Reincarnation of the magicless Pinoy
From Zero to Hero " No Magic?,No Problem!"
Encounter 23 : Chain breaker!
The ground shook again, a violent rumble rolling beneath their boots as the wyvern's wings tore at the air above. The beast screeched, calling to its kin, and within moments more shadows cut across the sky.
"Shit—there's more of them!" Ren shouted, loosing an arrow that barely grazed one's scaled neck.
"Don't stop running!" Tessa barked, her voice sharp, steady, dragging the group forward through the uneven terrain.
Bragg shielded the rear, his massive frame and tower shield taking the brunt of falling stone and wing beats, while Pete and Solis hurled bursts of arcane light to keep the wyverns from swooping too close. Rowan stayed at the front with Tessa, sword drawn, ready to cut down anything that got too close.
Then the earth split beneath their feet.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground with a deafening crack, the stones giving way before anyone could react.
"Hold on—!" Pete's voice was swallowed by the roar of collapsing stone as the party plummeted into darkness.
Dust and grit choked their throats as they tumbled, bouncing off jagged rock until the fall ended with a heavy, echoing crash. Groaning, the adventurers stirred, each one slowly pushing themselves up, weapons raised instinctively despite the pain.
"Everyone… alive?" Tessa asked, coughing through the dust.
"Barely," Bragg grunted, hauling himself up with his shield.
When the dust cleared, their surroundings came into focus. Instead of the jagged cavern floor they expected, they found themselves standing in the middle of a massive underground hall. The stone walls were carved with ancient patterns, faintly glowing runes winding upward into the shadows above. Crumbled statues lined the edges, their broken faces twisted into expressions of fury and grief.
Pete's eyes widened. "This… this isn't a cave. It's a dungeon."
Solis whispered, voice trembling. "And not just any dungeon. This place was buried, sealed off. We weren't supposed to find it."
As soon as Rolien's boots hit the cracked stone floor, a faint chime echoed in his head.
[System Notification: You have entered the dungeon – Pit of Devouring Shadows.]
[Rank: A+]
Rolien froze, jaw tightening.
"Tch, jeez… thanks for the heads-up," he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the suffocating dark.
The others noticed the shift in his expression.
"What's wrong?" one of them asked.
Rolien clicked his tongue again and finally said it out loud.
"This place… it's called the Pit of Devouring Shadows. Rank A+."
Silence. Their faces stiffened, the weight of the words sinking in. A+ dungeons weren't just dangerous—they were practically death warrants for unprepared teams.
"Y-you're serious?" someone stammered.
"Dead serious," Rolien replied, eyes narrowing. Then he looked up slightly, addressing the air as if speaking to something only he could hear.
"System, can you map out this dungeon?"
A cold mechanical chime rang out:
[Request acknowledged. Mapping dungeon… please wait.]
[Loading… █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 10%]
A faint holographic loading bar shimmered in his vision. Rolien sighed.
"Great. Guess we'll be walking blind for a while."
He motioned for them to move.
"Stay close. Don't do anything stupid until I say otherwise. We keep moving while the map loads."
The group nodded nervously, every step echoing louder than it should as the darkness seemed to swallow the sound around them.
The silence that followed was broken only by the distant drip of water echoing in the dark. Then, deeper within the hall, something shifted—slow, deliberate, the grinding of stone on stone.
The party exchanged uneasy glances. They had escaped the wyverns… only to stumble into something far worse.
The group pressed deeper into the hidden dungeon, the faint glow of moss clinging to the stone walls their only light. Their footsteps echoed in the cavern, heavy and uneven after their frantic fall. Dust hung in the air, thick and choking, every breath reminding them how far they were from the open sky.
Pete muttered under his breath, clutching his staff. "I swear this is cursed ground… we just had to fall straight into the pit."
"Shut it, mage," Bragg grumbled, his massive shield scraping against the wall. "If something's down here, it already knows where we are. No need to announce it."
Ren moved ahead, bow drawn, his eyes darting across every shadow. His voice was low and tight. "Tunnel splits up ahead. Right passage smells damp. Left one smells… rotten."
"Rotten?" Solis adjusted his glasses, his other hand already conjuring faint sparks of arcane light. "That usually means corpses. Or worse, something that makes them."
