The night wind drifted softly across the castle balcony.
The sky stretched wide above them, adorned with stars that seemed far too distant to care about human suffering.
Lanterns in the courtyard below glowed gold, creating an illusion of warmth in a world that was, in truth, beginning to crack from within.
Kafka stood leaning against the stone railing.
Elara stood beside him.
There were no cheers, no stares, no mockery.
Only the night.
"Strange, isn't it…" Elara whispered. "A few weeks ago we were just students. Now… we have to conquer a Dungeon."
Kafka gave a small smile. "I'm not even used to holding a sword yet."
Elara laughed softly. Her voice was like silk laid gently over an open wound.
"The past feels so far away," she said. "That bus… that rainy afternoon… our classroom…"
Kafka nodded. "I thought it was just an ordinary day."
Silence settled between them.
Elara looked at him.
"Kafka…"
Her voice changed.
Deeper.
More honest.
"I've always felt… that you were different."
Kafka turned silent.
"Not because you're strong. Not because you stand out," she continued softly. "But because you remain kind… even when the world corners you."
Kafka's heart began to beat faster.
Elara stepped closer.
"And I… don't want to wait for this world to finish collapsing to say this. I don't even know if we'll survive until tomorrow in this place."
Her hand touched his cheek.
"I love you."
Time seemed to stop.
Then,
Elara kissed Kafka.
Brief.
Gentle.
Yet enough to make the sky feel trembled.
Not far from there,
Nadia stood behind the curve of a corridor archway.
She had come with a different intention.
She wanted to tell Kafka something. About the sports storage room. About Arga. About a side of him none of them had ever seen.
But her steps froze.
She saw them kissed.
And the small world inside her chest collapsed quietly.
She stepped back.
Without a sound.
Without drama.
Only tears slipping down without permission.
She returned to her room.
Closed the door.
Leaned against it.
And forced a faint smile at her reflection in the mirror, pretending to be strong.
As if nothing had broken.
***
A few days later.
After training that grew harsher and enchanted magic spells that were whispered more often.
Two teams were deployed.
Hero Team: Rank A Dungeon.
Support Team: Rank C Dungeon.
"Never underestimate a low rank," the General said before departure. "Even a rabbit can kill."
Footsteps split into two different paths.
And fate divided in two.
***
Rank A Dungeon.
The air inside the Rank A Dungeon smelled damp and ancient.
Stone walls were covered in faintly glowing moss. Their footsteps echoed.
Arga walked at the front leading the team.
Silent.
Too silent.
"Elara," Rina whispered, "what's wrong with him?"
Elara observed carefully.
Arga was different.
Colder.
More focused.
"Arga," Elara called gently. "Are you alright?"
Arga turned.
Smiled.
A perfect smile.
"I just want to make sure none of us get hurt."
But inside his mind,
The voice returned.
Prove it.
Lizardmen emerged from the shadows.
Humanoid reptiles with green scales, glowing yellow eyes, crude spears in their hands.
Their war cries echoed.
Arga stepped forward.
His sword rose.
And,
The world changed.
SLASH!
Light exploded from his blade.
The first Lizardman was split cleanly in two.
No excessive spray of blood.
Just a precise cut.
Yogi attacked with his wind sphere.
Rina advanced with steel fire fists.
But they barely had time to touch the enemy.
Arga moved like lightning.
Each step left behind a streak of light.
Each swing of his sword was an execution.
Lizardmen fell.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Twenty.
Until they could no longer be counted.
Without mercy.
Without hesitation.
Elara healed minor wounds that had barely even formed.
Yet there was almost nothing to heal.
They reached the boss chamber.
The Lizardman King stood there.
Larger.
Thicker scales.
In his hand pulsed a murky green Dungeon Core.
He roared.
Arga stepped forward alone.
The voice whispered again.
Show them.
His sword shine.
"Sword Light of Judgement," Arga declared as he charged.
One swing.
One straight line of light.
Silence.
The Lizardman King froze.
Then,
A flash.
His body split apart.
Even the king of reptiles did not realize he had already been cut.
The Dungeon Core fell to the floor.
Cracks of light spread outward.
And the Dungeon slowly collapsed.
Not a single team member was injured.
Yogi stared at Arga.
"Our levels… they're so far apart. Do we even deserve to stand beside him?"
Rina said nothing.
They realized something.
Arga was not just stronger.
He was on an entirely different tier.
And perhaps… too far ahead.
***
Rank C Dungeon.
The gate of the Rank C Dungeon closed behind them with a heavy sound.
GDUUMMM.
As if the world itself was saying:
"Now you are alone."
The air inside was damp and smelled with rusted iron.
The walls were not ordinary stone,
They looked like petrified flesh.
Sometimes they pulsed.
As if something were growing.
"Just Rank C," Adam muttered. "We'll clear it fast. Easy least lemon squeezy."
Mr. Rahmat stared down the long corridor ahead.
"Never underestimate a place that we don't know."
The first steps felt light.
Goblins emerged from cracks in the stone.
Small creatures with dull green skin and tiny red eyes glowing in the dark.
Ilham grinned.
"Bruh, ain't this just some extra trainin' or somethin'?"
He dashed forward.
SHAKK!
His dagger pierced the first goblin's throat.
Satrio swung his axe.
BRAK!
A goblin split in half.
Adam raised his lightning spear.
A bolt struck.
BOOM!
Three goblins burned at once.
Nadia fired precisely from behind.
Her arrows flew like butterflies.
One.
Two.
Three.
Each goblin struck by her arrow had its flesh melted by forest poison as roots spread from the shaft.
At first, it felt easy.
