---
After Arthur managed to open his eyelids with difficulty, yawning from exhaustion and pain, he didn't rise.
He remained lying down, staring at the gloomy stone ceiling.
But rest did not come to him… there was an itching sensation on his forehead, as if something was bothering him from the inside.
After a moment, he sighed. He wanted to ask how long he had slept, but the system answered first:
[You have been asleep for seven hours.]
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Still prying into my thoughts?"
[… I'm sorry.]
He didn't like that response; he was used to his system being annoying, and strangely… he found comfort in that tone.
He struggled to sit up and muttered:
"It's fine… I know you're doing it for my safety."
The system fell silent.
Arthur didn't pay it any more attention. He walked toward the nearest flat spot and leaned his back against the wall.
He opened his storage window, pulled out an oversized bottle of water, and took a long drink.
His hand didn't shake… even though his entire body was covered in wounds from the previous floors.
He drank like someone who hadn't tasted water in years.
But while drinking, he felt several stings spread across his body.
At first he ignored them—thirst was stronger—but soon they became impossible to miss.
The system appeared:
---
[Physical Condition Analysis]
• Micro-fractures in ribs: 2
• Muscle tears: Multiple
• Internal bleeding: Halted — Stable
General Assessment: Combat-capable, but high risk.
---
Arthur didn't comment.
He took out food enough for five people and began eating silently, as if this wasn't a break before an execution.
After a few moments, he said hoarsely—because of a dry piece of chicken:
"How many hours have passed since I entered the dungeon?"
The system replied:
---
[ Time]
[Time elapsed in the dungeon: 21 hours]
[Remaining lifespan: Will update once floor data is merged.]
---
He closed the interface.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I haven't hit zero… I keep moving."
He rose slowly, tightening his grip on the cracked sword handle, and turned toward the stone gate at the end of the corridor.
It wasn't decorated… but what leaked from behind it wasn't ordinary air.
It was pressure—thick, nauseating—swirling with black currents.
A heavy pressure… like the breath of creatures that should not exist.
---
A vast chasm stretched before him, a wide valley enclosed by towering walls.
The ground below wasn't dirt… but a layer of shattered bones and tangled limbs, like a woven mat of death.
He descended with steady footsteps, hand on his sword, eyes scanning everything.
The air was thick… suffocating with sulfur, as if something beneath the earth was still burning.
The system appeared:
---
[Environment Analysis]
Floor Six — Dungeon of the Fallen
Area: Valley of Offerings
Main Enemy Type: Wyverns (Lesser Dragons) — High 5-Star Class
Traits:
• High speed on land and in the air
• Elemental breath: Poison / Heat / Pressure
• Coordinated pack behavior
Danger Level: Fatal.
---
Arthur stopped in the center of the valley and raised his head toward the cliffs.
"I can smell them."
He waited.
Then the sound came.
A long, rough roar that cleaved the air.
A second followed.
Then a third.
Three roars… enough to shatter the will of a normal human.
Arthur said coldly:
"I've heard creepier laughter than your barking."
The rocks split open, and massive shapes emerged—first as shadows, then with full detail:
Cracked wings… scorched scales… whip-like tails… mouths full of jagged bone-teeth.
They perched on the surrounding cliffs, circling him like prey trapped in a pit.
One opened its jaws, speaking with a rasping, unnatural voice:
[Hu… man… Corrup… ted… Breath… is… food…]
Arthur replied with killing calm:
"If you think I'm food… that's fine. Food doesn't run."
---
The first wyvern lunged, its extended claw like a massive spear.
"Lightning Steps."
Arthur vanished for a moment, and the tail smashed the ground behind him.
Then the second wyvern spewed a cloud of thick black poison, blanketing the entire valley.
The system warned:
[Arthur, be careful, it's highly concentrated poison.Extended exposure will damage internal tissues.]
Arthur kept moving, dodging everything, but the scale of the attacks made evasion meaningless.
The third wyvern's claw slashed his shoulder open, carving a deep wound across his chest.
---
[ Injury Update]
[Bleeding: Moderate]
[Muscular efficiency: Slightly reduced]
---
The first wyvern leapt from its perch, crashing down with force strong enough to shatter stone.
Arthur flickered away—but felt something lag in his body.
The system revealed why:
[Skill has reached its limit. Continued pressure will cause either evolution… or collapse.]
Then—
DING!
[Skill Evolution]
Lightning Steps — Level 3
• Longer instantaneous movement range
• More complex trajectories
• Higher mana consumption
• Stronger physical strain
---
Arthur appeared atop the wyvern's back, drove his blade between its wings, ignited Destruction Flame—
but the strike failed to reach a vital point.
The wyvern screamed and flung him off with a brutal sweep of its wing.
He crashed into a wall of bone, shattering part of it.
---
[ New Injuries]
[Spinal impact — Non-destructive]
[Severe chest shock]
---
The assault didn't stop.
Poison cutting the air.
Claws dropping from above.
Tails striking like colossal hammers.
Even with the evolved Lightning Steps… he was being pushed toward the edge.
His breathing grew heavy.
Mana drained rapidly.
He murmured:
"Three bodies… three sources of lifespan…"
The wyverns coordinated perfectly: one diving, another disrupting, the third waiting to finish.
The system shouted:
[Arthur… this pattern will cause irreparable harm!]
He didn't even get the chance to respond.
---
The first wyvern seized him by the waist.
The second slammed into his side.
The third opened its jaws.
And in less than a second—
It devoured Arthur's entire lower half.
Organs torn.
Blood erupting.
Legs gone.
Arthur fell to the ground screaming… blood everywhere, tears streaming despite his iron will.
Poison surged through his body.
The system appeared—shaken:
---
[Red Warning]
[Body loss: 51%]
[Massive bleeding]
[Imminent organ failure]
---
Arthur's vision wavered.
Cold crept in.
But his voice remained steady:
"I'm… not done yet."
The system tried activating Berserk:
[Berserk Krypton — Lv. 2… Failed. Damage exceeds regeneration threshold.]
The interface trembled—then:
DING!!!
[Forced Evolution]
Berserk Krypton — Level 3
• Frenzy rooted in the depths of the Abyss
• Replaces destroyed body parts with corruption-shadow constructs
• Massive stat amplification
---
Something emerged from the wound…
Not flesh.
Not blood.
But thick purple-black shadows, swirling like living smoke.
They condensed into two new legs—solid darkness forged into shape.
---
DING!
[New Element Acquired: Darkness]
---
Arthur opened his eyes…
His iris was now a dark, violent purple, split by a vertical white line—
the eye of a creature that doesn't see humans as living beings… but as raw material.
And something else—massive, terrifying—awoke with him.
He stood up.
Blood dripped from his upper body…
but his new shadow-forged lower half moved with perfect stability.
The three wyverns prepared for another assault.
But this time—
Arthur moved first.
---