Episode 4 — Into the Abyss
The dungeon pulsed like a wound in the earth.
Black crystal teeth jutted skyward, swallowing the street where Vert had made his stand. Now the gate yawned open, jagged and endless, violet mist spilling out like breath from a predator's mouth. The ground trembled beneath it, eager to consume more lives.
Bounty hunters gathered at the perimeter, whispering in fear. None dared to step inside.
Except Vert.
His blue veins glowed faintly as he walked toward the gate, hoodie torn and crusted with gore. He didn't hesitate. He didn't ask questions. His smirk was cruel, calm, disrespectful.
"Why wait for prey," he murmured, "when I can walk into their nest?"
And with that, he stepped into the abyss.
⸻
The world warped.
Inside, the dungeon stretched forever. A labyrinth of obsidian walls slick with black ichor, torches burning with violet fire, ceilings vanishing into shadow. The air was heavy, metallic, vibrating with whispers.
Monsters watched from the dark—humanoid silhouettes with twisted limbs, mouths stretching ear to ear. Their eyes burned faint red, blinking in unison.
Vert cracked his neck, baring his fangs. "Perfect."
⸻
The first wave struck.
A dozen creatures lunged, claws flashing, teeth gnashing. Vert met them head-on, body blurring forward with savage grace. His fists split skulls, bones shattering against his hardened defense. Blood painted the walls in thick, dripping strokes.
[Level Up: 13]
[Level Up: 14]
Two came from behind. Vert spun, elbow caving one's face, his heel crushing the other's ribcage.
[Level Up: 15]
He didn't stop moving. Every strike was close, brutal, intimate. The dungeon howled as its children were slaughtered, walls trembling, more spawning from the shadows.
[Level Up: 16]
[Level Up: 17]
The numbers meant nothing now. The kills were constant. Permanent. Endless.
Vert's grin widened as he licked blood from his hand. "This place is beautiful."
⸻
Hours passed—or maybe minutes. Time dissolved inside the dungeon. Vert waded through rivers of gore, his hoodie clinging to his body like a bloody second skin. He felt no fatigue, only exhilaration. His defense hardened with every pulse, every level, his body deflecting claws and blades with inhuman ease.
Deeper he went.
The labyrinth opened into a cavern the size of a cathedral. Towers of bone rose from pools of black blood, violet torches burning atop them. From the ceiling hung corpses—humans, vampires, monsters—all strung up like offerings.
And in the center, something waited.
A dungeon mini-boss.
It crawled on eight limbs, half-spider, half-humanoid, with a skull-like face split by jagged teeth. Its body dripped with black fluid, sizzling against the stone. Chains rattled from its back, tipped with hooks.
It screamed—a sound like metal tearing—and charged.
⸻
Vert laughed.
The chains lashed out, hooks whipping through the air. Vert's body moved without thought, deflecting one with his forearm, seizing another and yanking hard. The creature stumbled forward. Vert slammed his knee into its face, skull cracking under the force.
It shrieked, lashing wildly. One hook ripped across Vert's torso, tearing deep. Blood spilled—only for his veins to ignite, skin knitting back instantly.
The creature froze, sensing something wrong.
Vert smirked, fangs dripping. "Scared?"
He tore forward. His fists caved in its ribs, his teeth sank into its throat, ripping flesh in a fountain of gore. He devoured its heart while it still beat.
The boss convulsed, shrieking, then collapsed into the pool of black blood, twitching until still.
[Level Up: 18]
[Stat Increase: Strength.]
Vert stood over the corpse, blood steaming down his chin. The cavern echoed with silence, broken only by his low, mocking laugh.
"Keep feeding me."
⸻
But the dungeon wasn't finished.
The walls shook. The ceiling split. Violet fire spread across the cavern as something massive clawed its way down—a towering figure wrapped in chains, wings of bone spreading wide. Its eyes glowed molten white.
A second boss.
The hunters outside would never know this layer existed. Most would die before reaching it. But Vert wasn't most. He looked up at the monster, veins blazing like neon rivers, and smiled as if welcoming an old friend.
The dungeon gave him infinity.
And he would never stop taking.
⸻
Far away, in a guild hall above ground, bounty officers slammed down reports. Survivors whispered of a blue-veined predator moving deeper and deeper into the dungeon, feeding endlessly, never stopping.
One officer muttered, pale-faced, "No one comes back from that far inside."
Another replied, "Then pray he never does."
Back in the abyss, Vert leapt forward, fists clenched, laughter echoing like a hymn of slaughter.
[To Be Continued…]