As soon as they stepped through the portal, a wave of vertigo washed over the group. The air around them grew heavy, almost suffocating, as if something invisible was pressing down on them. A sharp, biting cold crawled up their spines, instinctively setting off their most primal alarms. When the light of the portal vanished behind them, sealing their only escape route, the shock was immediate.
The landscape was hellish.
The ground was a mixture of blackened soil and cracked stone, as if it had been scorched for centuries. Tall, twisted trees stretched across the horizon, their gnarled branches resembling skeletal claws reaching for the purple sky. But the worst part was the leaves—not green, but a deep, pulsing red, as if they were alive.
The sky itself looked like an open wound, an oppressive violet swirling in restless spirals. Black clouds moved sluggishly, sparking with silent lightning that tore through the darkness.
The air was thick, filled with a sickening metallic scent, like blood and rust fused together. But what made it all the more suffocating was the absolute silence. No insects. No wind. No signs of life.
Just them… and that presence, unseen but watching.
The first to break the silence was Owen.
His shield trembled slightly in his grip."This… this isn't a Rank-D dungeon!" His voice was louder than he intended, laced with pure fear.
Sam, the archer, took a step back, his fingers shaking as they pulled an arrow from his quiver."Shit… did the portal change color when we stepped in? I swear I saw a blue glow before we entered!"
Maria, the healer, clutched her staff tightly, eyes wide, breath coming in short gasps."This isn't right… This isn't right…"
Kevin, the mage, was already pale."We're trapped, aren't we?!" His voice edged on panic. "This is a Dead Lock, isn't it?!"
Josh, the secondary fighter, turned to Logan, desperately seeking an answer."What do we do now?!"
Panic was spreading like wildfire. Despair was about to take hold.
But then—
BANG!
The deafening sound of metal slamming against stone echoed through the air as Logan struck his axe against the ground. The impact was so powerful that cracks splintered beneath his feet.
"SILENCE!" His voice boomed like thunder, cutting through the chaos.
Everyone froze.
Logan's eyes burned with fierce authority as he scanned the group with a sharp, unwavering gaze."If you lose it now, you're dead before you even see the enemy!"
He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders."Yes, this is a Dead Lock. Yes, we're trapped. But that doesn't mean we're going to die. Not while I'm the leader of this team."
His teammates swallowed hard, clinging to his presence as a pillar of stability in the chaos.
"The protocol is simple: we find the dungeon boss, kill the bastard, and walk out of here alive!"
Despite the lingering fear, some of them started to regain their composure. Lila, the assassin, closed her eyes for a moment, taking a steady breath before adjusting the grip on her daggers.
Maria shook her head, forcing herself to calm down."Right… right… You're right…"
Seth, who had remained silent the entire time, simply watched. Logan had presence. He knew how to lead. That could be useful.
But…
Something was wrong.
Seth's golden eyes glowed faintly as his [Electrokinesis] skill activated on its own. Sweeping and searching for any presence...any sign of life.
And then, he saw them.
Presences.
Hidden among the twisted trees, shadows moved silently. They had no defined form—specters lurking, watching. They didn't breathe. They made no sound.
But Seth could feel them. Watching. Waiting.
"We're not alone."
His voice was quiet, but filled with absolute certainty.
Logan turned to him, eyes narrowing. "What did you say?"
Seth didn't take his eyes off the darkness between the trees. "We're not alone."
The silence was shattered by a ferocious sound.
—GRRRRRRR…—
A chorus of guttural growls echoed through the forest of twisted trees, coming from every direction.
Then, crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness—dozens of them.
And like a bloody storm tearing through the dense mist, a pack of Blood Wolves emerged from the shadows.
They were colossal.
Demonic creatures, with muscular bodies covered in dark red fur, as if they had been bathed in coagulated blood. Their razor-sharp fangs glistened like blades under the twisted purple sky, and their obsidian-black claws dug into the scorched earth, cracking the ground with every step.
The stench was unbearable.
The reek of rotting flesh, mixed with the metallic tang of fresh blood, poisoned the dense air, suffocating the lungs of those who inhaled it. It felt as if the very environment was decaying around them.
And then, they attacked.
—HRRRRAAAAAH!!—
One of the wolves lunged straight at Seth, its massive jaws snapping open, revealing fangs capable of crushing bones in a single bite.
The group panicked.
Owen raised his shield in a hurry, but his hands were shaking.
Maria tried to chant a blessing, but her voice faltered mid-incantation.
Logan gripped his axe, preparing for battle—
But then… Seth simply raised his hand.
And in an instant—BZZZZZZZZZZZT!!—
Hell fell upon the earth.
A blue-violet flash illuminated the grim landscape.
Violent sparks of electricity crackled from Seth's fingertips before erupting in a devastating storm of lightning.
