The blade whistled through the air, aimed for Cale's throat.
CLANG.
He barely raised his sword in time, his arm trembled as it absorbed the force. His eyes locked with hers, Aelira, the party's healer. She was the one who always patched him up after battles, the one whose gentle hands had saved his life countless times.
Now, those very hands were clutching a dagger aimed to end him.
"Aelira!"
Cale shouted, his voice echoing through the crumbling walls of the Demon King's throne room.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Her face twisted, and for the first time, something that made his stomach churn appeared, cold calculation.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Cale. Just lay down your sword."
"Lay down my—" He choked on the words. "You're trying to kill me!"
From behind her, Rhogar, this ever-loyal tank, surprisingly stepped forward, his warhammer resting casually on one broad shoulder.
"You don't get it, do you? It's not personal."
Not personal?
Cale's heart pounded as he scanned their faces. Jorin, the rogue, stood off to the side, flipping one of his daggers between his fingers like this was all some kind of game. Even Velena, the party's mage, usually so composed, watched with barely concealed disdain.
"You're joking," Cale said in a trembling voice. "We defeated the Demon King together. Everything we've been through—"
"That's the problem," Aelira cut him off, her tone ice-cold. "We defeated the Demon King, but you're the one they'll sing songs about. The Hero. The the people's saviour. The one who's too pure-hearted to make the hard choices."
The hard choices? What the hell were they talking about?
Rhogar spoke next, his deep voice filled with the same disdain Cale had heard from Aelira.
"We fought to survive, Cale. You fought for glory. And now that the Demon King's gone, you'd stand in the way of what comes next."
"What comes next?" Cale demanded, his grip tightening on his sword.
Aelira smiled, the kind of smile that made Cale's blood run cold.
"A new world order, of course. The treasures, the inheritance we've claimed here will make us gods among men. We'll rule."
It hit him like a blow to the chest.
The people he'd trusted, fought beside, bled for, they weren't heroes. They were conquerors.
And he was their loose end.
"You knew I'd never go along with this," he said, the realization dawning.
Aelira's smile widened. "Exactly."
The air thickened with tension, magic crackling as Velena began to weave a spell. Rhogar hefted his warhammer, and Jorin's daggers stopped spinning.
"Sorry, mate," Jorin said with a shrug. "But you've outlived your usefulness."
Cale clenched his teeth, every fiber of his being screaming for him to fight. But they weren't just his allies, they were his family.
Or so he'd thought.
"Enough talking," Rhogar rumbled, stepping forward. "Let's finish this."
They attacked as one, a blur of steel and magic. Cale blocked Rhogar's hammer with his sword, sparks flying as the impact rattled his bones. His intricate white heroic armour clanked heavily from the vibration of the impact.
Jorin darted in from the side, his dagger slicing toward Cale's ribs.
He twisted away, barely avoiding the strike, only for Aelira to step in, her blade flashing.
"Stop!" Cale shouted, desperation coloring his voice. "You don't have to do this!"
But their eyes told him the truth—they already had.
The fight was chaos, a deadly dance of blows and dodges. Cale managed to land a few strikes, drawing blood from Jorin's arm and forcing Rhogar back, but it wasn't enough.
He was outnumbered, outmatched.
And then he saw it—the black pill.
It sat on a pedestal at the room's center, the last remnant of the Demon King's treasure hoard. He'd guarded it with his life, even in his final moments. None of them knew what it did, but they'd all felt its power.
If he was going to die, he wasn't going to let them have it.
Breaking away from the fight, Cale lunged for the pedestal.
Aelira screamed, "NO!" but it was too late.
He snatched the pill and swallowed it whole.
Instantly, a searing pain ripped through Cale's body, like fire coursing through his veins. He collapsed to his knees, clutching his chest as the world spun.
"What did you do?!" Velena shrieked with madness in her eyes, her spell fizzling out
.
Before he could answer, the dungeon itself seemed to react. The ground shook, cracks spiderwebbing across the floor as a strange purple glow filled the chamber.
A portal opened beneath him, a swirling void that cackled with light and shadow.
"Damn it!" Rhogar shouted, reaching for him, but the pull was too strong.
Cale was dragged into the portal, their furious shouts fading as he fell into darkness.
When he woke, the first thing he noticed was the silence. No echoes of battle, no voices of betrayal, just a heavy, oppressive stillness.
The second thing was the voice.
"Welcome, new Master."
Cale bolted upright, his body still aching from the fight. He was in a cavern, illuminated by a pulsating crystal embedded in the ground. The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"Who's there?" he demanded, his voice hoarse.
The crystal glowed brighter, and then, to his utter disbelief, a figure emerged—a woman, or something close to it.
She was undeniably beautiful, with a graceful figure and flowing purple hair. However, her eyes, with their vertically slit pupils, held a hint of reptilian menace, reminding him of a viper.
Her form looked ethereal. Her curves, her soft skin… It was accentuated by glowing tattoos that mirrored the runes that strangely enough, was now etched into his own skin.
Not to talk of her ears which had quite a noticeable pointy edge.
"I am the Dungeon Core," she said, her voice smooth yet held a commanding edge. "And you, Cale, are now my Master."
He staggered to his feet, glaring at her. "What the hell does that mean? And how do you know my name?"
She tilted her head, amusement flickering in her glowing eyes. "I know everything about you, Hero. Your strengths, your weaknesses, your betrayal."
The word hit like a dagger, but he shoved the pain aside. "What do you want from me?"
"It is not what I want," she replied, her voice drifting like a melody, echoing faintly through the cavern.
