The descent from Floor 7 felt wrong.
The eighth floor was empty. No goblins, no slimes, not even the crawling pests that usually filled the cracks. Their torches burned against silent stone walls, the sound of their boots far too loud in the absence of monsters.
The scout's brow furrowed as he scanned the ground. "Nothing. Not even tracks."
The healer touched the wall, fingers lingering on the damp moss. "The mana flow here is twisted. Like everything's been pulled down."
The mage scoffed, though his voice was tighter than before. "So they migrated. Creatures move. That's hardly unnatural."
The archer let out a low whistle. "Then where the hell are they hiding? Because this silence is making my hair stand."
The leader said nothing. His sword stayed unsheathed.
Eron trudged at the back with the other two porters, the weight of his pack grinding into his shoulders. Sweat dampened his collar, but he kept silent. The wiry porter smirked at him. "Dungeon doesn't even want you, bumpkin."
The bald one grunted. "Don't worry. Something will eat him soon enough."
Eron's grip on the straps tightened.
If even the adventurers look nervous, this isn't normal.
---
By the time they reached Floor 9, the unease had only deepened. Bones littered the hallways, some fresh, some old. Scratches gouged deep into the stone. They weren't the marks of wolves or goblins. These cuts were longer, heavier, like something had been dragging claws as thick as swords along the walls.
The scout crouched over a cracked ribcage. "Not from this floor. I've never seen breaks this clean."
The healer's lips pressed tight. "This is wrong. This floor's supposed to be manageable for Silvers."
The mage muttered, "Enough. We adapt and press on." But even he avoided the carcass.
The group moved slower, torches hissing faintly as they flared in the damp. The silence pressed closer the deeper they went, like the dungeon itself was holding its breath.
---
The stairwell to Floor 10 opened into a cavern far larger than any they had passed. The ceiling stretched out of torchlight, disappearing into shadow. The floor was cracked, pitted as though earthquakes had shaken it. Pools of dark water reflected faint firelight.
And the smell—copper, musk, wet fur—hung heavy in the air.
The scout stiffened. "Something's here."
A low rumble rolled through the cavern.
Dust shook loose from the ceiling.
Two glowing points appeared in the dark. Then another pair.
Eron froze, his chest locking tight.
Eyes… no, not eyes. Too far apart. Too big.
The beast stepped forward.
It walked low, like a gorilla dragging its knuckles against the stone, but every movement rippled with muscle. A jagged horn jutted from its head, its mouth lined with fangs long enough to pierce steel. A tail longer than its body whipped once, cracking like thunder, sending sparks flickering across its scales. Its claws scraped the floor with each step, gouging trenches in the stone.
The healer's breath hitched. "That… that's not in the files. Floors one to thirty-eight… there's nothing like this."
The mage's face had drained of color. "Then it came from deeper."
The leader's jaw was stone. "Shields front! Don't let it break through!"
---
The beast roared. The cavern shook.
It lunged before the shield-bearer could brace. Its massive arm swung, hammering into the man's shield and sending him flying into the wall with a scream. Armor dented with the impact.
The archer loosed an arrow. It snapped against the hide. Another buried shallow in its shoulder, only making it snarl louder.
The mage roared his own incantation, fire blasting from his staff in a surge of orange flame. It struck the monster square in the chest. For an instant, fire lit the cavern.
Then the beast stepped forward through the flames, unburned.
The bald porter shouted, panicked. "We can't fight that!"
The wiry one's voice cracked, eyes wide. "We're dead, we're all dead!"
The leader snarled, slashing his blade across the beast's leg. It cut shallow. Too shallow.
The tail whipped.
The wiry porter screamed, then cut off as his body slammed against the cavern wall. Bone snapped. He crumpled and didn't move.
Eron's stomach lurched.
Dead. Just like that. Dead in a second.
The beast roared again.
The bald porter broke. He dropped his pack and spun to run. "I'm not dying here!"
"Hold the line!" the leader bellowed. "Use the porters if you must!"
The words cut like ice.
Eron's chest tightened as the truth hit.
That's why they wanted three of us. We're bait. Nothing more.
The bald porter grabbed him by the straps, shoving him forward. "Take him instead!"
Eron stumbled. The ground tilted.
The tail whipped.
Pain exploded across his ribs as the force slammed through him. The floor cracked beneath his body. Stone shattered.
And suddenly there was nothing beneath him.
---
He fell.
The hole gaped wide, a maw swallowing him into the abyss.
Air ripped past his ears. His pack tore away. Rocks scraped his arms as he tumbled, spinning, helpless.
The fall didn't end. It kept going. Down, down, deeper than any staircase, deeper than any record.
Too far. This isn't possible.
He opened his mouth to scream, but the roar of the wind drowned everything.
Crystals embedded in the walls flared faint blue as he plummeted past. Caverns opened around him and vanished again as he fell deeper still.
His body slammed into water.
The impact stole the air from his lungs. Darkness swallowed him whole.
Cold crushed him. He thrashed, chest burning, until instinct forced his arms to move. He kicked, clawed, struggled upward.
At last his head broke the surface. He gasped, coughing, choking on the bitter taste of mineral water. The echoes of his ragged breaths carried far in the vast space.
He floated weakly, then forced himself to paddle toward the edge. Fingers scraped stone. He dragged himself onto the slick surface and collapsed, coughing water until his ribs screamed.
He lay there, staring up at the jagged black ceiling far above. Crystals glimmered faintly like distant stars, their light too dim to reach the far walls.
He had survived. Somehow.
But when he turned his head, his stomach dropped.
The cavern stretched enormous, larger than anything he had seen in the upper floors. Pools of black water sprawled into rivers that vanished into yawning tunnels. The air was heavy and damp, every sound magnified—the drip of water, the faint rush of unseen currents.
And then… something else.
A ripple crossed the far side of the lake. A shape moved in the dark, too big to be natural, its outline swallowed in shadow.
Two faint eyes glowed across the water.
Eron's breath hitched, his body frozen. The eyes did not blink. A low growl rolled through the cavern, so deep it vibrated in his bones.
He had no idea where he was, only that no map, no guide, and no record had ever spoken of this place.
And now he was alone in it.