The dungeon had no name on any map.
Only a code: B-7 "The Eye of Silence."
But veteran hunters called it something else.
— "The Grave of the Reckless."
Kikoshin read it on the communicator. He saw it. He understood it.
And he ignored it.
Samune adjusted the bandages on his arms, smiling as always.
— "B-, right? That's just a letter. We've sealed seven dungeons without a scratch. What's one more letter?"
Kiara sharpened her knives against a black stone, her minotaur behind her snorting impatiently.
— "My shadow says something's wrong in there. It's not just power. It's… discipline. Like an army waiting for orders."
Kikoshin said nothing.
He just stared at the button.
[System]: Accept Mission? Recommended Rank: B. Current Team Rank: C9. Warning: Estimated Fatality Rate: 94%.
He pressed **ACCEPT**.
Not out of arrogance.
Out of necessity.
Every mission brought him one step closer to paying for his mother's full treatment. Every shadow crystal, every credit, every reward… brought him closer to pulling her out of that hospital. Away from Vorlan. To give her a garden. A sun. A song without fear.
He couldn't stop.
Not even for a warning.
—
The portal opened into a valley blanketed in low mist, surrounded by black hills and torn banners hanging from spears planted in the earth. The air smelled of metal, old leather, dried blood.
And silence.
The silence of contained battle.
— "This isn't normal," Kiara murmured, her minotaur lowering its head as if scenting danger. "No birds. No wind. Just… waiting."
Samune unsheathed his knives.
— "Then it'll be quick. We go in, kill the boss, get out. No detours."
Kikoshin walked ahead.
He didn't feel fear.
He felt… anticipation.
As if something inside him knew this was different.
They crossed the threshold.
And the world changed.
They were no longer in a valley.
They were on a dead battlefield.
Hundreds of corpses in rusted armor covered the ground. Swords driven into skulls. Broken shields. And at the center… a black fortress, its gates forged from iron etched with runes of lament.
And then… they rose.
Not as zombies.
Not as specters.
As soldiers.
One by one, the corpses stood. With precision. With discipline. With silence.
Their armor creaked as they moved. Their helms, faceless, only darkness within. Their swords… gleamed with an edge that cut through light.
— "Defensive formation!" Kiara shouted, her minotaur stepping in front of them, horns lowered. "They're not beasts! They're warriors!"
Samune cursed.
— "What kind of dungeon has an ARMY?"
Kikoshin didn't answer.
He only drew the knife Samune had lent him.
The first knight charged.
He didn't scream. Didn't howl. Just advanced. Sword raised. Steady step.
Samune met him with a spin, crossed knives blocking the strike. He counterattacked. His blade slipped off the armor. The knight kicked him in the chest. Samune went flying.
Kiara roared. Her minotaur rammed the knight, knocking him down. But three others were already advancing. One slashed where Kiara had been. She dodged, but the next opened a gash in her shoulder. She bled. Retreated.
Kikoshin charged.
He dodged a cleave. Rolled under a shield. Leapt over a spear. Reached the first knight. Drove the knife into the slit of his helm.
The knight fell.
But five others took his place.
Strikes. Blocks. Counters.
Kikoshin moved like water. Like shadow. As if he knew where each sword would fall before it moved.
But there were too many.
One cut his arm. Another fractured his leg with the pommel of his sword. Another smashed his back with a shield. He fell.
Kiara fought like a beast. Her minotaur crushed, charged, tore apart. But a spear pierced her side. She screamed. Fell to her knees.
Samune, bleeding from his mouth, tried to help her. A knight knocked him down with a single blow from his sword's hilt. Samune didn't get up.
Kikoshin dragged himself toward them.
Wounded.
Broken.
But not defeated.
The Sixth Instinct roared inside him.
His vision turned black. His skin hardened. His muscles tensed. He stood. Faster. Stronger. Deadlier.
He killed three knights in seconds.
Slit throats. Smashed helms. Shattered breastplates.
But for every one that fell, three more took their place.
It was useless.
A sword pierced his abdomen.
He fell to his knees.
He looked at Kiara. Motionless. He looked at Samune. Unconscious.
And then… *he* appeared.
He didn't emerge from the fortress.
Didn't descend from a throne.
He was just… there.
