The sound of the trio’s steps hit the dungeon walls. They had been running for minutes. Kaiser led the way, one hand resting on Finisirae’s hilt. His gaze stayed locked forward—never turning his head to look at the woman. Elara cast a glance at Lynda, then reached out and lightly tapped her shoulder. The elf looked down at her. Their heights were close, but just different enough that they couldn’t meet eye to eye.

  “Lynda…” Elara whispered. “Kaiser took that serpent out fast… his eyes glowed purple, and Finisirae—”

  “You mean the dragon?” Lynda said, trying to finish her sentence. She put two fingers up, reaching to adjust her glasses, lifting her gaze slightly to examine Kaiser. Her sight flipped—something closer to infrared. An energy flickered off his body.

  It wasn’t mana. It was anger.

  “The dragon?…” Elara tilted her head, confused. “No… it was more like a Hydra. I didn’t see that earlier when we fought the guardians. Maybe it’s based on…”

  “My anger?” Kaiser’s voice cut through the air, sharp but controlled. His head turned just enough to glance back at them, and his eyes glowed—deep, unnatural violet.

  Elara flinched. Lynda subtly lifted her staff. Not in threat—just preparation. Just in case. Kaiser’s gaze lingered on them for a moment before he exhaled, closing his eyes. The tension around him collapsed. The aura of rage disappeared instantly as if it had never existed.

  “I’m not mad,” he said simply. “I am not fueled by anger. I am a knight. I am calm. I am composed.” He turned forward again, continuing his path. “I have to be. Because if I’m not… the people around me will be killed by what I am too weak to kill.” Lynda kept her eye on him. Then, slowly, she turned to Elara—who was already looking back at her.

  The real reason Lynda had come to the dungeon wasn’t to guide them. It was because she could feel it. Kaiser’s balance was slipping—his light and darkness tilting too fast, too dangerously. She had seen this before. She knew exactly how this story could end.

  Lynda's ear twitched as they all broke speed. They heard crying. Elara lit a flame in her hand. Lynda's staff began to hold a burning light at its tip. Yet Kaiser removed his hand from his hilt.

  “Stop. It's a child. It's not trust, I smell halfling,” he said, stepping forward as he saw a bunny halfling. The girl was curled up against the cold stone wall, her small body trembling. Her long rabbit ears twitched violently at the sound of their footsteps. She gasped for breath, her chest rising and falling aimlessly as if she had been running for hours but had nowhere to go.

  Kaiser slowed his steps, his eyes narrowing. Lynda exhaled sharply, her grip on her staff tightening. “She’s one of the Guilders.” Elara’s flame shone on the girl’s face—dirt smeared across her face. Her rabbit nose. She had scratches along her arms. Her nails were chipped from clawing at the stone. She looked small. Smaller than she should.

  “Where are the others?” He didn't kneel, only asked. His voice was flat. The halfling flinched at the question. Her wide eyes darted between them, wild, unfocused—like a cornered animal. Her lips parted, but no words came. Lynda took a careful step forward.

  “Your party,” she pressed, softer now. “Where are they?”

  The halfling sucked in a sharp, stuttering breath. “Ramia…” she muttered her first words, her voice was hoarse. “Yana… Hamilton… Raga… Muffin… Kallas… Larissa… Erin… Fuyu…” Her hands trembled as she clutched at her arms, nails digging into her skin. “Mason.” Her voice cracked.

  A beat. A horrible, suffocating pause. Then—her face twisted. Her chest heaved. Her ears flattened against her skull. And then, suddenly—she screamed.

  “THEY’RE ALL DEAD!!” she cried. Lynda first, then Elara covered her mouth. Lynda inhaled sharply. Eleven names. Eleven people had entered this dungeon. Now, only one remains.

  Lucy’s small hands clutched at the ground, her nails scraping against the stone. “I—” her voice cracked, “I ran.” Kaiser’s expression didn’t change.

  “I ran—I ran—I ran and I left them! Mason—Mason’s dead and Wolfe—” Her body convulsed as a wail tore from her throat. “I left Wolfe! I left him behind! I LEFT HIM BEHIND!”

  A scream was heard, bloodcurdling. Lynda’s ears twitched. Kaiser’s body went rigid.

  Wolfe.

  Kaiser was already moving. His boots hit the ground hard as he turned toward the sound. Elara’s flame flared brighter, and Lynda’s staff hummed as they chased after him. Lucy didn’t move. She didn’t even look up. Because deep down—she already knew she had made her choice, and now Wolfe was paying for it.

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  Kaiser could almost visualize where he had heard the sound from, but ahead of him was a dead end. His path was cut short by an ancient stone. Yet his feet didn’t slow. His chest burned. Something was wrong. Something was—

  Finisirae screamed.

  It wasn’t a sound. It was a feeling. A sharp, continuous roar that demanded use. The feeling rattled through his bones, clawing up his arm, curling around his mind. Move. MOVE. MOVE! Kaiser’s breath hitched. His eyes darted to the blade, its dark surface trembling.

  “…What?” His voice was low, almost a whisper. He had never heard it like this. Never felt it like this. Was it trying to tell him something?

