The deeper chamber remained silent after the explosion.
Dust drifted slowly through the air.
Broken stone covered the ground around Elios as the remains of the creatures lay scattered across the ruined chamber.
But Elios himself didn't move.
His breathing had become uneven.
Not from exhaustion alone.
Something inside him felt wrong.
The black flow around his body no longer flickered weakly like before.
It moved constantly now.
Like smoke searching for air.
"…Tch…"
Elios pressed a hand against the wall beside him.
The pressure inside his body kept increasing.
Not violently.
Steadily.
And somehow—
that felt more dangerous.
A low sound echoed again from the deeper passage ahead.
Closer this time.
Elios slowly lifted his head.
The black flow reacted instantly.
It thickened around his arms and shoulders as if responding to the sound itself.
"…What are you…"
The words barely left his mouth before movement exploded from the darkness ahead.
Fast.
Too fast.
Elios barely raised his blade in time.
The impact shook the entire chamber.
His body slammed backward violently across the stone floor.
Pain shot through his arms.
The creature stepped into view slowly.
Larger than the others.
Its body was covered in dark scarlike patterns, and its eyes glowed with a deep crimson light that almost looked intelligent.
Not an animal.
Not mindless.
It stared directly at Elios.
Then smiled.
A chill ran across Elios' spine.
"…You've got to be kidding me…"
The creature moved instantly again.
Elios reacted.
Steel clashed violently against claws harder than stone.
The force pushed him backward again.
Too strong.
Far stronger than anything he had fought before.
The black flow surged violently around him.
Pulse condensed instinctively in his palm.
Released.
The compressed blast slammed directly into the creature's chest.
But instead of collapsing—
it only staggered.
Its grin widened.
"…What the hell are you…"
The creature lunged again.
Faster.
Elios barely twisted aside as claws tore through the wall behind him like paper.
Stone exploded across the chamber.
Elios countered immediately.
His blade cut deep into the creature's side.
Black blood splashed across the ground.
The creature roared violently—
and the sound itself distorted the air around them.
The black flow around Elios reacted abnormally.
Violently.
His vision flickered.
For a split second—
the chamber twisted unnaturally.
The symbols carved into the walls looked alive again.
Moving.
Watching.
Elios clenched his jaw hard.
"…Focus…"
The creature attacked again.
And again.
And again.
The chamber became chaos.
Steel.
Claws.
Blood.
Stone breaking apart beneath every impact.
Elios pushed Black Veil harder.
Too hard.
The black flow exploded around him violently now.
Dense.
Dark.
Wrong.
His senses sharpened beyond normal.
The creature's movements slowed in his vision.
Every muscle.
Every breath.
Every movement.
Elios moved faster.
His blade tore through flesh repeatedly.
Pulse erupted through the chamber again and again.
The creature finally staggered backward heavily.
Wounded.
But Elios wasn't stable anymore.
His breathing had completely broken.
The black flow covered almost half his body now.
The pressure inside him kept rising.
Higher.
Higher—
"…Stop…"
The words came out strained.
But Black Veil didn't stop.
It responded to his desperation.
To his hatred.
To survival itself.
The creature lunged one final time.
Elios moved instinctively.
Far too fast.
His blade pierced directly through the creature's throat.
At the same moment—
Pulse detonated point blank.
The chamber exploded violently.
Stone shattered.
The creature's body collapsed lifelessly against the ground.
Silence followed.
Complete silence.
Elios stood there unmoving.
His breathing rough.
The black flow pouring from him uncontrollably now.
Then—
his vision blurred completely.
The chamber twisted unnaturally around him.
The walls no longer looked like stone.
The symbols looked like faces.
Whispers echoed faintly around him.
Not understandable.
But there.
Elios staggered slightly.
"…What…"
For a moment—
he couldn't recognize where he was.
The bodies around him no longer looked like monsters.
Then they did again.
Then they changed back.
His breathing became unstable.
The black flow surged violently around his eyes.
Pain shot through his head hard enough to make him collapse to one knee.
"…Ghh—!"
The pressure inside him had crossed something.
Some invisible line.
And for the first time since entering the cave—
Elios felt genuine fear.
Not of dying.
Of himself.
The whispers around him grew louder.
The darkness deeper ahead almost felt alive now.
Watching him.
Waiting.
The black flow pulsed violently once more.
Then everything went black.
End.