Stepping through the portal was like shedding a heavy, suffocating skin.
The oppressive, lightless pressure of the Null vanished, replaced by a vast, echoing stillness.
I blinked, my eyes struggling to adjust not to darkness, but to the dim, ambient light of a massive, circular chamber.
The air was cool and still, smelling of ancient stone and dust.
And I wasn't alone.
There, in the center of the chamber, stood a familiar, ragged group.
Tobias, his broad frame a bastion of weary strength, his claymore a silent promise on his back.
Lily, her fiery ponytail a splash of color in the gloom, her bow resting in a relaxed but ready grip.
Marcus, leaning against a pillar with a practiced nonchalance that didn't quite reach his eyes.
And Evelyn, her silver hair seeming to glow, her hands clasped tightly around her staff.
Lily was the first to spot me. Her head snapped up, and her sharp eyes widened a fraction.
"Allen?" she asked, her voice laced with genuine surprise. "You're alive."
I gave a short, curt nod.
Tobias stepped forward, his heavy boots echoing in the quiet.
"We thought you were dead," he said, his voice a low, steady rumble. There was no accusation in it, just a blunt statement of fact. "What happened? You were right behind us at the portal, but when we came through, you were gone."
I met his gaze.
How much could I say? If I tell them everything that happened, and all I encountered.
It would raise suspicions, and questions like 'how could a D-rank survive something like that'
"I… I don't really know," I finally answered. "One moment I was stepping through, the next I was alone. Somewhere else."
A look passed between the others, a shared, unspoken understanding of their own ordeal.
"We all ended up in different parts of the dungeon," Lily explained, uncrossing her arms and gesturing vaguely at the empty space around us. "Traps, monsters, puzzles. It was a tailored nightmare. We only just found each other and made our way here."
Marcus pushed off the pillar, his trademark smirk firmly in place, though it looked a little strained.
"Heh, you missed the fun, man. I had to disarm like fifty traps to get through. They owe me for that." He winked, but the gesture felt hollow, a mask for the tension we all felt.
Evelyn's soft voice cut through the bravado.
"I-I'm just glad you're okay." She offered me a timid smile, her violet eyes flicking to mine for a second before darting away.
I gave her a small nod of acknowledgment, but my attention was already being pulled away, drawn to the far end of the chamber.
There, shrouded in deeper shadows where the dim light failed to reach, was a throne-like structure of jagged, black stone.
And on it, a figure.
It was tall and unnaturally still, its long, thin fingers resting like pale spiders on the armrests.
Its face was hidden in shadow, but two points of crimson light burned where its eyes should be, fixed directly on me. Watching. Waiting.
I felt a cold knot tighten in my stomach.
"Do you guys… see that?" I gestured toward the throne.
Tobias frowned, following my gaze to the empty, shadowed alcove.
"See what?"
Evelyn raised a delicate eyebrow, her expression one of concern.
"Are you okay, Allen?"
The realization was a bucket of ice water.
They couldn't see it. Only I could.
As if sensing my discovery, the figure leaned forward ever so slightly.
The movement was fluid, predatory. A silent acknowledgment passed between us in the stagnant air.
I clenched my fists, feeling a wave of primal unease crawl down my spine.
This wasn't over. Something was very, very wrong.
Oblivious, Tobias turned his back on the throne, his focus on a large, ornate gate at the chamber's opposite end.
"Whatever happens next, we need to stick together. Agreed?"
"Yeah," Marcus said, rolling his shoulders with a audible pop. "Not keen on getting separated again."
Evelyn nodded timidly, and Lily let out a resigned sigh.
"Fine. But no heroics, Tobias."
Their voices faded into a dull buzz. My entire world had narrowed to the silent, watching figure.
It hadn't moved again, but its presence was a weight, a hook set deep in my consciousness.
I clenched my jaw, the muscles tight.
Leaving this place was not going to be simple.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I forced my attention back to my team.
Whatever that is, whether they could see it or not, was the final arbiter of our fate.
And deep in my gut, I knew with cold certainty that the final stage had already begun. And it was going to be hell.