The roar tore through the dungeon again, louder this time, echoing along the stone walls until it became a low, bone-shaking vibration. Dust trickled from the ceiling. The air grew thick, as though the dungeon itself were holding its breath.
Lilith's lungs burned. She clawed weakly at her throat, trying to draw air into her chest, but every inhale felt like swallowing knives. Her limbs trembled violently—her body simply wasn't strong enough to withstand the aura pressing down upon them.
She crumpled further, collapsing fully onto the cold stone floor. Her purple eyes glistened with both terror and humiliation. I can't… move. I can't even stand…
"Asher…" her voice was broken, little more than a whisper.
He stepped in front of her. The shadows at his feet had come alive, rising like smoke before coiling into shape. His expression had changed—no longer casual, no longer distant. His gaze was sharpened with focus, as though he'd just crossed a threshold only few dared approach.
The monster finally emerged.
It was massive, nearly scraping the ceiling of the fourth-floor passage. Its body was plated in obsidian armor that gleamed faintly beneath the torches, and its maw split unnaturally wide, lined with serrated fangs. Its eyes glowed like molten coals, and each step it took crushed the stone beneath its claws.
Lilith's heart seized. She knew this kind of creature. She had read about it in records of forbidden floors—its presence didn't belong here. This was a beast meant for the tenth floor, a depth few students wouldn't even dream of approaching. This was what was known as "The Khazairius.
Her thoughts spiraled. Why is it here? How did it break through? This shouldn't—
"Asher," she gasped, her body shaking. "We need to retreat—we can't—"
But he didn't move. He tilted his head slightly, studying the creature with the same calm he might give a puzzle. Then, with a voice steady and unyielding, he whispered:
"Stand back, Lilith. This thing isn't here for you."
The shadows surged.
"Asher—!" she tried again, but her voice was drowned by the thunder of the beast's roar. It lunged forward, claws slashing downward with enough force to split stone.
Asher moved.
The floor cracked where he had been standing, shards of rock scattering through the air. His figure blurred, sliding past the monster's claw by a breadth. The shadows around him hardened, forming sleek blades that extended from his hands. He slashed upward—once, twice, thrice—strikes so fast Lilith's eyes couldn't follow.
The beast howled. Black ichor spilled from its fresh wounds, sizzling as it hit the ground. Yet the monster didn't falter; it only grew more frenzied, its massive tail whipping toward Asher like a spiked battering ram.
'I can't let that blood touch me......' Asher said inwardly. 'Neither this tail.'
The blow connected with the wall instead, stone shattering in a deafening explosion. Asher had already vanished into shadow, his form flickering into existence at the monster's flank.
"Abyssal Art: Dark Shadow Style – Severing Fang."
His blade sliced deep, carving through armor. The monster staggered, a guttural growl rumbling through its chest.
Lilith's vision blurred as she forced herself onto her elbows, desperate to watch. Every part of her screamed to stay down, to survive, but her pride, her stubbornness wouldn't allow her to look away.
Asher was… different from before. The boy who had always hidden behind calm tones and half-lidded eyes—here, now, he was terrifying. Each movement was made with ruthless efficiency, each strike precise and merciless. His aura wasn't just powerful; it was suffocating, commanding, a darkness that seemed alive.
And yet…
'Why doesn't he falter under that creature's pressure?' she thought, her chest aching as she coughed. 'Why does it feel like… the abyss itself answers to him?'
The beast shrieked, its massive claw slamming down again. This time Asher didn't dodge. He lifted his hand, shadows erupting into a towering shield of black steel. The claw crashed against it, sparks flying. The dungeon quaked with the impact, but the shield held.
From behind it, Asher's voice rang clear.
"Dark Shadow Style – Eclipse Rend."
The shield shattered into fragments that twisted midair, each shard transforming into blades. They launched forward, piercing the monster's torso in a storm of shadow. The beast reeled backward, thrashing in agony, ichor spilling freely.
Still, it didn't fall. Its eyes locked on Lilith instead.
Her blood froze as the monster shifted, its massive frame barreling toward her. Panic surged. Her body refused to move, her limbs like lead under the crushing weight of its aura. She could only watch death racing closer.
"Asher!" she screamed.
But he was already there.
Shadows pooled beneath her body, rising up like a cocoon to shield her. At the same moment, Asher's figure appeared before the monster, his blade of darkness already drawn back. His smile—sharp, cold, assured—cut across his face.
The strike came down with the weight of the abyss itself.
The monster's shriek tore through the dungeon as its body split cleanly from shoulder to hip. Its massive form convulsed, then collapsed into smoke and shadow, dissipating into nothingness as the laws of the dungeon reasserted themselves.
The silence that followed was deafening. Only the faint drip of ichor sizzling against the stone remained.
Lilith stared, wide-eyed, her breath ragged. Her hands trembled violently as she tried to push herself up.
"You… you killed… a tenth-floor beast…"
Asher turned, the shadows receding from his body until he looked once more like the boy she had known. Glasses back in place, hair falling across his face, expression unreadable. It was as if the abyssal warrior from moments ago had never existed.
He extended a hand to her.
"Get up."
She looked at his hand, then up at his calm eyes. Her pride screamed at her to refuse, to shove it away. But her body betrayed her, weak and drained. With a trembling hand, she took it, and he pulled her effortlessly to her feet.
Her lips parted, voice shaking.
"…Who are you, really?"
For a long moment, Asher didn't answer. His gaze lingered on her, as if weighing something. Finally, he looked away, his voice low.
"Someone you're not ready to know."
The shadows at his feet writhed faintly, as though amused.
Lilith bit her lip, frustration and awe twisting in her chest. She hated the helplessness she felt, hated that he had to save her, hated the gap between them. But more than anything… she couldn't shake the image of him standing against that impossible monster, calm and unyielding, as though the abyss itself had crowned him its master.
And for the first time, a seed of fear and curiosity bloomed in her heart.