The trio were violently transported back into Level 1, in a roaring cyclone of ancient, incandescent flame. It felt as though their very molecular structures were ripped apart and hastily stitched back together by a magic so primordial it left their bones aching and their veins dry. Gasping, disoriented, and completely mana-depleted, they scrambled up from the cold stone floor, driven by a singular, frantic urge to sprint toward the safety of the bank and report the catastrophic anomaly below.
But as they rounded the iron-reinforced corner of the trade stalls, their world came to a sudden, screeching halt.
A young man stood dead ahead, cloaked in the heavy shadows stretching behind the merchant shops.
"Why are you here!?" his voice boomed, slicing through the cavern air like a freshly sharpened blade.
Kenzo, Ren, and Henry skidded to a stop, their boots spraying gravel at a stomach-churning sight. The stranger, Julian, had a woman pinned violently against the jagged rock wall, his hand locked around her throat. Before anyone could move to intervene, a wet, sickening CRACK reverberated through the alleyway.
The "woman's" skeleton began to warp, liquefying and snapping inside her clothing. Her skin shriveled at an impossible speed, darkening and deflating like rotting fruit until she transformed into a dry, wrinkled monstrosity.
"You think you can fool me!?" Julian roared. His knuckles turned white, the air around his fist warping as he pulverized the creature's shifting wrist bone.
"What the hell is that thing?" Kenzo gagged, a wave of nausea hitting him as the metallic, copper scent of dark blood flooded his senses.
"It's a Mimic. They can shift into anything," Julian spat, his vice-grip anchoring the thrashing creature to the stone. "What I want to know is why the hell it's up here on Level 1, acting like a civilian."
Realizing its infiltration was completely blown, the Mimic's false eyes widened into spheres of pure terror.
ARRRAAH!
The monster unleashed a piercing, otherworldly shriek that rattled the loose gravel on the floor. It wasn't a cry of pain, it was a signal.
An icy chill rippled through the hub. The hairs on Kenzo's neck stood up like needles as a suffocating pressure gripped Level 1. All around them, the "people" stopped. A veteran Runner froze mid-sentence, his eyes instantly glazing over into milky, vacant circles. He slowly turned his head back toward the group, his joints moving with an uncanny, loose fluidity that no human body should possess.
"Infiltration has failed," the Runner droned, his voice dropping into a guttural, ancient language that vibrated in the delvers' chests. "Move to plan B. KILL THEM ALL!"
The horror cascaded instantly. Throughout the market, faces split open down the middle like overripe melons, revealing rows of translucent, needle-sharp teeth. Human anatomy dissolved into loose, rubbery forms as a dozens-strong horde turned their predatory gazes entirely onto Kenzo and his group.
CRAHHH! CRAHHH!
The synchronized alarm echoed from every dark corner of the level. The veteran Runner's split face peeled back all the way from his chin to his forehead, and he erupted into a dead sprint, tearing up the stone.
SHWAK!
A flash of silver cut through the dim light. A new figure, Kael, stepped into the monster's path as gracefully as a summer breeze. His blade moved in a barely visible arc, cleanly severing the creature's head mid-stride. A fountain of black, viscous ichor sprayed across the stalls.
"And who the hell are you!?" Ren shouted, his own sword ringing as it left its scabbard.
Abruptly, more shapes began to drop from the stalactites above like falling shadows. Absolute panic tore through the hub. Kenzo watched, paralyzed by the cinematic horror unfolding before him, as trusted hunters turned on their own teams, sinking unhinged jaws directly into the necks of their shouting comrades.
ALARM SIRENS BLARED. With a deafening, metallic crash, a massive iron shutter slammed down over the TB.15 Bank, sealing it off completely. Across the square, the brilliant blue glow of the exit portal flickered violently once, twice, and then died. The light went out. They were trapped in the dark.
"We really need to get out of here!" Kael barked, his voice slicing through the symphony of dying screams.
Monsters were flooding the hub from every entry point. It felt like a chaotic war movie; delvers were being flung through the air, torn to shreds, and left screaming for a rescue that wasn't coming.
"This might be a dumb idea," Kenzo yelled, his survival instinct overriding his fear, "but if the safe zone is overridden, wouldn't it be better to head into the caves!?"
With no other choice and no time to think, they broke into a sprint through the slaughter, driving straight toward the Level 1 cave entrance. They hacked through a wall of encroaching beasts, their weapons dripping with black blood, before diving headfirst into the pitch-black tunnels of Level 2.
Minutes later, they collapsed inside a concealed, narrow alcove, their lungs burning.
"Alright... we got away from that nightmare," Ren wheezed, leaning heavily against his sword. He slowly raised the tip of his blade, his eyes narrowing as he pointed it directly at Kael and Julian. "So what's next? How are we going to eat? And more importantly... how do we know you two aren't part of the hive?"
Kael didn't even flinch. He looked at the blade, then up at Ren with casual indifference. "Well, if we were, I could have killed you a long time ago."
Julian simply nodded in cold agreement.
A dangerous, familiar grin stretched across Ren's face. "I would love to see you try."
"Save it," Kael said, brushing past the tension. "Anyway, if we head down to Level 5, we can harvest the glow-shrooms. It's the only safe food source down there."
"Might as well just eat monster meat," Julian muttered under his breath, his tone dripping with dark sarcasm.
Ren paused, his green mana flickering curiously. "Why don't we?"
Kael frowned, shaking his head. "Dark mana pollution. The core energy of dungeon beasts is inherently toxic to humans. Eat it, and you rot from the inside out."
"But what if we purify it?" Ren pressed, his eyes sparking as his healer's logic locked onto a new concept. "Can healing magic force the pollution out?"
Kael stared at him, genuinely caught off guard. "Never in my short life have I actually thought about that..." He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and looked at the trio. "Before we go any further into the dark, my name is Kael. And this heavenly blessed person over here is Julian."
Kenzo glanced at Julian, realizing Kael wasn't exaggerating. Julian looked like the literal definition of a flawless human specimen, symmetrical, striking, and entirely devoid of the physical imperfections that standard delvers carried.