Rowan, standing point with his blade resting on his shoulder, cracked a half-grin. "Good. I was getting tired of running. Let's see what's waiting for us."
Tessa raised her hand, silencing the chatter. Her voice cut sharp but calm. "Stay close. We need a way out, not a grave. Left path first—we check it, then double back if it's blocked."
They pressed on, the air thickening as the stench grew stronger. Soon, the walls opened into a cavernous chamber, its ceiling lost in darkness. Piles of bones littered the ground, some picked clean, others still clinging to scraps of flesh.
Then came the sound. A low, wet scraping, like claws dragging over stone.
From the far end of the chamber, two pairs of glowing eyes blinked open. Then more.
Shapes stirred in the darkness—gaunt, twisted beasts, their skin pale and tight over skeletal frames. Fanged maws split wide, drool hissing as it hit the stone.
"Ghoulspawn," Solis whispered, his voice trembling despite himself.
The creatures let out guttural, hungry shrieks, the sound bouncing off the walls until it felt like the whole chamber was alive with their cries.
Bragg slammed his shield into the ground with a loud clang. "Finally," he growled, grinning with bloodlust. "Something I can hit."
The pack of monsters surged forward, claws outstretched.
Tessa's sword gleamed as she barked, "Formation! Hold the line!"
The dungeon shook with the first clash of steel and claw.
The first ghoulspawn lunged like a blur, its claws screeching against Bragg's greatshield. Sparks spat as the brute laughed through the strain, shoving forward with raw force. "You picked the wrong wall, ugly!" His sword followed in an overhead arc, cleaving straight through the creature's skull.
But for every one he dropped, three more poured out of the dark.
Ren's arrows sang through the air, whistling precise and deadly. One shot pinned a ghoulspawn's limb to the wall, another buried itself clean into an open maw. "Tessa! Left flank, three incoming!" he called, loosing arrow after arrow like his bow was an extension of his heartbeat.
"I see them!" Tessa whirled, twin blades flashing silver as she intercepted the pack. Her movements were sharp and relentless, each strike cutting tendons, severing jaws, carving open throats. She danced between swipes, parrying with one sword while countering with the other, her every step measured but furious.
Pete, shaking with wide eyes, chanted clumsily behind them, sweat dripping down his forehead. "I-I've got this, I've got this—" A surge of healing light shot out, wrapping Bragg's bleeding arm just in time to seal the gash. "Ha! I did it!"
"Don't celebrate yet, rookie!" Solis snapped, his tone more command than scold. With one hand, he hurled a bolt of lightning that ripped through three ghouls in a chain of exploding arcs, burning the stench of ozone into the air. His other hand carved runes midair, the arcane glow forming barriers that slowed the creatures' advance.
Through it all, Rowan stepped forward, calm amid the chaos. The jaws of two ghoulspawn clamped down on his arm—only for their fangs to shatter against his steel-forged Jawbreaker. "My turn."
He clenched his fist, runes blazing across the prosthetic. A pulse of raw electricity burst outward.
[Skill Activated: Shock Field]
The chamber lit up in blinding light. A dome of crackling energy expanded from Rowan's arm, frying every ghoulspawn within reach. Their shrieks turned into distorted gurgles as their bodies convulsed, twitching violently before collapsing in smoking heaps.
The air sizzled. Silence followed—briefly.
Then, deeper in the cavern, a new sound emerged. A guttural growl. Heavy, deliberate footsteps. Bones crunching under immense weight.
Ren's bow trembled as he adjusted his aim, sweat running down his temple. "That… that's not ghoulspawn."
From the shadows, a hulking figure stepped forward—eight feet tall, its body a grotesque fusion of ghoul and beast, stitched together with pulsating veins of corrupted mana. Four arms, each tipped with talons like jagged blades. Its eyes glowed with unnatural fire.
The system chimed in Rowan's head:
[System Notification: Dungeon Elite Encounter – Abomination Ghoulspawn]
[Rank: A+]
Objective: Survive.]
Rowan's lips curved into a thin grin as he cracked his neck. "Tch. Of course it wouldn't be that easy."
The monster roared, and the chamber shook.
