The first howl cut through the mist.
It wasn't the echo of some phantom or a shadowy trick; it was raw, guttural, alive.
Zane tightened his grip on his blades as the warped battlefield expanded before their eyes, the cavern walls and ceiling vanishing into endless nothingness. The stone floor stretched flat and unbroken into the horizon, mist rolling endlessly across it, glowing faintly as if lit from beneath. It was wrong, impossibly vast, a dungeon that shouldn't exist.
Then the beasts came.
From the haze, hulking forms stalked forward, not shadows, but creatures of flesh. A wolf the size of a car padded out first, its matted fur slick with blood that wasn't its own, eyes glowing a hungry red. Behind it came others a lizard-like beast with jagged stone scales jutting from its back, a swarm of insectoid creatures that clicked their mandibles in a horrible rhythm.
Lyra swore under her breath, daggers flashing into her hands. "Those… those aren't illusions, right?."
"No," Zane said, voice low. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. These things bled, breathed, killed. "They're real."
Adrian's hand sparked with lightning as frost crackled across his other arm, eyes narrowed on the encroaching horde. "A D-rank environment… with no end in sight. Damn it, Kane."
The wolf's growl deepened, echoed by the chorus of the other monsters as they surged forward, the mist parting around their charge.
The battlefield had no edges, no safe zone. Just infinite space. Infinite enemies.
And the three of them, standing shoulder to shoulder, about to be tested in a way none of them had prepared for.
---
The first roar tore across the endless battlefield like thunder.
Something heavy pounded against the unseen ground, shaking the fog around them.
Zane's blades were already in his hands. His chest was tight, but his stance was firm.
"Here they come!"
The wolf lunged first, jaws wide. Zane met it head-on, blades crossing in a spray of sparks as he shoved its fangs aside. The beast's sheer strength rattled through his arms, forcing him back.
The lizard's tail slammed down where he'd been a heartbeat earlier, the ground splintering.
Lyra blinked into space, daggers flashing down into the lizard's back. She drew a screech from the creature, blood sizzling against the fog-damp ground, but the beast twisted, nearly throwing her off.
She teleported again, stumbling onto solid ground with ragged breath. "Not dead!" she shouted.
The swarm descended, wings buzzing like a storm of knives.
"On me!" Adrian barked. His arm whipped out, wind exploding in a cyclone that scattered the insects back. Lightning followed, cracking across their twitching bodies. Frost coated the air as he raised his other hand, lances of ice erupting into the swarm's ranks. Half the creatures dropped, lifeless, smoking husks.
"Show-off," Lyra muttered under her breath.
"Shut up and kill them!" Adrian snapped.
Zane stepped forward, heart pounding. The wolf was already recovering, lunging again. He reached for the slippery thread of space mana, forcing it to bend.
The air distorted. The wolf's trajectory skewed, just slightly, enough for Zane's blades to flash in a spiral. Coiling Fang carved through its chest, tearing muscle and bone until it collapsed in a heap.
Zane exhaled hard. "It worked… space worked."
Lyra glanced his way, then reached for her own weaker thread, time. The swarm closed again, claws flashing. Her daggers blurred unnaturally fast. Time hiccupped. The insects struck only empty air as she slipped seconds ahead, weaving through them in a deadly dance.
Mandibles dropped. Wings fell. She stumbled out, chest heaving. "That… sucked."
"But it worked," Zane shot back, meeting her eyes.
The lizard staggered toward them, scales clattering like steel plates.
"This one's mine," Zane said and launched forward.
He slid under its snapping tail, blades tearing deep into its underbelly. It screeched, lunging, jaws flashing, too close.
Instinct screamed. He grabbed both time and space. The beast slowed, jaws dragging through thick air, while distance stretched around him, opening room that shouldn't exist.
He twisted aside and struck. Twin blades tore through its skull in a brutal cross-slash. The monster collapsed, its twitching tail shaking the ground.
For a moment, silence.
Then another roar rolled out. The mist shuddered.
And the second wave came.
From the fog stepped ogre-like things, their massive frames wreathed in flames, clubs of jagged stone in their hands. Flying serpents shrieked above them, wings slicing the air like blades.
"Bigger ones now!" Lyra shouted, daggers raised.
Adrian clenched his fists, lightning crawling across his body. "Then we hit harder."
The ogre swung, the sheer force of its club creating a shockwave. Zane braced, but his arms screamed with the weight. His footing skidded, knees nearly buckling.
Adrian leapt in, wind gathering beneath his feet. He vaulted over the ogre's arm, hand sparking with power. Lightning roared down, searing through the beast's face. Ice followed, spearing its chest and freezing it mid-roar before it toppled backward.
The serpents dove. Lyra teleported into their path, cutting across their throats in quick arcs, but their scales deflected most blows. One tail whipped out, catching her mid-air.
Zane's stomach dropped.
He yanked space, warping the serpent's tail a half-step aside, just enough for Lyra to twist free. She landed on shaky legs, daggers still clenched.
"Nice save," she panted.
"Don't make me do it again," he muttered.
The fight blurred into chaos. Steel clashed. Lightning cracked. Space warped and folded, time bent in fleeting shudders. They fought in tandem, weaving strengths together, cutting down one beast after another.
But the fog never cleared.
The ground shook again. More footsteps. More screeches.
A third wave poured in. Not just wolves or ogres, abominations with too many limbs, mouths where faces should be, wings stitched of bone.
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "This place… it's endless."
Zane's arms trembled from fatigue. His lungs burned, his mana thinned. But he stood tall, blades steady.
Lyra straightened beside him, daggers gleaming despite her shaking hands.
They pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, the mist pressing down on all sides.
Zane's heartbeat thundered. He thought of Kane. Of their training. Of the oath he carried.
"We can't stop," he said, voice firm. "Not here. Not ever."
The beasts roared. The battlefield shook.
And the three of them charged headlong into the next wave