The red light vanished as suddenly as it had engulfed me, and I crashed onto the jagged ground, pain flaring through my knees and palms. The stone beneath me was rough, its sharp edges digging into my skin. Heat slammed into me like a wave, so intense it made my vision blur. I gasped, struggling to breathe the heavy, metallic-tasting air that burned my throat with every inhale.
Pushing myself upright, I blinked against the sweat already pouring down my face and took in my surroundings. What I saw defied belief.
Above me, a sky of roiling crimson and black churned like a violent, eternal storm. There were no stars, no moon, nothing resembling the familiar skies of the dungeons I'd seen before. The ground stretched out in every direction, cracked and broken obsidian rock, glowing faintly from molten veins of lava that spidered through its surface. Far off, jagged mountains rose, their peaks glowing an ominous orange as if they were barely containing the fires within.
I didn't need anyone to tell me where I was.
"This is an S-rank dungeon," I muttered, my voice hoarse.
My chest tightened as the weight of that realization settled over me. S-rank dungeons were the stuff of legend. The strongest hunters in the world barely survived them, and entire guilds had been erased attempting to conquer even one. Survivors rarely spoke of what they'd seen—when they did, their stories painted a picture of absolute death.
And now, somehow, I was here. Alone.
I forced myself to my feet, wobbling slightly as the ground beneath me seemed to shift subtly, vibrating with a low, rhythmic hum. It was faint, but I could feel it in my bones, like the heartbeat of the dungeon itself. The heat bore down on me relentlessly, soaking my clothes with sweat as I staggered forward.
The first step I took triggered something.
A soft click echoed beneath my boot.
I froze, my blood running cold. My eyes darted downward, and I saw it: a pressure plate, barely visible beneath the layer of jagged obsidian.
"Shit!"
The ground erupted. A jagged spike shot upward, narrowly missing my torso as I dove to the side. I landed hard on my shoulder, pain jolting through my body, but I didn't stop moving. I rolled to the right as another spike shot up where I had just been lying.
The stone retracted almost immediately, vanishing as if it had never been disturbed. I stayed on the ground, my chest heaving, staring at the now-innocent-looking floor.
I'd almost died.
Not to a monster, not to some powerful spell, but to a trap. My hands trembled as I forced myself to my feet, scanning the ground more carefully this time. The faint outlines of pressure plates were everywhere, scattered like landmines across the path ahead.
My throat tightened. This dungeon wasn't just dangerous—it was designed to kill.
Step by cautious step, I moved forward, testing the ground with my foot before shifting my weight. The traps were varied—pressure plates, hidden pitfalls, even a section of ground that collapsed into razor-sharp shards of stone. By the time I reached what looked like a safer area, my body was drenched in sweat, my legs aching from the effort of staying so alert.
I entered a narrow hallway. The heat here was less oppressive, replaced by an odd weight in the air, like static before a lightning storm. The walls on either side were carved with intricate symbols that pulsed faintly with a dull red glow. As I stared at them, the shapes seemed to shift and writhe, almost alive.
I reached out, hesitant but compelled. My fingers brushed the surface of one of the symbols, and a jolt of energy surged through me, sharp and searing. I yanked my hand back, but the symbol flared brightly in response.
And then, a voice echoed in my head.
"Welcome, anomaly."
My heart stopped.
"What?" I whispered, my voice shaking.
"You do not belong here," the voice continued, deep and distorted, as if spoken from underwater. "And yet… you were chosen."
The carvings around me pulsed in time with the words, the glow growing brighter. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the voice faded, leaving behind only the eerie silence of the hallway.
I stared at the wall, my mind racing. Who—or what—had spoken to me? And what did it mean by "chosen"?
Before I could think further, a low growl echoed from behind me.
I turned slowly, every instinct screaming at me to run, but my legs locked in place.
From the shadows of the hallway, a massive creature emerged. Its body was grotesque, hunched over with unnaturally long limbs that bent at sickening angles. Its skin was a patchwork of black and crimson, glistening like wet tar. The eyes, two glowing orbs of malevolent red, locked onto me with predatory intent.
It snarled, revealing a maw filled with jagged teeth, and saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling as it hit the stone floor.
I had no weapon. No spells. No powers.
I was dead.
The creature crouched, its muscles tensing like a coiled spring. I took a step back, my mind racing for an escape, but there was nowhere to go.
Unless…
My eyes darted to the carvings on the wall. The last time I touched them, they had reacted—released some kind of energy. Could they help me now?
I didn't have time to think. The creature lunged.
With no other option, I slammed my hand against the nearest glowing symbol. A surge of raw energy shot through my body, so intense it almost knocked me off my feet. The carvings lit up instantly, the entire hallway coming alive with a blinding red light.
The creature let out an ear-splitting roar as tendrils of energy lashed out from the walls, striking its body midair. It was thrown back with a force that shook the ground, slamming into the far wall with a sickening crunch.
The carvings pulsed one final time before dimming, their light fading until the hallway returned to its eerie darkness.
I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air, my arm trembling from the aftershock of whatever I'd just triggered.
The creature twitched, smoke rising from its scorched body. But it wasn't dead.
With a guttural snarl, it began to stir, dragging itself back to its feet. Its glowing red eyes burned brighter, now filled with rage.
I didn't wait for it to recover.
I ran.
The hallway twisted and turned as I sprinted, the creature's roars echoing behind me. I stumbled into a massive chamber, the ground glowing faintly with molten cracks. Spiraling pillars jutted out of the floor, carved with the same shifting symbols.
I dove behind one of the pillars, pressing my back against its cool surface. My chest heaved, and I struggled to silence my ragged breaths.
The creature stalked into the room moments later, its claws scraping against the stone as it sniffed the air. I held my breath, praying it wouldn't find me.
But it did.
Its glowing eyes locked onto my hiding spot, and it let out a deafening roar.
I had no choice.
I slammed my hand against the carvings on the pillar. The chamber erupted with red light, the symbols on every pillar igniting in unison. Tendrils of energy lashed out, binding the creature in place and slamming it into the ground.
The room trembled as the light grew brighter and brighter, until it finally faded, leaving the creature smoldering and motionless.
I collapsed onto the floor, my entire body trembling.
"What the hell is this place?" I whispered.
The carvings offered no answer, but in the back of my mind, I felt something stir. A voice.
"Deeper."
I looked toward a dark passageway at the far end of the chamber, the pull of the voice impossible to ignore.
"Deeper," it repeated.
Despite every instinct screaming at me to turn back, I took a step forward.
And then another.