"Formation's over," Tessa shouted, sweat gleaming on her brow. "This thing'll tear us apart if we stand still!"
"Then we move," Rowan said calmly, sparks still crackling off his Jawbreaker arm. He pointed forward. "We take it down together."
The Abomination charged.
The Abomination thundered forward, every step cracking stone beneath its claws. Bragg braced, shield raised, but even he muttered under his breath, "That thing hits harder than a damn wyvern."
Rowan exhaled, jaw tightening. "Fine. Let's change the tune."
With a flick, he holstered the Jawbreaker's sparking form against his side, his free hand reaching for the compact weapon strapped across his back. In one smooth motion, the Airgun V4 slid into his grip, the chamber glowing faintly like an ember. He pulled a magazine from his pouch—carved slots gleaming with fire-imbued stones—and slammed it into place with a click.
The weapon thrummed to life, heat radiating from its core. Rowan gave a sharp grin.
"Version four, baby. Let's see if you can chew this."
The Hawks spared him a glance, then tightened formation instinctively around him.
The Abomination lunged, its four arms scything down. Bragg met the first blow head-on, shield braced, his boots grinding deep grooves into the stone as he held. "Move it!" he roared through grit teeth.
Tessa darted left, her dual blades flashing like mirrored fangs, cutting into the monster's exposed tendon. The beast howled, but its other arm swept wide—only for Ren's arrow to strike clean into its eye, buying her the space to roll free.
"Don't miss, Rowan!" Ren barked, loosing another arrow in rapid succession.
Rowan's response was the hiss of compressed mana. He squeezed the trigger, and the first shot burst forth—an incandescent round that streaked through the chamber like a flare. It slammed into the Abomination's chest, erupting in a fireball that forced the beast back a full step.
The chamber shook with its enraged roar.
Pete nearly fumbled his chant, hands trembling as he tried to keep healing channels steady. "D-does that thing ever stop moving?! It's like fighting a wall that screams!"
"Focus, rookie!" Solis snapped, already weaving a sigil in the air. Lightning snaked from his fingertips, striking along the path Rowan's fire round had burned, amplifying the damage in a burst of heat and ozone. "Bragg, rotate on the next swing. Tessa, hit its knees!"
The Abomination slammed two arms down at once. Bragg slid aside, dragging his shield across the ground to deflect the impact. Sparks sprayed as the claws scraped past, inches from Pete's face.
Rowan shifted back, calm under the chaos. His airgun hummed as he fired in rhythm—bang, bang, bang—each round igniting on impact, carving glowing craters into the Abomination's hide. The beast staggered, more enraged than injured, its roars bouncing like thunder in the cavern.
Still, the team moved like cogs in a clockwork machine. Tessa's blades severed tendons, Ren's arrows pierced vital gaps, Bragg held the line, Solis chained spells through Rowan's firepower, and Pete—though shaking—kept their wounds sealed in bursts of white light.
Then, with a sudden bellow, the Abomination slammed all four claws into the ground. The chamber quaked violently, stone splitting apart in jagged cracks. The ceiling groaned.
Ren cursed under his breath. "Oh, that's bad. That's very bad."
The system chimed again in Rowan's head, the text burning bright:
> [System Notification: Abomination entering Frenzy State. All stats doubled. Lethality increased.]
[Survival odds… 28%.]
"Hah! Thanks for reminding us system!" Rolien murmur to himself while dodging another attack.
Rowan's grin widened despite the chaos, teeth glinting in the firelight.
"Tch… twenty-eight, huh? Sounds like my kind of gamble."
The Abomination raised all four arms high, ready to bring them down like hammers.
"Scatter!" Tessa screamed.
The chamber erupted.
The Abomination's claws came down like falling towers. The chamber floor shattered, chunks of stone exploding outward. The Hawks scattered in perfect sync—Tessa sliding low under the shockwave, Ren springing back to higher ground, Bragg planting his shield as cover for Pete, while Solis staggered with his runes flaring.
Rowan dove into a roll, boots scraping against gravel, his Airgun V4 smoking in his hands. He hit a knee, weapon already leveled at the beast.
Bang! Bang!
Two firestone rounds detonated against the Abomination's ribs, flames clawing up its torso. The monster reeled, bellowing, but its Frenzy was only beginning.
