Darkthorn was already evacuating when they arrived.
Not because someone had organized it.
Because panic had.
People flooded the roads carrying whatever they could lift.
Children.
Livestock.
Carts piled high with possessions.
One man had somehow decided his favorite chair was worth saving.
Jax respected the commitment.
The chair made it nearly fifty feet before falling apart.
The man looked genuinely heartbroken.
"The chair didn't make it," Bunny whispered sadly.
"The chair lived a good life," Jax replied.
The mountain took another step.
The earth shook.
Nobody laughed.
The thing was closer now.
Much closer.
Every step sent vibrations through the ground.
Trees toppled from its sides.
Entire sections of rock shifted as if the landscape itself couldn't decide whether it wanted to remain a mountain or become something else.
Darkthorn's mayor found them almost immediately.
The man looked exhausted.
Terrified.
And about three days overdue for sleep.
"Guild?" he asked.
"S-Rank."
The mayor nearly cried.
"Oh thank the gods."
Jax didn't like hearing that.
People only sounded that relieved when things had gone very badly.
"How many dead?" Jax asked.
The mayor's expression darkened.
"Twenty-three."
The Vixens fell silent.
"Missing?"
"More."
The answer hurt more than the number.
Because everyone knew what missing usually meant.
The mountain took another step.
Closer.
Louder.
The mayor pointed.
"It wasn't moving at first."
Jax looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
The mayor swallowed.
"The mountain was just there."
He pointed toward the enormous shape.
"Then a cave appeared."
Now Jax paid attention.
"A cave?"
The mayor nodded rapidly.
"About two weeks ago."
That matched Kaelor's timeline.
"The adventurers came."
The mayor's voice shook.
"They went inside."
"C-Rank?" Zee asked.
The mayor nodded.
"They never came out."
"The B-Rank team?" Llandra asked.
"Same thing."
The mayor looked toward the mountain.
"Then it started moving."
Nobody spoke.
Jax felt several puzzle pieces click into place.
Not enough.
But enough to be dangerous.
The mountain took another step.
And this time they could hear it.
A deep grinding sound.
Stone dragging against stone.
Like continents shifting.
The mayor pointed toward the upper slope.
"There."
At first Jax didn't see it.
Then he did.
A dark opening.
Far above the tree line.
Half hidden among cliffs and stone.
A cave entrance.
No.
Not a cave.
A doorway.
Perfectly shaped.
Perfectly centered.
Far too deliberate to be natural.
Jax frowned.
"So the mountain moved after the dungeon appeared."
The mayor nodded.
"Yes."
Jax looked up again.
The entrance was enormous.
Large enough for giants.
Or dragons.
Or something worse.
The mountain took another step.
A low sound rolled across the valley.
Everyone froze.
The noise wasn't stone.
It wasn't earth.
It wasn't rock.
It sounded almost—
Alive.
Nyxian slowly turned.
"Please tell me I'm not the only one who heard that."
"You aren't," Zee whispered.
Llandra's hand tightened on Starpiercer.
Jax activated Inspect.
Nothing.
The mountain remained unreadable.
That bothered him more than anything.
The System could identify dragons.
Demon Lords.
Dungeon bosses.
Ancient monsters.
Yet this thing?
Nothing.
As if the System itself didn't know what it was looking at.
The mountain stopped moving.
For the first time since they arrived.
Silence settled across the valley.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody spoke.
Then the cave entrance above them began to glow.
Blue light spilled from the darkness.
Ancient.
Cold.
Hungry.
A system notification appeared before Jax.
DUNGEON DETECTED
UNKNOWN CLASSIFICATION
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
Jax's smile disappeared.
The System didn't repeat itself.
Not unless something was very wrong.
Behind him, the Vixens read the same alert.
The mountain remained still.
The glowing doorway pulsed once.
Then again.
Then slowly—
The entrance began to open wider.
As if something inside had finally noticed them.
And was waking up.