A knight.
Taller. More imposing. Black armor with golden filigree, as if forged by fallen gods. Helm with curved horns. A sword as long as a man. And when he removed his helm…
…he had no face.
Only a smooth mask. White. No eyes. No mouth. Only… silence.
— "Children…" he said, voice like the echo of an empty cathedral. "Who gave you permission… to profane this sanctuary?"
Kikoshin tried to stand.
— "Run…"
The knight raised a hand.
All others stopped.
Like statues.
— "You are not enemies. You are intruders. And intruders… do not deserve battle. They deserve punishment."
He walked toward Kikoshin.
Knelt.
Placed a hand on his forehead.
— "You smell of Dain Suyo. But you carry something worse inside. Something even he could not tame."
Kikoshin coughed blood.
— "Kill me… and be done with it."
The knight bowed his head.
— "No. You are not worthy to die by my sword. You are… a message."
He raised his hand.
And everything turned white.
—
NO.
It didn't turn white.
Because at that moment…
…the sky shattered.
A blast of pure light exploded above them. The knights recoiled, covering their helms as if burned.
And from the sky… three figures fell.
Clad in B-rank armor —silver, with pulsing blue runes on their shoulders. Black capes fluttering like broken wings.
The first, a woman with short hair and scars on her arms, landed with a longsword that split the ground on impact.
— "Halt, specters! This hunt ends here!"
The second, a man with a wolf mask and energy gauntlets, threw a net of pure shadow that trapped a dozen knights, immobilizing them.
— "C9 playing at heroes? Pathetic."
The third, the leader —tall, deep voice, wielding a double-bladed axe steaming with power— strode straight toward the faceless knight.
— "You. Leave the children. Your fight… is with us."
The faceless knight turned slowly.
— "B-Rank… Why bother? These are not worthy of your protection."
The leader smiled, coldly.
— "We don't protect them. We rescue them. By orders. And because their father… was a man who sealed what you cannot contain."
Without another word, he charged.
The battle that followed… wasn't a battle.
It was an execution.
The three B-rank hunters swept the field like a storm. The woman cut down knights like wheat. The man with the wolf mask disintegrated them with bursts of pure shadow. The leader… faced the faceless knight.
Sword against axe.
Silence against thunder.
And in the end… the faceless knight retreated.
— "This is not over."
— "Yes," said the leader. "For you, it is."
And with one final strike, the knight disintegrated into ash.
The dungeon trembled. Walls cracked. The ground collapsed.
— "Get them out!" the woman shouted, pointing at Kikoshin, Kiara, and Samune. "NOW!"
The man with the wolf mask ran to them. Grabbed Samune by the collar. The woman lifted Kiara into her arms. The leader hoisted Kikoshin like a sack of grain.
— "You don't deserve this," he muttered, looking at him. "But you're all that's left of Dain Suyo."
And they jumped.
Just before the dungeon collapsed upon itself.
—
He woke on a cot.
Pain. Everywhere.
Broken ribs. Dislocated arm. Fractured leg. Lungs full of blood.
But… alive.
He looked beside him.
Samune lay on another cot, unconscious, hooked to machines beeping steadily. Kiara… wasn't there.
A woman in a white coat with a scar over one eye entered.
— "You wake fast. Normally, someone with your injuries takes days to open their eyes. You… one hour."
Kikoshin tried to speak.
— "Kiara…"
The woman looked at him.
— "She's in intensive care. She won't wake. At least… not as you knew her."
He closed his eyes.
Guilty.
Stupid.
Arrogant.
— "They came for you," the woman said. "Three B-rank hunters.They entered, sealed the dungeon, pulled you out before the collapse. They were furious. Said if you weren't Dain Suyo's team… they'd have left you to die."
Kikoshin didn't respond.
He just stood.
Despite the pain.
Despite the fractures.
He walked.
To the hospital.
To his mother.
—
He arrived with flowers.
Sunflowers.
The same ones his father used to bring her.
He entered Room 307.
His mother sat reading a book. More color in her cheeks. More light in her eyes.
When she saw him, she smiled.
— "Kiko… you're hurt."
He set the flowers on the table.
— "Nothing serious."
She looked at him. Deeply.
— "You're lying. You always lie. But… thank you for coming."
