruders?! You dare interrupt my sacred ritual—"

He didn’t finish. Darkness charged with gleeful abandon. "Unhand them, you brute!"

Megumin raised her staff. "Permission to explode him?"

Kazuma sighed. "Rescue first, explosions later!"

You blinked through the pain as the chaos unfolded—and for once, you were oddly glad to see these lunatics.