Chapter 16: Encountering the Reaver
Kael didn't move.
Arthur's breath hitched. "Kael, watch out—"
But before the warning could even finish, Leon moved.
His sword flashed in a single, decisive motion. The wolf barely had time to register its mistake before it was sliced cleanly apart. Blood splattered across the dungeon floor.
The last few remaining wolves, seeing their pack slaughtered, let out weak growls before turning tail and vanishing into the darkness.
Silence settled over the group, the only sound their heavy breathing.
Mira exhaled, shaking out her wrists. "Well. That was fun."
Arthur slumped slightly. "Fun? That was terrifying."
Leon sighed, wiping his blade clean before sheathing it. "We handled it. That's what matters."
Kael wordlessly began collecting the magic stones from the fallen creatures, his expression unreadable as ever.
Elara glanced at him, then at Leon.
"…We should keep moving," she said softly.
Leon nodded. "Yeah. But keep your guard up. That was just the first fight, and we're already seeing evolved monsters."
Mira glanced at the deeper path leading further into the dungeon. The tunnel ahead was shrouded in thick darkness, an unsettling energy radiating from it.
She chuckled nervously. "I have a feeling we're just getting started."
And with that, the party pressed on, their footsteps echoing faintly in the dimly lit corridor of the dungeon's eleventh floor. The heavy air carried an unnatural stillness, as if the dungeon itself was holding its breath. The walls, jagged and uneven, bore faint scratch marks—claw marks, perhaps—but what caught their attention was something else entirely.
Mira was the first to notice. She stopped abruptly, eyes narrowing. "Wait… look over there."
The rest followed her gaze.
Scattered across the cold stone floor were the bodies of several wolves. Their black and white fur was matted with dark, glistening blood. The creatures lay motionless, their lifeless eyes wide open in frozen expressions of agony. Unlike the ones they had fought earlier, these wolves had not been burned or frozen, nor had they simply collapsed from exhaustion.
They had been sliced apart.
Arthur crouched beside one of the corpses, his expression tightening. "Look at this… they were cut cleanly. Not just torn or clawed. Their bodies were severed as if by a single, precise strike."
Leon knelt beside another wolf, brushing his fingers along the deep wound. The flesh was smooth where it had been cut, the edges too perfect for an ordinary attack. His jaw clenched. "This wasn't the work of another pack. No normal monster would do this."
Arthur's hands trembled slightly as he stood. "Then… what could have done this?"
Leon exhaled sharply, scanning the area with sharp eyes. "A high-rank monster. That's the only explanation. If it was a typical dungeon beast, their bodies would've turned into magic stones by now. But look—" He gestured to the corpses, which remained intact, blood pooling around them. "They didn't dissolve. That means something far stronger killed them. And whatever it was… it didn't even bother taking the magic stones from them."
Mira's lips pressed into a thin line. "So we've got something lurking in the shadows that's powerful enough to carve through these wolves like they were nothing."
Elara swallowed hard, her grip tightening around her staff. "We don't have time to deal with this. We need to keep moving."
Arthur hesitated. "Elara, if something this strong is up ahead—"
She cut him off sharply. "We don't have a choice, Arthur! There's a life on the line! If we don't reach floor nineteen and get the Aetherium Core, someone dies. Do you get that?"
A tense silence followed.
Arthur clenched his jaw but didn't argue. He knew she was right.
Leon nodded. "We press on. Whatever killed these wolves… we avoid it if we can. But if it stands in our way—" He glanced at his blade, eyes dark with resolve. "We cut it down and move forward."
Mira exhaled through her nose. "Fine. But we stay sharp. No unnecessary fights. If we can avoid drawing attention, we do."
The others nodded, albeit reluctantly.
Kael, who had been silent the entire time, remained at the back, his gaze flickering toward the dead wolves. His expression remained unreadable, but his sharp eyes studied the scene carefully, as if he already knew something the others did not.
With caution weighing on their steps, they moved forward.
The air felt heavier, charged with something unnatural—something beyond anything they had encountered before. The dim dungeon light flickered against the stone walls, casting long, stretching shadows.
Arthur shifted uncomfortably. "Anyone else feel like we're being watched?"
