Northern Ridge – 12 Hours Before Dawn
Sand whipped through the night like razors.
Atop the dunes, five figures moved in perfect silence. Each bore enchanted armor crafted by imperial magitechs, their weapons humming with stored spells. Their breath didn't fog the air, their steps left no prints.
They were the elite of the Crimson Crown — Guild Rank: Heroic.
And they were here to claim a prize.
"Location confirmed," said the glaive-wielding woman in front. Her name was Virella, a known core-hunter. "Target dungeon has stabilized. Sentience confirmed. Sentient dungeons fetch ten times more if the core is extracted live."
Behind her, a thin man in violet robes — a Null Mage — hissed out a laugh.
"This one's young. Barely forming personality protocols. Easy prey."
Another, a twin-bladed warrior with tribal scars, cracked his neck.
"Doesn't matter what it is."
"We carve, we collect, we go."
Dungeon Entrance – Surface Layer
Leo watched them through his Stalker eyes.
They moved like wolves — experienced, coordinated, fast. The Null Mage was already unraveling barrier wards from the outside. Leo's first wall would fall in under an hour.
He stood on the platform in the command chamber, arms crossed, Myra beside him.
"How bad?" she asked.
"Bad," Leo replied.
"Three Tier-4s. One Tier-5. One Heroic-class.""One of them is a Core-Killer."
Naelia tapped a crystal, switching to overwatch vision. Red dots approached the threshold.
Cael leaned forward, teeth bared. "Want me to go warm them up?"
Leo's lips twitched.
"No."
"We bleed them inside."
"Let's make the first floor a nightmare."
Level 1 – Black Maw Welcome Committee
The adventurers entered at dawn.
And the dungeon… welcomed them.
As soon as their boots crossed the threshold, the tunnel slammed shut behind them with a shriek of stone. The air thickened. Torches flickered and died.
"Light rune!" barked Virella.
The Null Mage cast one—only for it to flicker and turn black.
"Null zone!" he spat. "This place is suppressing light-based mana. That shouldn't even be possible!"
That's when the walls began to move.
A dozen crawling Stalkers dropped from above—black spider-things with curved steel limbs and no eyes. Their bodies pulsed with bio-magic, and their fangs dripped alchemical toxin.
The scarred warrior was on them instantly.
"Too slow, freaks!"
His blades tore through two—but their blood erupted like acid, searing his shoulder.
"Tch—!"
The walls closed in tighter.
Whispers began in the dark.
"Turn back…"
"It's watching…"
"You'll die here…"
Command Chamber – Leo's View
Leo watched them with calculating eyes.
"They've adapted faster than expected," Naelia noted.
"But they're already bleeding," Cael smirked.
Myra raised an eyebrow. "Are we going to test Phase 2?"
Leo nodded.
"Release the Mistwalkers."
Level 1.5 – Hall of Echoes
The surviving three adventurers—Virella, the Null Mage, and the twin-blade—pushed into the next level, dragging a wounded fourth member. The fifth was missing. The one who screamed.
The tunnel here was fog.
Pure, magical fog, thick as soup and cold as death. Their voices echoed back to them in strange, reversed whispers.
Then the Mistwalkers came.
Phantom-like entities with elongated limbs and no faces, slipping through stone like smoke.
"Don't use spells!" the Null Mage yelled. "Mana dispersion field! Physical attacks only!"
But they kept missing.
For every Mistwalker they struck down, another appeared behind them.
Then the walls turned into mirrors—showing each adventurer not themselves, but their corpses, broken and twisted.
"This place is alive…" Virella whispered. Her grip tightened on her glaive. "And it wants us scared."
Subterranean Sanctuary – Lyssa's Room
Lyssa stood beside a window of crystal, watching the chaos unfold from a projection screen.
She trembled.
"They're going to die."
Mossie hovered beside her, concerned.
"Should I bring you more tea?"
Lyssa shook her head.
"Why are they even here…?"
Leo's voice echoed into the room, low and calm.
"Because people fear what they can't control."
"They don't see this dungeon as a miracle."
"They see it as a threat."
Lyssa looked up.
"Do you?"
A pause.
Then Leo's reply.
"I am the threat."
Level 2 – The Threshold of Teeth
The adventurers burst into a massive underground cavern—arched stone lined with glowing red moss, shaped almost like the ribcage of a massive beast.
"This is it," Virella growled. "The Core's close."
But the moment they stepped into the chamber—
The floor came alive.
Dozens of mimic tiles opened like maws—biting down with metal teeth.
Stone spikes shot from the walls.
Chains of black iron wrapped the Null Mage's ankle and dragged him screaming into the floor.
"NO—!"
Virella spun, hurling a sunburst slash toward the central tower. It struck—but rebounded off an invisible shield.
[ERROR: CORE STRIKE FAILED – BARRIER ACTIVE]
A voice echoed through the cavern.
Cold. Smooth. And oh so calm.
"You are not welcome here."
"This is not a dungeon."
"This is my body."
"And your death is the tax you pay for trespassing."
Leo appeared—an illusion, cast in firelight, cloaked in dark shadows with glowing gold eyes.
The adventurers froze.
"We'll kill you!" Virella shouted.
Leo's smile was all teeth.
"Try."
Core Room – Real-Time
Naelia exhaled. "The barriers held. They're separated now."
Cael flicked blood from his claw. "One's already gone."
Myra cracked her knuckles.
"Do we deploy the execution unit?"
Leo shook his head.
"Not yet."
"I want them to understand."
"I want them to feel what happens…"
"When the prey becomes the predator."