Too easy.
Kafka stood at the back, carrying the supply pack.
His breathing steady.
Observing.
Mr. Rahmat had not attacked.
He only watched.
And that was what made him realize it first.
"The formation is too spread out," he said sharply. "They're luring us in."
Adam clicked his tongue. "Relax, sir. They're just goblins. It's just satrio's friends"
Satrio Answered "Man, fuck you..."
Others just laughed to that joke.
As if answering that arrogance,
The walls moved.
Not crumbling.
Not cracking.
But opening.
Like jaws.
Dozens of goblins poured out at once.
Their shrieks merged into a horrifying echo.
SKREEEEKKKK!!
"Close formation!" Mr. Rahmat shouted.
Too late.
Goblins surged from both sides.
Adam charged straight ahead toward an open path.
"Buff me! Focus forward!"
The healer cast a buff on Adam.
Ilham and Satrio pushed forward as well.
Nadia lagged behind for a fraction of a second.
A goblin leapt from the right.
Mr. Rahmat raised a glowing card.
"Barrier - Prism Shield!"
A circle of light appeared.
Goblins crashed against it and were thrown back.
But the attacks kept coming.
TANG! TANG! TANG!
Cracks formed across the barrier's surface.
Mr. Rahmat threw a second card.
"Decoy Mirage!"
Three illusions of himself appeared.
Goblins attacked the phantoms.
But as they advanced deeper,
The corridor narrowed.
And the boss chamber opened like a gaping mouth.
The Goblin Champion stood at the center.
Four times taller than normal goblins.
Bulging muscles.
Skin darker, nearly black.
"Ilham id that your father?" Adam joking.
A crude iron sword the size of an adult human gripped in the Goblin Champion's hand.
"Shit... This ain't the time to jokes dawg." Ilham murmured.
Behind the Goblin Champion, mounted on a stone altar.
The Dungeon Core pulsed murky red.
DUK.
DUK.
DUK.
Like a heart.
Adam stepped forward.
"Attack now! Don't give him space!"
Mr. Rahmat opened his mouth.
"Don't break formation."
Adam was already running.
Lightning wrapped around his spear.
KRRRRAAASSHH!!
He thrust straight into the Goblin Champion's chest.
Electric sparks exploded.
Smoke filled the air.
But when the smoke cleared,
The Goblin Champion had only stepped back once.
And smiled.
Then his sword moved.
Fast.
Far too fast for a body that big.
CLAAANG!!!
Satrio, trying to cover the left side, was blasted away. His axe flew from his grip.
Ilham tried to flank from behind.
"Eat this fool!"
The Goblin Champion spun.
BOOOM!
A kick slammed into Ilham's chest.
The sound of ribs cracking echoed.
He was sent flying several meters.
The formation shattered.
Adam shouted, "Heal! Cover me!"
When he looked back,
There was no healer anymore.
Only a corpse with a wooden spear lodged in its chest.
Without realizing it, Adam's recklessness had cost two of their classmates their lives. And two others in critical conditions.
Nadia tried to shoot.
Her arrow pierced the Goblin Champion's shoulder. Roots spread instantly along his arm.
The creature did not scream.
It pulled the arrow out,
And looked directly at Nadia.
That gaze was different.
Not merely anger.
But selection.
Prey.
Kafka saw it.
He saw the direction of danger before the others did.
"Mr. Rahmat!" he shouted.
Mr. Rahmat had already moved.
"Barrier - Absolute Wall!"
His final card flared brightly.
A massive wall of light formed before Nadia.
The Goblin Champion raised his sword high.
Swung.
KRAAAAAAANG!!!
The barrier cracked.
Light shattered like glass.
Mr. Rahmat staggered back.
The card in his hand burned into ash.
The Goblin Champion leapt.
The ground trembled as he landed directly in front of Nadia.
His sword lifted.
Time slowed.
Nadia froze.
Her hands trembled.
She remembered the balcony.
She remembered the tears she had hidden.
She had never said anything.
She had never been honest.
The sword fell.
And,
Someone stood before her.
A warm smile on his face despite the blood pouring from his body.
Kafka.
His body collided with Nadia, knocking her to the stone floor.
The massive sword of the Goblin Champion
Slashed Kafka.
CRRRSHHHHKKK!!
The sound of metal splitting flesh.
Silence for a fraction of a second.
Then blood.
Warm.
Red.
Dripping.
Soaking the stone.
Soaking Nadia's hands.
Kafka coughed.
Blood spilled from his lips.
Yet his eyes remained calm.
Even as he endured unimaginable pain, he smiled faintly.
"It's okay, Nadia… you're safe..."
The Goblin Champion pulled his sword free.
Kafka's body swayed.
Fell.
BRAK!
Blood spread like a red flower across the gray floor.
"NOOOO!"
Nadia's scream echoed.
Something inside her cracked.
She grabbed her bow with trembling hands.
The next arrow glowed faintly.
For the first time,
She use all her strength.
Mr. Rahmat stood in front of Kafka's body.
His hands trembled.
But his eyes were cold.
The Goblin Champion laughed crudely.
Heavy steps.
Advancing.
One more step,
And from the long corridor behind them,
The wind changed.
The air split.
Pressure filled the chamber.
As if something incredibly bright was approaching at unnatural speed.
But would it be fast enough?
The Goblin Champion raised his sword once more.
Nadia cried.
Adam sat frozen in despair.
The entire team in chaos because of him.
Goblins surrounded them from every direction.
Mr. Rahmat braced for the worst.
Kafka lay between life and death.
And the corridor,
Began to shine.
~To Be Continued ~