  His body acted before his thoughts could catch up. His hand moved on its own. His fingers clamped around the hilt. His arm jerked, pulled by a force deeper than instinct. Deeper than spirit. His sword swung.

  A howl erupted from the steel. The air screamed as the black edge tore through the stone. A shockwave of force blasted out, turning the dead end into a rain of shattered rock. Once untouched, now untouchable. Dust exploded into the air. The ground trembled beneath him.

  And beyond the crumbling ruin—

  It stood there.

  A figure. No. A thing.

  It materialized just beyond the grime, its body moving like liquid shadow. Limbs stretched and melted, an unnatural smear against reality. Kaiser’s breath caught. He was caught off guard. He had seen monsters before. Fought them. Killed them.

  But this?

  This was something else. Its surface pulsed like slick, black oil. Like water that wanted to be slime. It struggled to contain something far worse beneath.

  Long, tapering claws curled and uncurled, each movement slow like it was attempting to savor the moment. Its chest was nothing. A void. An abyss that exhaled thick mist.

  Its face… it’s not a fucking face. Just a malformed lump of black, forming a terrible, broken grin even though it had no lips, no chin.

  But the worst was its eyes.

  Twin holes of nothingness. This thing couldn’t see. Only consume.

  Kaiser’s grip on Finisirae tightened.

  Wolfe.

  Somewhere beyond this thing—Wolfe was there.

  There was no time to think. No time to hesitate.

  Kaiser charged.

  Lynda was behind him. So was Elara, finally catching up to the knight in black armor who was fast on his feet. Lynda raised her staff quickly.

  “O Radiance of the Eos, pierce the shadow and cast forth your sacred dawn—Solar Requiem!”

  A blinding spear of golden fire erupted from her outstretched staff, surging toward the shadow of a creature.

  “Lynda, no! The other survivor could be behind them!” Kaiser, without even looking, reflected her spell into the wall nearby.

  The redirected blast slammed into the dungeon wall, causing the shadow-confined monster to shriek. The energy from Lynda's attack exploded in a burst of heat and shattered stone.

  Lynda’s heart jumped in her chest. She hadn’t even seen Kaiser move—Finisirae had simply flicked, and her spell was no longer hers.

  But the creature— It was already moving.

  A hideous weave, more like a smear of darkness being dragged forward than a step. Its liquid form rose and fell, twisting, then snapping back, its mere existence inconsistent.

  Kaiser didn’t slow. His boots slammed against the ground as he pushed forward, blade raised. The thing shuddered as if in response, its unnatural fingers folding into barbed claws.

  Then it lunged. Not like a beast. Not like a human—but like a nightmare given weight. A mass of black snapped forward with sickening speed. The air cracked, ice-cold, as Kaiser swung at its outstretched arm. Once more, Finisirae howled.

  The cursed blade carved through the air in a vicious arc, colliding into the oncoming shadow with purple light. A deafening shriek erupted, one not from the sword, not from the creature—but from something deeper.

  Kaiser’s muscles locked. His feet skidded. His strike had landed—but it hadn’t cut.

  The blade had connected, but instead of slicing through like steel through flesh, it had plunged into something thicker, heavier. Like swinging through water that refused to part, the force of the impact sent a violent ripple through the creature’s body, its form distorting like ink spreading through water.

  Yet, as soon as it faltered— It was reformed. Kaiser barely had time to react.

  The shadow recoiled and lashed out, a clawed arm stretching unnaturally, mid-swing, swiping at his chest.

  Too close.

  He wrung his body, barely avoiding the full force of the attack. The tip of the creature’s claws scraped across his armor, leaving behind a cold that made the metal shudder. It wasn’t a physical blow. It was hunger.

  Kaiser gritted his teeth. The thing wasn’t attacking to kill—it was attacking to consume. The cursed knight clenched Finisirae harder, its hilt and violet light crackling along its edge.

  “Fine.” His voice was low, seething. “Let’s see if you can consume this.”

  With a sharp exhale, he lunged again. Lynda and Elara barely had time to reposition.

  The monster rippled wildly, distorting as if sensing the threat. For a split second—its void-like eyes locked onto Kaiser.

  And then—it turned.

  It rushed past him.

  It wasn’t fighting.

  It was fleeing.

  Kaiser’s eyes widened. The last survivor. That thing was running deeper into the dungeon—towards him.

  Kaiser didn’t hesitate. He pivoted, shoving off the ground, sprinting after the shadow.

  “Shit—Kaiser, wait!” Elara’s flame burst hotter in her palm as she started running after him. Lynda wasn’t far behind, her staff’s glow pulsing as she chanted under her breath.

  But Kaiser was faster.

  The thing twisted and contorted as it moved, slipping through cracks in the dungeon walls that shouldn’t have been large enough to fit a living thing. But it wasn’t living, was it? It was something else. Something worse.

  Kaiser pushed forward, his heartbeat hammering against his ribs. The tunnels blurred past him, dim torchlight swallowed by the weight of shadow.

  And then ahead—a chamber yawned open before him. And in its center—

  Wolfe lay motionless on the ground.

  Believe him, the ink monster stared into the eyes of Kaiser.

  Taunting.

  Its ‘face’ contorted like a smile.