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Chapter 14: The Depths Remember
> Dungeon Classification: Rank 3 – "Spire of Gnashing Veins"
Estimated Completion Team: 12 Ranked Combatants
Status: Unclaimed
Dungeon Effect: Rot / Madness / Bloodbound Resurrection
—Recommended Entry: Denied
Kaelen ignored the warning.
He stepped through the gate.
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Inside the Dungeon
The Spire wasn't vertical—it writhed like a spinal column, each level a twisting bone-chamber laced with twitching red vines. The floor was wet. The air was thick with screaming.
But Kaelen walked with calm steps.
He wanted to test the Hollow Fang.
> "Let's see how far your bite reaches…"
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First Wave: Bone-Cutters
Six enemies leapt from the walls—spindly humanoids with scythe-like arms and faces sewn into toothy grins.
Kaelen didn't activate any skill.
He let the Fang fall into position.
Then, with a whisper of movement—
>
One swing.
No impact. No clash. No sound.
And yet, every creature froze. Their limbs began to unravel at the joints. Not cut—forgotten.
Their bodies fell, but their histories stayed etched in the floor like afterimages.
Kaelen's eye twitched.
> "It cuts before the blade lands…"
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Second Wave: Heartbound Wretches
Ten came this time—half-flesh, half-metal, tethered by chains of blood to a writhing heart in the ceiling. They shrieked in unison and lunged.
Kaelen vanished.
Void Step activated.
He appeared midair, directly above them, both hands gripping the Fang.
He swung downward—
>
Effect: Carve open an event once resisted. Causes recursive trauma. ]
The room itself screamed.
Time stuttered. The Wretches collapsed into themselves, remembering wounds they never suffered.
The beating heart overhead exploded, and the spire shuddered.
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>
Kaelen Eclipseborne
Dungeon Completion Rate: 61%
Solo Clear Trend: CRITICAL DEVIATION
—Dungeon AI initiating adaptive defense…
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Final Trial: Parasite Knight – "Horzan of the Blood Spiral"
The air split apart.
Descending in a spiral of bone and chains, a knight in bloodstained armor rode a centipede made of screaming faces.
> "You do not belong here, outsider," Horzan hissed. "You carry a god's stink."
Kaelen smiled slightly.
> "And you carry recycled arrogance."
Horzan struck first—lashing out with a bone-spear laced with living worms. Kaelen dodged, not out of desperation, but to observe.
Then he retaliated.
One swing of the Fang.
Horzan blocked—
—but his shield began to cry.
Literally. It sobbed as it dissolved.
> "What is this weapon?!"
Kaelen appeared behind him.
> "Your last mistake."
He stabbed the Hollow Fang through Horzan's back.
And ripped out the moment Horzan ever learned to fight.
The Parasite Knight fell without resistance. Silent. Forgotten.
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>
Solo Clear Record Logged – Subject: Eclipseborne ]
Vault Key Obtained
Trait Gained: Memory Dominance (Passive Boost: +8% Echo Effectiveness)
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Kaelen stood at the dungeon's broken core, eyes glowing faint violet.
He didn't just win.
He rewrote the dungeon's story.
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