He sat beside her.
— "I'm sorry. I was away. Work stuff…"
She took his hand.
— "You don't owe me excuses. You owe me life. And you're fulfilling it."
He lowered his head.
— "It's not enough."
— "It is. Because you're here. Now."
A nurse entered.
— "Good news! In one week, you can go home. Treatment's complete. Just rest and sunshine."
His mother cried.
Kikoshin hugged her.
For the first time in years… he felt something that wasn't rage, or pain, or hunger.
He felt peace.
—
He spent the night on the floor, beside his mother's bed.
She slept.
He didn't.
The communicator vibrated.
**[System]: New Mission Available — Breach Level 4. Reward: 180,000 credits. Suggested Team: 3. Accept?**
He ignored it.
He wasn't thinking about missions.
He was thinking about Kiara.
About Samune.
About his stupidity.
About the faceless knight.
About the B-rank hunters who had to save them.
About what was inside him… and what was about to awaken.
—
At dawn, he went to the Association Clinic.
Samune was awake.
Pale. Tubes in his arm. But alive.
When he saw Kikoshin, he tried to smile.
— "Came to see if I'm still breathing?"
Kikoshin sat.
— "Kiara?"
Samune closed his eyes.
— "She hasn't woken. They say her mind… got lost in the dungeon. Her shadow protected her… at the cost of her consciousness. She's alive. But she's not… there."
Kikoshin clenched his fists.
— "It was my fault. I accepted the mission."
— "We all did," Samune said, coughing. "I was the first to say 'let's go.' Kiara didn't object. You… just followed us."
— "I should've stopped you."
— "No one put you in charge, Kiko. We're a team. Team means we all fall together… or rise together."
Kikoshin didn't respond.
Then, the door opened.
In walked the man with the axe.
The leader of the B-rank team.
Tall. Scar over his brow. Armor still stained with dried shadow. Eyes like knives.
Behind him, the other two.
— "Kikoshin Suyo. Samune Krell. Do you know why you're alive?"
No one answered.
— "Because we had orders. Because your father, Dain Suyo, sealed Darckholl with his life. And because the Association doesn't want his legacy to die because of his heirs' stupidity."
He stepped toward Samune's bed.
— "Rank C9. Do you think that makes you invincible? Do you think a letter on a screen is just a number? That letter is the difference between living and being erased from the map!"
He slammed his fist against the wall.
— "Kiara Vex is in a mental coma! She may never be who she was again! And you… you were lucky WE were there to pull you out before they buried you alive!"
He looked at Kikoshin.
— "You… are worse. Because you knew. You felt the danger. And you ignored it. For money. For glory. Why, huh? Why did you risk their lives?"
Kikoshin didn't look away.
— "For my mother."
The man paused.
— "What?"
— "I needed the money. To get her out of the hospital. To get her away from my stepfather. To give her a place where she can sing without fear. That's all."
The man looked at him. Long. Deep.
Then, he pulled out a document.
— "Sanction: 30 days without missions. No rewards. No breach access. If you violate this order… you'll be expelled. Not as hunters. As traitors."
He dropped the paper on the bed.
— "Be grateful you still breathe. And pray Kiara wakes… because if she doesn't, your guilt will haunt you to hell."
He left.
The other two followed, silent.
Samune sighed.
— "Thirty days… Could be worse."
Kikoshin stood.
— "I'll come back tomorrow."
— "Where are you going?"
— "To sleep. On the floor. Next to my mother."
—
He returned to the hospital.
His mother slept.
He threw himself onto the floor, as always.
Closed his eyes.
The Sixth Instinct stirred beneath his skin.
Hungry.
Impatient.
But this time… he didn't let it out.
This time… he contained it.
For her.
For Kiara.
For Samune.
For the B-rank hunters who had to clean up his mistake.
For everyone he'd hurt.
—
[System]: User: Kikoshin Suyo. Rank: C9 — "Broken Lantern." Status: SANCTIONED. Hidden Ability: "SIXTH INSTINCT" — STATUS: CONTAINED — CONTAINMENT LEVEL: 91%. Sanction Time Remaining: 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes.
Kikoshin turned off the screen.
And for the first time in a long time…
…he slept without dreaming.
________________________________________
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