The silence after the creature's fall was almost sacred. Everyone stood there for a few seconds, just breathing, trying to comprehend what they had just faced. It wasn't just a monster — it was something unnatural, almost divine in its aberration.
Lila was the first to move, wiping the black blood from her dagger. "If that was just a guardian… then what the hell is the boss?"
Kevin let out a sigh and sat down for a moment. "If I'd known that thing would be here, I would've prepped an entirely different set of spells…"
"Did anyone else notice how the floor reacted when the creature died?" Maria asked, scanning the area with renewed focus.
The group now turned their eyes to the shattered altar. The floor around where the monster had fallen was different now: once cracked, dark, and rotten, it had become glassy, like polished obsidian. At the center, where the creature's core had been destroyed, a symbol now pulsed with a faint scarlet light.
Sam stepped closer, cautiously. "This… looks like a sealing rune. But… it's breaking apart."
The rune flared with growing intensity, and then exploded into a beam of light that shot toward one of the chamber's walls. A massive circular structure emerged — made of the same black stone — and began to open slowly like the gears of a clock, revealing a new passage.
Seth stood, his golden eyes still sharp and alert. "It's that way. The real boss is waiting for us."
Logan clenched his jaw. "Then let's finish this."
The new passage was unlike anything they had seen in the dungeon before. The walls, once covered in dark moss and lichen, were now adorned with glowing symbols, pulsing like veins carrying raw mana. The atmosphere had changed as well — the frigid cold gave way to suffocating heat, as if they were descending straight into the heart of some forgotten hell.
With each step, the magical pressure grew heavier.
Maria placed a hand on Logan's shoulder, murmuring a slow regeneration blessing. "We don't have time to rest. But with this, at least you won't bleed out."
"Thanks," Logan replied, clenching his fist. "But if the next enemy is stronger than the last… we won't have much time anyway."
Kevin held his hands half-raised, conjuring small reflective mana shields around everyone. "At least we won't be caught off guard."
Seth led the way, and for the first time, he felt something… familiar.
"There's something up ahead," he said, stopping before a new gate. It was massive — twenty meters tall, forged of blackened metal, with carvings depicting celestial wars and sacrifices. "Something ancient. And intelligent."
Sam drew his bow. "Are you saying the boss is sentient?"
"I don't know… I just feel it," Seth replied. In truth, he was confused by the electrical waves spreading across his senses. Unlike the previous monster, this one radiated far more complex signals.
The boss chamber was an abyss.
Literally.
There was no floor.
The group stepped onto a floating platform that slowly advanced over a sea of liquid darkness. Crimson and violet lightning arced through the distant air, illuminating floating pillars and massive statues of creatures seemingly sculpted from agony.
And then — it emerged.
From the depths of the abyss, a colossal presence rose. The creature's body was humanoid, but there was no humanity within it. Its flesh was made of floating runic plates, woven together by black flames that seemed to devour light itself. A crown of bone-thorns hovered above its flaming head, and on its back, six arms carried spears forged from corrupted crystal.
Its eyes, endlessly deep, glowed as they locked onto the group.
[Dungeon Boss: Regulus, the Fallen Archon][Rank: C]
"Intruders," its voice echoed not in their ears, but in their very souls. "Have you come to die… or to set me free?"
Kevin dropped to his knees, overwhelmed by the sheer pressure of the entity's presence. "This… this is too strong!"
Seth felt something trigger inside him. His vision flared with golden light once again… and the system screen appeared before him.
[The End recognizes Regulus's authority.]
[Authority Conflict detected.]
[Initiating Forced Synchronization.]
Seth staggered, as if struck by an internal blow, then felt his body stabilize.
"We are not your enemies, being of the End," Regulus said, staring at Seth. "But if you intend to stop me from consuming these humans, you shall die with them."
Regulus rose higher, now fully visible. His steps made no sound, yet each movement left a trail of energy so dense that the platform beneath them trembled. He lifted one of his spears and pointed it forward.
"I will kill them all," he declared.
"What the hell are you saying?" Seth snapped back, glaring at him. "Being of the End, my ass. I'm human."
Seth's eyes gleamed gold as he stood tall.
"You… you understand the monster's language?" Kevin asked, shocked.
Seth shot him a glance, then returned his attention to the monster. Must be the system… so they can't understand what this bastard is saying. He kept his thoughts in check and summoned lightning once more, enchanting his hand and forging a blade of pure electricity.
The electric blade crackled violently, wrapping Seth's hand in a chaotic dance of blue and white lightning. The hum of the energy was sharp, almost melodic — a symphony of impending destruction. In front of him, Regulus raised one of his crystal-corrupted spears and pointed it directly at Seth.
