Chapter 2
Purple light continued to pulse violently, flashing like a wounded heartbeat.
Aldin squinted through the glare—and then he saw it.
Something slid out of the rift.
Not stepped. Not fell.
Slid.
The thing that emerged was wrong on every level. Its body was black and violet, as if night itself had been condensed into flesh. Dozens of white eyes opened across its surface, blinking independently, unblinking and wet. Blood—or something like it—oozed continuously from seams in its form, dripping onto the stone below and hissing faintly as it evaporated.
The air screamed.
Fallen pieces of debris and the breaking ceiling crashed down around the team.
Aldin finally understood.
That's why the monsters were running.
They hadn't been afraid of the dungeon boss. For whatever reason they could sense this…
They were afraid of this.
"MOVE!" Eli shouted.
They ran.
The creature twitched—and the pressure behind them surged. Eli barely had time to turn before slamming his staff down and casting a wide repulsion spell. Mana detonated outward, throwing the group like dolls through the chamber.
They crashed, rolled, scrambled back to their feet.
They were powerless. Every instinct screamed it. There was no debate or whisper about it, the minute they saw that thing they knew that they had no chance.
Eli raised his staff in the air before casting a teleportation spell. A soft yellow light enveloped the group just far enough to where the purple light was visible but apparently distant.
The royal magus immediately went through the bag of supplies to start drinking mana potions in order to regain his energy, presumably to cast the spell again.
"Exit!" Eli yelled. "We get out of the dungeon—now!"
Sara's eyes glowed desperately as her skill strained to its limits. "It's too fast," she said. "Faster than any projected escape route. It already knows where we are and it'll be approaching soon."
Tiffany drew her blade anyway, teeth clenched. "If we jump it—if we all attack together—"
"Don't be stupid."
Eli's voice was sharp. Cold.
That tone alone made Tiffany freeze.
His face had changed completely. The confident smile was gone, replaced by something hollow—something afraid.
"There is no winning," he said. "None. I felt it. The instant it appeared."
He swallowed hard.
"My magic wouldn't weaken it. Not even slightly. Sara couldn't sense it because its mana pressure is beyond categorization."
He laughed once, bitter and broken. "That thing isn't a monster. It's closer to a… deity."
Tiffany's face drained of color.
Aldin's mind reeled. His chest tightened until breathing hurt.
We're going to die.
Sara spoke next, her voice steady but grim. "If there's any chance to survive… we need a decoy."
No one replied.
Silence pressed down heavier than the mana.
Aldin already knew.
Of course.
He looked at his iron F-rank plate.
Five years. No recognition. No growth.
This team? They were rising stars. Heroes in the making. People who would clear dungeons, save towns, change lives.
And him?
I'd only slow them down.
It hurt.
God, it hurt.
But if this was how he could finally prove something—
If this was how he could show that his life had value—
I'll do it…I'll give my life today in order to save the heroes of tomorrow…!
"I—" Aldin began.
Heat exploded across his back.
A fireball detonated point-blank, hurling him forward in agony. His scream tore itself out of his throat as he slammed into the ground, skin burning, lungs searing.
He coughed, shaking, and forced himself to turn.
Eli stood behind him, staff still raised.
The compassion was gone.
"Damn it," Eli muttered casually. "I really do owe you 200 gold, Sara. I thought the sacrifice would stay alive until the end."
Sara showed no emotion in her response. "I honestly thought it'd die earlier. Goblin, maybe."
Tiffany sighed. "I owe you money too. I figured we'd only have to kill him after the boss."
Aldin's ears rang.
Sacrifice!? Wait, did they plan this from the start!?
Aldin lay sprawled across the cold stone, his body screaming with every shallow breath. His back felt like molten iron had been poured beneath his skin, and it took everything he had just to keep his eyes open.
So that was it, he thought hazily. That was always the plan.
From the moment they entered the dungeon.
Why…?
Aldin groaned softly.
Eli noticed.
"Oh good," he said lightly. "You're still alive."
Aldin's chest hitched as Eli walked closer, inspecting him like a broken tool. "That's perfect. You can struggle against it for a bit. Buy us more time."
"…What's wrong with you people…?" Aldin muttered.
Eli smiled.