"It is what you want. Power. Revenge. A kingdom to call your own. All of this can be yours, if you accept your role as Dungeon Master."
Cale blinked, his mind trying to process her words. Dungeon Master? Power? Revenge?
His head was still spinning from everything that had happened—betrayal, the fight, the portal, and now… her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he growled, trying to mask the unease bubbling beneath his defiance. "Why should I trust anything you say?"
She tilted her head, her glowing, violet eyes piercing through him. "Trust is irrelevant. You have already made your choice when you consumed the Demon King's Pill. It bound you to me. To this dungeon. To your destiny."
"That pill…" he muttered, glancing down at his hands.
The runes etched into his skin, he felt it pulse faintly, like a heartbeat.
"What did it do to me?"
Her lips curled into a sly smile. "The pill was a vessel of unimaginable power, a fragment that not only bore the Demon King's essence, but a power even greater. When you consumed it, it awakened you, reshaped you. It made you capable of something far greater than being a mere 'hero."
She spat the word like it was an insult.
Cale staggered back, his legs threatening to give out. His body still felt strange, too light yet brimming with energy he didn't understand.
"You expect me to believe all of this? That I'm suddenly some chosen Dungeon Master because I swallowed a magic pill?" He shook his head, his voice rising with frustration.
"What's the catch? What do you get out of this?"
Her laugh was soft, almost teasing, but there was an edge to it. "I get survival. This dungeon—your dungeon, is tied to me, as much as it is now tied to you. If you grow stronger, I grow stronger. If you fall, I fall."
She leaned closer, her soft form brushing gently against his skin. "So, you see, Master, our fates are entwined."
He opened his mouth to argue, but before he could speak, something flickered in the corner of his vision.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
A cold, mechanical voice reverberated through his mind, making him flinch.
"What the—"
He froze, staring at the glowing text suddenly floating in front of him.
[Welcome to the Dungeon Master System.]
[Integrating user: Cale Evander.]
The words hung in the air, impossibly vivid. They weren't just in his head—he could see them, hovering like ghostly projections.
"Is this… part of your doing?" he asked, gesturing toward the strange display.
The Dungeon Core tilted her head, her expression curious. "The system is yours now. A gift from the pill you consumed. It will guide you, teach you, and enforce the rules of your new existence. Think of it as… a tool. One you must learn to wield."
A tool? That was one way to describe something that had just casually rewritten the laws of reality in front of him.
Before he could ask more questions, the text shifted again.
[System Integration Complete.]
[Initializing Core Directives…]
The voice returned, flat and emotionless.
[Core Directive #1: Establish your Dungeon. Strengthen its defenses and expand its reach.]
[Core Directive #2: Cultivate strength through your dungeon's resources. Conquer or negotiate with other factions.]
[Core Directive #3: Defend your Dungeon Core at all costs. Failure will result in permanent death.]
"Permanent death?!" Cale exclaimed, his voice echoing through the cavern. "You're telling me if this dungeon goes down, I go down with it?"
The Core's eyes gleamed. "Indeed. That is why you must protect it. And in doing so, you will rise."
The text flickered again, almost impatiently.
[Begin Tutorial Sequence? Y/N]
"Tutorial sequence?" he muttered. "What am I, some kind of new player in a twisted game?"
"Call it what you will," the Core said, her tone a bit amused.
"But you would do well to accept. This world is unforgiving to the weak, Master. And you are surrounded by enemies who would tear you apart if given the chance. Not to mention those you left behind."
Cale's fists clenched at her words, the memory of their betrayal cutting through him like a hot knife through butter. Aelira, Rhogar, Jorin—every single one of them had looked him in the eye and decided he was disposable.
And now, they thought he was gone.
Fine. Let them think that.
He took a deep breath and stared at the glowing text.
[Begin Tutorial Sequence? Y/N]
Cale raised his hand, hesitating for only a moment before jabbing a finger toward the 'Y.'
The world around him shifted instantly.
The cavern darkened, and glowing runes lit up along the walls, spreading like veins of molten light. The air crackled with raw magic, and the Dungeon Core's figure grew from ethereal to a sharper, more solid form. More like a real person.
"Good," she said, her voice laced with approval. "Now the real work begins."
The text returned, more vibrant than ever.
[Tutorial: Construct Your First Room.]
[Objective: Create a Dungeon Entrance.]
A surge of information flooded Cale's mind—schematics, designs, layouts. He clutched his head, groaning as the knowledge burned its way into his thoughts.
"What… what is this?" he gasped.
"Knowledge," the Core said simply. "The system is equipping you with the tools you'll need. Think of it as instinct—something you've always known but never tapped into until now."
Instinct? It felt more like someone was shoving an entire library into his brain.
But as the pain subsided, clarity replaced the chaos. He understood—how to shape the stone, how to lay traps, how to channel mana through the dungeon's veins.
He looked down at his hands, now steady despite the whirlwind in his mind.
This was his now. His dungeon. His domain.
"You said this place was tied to me," he said, a slow smile creeping across his face. "Fine. Let's see what we can do with it."
The Core's smile mirrored his own. "That's the spirit, Master."
As the glowing runes continued to pulse
around him, Cale clenched his fists and took a step forward.
It was quite ironic but he didnt look like a Hero anymore.
He was now something much more dangerous. He just became the very existence he fought all his life.
"Let's build a dungeon."
___
Author's Note:
Hey everyone, Monarchofink here!
Thank you so much for reading my story. If you're enjoying it, please take a moment to vote and share your thoughts in the comments, it really motivates me and helps me improve. Don't forget to add it to your library so you don't miss any updates!
Your support keeps me writing. Thanks again!
—Monarchofink