Around them, the team was still trying to grasp the gravity of the moment. None of them could understand that Seth was communicating with the creature in a language unknown to them — the tongue of monsters, or more precisely, beings of the End.
"Regulus… you're just another obstacle. And I'm in a hurry," Seth growled, charging forward.
Regulus responded with a brutal attack: the spear launched at supersonic speed, tearing through the air and leaving a black trail that devoured mana as it passed.
"SETH!" Lila screamed.
But he was already gone.
In a blink, Seth reappeared mid-air, to the left of the projectile. His body twisted, and with a clean strike of his lightning blade, he cleaved the spear in two — the halves falling into the darkness below, swallowed by distant screams rising from the abyss.
He used the residual lightning energy to boost his Reflexes and Speed, something utterly impossible for someone who had just learned the technique... but with the support of the [The End] system, he could push his body to its very limit.
The group was stunned. That speed... that control…
Logan clenched his fists. "That's not Rank-E anymore… Seth is fighting on another level."
"He's… talking to the creature like they're from the same world…" Maria murmured in disbelief. "But I can't feel any malice coming from him."
Regulus, in turn, raised his remaining arms and summoned more spears — twelve in total, orbiting him like corrupted moons. Each one pulsed with an unstable core of energy, looking ready to detonate at any moment.
"Fusion: Circle of Extinction!" Regulus roared, and the spears began to spin around him, accelerating.
Seth turned to Kevin, Sam, and the others. "YOU! Scatter! He's about to unleash an area-wide destruction spell!"
Sam fired an enchanted arrow to intercept one of the spears, but it was vaporized on impact. Kevin conjured a Triple Refraction Field, surrounding the group with barriers that absorbed some of the overwhelming magical pressure.
The platform began to crumble beneath their feet.
"HOLD ON!" Maria shouted, activating a holy shield of suspension to keep everyone afloat.
And then — the spears launched in every direction.
Seth sprinted in a zigzag pattern, dodging one, two, three explosions in quick succession — each blast causing waves of heat and gravity, trying to crush the group like insects.
But Seth was already airborne, using the shockwaves from the explosions to propel himself even higher.
"ENOUGH." he said, his golden eyes glowing with fury.
[Special Skill Activated: King's Presence — Second Form.]
Time seemed to slow down. Regulus lunged with force, trying to crush Seth with a direct blow, but...
[Authority Clash: King's Presence overrides Divine Presence.]
Seth dashed forward with his lightning blade, aiming directly at the center of the runic armor—where he had previously detected an energy anomaly.
"Die, you bastard!"
The impact was catastrophic.
The blade pierced straight into Regulus's chest. The runic armor cracked. Lightning exploded in every direction, consuming the creature's arms and ripping two of them off in a wave of concentrated destruction.
Regulus screamed — and for the first time, that scream wasn't of rage or power.
It was pain.
The entire platform was hurled backward. The team members held on for dear life as an electric explosion in the shape of a golden dragon spiraled around Seth and Regulus.
[Critical Hit: Core struck.]
[Regulus is in a state of Instability.]
[Authority collapsing.]
The body of the Fallen Archon began to glow with purplish-blue light, as if the corruption was being forcibly torn away.
Seth dropped to his knees, feeling his mana drain rapidly. The system pinged him with warnings about magical fatigue, physical collapse risk, and nerve overheating.
But he just laughed.
Regulus, now kneeling, looked at Seth with eyes less monstrous than before. "You… still call yourself human… yet you carry the echo of the End. Fool…"
Seth clenched his teeth. "Screw what I carry. I'm just here to protect them."
Regulus smiled — strangely human — before his body began disintegrating into luminous particles.
[Boss Defeated: Regulus, the Fallen Archon.]
[Massive EXP acquired.]
[All party members under the effect of High-Level Blessing.]
[Bonus Reward: Authority Core – Fragment of the End.]
[Do you wish to collect the Fragment?]
Seth looked at the system screen. For a moment, he hesitated. That thing… was dangerous. He could feel it in every fiber of his being. But he also knew that someone would eventually take it — and it might not be someone good.
He extended his hand.
"Collect."
[Fragment absorbed.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Seed of the End — a latent power grows within you.]
[WARNING: This skill cannot be discarded.]
Maria knelt beside Seth, concerned, while Logan looked back, still stunned by what he had just witnessed. Kevin stared at Seth with eyes full of questions.
Lila, however, simply walked over and poked his shoulder with a mischievous smile. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, thunder boy."
"I know…" Seth sighed.
"Looks like it's over," Logan said as the red portal opened before them. "We survived without losses… that's insane," he muttered.
"You should be happy," Kevin chuckled.
"Let's go home. Stop talking so much," Lila said, helping Seth to his feet.
'What are the odds my wife is out there ready to attack me the moment she sees me?' Seth wondered as he walked toward the portal…'99.9%.'