With a guttural roar, its wounds began knitting together, blackened flesh sealing over with twitching, corded muscle. The veins along its chest pulsed with crimson mana, glowing hotter, faster.
"Are you kidding me?!" Pete yelped, his staff shaking in both hands. "It's healing faster than we're hitting it!"
"Shut up and cast, rookie!" Bragg barked, shoving the boy behind him as another swipe crashed against his shield. The impact rattled through his bones, nearly tearing the greatshield from his grasp. "Damn thing's stronger than a siege ram—"
"Ren, eyes!" Tessa's voice cut through the chaos.
"On it!" Ren drew back, his bowstring snapping taut. His arrows blurred into streaks, piercing both glowing sockets of the Abomination's face in rapid succession. The beast staggered, blind rage turning its howl into a thunderclap that shook dust from the ceiling.
"Now, Rowan!" Tessa roared.
Rowan's jaw clenched. He flicked the release, ejecting the firestone mag with a hiss. His hand dipped into the pouch, sliding in a fresh cartridge packed with high-compression flame cores—unstable, volatile, dangerous as hell.
The Airgun whined, its barrel glowing faint red as steam hissed from the vents. Rowan exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing. "Let's see you chew this."
He pulled the trigger.
The round screamed across the chamber, a compressed lance of flame erupting the instant it struck the beast's chest. The explosion tore a hole clean through, fire spilling out the other side. The Abomination collapsed to one knee, guttural roars choking on smoke and blood.
But it didn't fall.
Instead, its four claws slammed into the walls around them, dragging its bulk upright. With a guttural cry, the creature ripped chunks of jagged stone free and hurled them like boulders.
"Incoming!" Solis bellowed, throwing up a shimmering arcane wall. The first stone shattered it instantly, fragments raining over the group.
Rowan cursed, reloading on the move. "Tch—system, map progress!"
[Mapping Progress: 72%… Warning: Boss chamber collapse imminent.]
The words burned across his vision. His stomach sank.
"Boss chamber collapse?" he hissed, spitting grit from his mouth.
The Abomination bellowed, charging again—its frenzy making every strike faster, sharper, more lethal.
Tessa snarled, her dual blades clashing against the monster's talons in a desperate parry. "Rowan, we can't hold this thing forever! What's the play?!"
Rowan's airgun hummed, heat bleeding from the vents. He leveled it again, eyes locked on the beast.
"Play?" His lips curled into a sharp grin. "We don't play."
He pulled the trigger—
—and the chamber ceiling groaned, stone cracking as the whole dungeon began to shift.
The system chimed in his head:
> [Emergency Event Triggered: Dungeon Collapse]
[Time Limit: 05:00]
[Objective Updated: Escape with party alive.]
The Abomination roared, flames dancing in its broken chest, as the world above them began to fall.
The cavern trembled with low, guttural growls. Eyes glowed in the dark like embers scattered across the stone walls—monsters emerging from the shadows, their shapes twisted and wrong. Some crawled along the jagged walls like spiders, others lumbered on all fours, muscles rippling under black hides.
Rolien's eyes narrowed. His sword gleamed faintly in the firelight from the crystals, but he knew he couldn't rely on it for long against numbers like these. He slid it back into its sheath and slung his pack forward, pulling out the metallic frame of his modified weapon.
"Version four… let's see if you're worth the upgrades," he muttered.
The airgun clicked together with practiced precision. Rolien flipped open the side, and the faint shimmer of runes glowed along the barrel as he slid in a fresh magazine. Each round wasn't lead or steel—these were firestones cut down and shaped into bullets, crackling with dormant magic. When he slapped the mag in place, the weapon purred faintly, the enchantments syncing with his grip.
One of the creatures screeched, leaping from the wall with claws outstretched.
Rolien raised the airgun, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger.
BOOM!
The shot roared like a miniature cannon, flame bursting as the bullet ignited mid-air. It tore straight through the monster's chest, detonating on impact. The thing shrieked, body engulfed in fire before it crumpled into ash.
Another came from the left, low and fast. Rolien pivoted, firing three quick shots—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Each bullet streaked like molten meteors, ripping into the beast and pinning it to the cavern wall before exploding. Stone cracked from the heat.
