The tunnel spit them out hours later.
Not gently.
They stumbled down a slope of ash and broken stone, boots sliding, lungs burning, until the space finally opened and the air changed. It got warmer. Damp. It smelled like old metal and rot that had been buried too long.
Crater Valley.
The pit stretched wide and deep, a massive scar in the earth. Structures clung to its inner walls like parasites. Old Dive facilities. Collapsed bridges. Cables hanging like intestines. Dim lights flickered far below, not steady, not safe.
Tara raised a hand and brought them to a stop.
"We're here," she said. "No noise. No lights unless I say so."
Xin wiped blood from his mouth and nodded. His ribs screamed every time he breathed. He ignored it.
Rion stared down into the pit, eyes narrowed. Kurai stirred inside him, uneasy.
Something below noticed them.
Scene: The Horror Begins
They moved along the inner rim, hugging shadows. The ground felt soft in places, like it would give if stepped on too hard. Alaric knelt and touched the surface with a probe.
"It's organic," he whispered. "Mixed with concrete. The Bloom didn't just spread here. It was grown."
A sound echoed up from the pit.
Not a roar.
Breathing.
Slow. Heavy. Wet.
Talla froze. "Did you hear that."
Xin did not answer. He already had his fists up.
They passed a doorway half swallowed by growth. Inside, something dragged itself away from the light. A shape with too many joints. Human arms fused into the wall, fingers still twitching like they were trying to grab help.
Rion shut the door with one clean kick.
"No detours," Tara said. "We keep moving."
Scene: Zane Watches and Waits
High above the pit, far beyond where they could see, Zane hovered in the air, arms crossed, coat fluttering in the updraft.
He watched them descend.
He could feel their fear now. Not panic. Not yet. This was the slow, tight kind that sat in the chest and made the heart work harder.
Perfect.
He smiled to himself.
"Not yet," he said softly.
The pressure around him relaxed. The killing urge pulled back like a tide.
"Run deeper. Hide with the rot."
He turned away from the crater.
"I'll come back when you forget to be afraid."
Scene: Andy Below
Far beneath the surface, at the lowest level of the pit, the earth had been hollowed into a cathedral of flesh and metal.
Andy stood at its center.
He was no longer anything that could be mistaken for human.
Nine feet tall. Elongated limbs. Muscle exposed and shifting under torn gray armor plates fused into his chest, neck, and back. His skin rippled constantly, reshaping itself like it was never satisfied. Tentacles slid in and out of his shoulders and spine, testing the air.
His eyes glowed blue white, sunken deep into his skull.
Kaila's remains were no longer separate.
They were part of him now.
Bones fused into his frame. Traces of light embedded in his core. Not alive. Not gone. Preserved.
He moved through the chamber, dragging massive cables and machinery behind him like toys. With one hand, he crushed a Dive terminal. With another, he lifted a screaming technician by the head and absorbed him into the wall.
The man did not die right away.
Andy did not look at him.
"I told you," Andy muttered to no one. "This place will be beautiful."
The walls pulsed in response.
Above him, the Bloom reacted, spreading deeper, faster.
Andy tilted his head.
He felt it.
Xin was close.
A low sound escaped his throat. Not a laugh. Something worse.
Scene: Descent
Back near the upper levels, Tara guided them into a maintenance shaft that sloped down toward the heart of the pit.
The breathing sound grew louder.
Xin clenched his fists.
Rion rested his hand on the sword hilt.
Tara looked back at them.
"This is where it gets worse," she said. "We don't turn back now."
Below them, the pit seemed to inhale.
And somewhere deep inside, Andy turned toward them.