Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The mountain had stopped.
For the first time since they arrived, the impossible mountain that had been slowly devouring everything in its path sat motionless beneath the afternoon sky.
The doorway continued to glow.
Blue light spilled from the opening in slow pulses, illuminating the surrounding stone.
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
The System notifications still hovered before Jax's eyes.
That alone bothered him.
Systems weren't emotional.
They weren't dramatic.
They didn't panic.
Yet somehow this felt very much like panic.
Behind him, the Vixens read the same warnings.
Bunny tightened her grip on Earth Breaker.
"I really hate it when the System starts yelling."
"It isn't yelling," Zee said.
"It absolutely is."
Nyxian pointed at the three warnings.
"That's yelling."
Nobody argued.
Even Jax couldn't.
The doorway pulsed once more.
Then settled.
The mountain remained still.
The rescued villagers and travelers they'd gathered on the road stared upward in silence.
One of the older men swallowed.
"That wasn't there."
Jax looked over.
"What wasn't?"
"The door."
Several others immediately nodded.
"When we passed through here before, it was just stone."
"There wasn't any entrance."
"No cave. No tunnel."
The old man pointed upward.
"Just mountain."
Jax exchanged a look with Llandra.
That wasn't good.
A hidden entrance was one thing.
An entrance that hadn't existed before was something else entirely.
Then one of the rescued travelers spoke.
"There are people inside."
Everyone turned toward him.
The man looked exhausted.
Dirty.
Half-starved.
Terrified.
But certain.
"There are survivors."
Jax's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean survivors?"
The man pointed toward the glowing entrance.
"Two adventuring parties."
That got everyone's attention.
"The C-Rank team that disappeared."
"The B-Rank team that went looking for them."
He shook his head.
"They found each other."
Now everyone was listening.
The man continued.
"We met one of them three days ago."
Jax stepped closer.
"Start from the beginning."
The traveler nodded.
"When the mountain first appeared, adventurers started investigating."
"Of course they did," Nyxian muttered.
Adventurers saw danger the way merchants saw discounts.
They ran toward it.
The man continued.
"The C-Rank party entered first."
"They never returned."
"A week later, a B-Rank team entered to investigate."
His expression darkened.
"They didn't come back either."
Bunny frowned.
"So where are they?"
The traveler pointed at the doorway.
"Still inside."
The valley fell silent.
Jax blinked.
"How do you know?"
The answer made everyone's stomach drop.
"Because they came out."
Several people stiffened.
"What?" Zee asked.
The man nodded.
"They reached the entrance."
"They could see daylight."
"They could see freedom."
His voice shook.
"But they couldn't leave."
Nobody liked where this was going.
"They tried."
"Again."
"And again."
"And again."
His eyes never left the glowing doorway.
"Every time they crossed the threshold..."
He swallowed.
"They ended up back inside."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then Nyxian pointed at the cave.
"No."
The traveler nodded.
"Yes."
Bunny stared.
"That's cheating."
"It really is," Zee agreed.
The traveler continued.
"The cave traps people."
"You enter freely."
"But once you're inside..."
His expression twisted.
"The only way out is forward."
Llandra's eyes narrowed.
"A completion dungeon."
The words hit differently.
Every adventurer knew the stories.
Ancient dungeons.
Forgotten trials.
Places where retreat wasn't an option.
Places that demanded completion.
Or death.
The traveler nodded.
"The surviving parties figured it out eventually."
"How many survivors?" Jax asked.
The answer wasn't good.
The traveler looked away.
"The C-Rank party entered with six."
"Three remain."
"The B-Rank party entered with eight."
His jaw tightened.
"Four remain."
Seven survivors.
Out of fourteen.
Jax didn't need anyone to explain what that meant.
The mountain had already claimed half of them.
"And they're still alive?" Zee asked.
"Barely."
The traveler nodded.
"They found a safe room."
"They've been holding out."
"Sharing supplies."
"Watching each other's backs."
The old man laughed bitterly.
"Funny how rank stops mattering when everyone is starving together."
That landed harder than he intended.
Jax could practically see it.
The B-Rank party.
The C-Rank party.
Competitors.
Strangers.
People who normally wouldn't even share a campfire.
Reduced to survivors clinging to each other because there was nobody else left.
Bunny's ears drooped.
"That sucks."
"Yeah."
It really did.
The mountain rumbled.
Everyone froze.
The sound wasn't violent.
It wasn't aggressive.
It almost sounded...
Hungry.
The realization sent chills down Jax's spine.
The doorway brightened.
Blue light poured outward.
For a brief moment, shadows moved deep inside.
Something shifted.
Massive.
Far larger than anything should have been.
Then it vanished.
The mountain exhaled.
A long.
Slow.
Breath.
Nobody spoke.
Because everyone had heard it.
The mountain was breathing.
The traveler stepped backward.
"We aren't going in there."
Jax nodded.
"No."
Relief flooded the man's face.
Then Jax pointed toward the villagers.
"You're not."
The relief immediately disappeared.
Nyxian groaned.
"There it is."
"There what is?"
"That thing you do."
Jax smiled.
"What thing?"
"The hero thing."
"I don't do a hero thing."
"You absolutely do."
The Vixens were already moving.
Checking gear.
Inspecting weapons.
Preparing.
Because they all knew.
Seven adventurers were still alive inside that cave.
Maybe.
Possibly.
If they were lucky.
And if they weren't?
At least someone would bring their bodies home.
Jax looked at the glowing doorway.
The System warnings remained.
Whatever waited inside wasn't normal.
Wasn't natural.
Wasn't something the System fully understood.
Which meant it was probably dangerous.
That narrowed things down to everything they normally dealt with.
He rolled his shoulders.
Peacemaker appeared in his hand.
Shadow Soldiers formed ranks behind him.
Grim and Steed lowered their heads.
Fang slithered forward.
Gryph landed beside the group.
Lucy clicked her mandibles impatiently.
The rescued travelers stared.
One of them finally found his voice.
"You're really going in there?"
Jax looked toward the cave.
Then toward the survivors waiting somewhere beyond it.
"Yeah."
The traveler looked horrified.
"Why?"
Jax glanced at the Vixens.
Bunny answered first.
"Because they're adventurers."
Zee nodded.
"And they're still alive."
Llandra adjusted Starpiercer.
"Which means they're still worth saving."
Nyxian sighed dramatically.
"And because apparently this group has a crippling addiction to helping people."
Jax laughed.
"Pretty much."
The mountain rumbled again.
The blue light intensified.
The doorway widened another few feet.
As if welcoming them.
Or warning them.
Jax wasn't sure which.
He stepped forward.
The Vixens followed.
The shadows followed.
And as they crossed the threshold—
The doorway slammed shut behind them.
The sound echoed like a tomb sealing.
Darkness swallowed the entrance.
A System notification appeared.
WELCOME CHALLENGERS
FLOOR ONE
CLEAR CONDITIONS:
SURVIVE
Jax stared at the message.
Then slowly smiled.
"Oh."
Bunny looked over.
"What?"
Jax rested Peacemaker on his shoulder.
"This dungeon has jokes."