The purple sky trembled.
Monstrous bolts of lightning tore through the air like serpents of light, devouring everything in their path.
The air became thick, charged with static energy. The stench of ozone overpowered everything.
And then—
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The wolves exploded.
Their bodies weren't just electrocuted—they were incinerated instantly. Flesh and muscle burned away in a fraction of a second, and their bones cracked and splintered under the unbearable heat of the electrical storm.
Their agonized howls echoed like the screams of damned souls before they were reduced to ashes, carried away by the wind.
When the light faded, only smoldering corpses remained, scattered across the blackened ground. Some bodies still twitched involuntarily, their nerves firing off post-mortem spasms.
And silence returned.
Not the silence of a battlefield after victory—but a sepulchral silence.
A silence of absolute terror.
The group stood frozen, their bodies still tense from the battle that… never happened.
All eyes were locked on Seth.
He lowered his hand slowly, his gaze as cold as the void of space.
For a long moment, no one dared to speak.
Then, Logan finally broke the silence.
"Weren't you a melee fighter?" His voice was quiet, uncertain.
Seth turned his head toward him, his golden eyes reflecting the charred remains around them.
"We don't have time for this."
Without another word, he started walking.
The group remained motionless for a few seconds, still processing what had just happened.
Sam blinked several times, his mouth dry. "W… what the hell was that?"
Kevin swallowed hard. "He didn't even need an incantation…"
Maria clutched her staff, a chill crawling up her spine.
Logan clenched his jaw, his frown deepening.
Seth was a mystery. And inside a dungeon that already felt like hell, mysteries were never a good omen.
But now wasn't the time for questions.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his axe on his shoulder, and shouted:
"Move! Don't fall behind!"
[Outside the Dungeon]
The wind howled, carrying dust and sparks through the air. The once-clear sky was now heavy with dark clouds, pulsing with electricity.
The dungeon's portal, which had previously been a calm blue vortex, now spun unstably, its surface swirling with deep purples and crimson streaks, like an open wound in reality itself.
And standing right in front of it… was Connie Parker.
And she was not okay.
Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Her eyes remained unblinking, locked onto the portal as if she could force answers out of it.
But the worst part wasn't her expression.
The worst part was the electric aura radiating from her body.
Violent sparks crackled around her, tracing erratic patterns through the air. The ground beneath her feet was scorched and fractured, electrocuted by the sheer power leaking uncontrollably from her. The air buzzed with static, filled with the relentless hum of charged energy.
No one dared to approach.
Not even Kaguya.
The Rank-A Hunter and the representatives of the Hunter Association kept a safe but watchful distance.
Kaguya's eyes were locked onto Connie, analyzing the situation with a serious expression. "She's at her limit."
The usually proud and authoritative members of the Association were now frozen in fear. None of them wanted to risk approaching someone who could reduce them to ashes with a single snap of her fingers.
One of Kaguya's subordinates swallowed hard. "That energy… if this keeps up, she might go berserk."
Another whispered in a trembling voice, "This isn't normal… even the air around her is starting to vibrate."
And indeed, it was.
The magnetic field around Connie was so charged that even the dust particles in the air were being drawn upward, gravitating like debris caught in a thunderstorm on the verge of eruption.
But Connie didn't care about any of it.
Her eyes were locked onto the portal.
Her thoughts were trapped inside it.
Trapped with Seth.
"That bastard went in without saying a word… Why didn't he ask to go with me instead of going alone into that portal?!"
The suffocating weight of worry settled in her chest.
Something inside her screamed that this was not a normal dungeon.
What if he was in danger?
What if…
The thought couldn't even be finished.
Because suddenly—
The portal flickered violently.
For a second, she felt it.
A tremor.
A bizarre presence… something monstrous.
Her entire body tensed.
Every hair on her skin stood on end.
Her instincts—honed from years of battle—screamed in alarm.
Something inside was wrong.
Horribly wrong.
And then—
The lightning around Connie exploded in intensity.
—KRAKAAAAAAAAA-BOOOOOM!!!—
A colossal bolt of electricity crashed down from the sky, obliterating the ground near the portal, leaving behind a smoldering crater in the middle of the Association's base.
Kaguya's subordinates screamed, scrambling backward.
"She's going to kill us before the dungeon does!!" someone whispered in pure terror.
Kaguya remained steady, her cold eyes unwavering—though concern was now visible on her face.
She took a step forward, ignoring the crackling electricity in the air.
"Connie."
Her voice was firm, but careful.
Nothing.
The Rank-S didn't react.
Her gaze remained fixed on the portal.
Her golden eyes trembled slightly, filled with a mix of frustration and anxiety.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"He's going to make it out of this alive."
But for the first time in a very long time…
She wasn't sure of her own words.