"Nothing," he said. "That's the point."
Aldin's vision swam as Eli continued, tone almost educational. "You know how the Association does compensation payouts, right? Gold packages for teams that lose a member on a mission."
Aldin swallowed. "…Yeah."
Aldin struggled to breathe. He was slowly realizing this is why they took him in the first place.
"...It's meant to help grieving parties survive without taking reckless jobs," Eli went on. "A way of saying sorry for your loss."
Aldin clenched his fists weakly. "You mean…you did this…just for…money!?"
The three of them stared at him—genuinely confused.
Tiffany tilted her head first. "Well… Yeah, I mean, I want a prettier sword. This one's kind of boring after a while."
Sara nodded thoughtfully. "There are a few dresses in the capitol I've been eyeing. I just wanted to see if they'd suit me."
Eli shrugged. "And extra money never hurts. I'll probably spend it on drugs at the blackmarket. I wanna see if it's more interesting than doing these missions sober."
The words landed harder than the fireball.
Aldin looked at them, one by one, his mind finally catching up.
I'm going to die…
…Because these so-called 'heroes' wanted spending money.
Eli crouched slightly so they were eye level. "Don't look so sad."
He smiled warmly.
"We made your life exciting. Gave you purpose. You get to die a hero."
He chuckled softly. "That's more than an F-ranker like you would ever amount to anyway."
A distant thunder rolled through the dungeon.
Immediately the tension was back, Aldin could tell the group was afraid, even if they tried hard not to show it.
The creature was getting closer.
Eli straightened. "Alright. Time to go."
He placed a hand over Aldin's chest.
"Mana Steal!" His voice bellowed.
Aldin gasped as his remaining mana was ripped out of him, flooding into Eli's body like a siphon. His vision blurred, and he barely managed to stay conscious.
"Sorry but for our retreat I'm gonna need a lot of mana." he said with a sly grin. Then he stood up and walked towards the rest of the girls before raising his staff again.
A pale yellow aura wrapped around the three of them.
"My teleport range isn't huge," Eli said calmly. "We'll have to chain it if we actually wanna leave this dungeon alive…"
He glanced down once more. "We should move fast or else that monster's gonna catch us. Wouldn't want Aldin here to die in vain."
Light swallowed them.
And then—
They were gone.
The aura vanished.
The dungeon went silent.
Aldin lay alone on the stone floor, mana-empty, burned, broken.
And for the first time since becoming an adventurer—
Aldin truly understood what it meant to be abandoned.
The thundering sound cracked through the air again. More intense this time, letting Aldin know that the eldritch looking monster was fast approaching.
The sound came first.
A deep, wet rumble, like something enormous dragging itself through reality itself.
Purple light bled through the chamber as it drew closer, staining the stone and Aldin's vision alike. His body trembled—not from pain this time, but from certainty.
I'm dead.
No miracles. No last-second rescue.
Just the end.
The monster drifted into view, and up close it was far worse than Aldin's mind had prepared him for. It was enormous now—larger than before—its shape unstable, like a cloud of death given mass. A light purple mist emanated from the cloud's base, covering the land. Countless white eyes bulged across its surface, each one focusing on something different, all of them aware.
It didn't walk.
It hovered.
Other monsters—those that had been hiding, cowering deeper in the dungeon—charged toward exits that no longer existed.
They never made it.
Thick, black-purple tentacles erupted from the creature's bloated core, sharp as spears. They stabbed outward in all directions, impaling beasts mid-run. There was no struggle. No screams.
The tentacles retracted.
The cloud swelled.
The bodies vanished into the cloud's endless void. Their mana disappeared into the monster's being as its aura got even more overpowering.
Bigger.
Heavier.
Hungrier.
Aldin watched it all, breath shallow, throat dry.
It was feeding.
Then it turned toward him.
The pressure crushed down, forcing the air from his lungs. The light grew brighter—closer—until the world was nothing but pulsing violet and staring white eyes.
Aldin didn't scream.
He didn't beg.
He simply stared up at it, unmoving, waiting for the moment reality finally ended.
His fingers curled weakly against the stone.
So this is how it ends, he thought.
And for the first time since being branded useless—
He faced death without making a sound.