Move. Kage dropped as a jagged blade carved through the air where his head had been a second earlier. It slammed into the stone wall behind him with a sharp crack, the tip buried deep. He stared at it for half a heartbeat, then slowly turned. Five lizardmen were charging straight at him. That explained the shouting. Kage! I am moving! He scrambled backward just as the first one lunged. Claws scraped across his chestplate hard enough to jolt him. He nearly lost his footing, caught himself, twisted, and drove his dagger into the creature side. The blade barely bit through the scales. Kage face went flat. He really hated E rank dungeons.The lizardman snarled and swung. Kage ducked. The club smashed into the wall behind him, spraying stone chips across the tunnel. Yeah. Definitely hated them. Stop playing around! Blade voice cut through the noise. The captain surged past him, longsword already flashing as he intercepted the next lizardman. Focus! The sword cracked across the creature ches

Who dares disturb my slumber.The voice didnt speak. It crawled. Each syllable oozed through the air like venom through veins, slow and deliberate, carrying the weight of something that had been sleeping in these depths for years beyond counting. Something that had waited in the dark, patient and hungry, while the world above forgot it existed.The temperature dropped. Not gradually, instantly. As if winter itself had been exhaled into the chamber.Roys barrier flickered. The translucent dome that had held back dozens of flame wreathed hounds suddenly seemed as fragile as morning frost under a burning sun.The party stood frozen, their bodies locked in place by an instinct older than thought, older than reason, the preys paralysis when the apex predator finally opens its eyes.The real threat had awakened. And it knew they were there.Wh, what is that. Kims voice cracked like breaking glass. The words barely made it past his lips. His hands trembled so violently that the potion bottle

Blade went berserk.Im gonna kill you bastards. His voice tore through the cavern, raw and primal.The three alpha hounds stood motionless at the rear, content to let their pack do the killing. But Blade intercepted, steel meeting claw as he threw himself between the ravening mob and his fallen teammates, his sword singing a song of desperate fury through the blood soaked air.Now you face me, Blade growled, planting himself like an immovable wall.Roy hit the ground hard, his vision swimming crimson. Through the haze of blood and pain, he saw a familiar silhouette cutting through the horde.Wait, isnt that, Captain? His voice came out broken, barely a whisper.Huh? Captain? Kages head snapped up in disbelief.Blade stood there breathing heavily, coughing blood with each ragged breath. He swayed on his feet, struggling to maintain his stance while the others lay scattered and broken, especially Roy, who had finally succumbed to unconsciousness.Captain. How are you even standing? Were

Flashback one hour ago. Outside the dungeon, before the incident.The guard hut sat at the edge of the clearing, a squat wooden building with a tin roof that groaned every time the wind picked up. Inside, two men sat slouched in mismatched chairs, a small table between them cluttered with paperwork nobody had bothered to organize, a half empty bottle, and an ashtray already overflowing.One of the guards leaned back until the front legs of his chair lifted off the floor, boots propped up on the table, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. The other sat across from him, arms crossed, staring at the ceiling like it owed him an apology.And he let out a long groan and dragged both hands down his face.I am so bored, he said. Why do we have to guard the low rank gates. Nothing ever happens out here.the other chuckled, low and unbothered, and tipped his chair further back.Relax, Parker. I know it's painful, but it's the easiest job on the roster. You want danger, go volunteer

Everything came in pieces.Kage’s eyes refused to open fully. The world stayed a smear of blurred light and shapes that moved too fast to follow. He could barely feel his own body—just a distant, muffled pressure below his chest, as if the pain had been turned down but never switched off.Voices layered over each other, urgent and overlapping.“We’ve got three incoming—move, move, move!”He felt himself being lifted. The sensation was wrong, distant, like it was happening to someone standing a few feet away from his own skin.“Chest is pierced clean through. Apply Medic A—now.”Another voice cut in, sharper, almost frantic.“He’s losing too much blood! The arm’s gone—we need to stop the bleeding!”That voice belonged to Blade. Kage’s mind couldn’t hold the thought long enough to understand it, but he heard the screaming. Raw. Animal. Close.He tried to turn his head toward the sound. His vision swam, doubled, and for one brief second everything snapped into focus: a nurse’s face hover