The dungeon's rumbling intensified as the suspended man's anger rose.
The air vibrated with it.
Then something opened to my left.
I glanced—
Three Virelochs stood there with their chests split wide, purple stones exposed.
Three beams fired at once.
Fast.
Precise.
Each from a different angle.
The air screamed as they cut through it, carving molten lines across the chamber. Stone vaporized where they passed. Walls blackened. The floor split and smoked in their wake.
I moved.
Weaved between the first two as they crossed in front of me, heat ripping past my side close enough to sting. I twisted mid-step as the third sheared through the space I'd just occupied.
They didn't stop.
They adjusted and tracked
I jumped, rebounded off a fractured slab, and dropped low as another beam scorched overhead—close enough that I felt the air thin and distort around it.
Everything the beams touched burned.
And they kept coming.
I didn't stop.
I sprinted straight toward the Stonewrought Coloss.
As I approached it stomped again.
The floor destabilized violently, plates cracking and sliding under my feet—but it didn't slow me. I flowed with the shifting ground, stepping across buckling stone, leaping as sections split apart.
The beams kept coming.
Then—
As I closed in, the Coloss anchored itself.
Its massive frame sank slightly into the ground. The air around it thickened.
Heavier.
Denser.
Like gravity had increased several times over in a tight radius.
Every step became harder.
I watched its body—stone plates tightening inward, compressing, sealing gaps as pressure built between them.
The closer I got, the heavier it became.
So I changed direction instantly.
Behind me, the three beams began to converge.
They fused into one.
The pulse intensified.
The beam thickened.
It accelerated—
And it tracked me perfectly.
I leapt onto the wall.
The beam slammed into it a heartbeat later, tearing stone apart and leaving a deep, glowing scar. I pushed off and shot behind the Stonewrought Coloss.
The beam followed.
Straight toward it.
As it entered the distorted air, it slowed—like the thickened gravity resisted it.
But it kept pushing forward.
It struck.
Purple flares exploded across the Coloss's body. The beam scorched through stone, chunks breaking free and crashing down.
But the beam didn't stop.
It kept drilling into the Coloss as if it didn't care what stood in the way.
That made my eyes narrow.
Are they not working together?
I'd assumed it would cut off the moment it hit the Coloss.
It didn't.
Its only target was me.
Friend or foe was irrelevant.
The Coloss didn't move an inch.
But it strained.
A deep stone-groan rolled through its body as fine cracks spidered across its surface, mineral blue veins flaring under the pressure. Rock split in sharp, splintering snaps as the beam howled against it.
And then—
The beam began to fade, burning through its stored power. Smoke rose from the Coloss's scorched plates. The gravity distortion thinned.
This was my opening.
The Coloss turned toward where I had been—
But I was gone.
Its glowing red eyes scanned the cavern.
Even the Virelochs looked around, frantic.
They couldn't see me.
Then—
A different rumble.
Not from above.
From below.
The ground beneath the Stonewrought Coloss cracked.
It shifted.
The rumble intensified.
The Coloss looked down—
Confused.
Cracks spidered outward. Energy surged through the fracture lines—
And I burst from the stone beneath it.
Burrow Lunge.
The momentum launched me upward. My jelly-like body tore slightly in places from the violent ascent—
But it didn't slow me.
I didn't punch.
I combined the exit velocity with Claw Slash.
Three razor-sharp slashes arced upward.
They cut clean through the Coloss's already-scorched and cracked body.
Its right shoulder separated instantly.
Its left leg vanished.
For half a heartbeat, the Coloss remained upright—
Then the imbalance claimed it.
Its massive frame tilted and fell.
The impact was catastrophic.
When it hit, the entire chamber convulsed. The sound wasn't just loud—it was heavy. Dense. Like a cliff face collapsing into the earth. The severed shoulder slammed down first with a thunderous crack, followed by its torso splitting apart mid-fall.
Four colossal slabs of living mountain crashed into the floor in staggered detonations—each impact shaking the stone beneath as fractures raced outward from the points of contact.
The weight of it was undeniable.
This wasn't flesh.
This was a mountain brought to its knees.
And I shot past the falling debris and propelled high into the air.
Mid-flight, I checked my status.
HP: 48 / 65
That cost me.
But it was worth it.
I looked down.
The pieces were moving.
Slowly.
Grinding across the floor, dragging stone against stone as they began to pull inward—converging the way Virelochs did when their purple stones pulsed.
I was still descending.
Falling through dust and fractured rock.
Watching the massive slabs shift toward one another.
Then—
A glint.
Faint.
Blue.
It flashed between two grinding plates for the briefest moment.
Recognition hit instantly.
The sphere.
The one it had exposed earlier.
As I dropped lower, the glow flickered again—buried within the largest mass of stone, partially obscured but still pulsing.
That was it.
As I fell, I angled toward it and landed hard on the broken torso.
It jolted and cracked.
My footing slipped—
A shadow flashed past.
A line of pain cut across my body.
Shallow.
Barely more than a scratch.
But I hadn't seen it coming.
HP: 47 / 65
My sticky grip failed.
I slipped on the fractured torso—
caught myself—
and the shadow passed again.
Another cut—across my leg.
Deeper this time.
My mind snapped tight.
What is this?
I can't see it.
Another slice.
