Akira stepped into the dungeon, and the large cave swallowed him into darkness. The faint hum of ominous energy pulsed in the air as if sending an involuntary chill down his spine.
The thick, heavy atmosphere pressed against him, suffocating, as if the dungeon itself were alive, watching him.
The walls were rough and trickling with moisture. Further still Akira went, the more the smell of blood and putridity began to fill his nostrils. Keen eyes seemed to scan over all his surroundings, and he took another step before his legs faltered over a ghastly vision - corpses.
There were massive, hulking bodies of Trolls lying strewn all over the cave floor, grotesque forms with cracked skin as if turned to stone, with ballooned eyes staring grotesquely, even while dead.
Great, gnarled tusks thrust up from twisted mouths; hands ended in razor-sharp claws that, even now, looked entirely capable of tearing through steel.
"What kind monsters are these?" Akira thought while clenching his jaws.
"This is my first time seeing them.
The bodies were covered in deep lacerations, indicating a desperate struggle, but Akira thought of the worst.
"So it was the Demonic Human who did this"
He thought, his fists clenched.
"Even monsters like them were not a match for him huh."
Steadfast, Akira pushed on.
The deeper he went into the cave, the more the atmosphere changed.
The air became colder, heavier, and the stifling mana of the dungeon became denser with each step. The dancing shadows seemed to mock him for his intrusion.
He came to a sudden stop, his senses alert.
"Wait a minute. I'm sensing something."
He stepped further ahead, but with care. He didn't have to walk far before he found what he sensed—a pool of blood.
It was no small amount but a great sea of it that colored the ground in an abominable way.
Its metallic smell attacked his nostrils, and he contorted his face.
"There's so much blood what the hell happened here?"
Akira raised his hand, and a faint white lighiting glow lit up the cavern. His breath caught in his throat.
Bodies.
Human bodies, broken, mangled, and lifeless, littered the ground, their faces twisted in terror. Weapons were strewn about near their hands, and the walls of the cave had deep, jagged marks of a desperate battle.
"What the hell happened here?"
Akira whispered, low and shaking. He took a step forward, his boots splashing in the blood.
"Did he do this too?"
His mind couldn't wrap around it any further when a faint sound pierced the night silence.
"Khem…"
Akira's entire body went straight with tension, and his lightning brightened further as he turned to the noise. It was somewhere deeper inside the cave-a weak rattling cough.
His senses went into overdrive as he followed the sound, his heartbeat quickening wildly in his chest.
The light from his lightning brightened, chasing the dark away, and clarified the view to a horrid sight.
Slumped against the far wall, across the cave, was a survivor.
A spread of blood pooled outward from under his body; his left arm and right leg were gone, and he was battered beyond recognition.
The raw wounds were heavily bandaged with crude rags.
His complexion had turned sallow and haggard; his eyes, with a glassy sheen, reflected pain and despair.
Akira froze a moment before cautiously walking toward him, electricity crackling softly around his white lightning.
The air was heavy with mana as the man breathed shallowly, almost silently.
Akira stopped and looked down at the broken figure before him.
Akira's cold eyes raked the dying man slumping against the jagged wall.
His white lightning flickered dimly, lighting up the blood-soaked figure that seemed to be barely holding onto life.
It was Jin Ael the one who helped Captain Imzar escape but Akira doesn't know that.
Jin Ael's breathing was irregular, the exhalation of every breath sounding like a fight against the very forces of death.
"Did...Captain Imzar bring you here?"
Jin Ael spoke hoarsely, his voice weak but insistent.
Akira did not speak as his sharp eyes met his in silence.
For a moment, he was thinking of his reply.
Of course, if Akira said that Imzar did not send him, then questions may come up, but there was little need for lying either.
"No," Akira finally answered, his voice low and cold.
"I came here because I have an unfinished job with the Demonic Human."
As his eyes started to glow white...
"With all of them."
Jin Ael's body trembled, his mangled form wracked with a violent coughing fit. Blood splattered from his cracked lips, staining the remains of his battered armor.
"But you… just a child…"
Jin Ael gasped, his words weak but edged with disbelief.
