“The socket is round,” Vulin said after taking a good look at the door separating them from the treasure, “Perfectly round and very big.”

“Was it different when you were here?” Ghilanna asked the devil.

“Of course it was!” The devil glared at her with a frown, looking slightly offended, “You need to kill the guardian to get the key, so the door needs to change when the guardian changes too. When I was the guardian, one of my horns would work as a key.”

“I’m just checking,” Ghilanna said before looking at Vulin, “Then it has to be an eyeball. Surely, Dungeon Master doesn’t expect us to dissect the snail’s insides.”

“So, we could’ve just cut its eyeballs out to get the treasure without killing it?” Svinjko asked.

“In theory, yes, but there is no way it would actually work. Remember, the snail was magical. Who knows what it could do, even without the eyeballs? Anyway, someone should go and fetch one.”

“Someone with a battle axe would be the best for the job. You!” Vulin pointed at an adventurer in full-plate armor and a large, two-handed battle axe in his hands, “Go and cut one of those eyeballs.”

The adventurer nodded and went to fulfill his task without an argument. He returned shortly with a big eyeball in his hands.

“Put it in the socket,” Vulin said.

As soon as he did, the door glowed to life before letting out a loud click.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” Vulin said, “You have the honors,” he extended his hand towards Ghilanna.

She nodded her head at him before opening the door.

And it was exactly what they expected it to be. A large room filled with riches of all kinds: gold coins, gold ingots, jewelry of all types, and precious stones; there were even some items the adventurers had never seen before and had no idea what their worth was. The riches were stacked on top of each other, all the way to the ceiling.

“Yeap,” Ghilanna nodded her head again, but this time more vigorously and with a happy smile on her face, “This is what the treasure room looks like …”

“There is no way we can take all this with us!” Svinjko said as he stared at the riches with wide eyes.

“That’s why Rutmuik is here,” Ghilanna responded, “His people know how to recognize the worth of things.”

“It looks like we will be here for a long while,” Vulin said.

“Indeed,” Ghilanna agreed, “Rutmuik will need plenty of time to go through it all. But time is the one thing that we have now that we’ve dealt with the damn snail.”

“We?” The devil said sarcastically, but the smile on her face made it obvious that she was just messing around.

“You wouldn’t be able to kill the snail without our mage,” Ghilanna said.

“So … are we raising the camp here?” Vulin asked.

“Yes,” Ghilanna confirmed, “But first, we need to get rid of that disgusting slime. I have no idea how, but we need to get it out of that room.”

“And it would be nice if you could bring the cauldron here so we can start draining the snail,” the devil said in a haughty voice.

“Yes, yes, of course. But first, we need to remove all that slime. Surely, we don’t want the cauldron to slip on it and break.”

The devil frowned for a moment before smiling at Ghilanna, “Ok, fine. You do have a point. But don’t expect me to do the cleaning.”

“Oh, I know,” Ghilanna said, “Devils know how to make a mess, but they never clean after it. But hey, I’m not complaining this time.”

As Rutmuik and two other adventurers stayed in the treasure room, the rest went back to the main, large chamber to raise a camp.

“Let’s get all the slime in one corner and then try to vaporize it with fire,” Vulin proposed, “The moss on the ceiling will take care of any fumes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ghilanna agreed, “How are we going to get it into the corner though? There’s way too much of it.”

As the adventurers debated how to deal with the slime, the devil felt an enormous magical presence pierce her senses. The suddenness and intensity stunned her for a few moments, making it impossible for her to react instantly. As soon as she recovered, she started looking around for other mages to check if they’d also felt it. She quickly spotted the fox mage who helped her enchant the artifact, noticing that the mage was stunned even worse.

“Something is here!” Svinjko yelled, “Everyone, get to safety!”

“What?” Ghilanna looked at Svinjko, drawing her bow in an instant.

“I feel a presence, but I have no idea what it is!” Svinjko clarified, “It’s ethereal, but I have no idea what it is!”

“Yes, I feel it too,” the fox mage said after getting back to her senses, “It’s extremely powerful.”

“To the backrooms, let’s go!” Ghilanna ordered.

Mages scurried quickly while the fighters and archers formed the line, withdrawing in an orderly manner.

The devil didn’t move, though.

“Do you think the devil is behind it?” Vulin asked Ghilanna.

“Devil, come back here!” Ghilanna yelled.

The devil just dismissed her with a hand, saying, “It’s ok. I know what this is.”

“That devilish whore,” Ghilanna grumbled under her breath, “I knew she planned something different.”

“Should we attack her first?” Vulin asked.

Ghilanna hesitated.

“She’s a blood mage. We’ll need to close our distance if we’re to have any chance against her,” Vulin said with urgency in his voice.

Ghilanna hesitated again.

“Look! The snail!” One of the adventurers in the front line yelled.

Looking at the snail, Ghilanna saw it rise up. Its head, which was glued to the floor just a few moments ago rose up in the air as its tentacles grew. The tentacle with the one remaining eyeball scanned the room, focusing on the devil quickly.

“Is this … some god-damn necromancy?” Vulin asked.

“No,” Svinjko responded, “This is something completely different.”

“Is she controlling the snail?”

“I … no, this is too powerful … even for a devil,” Svinjko said.

“It’s now or never, Ghilanna!” the wolf raised his voice.

As he said that, the snail started clumsily turning around.

“It’s now or never!”

“No,” she decided, “Pull back into the rooms!”

Vulin’s nostrils flared as he let out an annoyed snort, but he kept withdrawing with the rest.

The snail turned around, but it didn’t face them. It faced the devil instead. She looked up, at its eyeball, without moving an inch. She just stood there, her posture casual.

The adventurers managed to reach the rooms and took cower, peeking from windows and doors.

“Finally, we meet again … you fucker,” the devil said in a calm tone.

The snail got its head even higher before opening its mouth.

“You did well, little devil,” it said in a booming voice, “I may have lost my bet, but it was a very interesting show.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Ahaha,” the snail’s head shook up and down as it laughed, “What? You don’t like the taste of your own medicine? I didn’t do anything that is outside of our contract.”

“What do you want now?”

“I want to let you know that we are even. I consider your end of the bargain fulfilled, and you will consider mine to be fulfilled, too.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You are smarter than that. Haven’t you learned much wisdom here? Haven’t you had plenty of time to think things through? And haven’t you acquired the most unique of knowledge, one that is a mystery even to the gods themselves? Do you not consider that to be a worthy exchange?”

The devil’s eye twitched.

“Ah, but your devilish pride. One would think you had plenty of time to understand its nature, but maybe you need some more time to think it through?”

“If we are even, then can I leave?”

“You can … if you have the means. The show isn’t over yet, so I won’t spoil anything.”

“Are you going to throw some more shit at me?”

“No, my part here is done. The only one who may add some more shit to it is you. It’s up to you if it will get in your way or if you will cast it aside.”

“Are you trying to give me some kind of a moral lecture here?”

“To a devil? Of course not! I don’t waste my effort on pointless things. But I am curious to see how you will deal with the last portion of shit that you are being served.”

“So you’re going to serve me some more?”

“It’s already served. It’s my last test, if you will. But I’m not going to spoil anything. The point is, we are even now, and you have earned my permission to leave this place. Watching a proud devil compromise her pride was very amusing … even more than a good fight. But will you leave this place … that is still uncertain.”

With that, the snail collapsed to the ground like a puppet that had its strings cut.