The tunnels grew strange.
The air changed first — thicker, metallic. Then the stone changed. What once was cold rock became soft, damp… alive.
Kael narrowed his eyes as a drop of red liquid landed on his shoulder, sizzling faintly.
Not water. Blood.
"Warning: Entering Zone — The Maw." "Biome Type: Organic. Threat Level: Moderate to High."
[New Area Discovered: The Maw – A Living Dungeon]
Zar clutched his blade tighter. "This place… it breathes."
Kael's eyes scanned the twitching walls. "It feeds. We're inside something that wants us dead."
A low groan echoed from deep within the walls. The floor pulsed rhythmically beneath their feet, a slow heartbeat vibrating through the damp ground. The scent of blood and bile lingered in the air.
The walls moved.
Out from flesh-like crevices came oozing figures — blood slimes with red glowing eyes and translucent forms, pulsing with corrupted mana.
Behind them skittered bony insectoid beasts, their limbs serrated, jaws lined with tiny writhing tentacles.
Zar stepped forward, blade trembling. Kael did not flinch.
[Skill Activated: Abyss Claw Lv.1] [Target: Blood Slime (x3)] — Destroyed.
Kael moved like a phantom — vanishing and reappearing in arcs of black shadow. His strikes were precise, brutal. Mana surged through his veins with each motion.
Zar rolled beneath a leaping slime, stabbing it midair.
[Combo Skill Initiated: Pack Execution Lv.1] [EXP Gained: +210]
They moved as one. Master and follower. Abyss and blade.
They pressed deeper into the Maw, the corridor narrowing as pulsing veins began to line the walls, glowing faintly with mana.
Kael paused. "SAGE."
"Yes?"
"The mana. It's… watching."
"Correct. Organic dungeon systems have primitive consciousness. Threat level increases the deeper you go."
A mouth opened on the floor ahead — jagged, wet, teeth glistening with slime.
Kael flicked his wrist.
[Skill Activated: Dark Javelin Lv.1]
A spear of black light formed and launched instantly, piercing the center of the maw. It shrieked and collapsed into itself, oozing black bile.
The dungeon moaned in pain.
Kael exhaled slowly. "It learns."
Hours passed in endless waves of enemies — slimes, parasites, tendrils. The deeper they traveled, the more alive the dungeon became. Flesh coated the ceiling. Eyes blinked from the walls.
Kael's movements grew sharper. The shadows answered quicker. His mana pulsed stronger.
Zar's blade became an extension of his will, and his body, tougher, faster.
Until they reached the heart.
A chamber vast and pulsating. The walls beat like a heart. The ceiling dripped blood.
And from the center uncoiled it.
A hulking, wormlike creature. Rows of mouths lined its back, each chanting ancient, broken curses. Its eyes were pits of madness. Its voice a rumble from forgotten realms.
[Boss Detected: Flesh Tyrant (Rank D+)] [Estimated Success Rate: 29% — Proceed with Caution.]
Kael stepped forward without pause. His heart thudded — not with fear, but with anticipation.
"I've killed to live," he whispered, "Now I'll kill to conquer."
Zar growled, eyes locked on the beast. "Together."
Kael's grin was like a blade.
[Skill Fusion Available: Abyss Claw + Shadow Step → Shadow Rend Lv.1] [Fusion Confirmed.]
He launched forward, his body twisting into a spiral of void-black energy. The air around him screamed. He reappeared above the Flesh Tyrant mid-leap, claws transformed — longer, curved, glowing abyssal purple.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Rend Lv.1]
He slashed through one of the creature's mouths, severing it completely. Blood exploded like a geyser. The Tyrant howled, walls trembling.
Zar moved below, hacking at its legs. He ducked under a tail strike and countered with a leap, plunging his weapon into soft flesh.
The Tyrant coiled, roaring. Its mouths screamed in forgotten tongues.
Kael landed, crouched low. Blood painted his arms. His aura pulsed darkly.
He looked up. "I am Kael. I do not kneel."
Shadows gathered again.
He vanished — reappeared on the creature's spine. Slashed. Mouths died. Zar climbed its side, using old scars as footholds.
They were not just fighting. They were erasing it.
Minutes stretched into eternity.
Then — silence.
The beast crashed to the ground. Twitching. Then still.
[Boss Defeated: Flesh Tyrant] [EXP Gained: +420] [Rare Drop Acquired: Cursed Core Fragment x1] [New Area Unlocked: Maw Depths]
Kael stood atop the corpse, shadows dissipating. Zar limped toward him, smiling through blood.
"We live."
Kael looked at his hands. They trembled with power.
[Kael – Rank: E] [New Skill: Shadow Rend Lv.1] [Followers: 1 – Zar (F+)] [Title Progress: Lord of the Fallen – 44%] [Hidden Trait: Monarch Instinct – Awakening 6%]
The Maw had tested them. But hunger would not consume the Abyssborn.
Kael would devour the world instead.