Mira snorted. "Gee, Arthur, thanks for the comforting thought."
"I'm serious," he muttered. "Something's off."
Leon's grip on his sword tightened. "Stay focused."
And then—
A figure emerged.
It stood at the far end of the passage, shifting, twisting. A humanoid shape, 2.3 meters tall, yet it had no solid form. Its body was composed of fragmented, floating shards of dark metal and bone, constantly shifting and reforming, as if refusing to settle into a single shape.
Its face—if it could be called that—was an abyss. A hollow void, with only a single, burning violet eye at its center. A gaze that pierced through them—cold, empty, unrelenting.
Its jagged, unstable arms reformed into massive, bladed weapons—long, curved like an executioner's blade one moment, then shifting into serrated claws the next. It moved with a slow, ghostly grace, as if studying them, waiting.
A sudden chill swept through the air, a biting cold that prickled against their skin. The temperature had dropped.
Arthur took a shaky breath, his fingers curling into tight fists at his sides. "It's The Hollow Blade Reaver," he muttered, voice barely above a whisper. His gaze locked onto the shifting, unnatural form ahead, and he swallowed hard. "We're… we're really going to fight that?"
Mira scoffed, though the usual teasing lilt in her voice was dulled. "I mean… yeah, but…" She squinted at the creature, her fingers twitching as flames flickered to life at her fingertips. "Shouldn't it look a little less horrifying? Because I swear it's not supposed to be this creepy."
Leon exhaled through his nose, his sharp gaze never leaving the creature. "It must've evolved. Just like the wolves." His tone was steady, but there was something grim beneath the surface.
Elara took a slow, steady breath, her composure unwavering. "We encountered it on the 11th floor instead of the 19th. That saves us time. It's an advantage."
Arthur didn't look convinced. His shoulders were rigid, his pulse thrumming in his ears. "Feels more like a trap," he muttered, voice barely audible.
Mira let out a nervous chuckle and rolled her shoulders, though her usual bravado was cracking at the edges. "What, scared already?"
Arthur shot her a glare, but his fingers still twitched at his sides. "I'm being cautious. There's a difference."
Elara glanced at him, her expression thoughtful. "He's not wrong," she admitted. Her brows furrowed slightly as she studied the Reaver. "Its presence is… heavier than I expected."
Leon finally spoke, his voice calm but firm. "So this Reaver… it killed the wolves we saw earlier." He didn't pose it as a question—just a fact. His jaw tightened. "If it cut them down like that, then it's beyond what we imagined."
A tense silence settled over the group.
Mira's smirk faded. She cast another wary glance at the creature, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Yeah… that's not exactly helping my confidence, Leon."
Arthur exhaled through his nose, steadying his breath. "Which means if we screw up, we'll end up just like them."
Elara's grip on her staff tightened, the magic around her humming faintly. "Then we can't afford to hesitate."
Leon nodded once. "Our mission hasn't changed. We need the Aetherium Core." His gaze swept over them, his expression unreadable. "We get that, we save a life. So keep your focus."
He turned to Mira first. "You take the left."
Mira twirled a flame between her fingers, lips curling into a smirk—forced, but present. "Guess that means I get the fun part." She exhaled dramatically. "Fine, fine. Just try to keep up."
"Elara, support from the back."
Elara gave a firm nod, already shifting her stance. "Understood."
Arthur shifted uneasily. "And me?"
Leon's gaze met his, steady and unwavering. "Stay sharp."
Arthur swallowed. "Right. Sure. Easy."
Mira groaned, stretching her arms. "Ugh, can we just get this over with? The longer we stand here, the creepier it gets."
Elara lifted her staff, magic swirling at her fingertips. "Doesn't matter now." Her voice was quiet, resolute. "It's seen us."
The Hollow Blade Reaver let out a low, guttural growl—a sound that didn't just echo, but scraped against reality itself. The air seemed to shudder, and the shadows around it shifted unnaturally.
Leon exhaled slowly, body poised, mind clear.
"No more talking."
His fingers tightened around his sword.
"Get ready."
Then—
The monster moved.
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(Chapter Ended)