The chamber filled with smoke and flame, every blast lighting up the monsters' snarling faces as they surged forward in waves. Rolien smirked, sliding the bolt with a sharp chk-ktch!
"Come on then," he whispered, firelight dancing in his eyes. "Let's turn this pit into your grave."
The cavern trembled with low, guttural growls. Eyes glowed in the dark like embers scattered across the stone walls—monsters emerging from the shadows, their shapes twisted and wrong. Some crawled along the jagged walls like spiders, others lumbered on all fours, muscles rippling under black hides.
Rolien's eyes narrowed. His sword gleamed faintly in the firelight from the crystals, but he knew he couldn't rely on it for long against numbers like these. He slid it back into its sheath and slung his pack forward, pulling out the metallic frame of his modified weapon.
"Version four… let's see if you're worth the upgrades," he muttered.
The airgun clicked together with practiced precision. Rolien flipped open the side, and the faint shimmer of runes glowed along the barrel as he slid in a fresh magazine. Each round wasn't lead or steel—these were firestones cut down and shaped into bullets, crackling with dormant magic. When he slapped the mag in place, the weapon purred faintly, the enchantments syncing with his grip.
One of the creatures screeched, leaping from the wall with claws outstretched.
Rolien raised the airgun, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger.
BOOM!
The shot roared like a miniature cannon, flame bursting as the bullet ignited mid-air. It tore straight through the monster's chest, detonating on impact. The thing shrieked, body engulfed in fire before it crumpled into ash.
Another came from the left, low and fast. Rolien pivoted, firing three quick shots—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Each bullet streaked like molten meteors, ripping into the beast and pinning it to the cavern wall before exploding. Stone cracked from the heat.
The chamber filled with smoke and flame, every blast lighting up the monsters' snarling faces as they surged forward in waves. Rolien smirked, sliding the bolt with a sharp chk-ktch!
"Come on then," he whispered, firelight dancing in his eyes. "Let's turn this pit into your grave."
The earth shook as Rolien stepped deeper into the pit. From every tunnel and shadow, eyes opened—hundreds, then thousands. Wolves with molten fangs, insectoid horrors with blades for limbs, lizard-beasts dripping with acid, and bat-like creatures shrieking in the dark. The dungeon itself seemed to pulse with their presence, like he'd wandered into the beating heart of hell.
"Figures…" Rolien muttered, yanking his airgun free and swapping the chamber. He slammed in a fresh mag loaded with fire-imbued stones, the faint glow of compressed flames flickering inside each round. His grip tightened. "Let's burn."
The first wave lunged. Rolien fired—thoom!—and a firestone bullet detonated, blowing apart a cluster of charging wolves in a spray of smoke and ash. Another round carved a fiery path through a swarm of bat-creatures, their wings igniting mid-air as they shrieked and fell. He pivoted, slammed the butt of his weapon into a lizard-beast's jaw, then fired point-blank into its chest. It exploded into charred meat.
But for every monster that fell, ten more poured in. The pit became chaos—a living tide of fangs, claws, and roars. Rolien's shots lit the darkness like fireworks, fire bursting in waves, his silhouette flashing between shadows as he kept moving, kept killing. The airgun hissed and roared like a dragon in his hands.
Still, sweat ran down his face. His breath grew heavier. No matter how many fell, the horde never thinned.
Then—
A tremor. A pause. The monsters stopped.
Every glowing eye turned toward the center of the cavern. From the deepest shadows, something stirred. The sound of heavy chains being dragged across stone echoed through the pit. The ground cracked, splitting open, and Rolien's instincts screamed louder than any dungeon warning.
The monsters parted.
And in that silence, a massive silhouette rose, its presence suffocating. A horned beast, cloaked in shifting black mist, chains wrapped around its limbs like broken shackles. Its eyes burned blood-red as they locked onto Rolien.
Rolien raised his airgun, jaw set tight. "...Guess you're the boss, huh?"
The dungeon system chimed again:
[Boss Room Engaged: Chainbreaker, The Shackled Warden]
[Difficulty: A+ Rank]
"Tch " he clicks his tongue.
Rolien pulled the trigger—
And the screen went white.