"What… are… you…"
Before Akira could reply, a thunderous growl echoed through the cavern. Heavy footsteps shook the ground as a massive troll emerged from the shadows, its grotesque form illuminated by the faint crackle of Akira's lightning. Its eyes gleamed with primal hunger as it charged toward them, its claws poised to strike.
Akira didn't move, his expression cold and indifferent.
With a subtle shift of his stance, he raised his free hand, fingers crackling with white energy.
"Trash," He muttered, his voice laced with disdain.
In an instant, a blinding bolt of white lightning erupted from his palm, surging forward with devastating speed. The cavern lit up in a brilliant flash as the lightning tore through the troll, obliterating it in a single, deafening strike.
The beast's remains disintegrated into ash, scattering into the stale dungeon air.
Jin Ael's eyes widened in shock, the raw power of Akira's attack leaving him momentarily speechless.
"Don't interrupt me,"
Akira said coldly, his glowing eyes narrowing as he turned back to Jin Ael.
"I'm talking to him."
The faint hum of residual energy lingered in the air as Akira stepped closer to Jin Ael, his expression unreadable.
Whatever lingering doubts Jin Ael had about Akira's capabilities vanished in that moment, replaced by awe.
Akira hunched down beside him and interrupted Jin Ael , his eyes unblinking.
"Can you please tell me what happened here?" Akira said softy to him
Jin Ael's glassy eyes flickered, focusing fleetingly on Akira as he mustered the strength to answer.
"We...we raided this dungeon,"
He said, his words labored and punctuated by wheezing breaths.
"Captain Imzar...wanted recognition."
"Said we could handle this evolved dungeon without notice..."
"Since he lost to someone in spar at the eyes...of the guild...master he felt unworthy...he was childhood...friend i couldn't refuse him...and then we filled the mind of the other parts of the team to come alongside us to clear this dungeon."
Akira's face darkened, though he said nothing.
"The trolls… they were everywhere," Jin Ael continued, his voice growing weaker.
"We fought them, somehow survived and handled them… but then…"
He coughed violently again, blood bubbling up from his lips as he forced the words out.
"He showed up."
"The Demonic Human."
Akira's eyes narrowed, white lightning flaring faintly.
"In seconds...seconds...he killed them all."
"My teammates...gone." Jin Ael's voice cracked, his despair leaking through.
"I used my skill Spatial Shift to send Captain Imzar away...but that monster—"
He gestured weakly to his mutilated body, his voice shaking.
"He took my limbs before leaving...i think he was heading to the dungeon boss…"
"The team...was...strong...if it wasn't for...the de...monic...human i think...we would've...been...okay."
Akira's face constricted at this, and a flicker of anger danced across his face.
"That idiot Captain Imzar… got his team wiped out because of his greed and for what to gain something meaningless as recognition i should teach him a lesson when i go back"
"Anything else?"
Akira asked, his voice cold and detached as he looked at the dying man.
Jin Ael coughed again; much labored breathing, a lot of blood pooling around him.
"He said something after he… destroyed me,"
He choked out.
"Said this dungeon was...special...because… a Lower had decended down here."
"A Lower??" Akira repeated; his eyes narrowed further.
Jin Ael nodded weakly.
"That's all I know… khem… khem…"
His head slumped slightly as if the effort of speaking had drained the last of his strength.
"What the fuck is a lower maybe i will find it at the end of this dungeon"
Akira stood; his gaze stayed on the man.
"Thank you," he said in a low, calm voice.
"And… I'm sorry...I can't help you."
"Your wounds... they're too severe."
Jin Ael let out a faint, bitter chuckle, a smile ghosting across his bloodied face.
"You're a... sincere one...aren't you?" - Jin Ael muttered weakly.
Akira's cold eyes softened slightly, just for a moment.
"You already knew you wouldn't make it," - Akira said quietly.
Akira's expression didn't change, but his chest tightened slightly.
Jin Ael already knew his fate. His acceptance of death was both humbling and tragic.
"I know i don't have long…"
Jin Ael whispered, his breathing shallow.
Akira stood there for a moment, his lightning illuminating the broken man.
Finally, he spoke again, his tone soft but deliberate.
"Do you have regrets?" - Akira asked.
Jin Ael's bloodshot eyes widened slightly, his lips trembling as he tried to form words.