The creature moved.
Izumi's breath hitched as the massive beast took slow, deliberate steps toward him. Each step crushed the corpses beneath it, the sickening sound of snapping bones and squelching flesh echoing in the darkness.
Izumi wanted to move. To run. To crawl. To do anything.
But his body refused.
The fall had left him battered, and the blood loss from his severed hands had drained his strength. He could only watch as the monster approached, its chained limbs dragging across the corpses.
Closer.
The stench of rotting flesh and dried blood grew stronger.
Closer.
Its breath was hot, heavy, and unnervingly human-like as it hovered over him.
Izumi's heartbeat pounded in his ears.
But then—
The chain stopped it.
The monster snarled, its restraints pulling taut just inches away from Izumi. Too short. It couldn't reach him.
Izumi exhaled shakily. That was too close.
Then—a voice.
Calm. Commanding. Amused.
Izumi didn't think. He buried himself beneath the corpses, pressing his body into the decaying pile, using the dead as cover.
Footsteps echoed.
The monster—the prisoner—sank low, pressing itself into the corpses as if hiding. But it was still watching.
And then, a door appeared.
From the far side of the massive corpse pit, a hidden entrance creaked open, revealing a dimly lit passage.
A figure stepped through.
And when Izumi saw who it was, his blood froze.
Raikou.
He stood there calmly, his sword resting on his shoulder, a smug grin playing on his lips. His eyes flickered toward the chained beast.
"Just behave," Raikou said, his voice dripping with amusement. "Eat your meal. Evolve."
Izumi's mind raced.
Evolve?
Then—Raikou said something that made Izumi's breath catch.
"…And reach the Fifth Tower."
Izumi's eyes widened.
Fifth Tower.
The towers were ranked from One to Five, with Fifth Tower dungeons being the most dangerous, housing monsters beyond human comprehension.
This was a Second Tower dungeon.
That meant… this guild was trying to forcibly evolve it.
And to do that—they needed human sacrifices.
Izumi clenched his teeth.
That's what this was. That's why I was sent here. That's why they betrayed me.
Raikou and his Black Sun Guild weren't just criminals. They were monsters.
This wasn't just some twisted experiment. It was an illegal ritual.
A practice so dangerous, so forbidden, that even the government would execute anyone caught attempting it.
That's because forcing a tower to evolve was unpredictable.
The boss could break free. The tower could collapse. The creature could become something uncontrollable.
That's why it was forbidden.
Raikou stepped forward, drawing his sword.
The chained monster growled, its muscles tensing. But it couldn't reach him.
"Good dog." Raikou smirked. Then, without warning, he slashed.
The monster roared in pain. Blood splattered.
But the chain kept it from retaliating.
Raikou slashed again. And again.
He laughed, enjoying the way the creature writhed. "Come on. Just evolve already."
Izumi watched in horror.
After what felt like an eternity, Raikou finally stopped. He wiped the blood from his sword and turned away, walking out of the dungeon like it was nothing.
Izumi's heart pounded.
Raikou was torturing it. Forcing its body to regenerate. Forcing it to mutate.
And then—
Izumi saw it.
As the monster trembled, some of its wounds began to close.
And then—it reached for a corpse.
Izumi watched, breathless, as the beast tore into the body, devouring it.
And as it ate—its wounds healed even faster.
Izumi's stomach churned.
Black Sun Guild… is insane.