Deeper again.
Panic tried to rise—sharp and unwanted.
Where is it?
Then—
The blue sphere flared—
Bright and sharp.
At the same time, a deep grinding crack echoed through the chamber. Dense slabs of stone dragged and slammed into one another, locking back into place with heavy, bone-deep thuds.
The sound and blue light snapped my focus away from the shadow.
The Coloss was reassembling.
There was still time, but not much.
I charged.
Another unseen cut tore into my leg.
HP: 40 / 65
I didn't stop.
I couldn't let it reform.
I began moving unpredictably—jerking angles, shifting direction without rhythm.
If I couldn't see it, maybe I could break its timing.
I was wrong.
Another cut.
This one burned.
Pain flared sharper than the last.
Why are the cuts getting deeper?
I checked again.
HP: 33 / 65
It was adapting.
Just as I closed the distance—
Crack.
A violent stone-snap split the air.
The Coloss's right shoulder slammed back into place, locking with a grinding surge of weight. Fractures sealed along the seam as blue mineral veins flashed once.
It swung—
Slow and heavy
I twisted aside—
The massive arm tore through the space I'd just occupied and smashed into the stone with a thunderous impact.
The ground buckled.
I didn't hesitate.
Using the force of my dodge, I redirected mid-motion—sliding low and darting forward beneath the right arm while it was still embedded in the floor.
The torso was exposed.
Open.
I lunged into it and drove my right hand inward—reaching for the jagged blue sphere buried inside.
Its glow intensified violently.
I strained.
My right hand was buried deep inside the dense stone of the Coloss, fingers hooked around the jagged sphere as I tried to wrench it free.
It didn't budge.
Then—
Another cut tore across my arm.
Deeper than the others.
The blade sliced through the limb that was still embedded inside the Coloss's torso. Pain flared violently through my body, sharp enough to distort my vision for a split second.
My arm reacted before I could think—
It tore itself free.
I recoiled, stumbling back half a step as torn strips of my own flesh peeled away and dropped onto the stone floor with wet, heavy taps.
The wound burned deep.
Worse than any cut so far.
I clenched my teeth and refocused
No hesitation this time.
I surged forward again and shoved both hands into the torso, forcing myself deeper into the opening—leaving my upper body exposed as I locked onto the sphere with everything I had.
I strained.
Every part of my body tightened as I pulled against the sphere. Stone grated around my embedded hands, the pressure was immense—like I was trying to tear a mountain out by force.
My right arm screamed.
The deep cut from before flared violently under the strain, the sensation twisting into something worse—like the limb itself was being ripped apart from the inside as I forced it to hold.
The pressure built.
Higher.
Higher—
And I ripped.
The force of tearing the sphere free sent me tumbling across the fractured stone. I hit hard, rolled once—twice—my injured arm screaming as I tried to stabilize.
I caught myself on a jutting slab, sticky flesh anchoring just enough to stop the spin.
For a second, I stayed there.
Breathing.
Sore.
Every part of me trembling from the impact and strain.
Then I staggered upright.
And stared down at the sphere in my hands.
The blue light flickered—
Then went cold.
I looked up.
The Coloss's red eyes flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The harsh red glow dimmed unevenly, as if something inside it had just broken loose.
The rigid tension in its frame slackened—subtle, but unmistakable. The faint strands of purple light running through its stone began to waver.
Like something that had been coiled tight around its core was finally loosening its grip.
For the briefest moment, the light flickered weakly across its surface—
Then thinned.
Faded.
And slipped away.
I whispered, almost without thinking, "You're free now."
My voice came out rough.
My body ached—arms trembling from strain, wounds still raw and pulling. Every movement felt heavier than it should have. The fight had taken more than I wanted to admit.
But beneath the pain—
There was something else.
Relief.
Not victory.
Not pride.
Relief.
Like something suffocating had finally been cut loose.
Like I hadn't just killed it—
I'd ended something that shouldn't have been bound in the first place.
For a moment, I stayed there.
Lost in that thought.
Breathing.
The weight of the chamber settling around me.
Then—
A shift.
So faint it barely existed.
Not wind.
Not sound.
Just the slightest disturbance in the air—as if something had passed too close to register properly.
I didn't feel it.
But I knew it had happened.
My gaze dropped instinctively to my hands.
Empty.
The sphere was gone.
My head snapped up.
There—
A faint afterimage in the dust-hazed air. A distortion where something had just moved.
I lunged.
Swung.
My fist closed around nothing but darkened air.
The afterimage dissolved.
And whatever had taken it—
Was already gone.
This time it took the sphere without cutting me.
I stood there, wounded, facing something I still couldn't see.
I checked my status again.
HP: 24 / 65
It's getting stronger.
And I can't see it.
Can't track it.
I don't even know what it is.
But it's here.
Then—
A system chime rang out.
Level Up!
Ability restriction removed.
What?
Energy flooded through me like a shattered dam.
My body felt lighter.
Sharper.
My perception expanded outward, violent in its clarity.
For a split second—
I felt like a predator.
My vision blurred, then snapped into focus—clearer than it had ever been. The cavern sharpened into detail. Air currents became readable. Movement became obvious.
Another chime.
Shadow Step Unlocked.
Finally.
I exhaled slowly.
Now.
Let's see what you truly are.