It broke fast.
No countdown.
No signal.
Just movement.
Selven vanished first.
Wind shifted—he was already behind Lily, blade aimed for her neck.
Space twisted.
He missed.
Lily didn't even look at him as she stepped sideways, hand flicking—space folded again and snapped, throwing him off balance mid-strike.
Rykor charged straight in.
Flames burst along his arms, heat rising hard as he swung at Zael.
Zael didn't dodge.
He stepped in.
Blade shifted—sword to spear—then struck.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each hit faster than the last, forcing Rykor to block instead of attack.
The flames sputtered under pressure.
Auralis laughed.
"…My turn."
She crashed into Drox head-on.
Hammer met stone.
Impact exploded outward.
Drox held—barely—but Auralis didn't stop.
Second swing.
Third.
Faster.
Harder.
No pause.
No breathing room.
Each hit forced him back, his defense cracking under pure force.
Kaine slipped through the side.
Blood aura flaring, aiming straight for Aurelia—
He never reached her.
Aurelia moved once.
One step.
One strike.
Perfect angle.
His momentum broke instantly.
His stance collapsed.
Before he could recover—
Zane was there.
A blur.
One cut across his chest.
Second through his guard.
Third—
He dropped.
Not dead.
But done.
—
Vira fired.
Arrows cut through the air toward Lily—
They bent.
Shifted.
Missed.
Space warped just enough to redirect them past her.
Lily flicked her fingers.
The space behind Vira folded—
Then snapped.
Vira stumbled forward, disoriented.
Right into Auralis' backswing.
She didn't even see it coming.
Gone.
—
Toren rushed Zael from the side.
Close-range.
Fast.
Heavy strikes.
Zael didn't step back.
He flowed.
Blade shifted again.
From spear—
To twin edges.
Strike.
Parry.
Counter.
Then he chained it.
No delay.
Eternal Flow.
First hit.
Second.
Third.
Each one stronger than the last.
By the fifth—
Toren's guard shattered.
Zael didn't finish him.
Just stepped past him like he wasn't there.
—
Elric finally cast.
Mana surged.
Large-scale spell forming—
Zane appeared in front of him.
No warning.
No buildup.
Just there.
One strike.
The spell collapsed.
Second strike—
Elric hit the ground.
Out.
—
Rykor roared.
Flames exploded outward.
Full force now.
No holding back.
He swung at Zael again—
Zael met him head-on.
This time—
No restraint.
Void.
Lightning.
Abyss.
All layered.
Blade shifted mid-swing—
Sword phasing out of existence due to extreme speed.
Then—
Clash.
The impact crushed Rykor's stance instantly.
Flames broke.
His body followed.
He dropped to one knee—
Then face-first.
Silence.
—
It ended just like that.
Fast.
Clean.
Decisive.
—
The remaining ones—
Didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Because they understood.
This wasn't a fight.
Not really.
—
Auralis exhaled.
"…That's it?"
Lily glanced around.
"…Guess so."
Aurelia's gaze moved over them once.
"…No threats left."
Zane stepped back to Zael's side.
Silent.
Like nothing happened.
—
Zael didn't look at the fallen group.
Didn't need to.
Instead—
He walked forward.
Picked up the herb.
—
No one stopped him this time.
—
He turned back to his team.
"…We're done here."
Auralis grinned.
"…Finally."
Lily shook her head slightly.
"…That was fast."
Zael didn't respond.
His eyes flicked once—
To Zane.
Just for a second.
Then away.
"…Let's move."
And just like that—
They left.
Like it didn't matter.
Like it was nothing.
—
Behind them—
The others stayed down.
Because they knew.
They picked the wrong target.
And they paid for it.
They didn't slow down after that.
No reason to.
The outer layer opened up as they moved—ruins thinning in some places, clustering in others. Broken roads led nowhere. Collapsed towers leaned at angles that didn't make sense.
Beasts came.
Not in waves.
Just… around.
A pair of scaled hounds tried to flank them—Zane erased one before it completed the turn, Zael finished the other mid-lunge.
A burrowing creature burst from below—Auralis met it head-on, hammer driving it back into the ground before it could fully emerge.
A flock-type beast circled overhead—Lily distorted space just enough to throw off their formation, Aurelia picked them off one by one with clean, precise strikes.
No one overdid it.
No one showed too much.
But they didn't hold back enough to drag things out either.
Clean kills.
Quick loot.
Move on.
—
They ran into other groups too.
Some kept their distance.
Some watched.
Some recognized strength and chose not to test it.
A few tried to follow.
They stopped after a while.
—
Time passed.
Not tracked.
Not needed.
Just movement.
Fighting.
Collecting.
Adapting.
—
Aurelia stepped forward after finishing off a beast.
The system flickered briefly.
Level up.
She didn't react.
Just adjusted her stance slightly and kept moving.
Auralis noticed.
"…About time."
Aurelia ignored her.
—
The terrain started changing.
Subtle at first.
Then clearer.
The ruins became… older.
Less broken.
More structured.
The air shifted.
Not heavy.
Just different.
Quieter.
Fewer players here.
Fewer beasts.
Like people avoided pushing this far without reason.
Zael slowed slightly.
"…We're close."
Lily nodded.
"…Yeah."
Auralis rolled her shoulder.
"…Good."
Zane didn't say anything.
Just followed.
—
They crossed a final stretch of broken stone—
Then it opened.
And they stopped.
—
No one spoke.
Not immediately.
Because what stood in front of them—
Didn't look like ruins.
Not really.
It was intact.
Massive.
Structures layered over each other in perfect symmetry.
Pillars that stretched high into the sky.
Wide steps leading upward into something deeper.
Light moved across the surface like it was alive.
Not glowing.
Not shining.
Just… existing differently.
Like the place wasn't built.
But formed.
Auralis let out a low breath.
"…Okay."
Lily didn't move.
"…That's…"
She didn't finish.
Aurelia's eyes sharpened slightly.
But even she—
Paused.
Zane stood still.
Silent.
Zael looked at it.
Really looked.
And for the first time since entering—
He didn't move immediately.
Because this—
This felt different.
Not dangerous.
Not hostile.
Just…
Important.
His grip tightened slightly.
"…Divine Ruins."
No one disagreed.
Because it was obvious.
They had reached it.
And standing there—
Looking at it—
There was only one thought in all of them.
—
This wasn't like the rest of the dungeon.
Not even close.
—
[To be continued]