Seung-hoo slowly turned his head, following the invisible trail only he could see. The glowing path curved through layers of stone and shadow, winding deeper into the cave like a silent guide.
To everyone else, it looked like he was simply staring at a blank wall.
Seo-yeon frowned. "Why are you looking at the wall?"
Hyun-wu leaned closer, squinting. "Is there something there?"
Seung-hoo didn't answer immediately. His eyes were fixed on a section of the cave where the stone looked slightly thinner, almost hollowed out.
Then he noticed it.
"…It's the tower," Seung-hoo muttered.
He raised his hand and pointed. "There. Let's go there."
Hyun-wu blinked. "What?"
"That way," Seung-hoo repeated.
Hyun-wu scratched his head. "But there's nothing there."
Kim stepped beside Seung-hoo and looked at the wall, then at Seung-hoo's serious expression. After a short pause, he nodded.
"Just go there," Kim said. "I trust him."
Seo-yeon folded her arms. "Why… but okay."
Hyun-wu lifted his shield onto his back. "If you say so."
They started walking in the direction Seung-hoo pointed.
At first, nothing seemed different. The cave floor was uneven, scattered with broken stones and faint mana veins glowing along the walls. Their footsteps echoed softly in the narrow corridor.
Seo-yeon glanced around. "It's unusually dark in this corridor."
Hyun-wu nodded. "Yeah… darker than the rest of the cave."
The further they walked, the less light there was. The glowing veins in the stone faded, replaced by thick shadows that clung to the walls. The air felt heavier, pressing down on their shoulders.
"Is it really that far?" Seo-yeon complained. "You said it was close."
"Just a minute, okay," Seung-hoo replied, keeping his gaze forward.
The tunnel gradually widened, and the rough cave walls began to look smoother, almost carved. Long vertical grooves appeared in the stone, as if something massive had once scraped against it.
Kim slowed his steps. "These marks… they look artificial."
Seo-yeon touched the wall with her fingers. "This doesn't feel like a normal cave."
The mana in the air thickened, humming faintly, vibrating through their ears and bones.
Then the darkness ahead opened into a vast chamber.
They stepped out together—and froze.
A tower stood before them.
It rose straight from the stone floor, embedded deep into the cave itself. Its surface was dark and smooth, covered in faint glowing lines that pulsed slowly like veins of light.
Hyun-wu's mouth fell open. "…That's a tower?"
Seo-yeon tilted her head back to see the top. "It's huge."
Kim squinted upward. "This is supposed to be a B-rank Rift."
The tower stretched far above them, vanishing into the shadows of the cave ceiling.
Seung-hoo felt the mana pouring from it like a silent pressure against his chest.
Seo-yeon spoke quietly, almost in disbelief. "This thing… it's the height of an A-rank Rift tower."
Hyun-wu tightened his grip on his shield. "Why would something like this be hidden here?"
The air around the tower seemed to grow colder and denser as they stood before it, the faint hum of mana growing louder with every second.
Seung-hoo stared up at the towering structure, the invisible path from his vision ending right at its base.
When Seung-hoo deactivated Eye of Truth, the world snapped back into solid stone and shadow.
But something remained.
At the bottom right corner of the tower, faint and unmistakable, a yellow light shimmered between broken rocks.
His breath hitched.
Another crystal.
"There…" he murmured.
Before anyone could react, Seung-hoo took off running.
"Seung-hoo!" Kim called out, surprised by his sudden movement.
His boots struck the cave floor in hurried echoes as he rushed toward the glow. With every step, the yellow light grew brighter, pulsing like a heartbeat near the base of the tower.
He reached out—
And the darkness beside the crystal shifted.
A massive figure crawled out from the hollowed shadows of the cave wall.
Stone cracked under its weight.
Fire spilled across the ground as the creature revealed itself.
A gigantic Hells Constrictor emerged, its body wrapped entirely in living flames. From head to tail, burning scales glowed like molten metal, lighting the chamber in violent shades of red and orange.
Its eyes burned like two blazing coals.
The heat distorted the air around it, making the tower behind it ripple like a mirage.
Seung-hoo froze. "…What is that?"
The Constrictor released a deep, vibrating hiss that shook dust from the ceiling.
--These A-rank giant fiery snakes are called Hells Constrictors. They are covered head to tail in flames that will not extinguish until their core is destroyed.
The core reaches temperatures up to 700°C--
The Constrictor struck without warning.
Its burning body whipped forward like a wall of fire.
Seung-hoo barely had time to throw himself aside.
The Constrictor smashed into the stone where he had stood, the impact exploding into flaming debris. Chunks of rock scattered across the cave, glowing red from the heat.
Even though he avoided its jaws, the flames brushed his arm.
"Gah!"
He rolled across the ground, smoke rising from his sleeve as pain shot through his shoulder. The scent of burned fabric filled the air.
"Seung-hoo!" Hyun-wu yelled.
The Constrictor turned its massive head, coiling its body in a wide circle. Its movements dragged fire across the stone floor, leaving scorched trails behind it.
Seo-yeon moved instantly.
She pulled out her dagger and rushed forward, eyes sharp with focus.
"I'll distract it!"
She sprinted toward the Constrictor's side and leapt, aiming for the space beneath its jaw.
Her blade flashed in the firelight.
But the Constrictor twisted its burning body violently.
A wave of heat surged toward her.
Seo-yeon was forced higher into the air, flipping to avoid the flames. Sparks burst around her boots and sleeves as the fire brushed past.
The Constrictor suddenly reared up.
Its massive mouth opened wide, revealing rows of glowing fangs inside a furnace of fire.
"Seo-yeon—!" Kim shouted.
Still midair, she tried to twist away.
Too slow.
The Constrictor lunged upward.
Its jaws clamped around her arm and shoulder.
"AHHHH!"
Seo-yeon's scream echoed through the vast chamber, crashing again and again against the jagged, knife-like cave walls that rose unevenly around them. The sound twisted through the sharp stone corridors, making it feel as if the cave itself were screaming back.
The Hells Constrictor lifted its massive head, flames pouring from its jaws like breath from a living furnace. Its burning coils tightened around Seo-yeon's arm and shoulder, and the heat warped the air so badly that the tower behind it rippled like liquid glass.
"Seo-yeon!" Hyun-wu shouted.
He charged forward, shield raised high. His boots scraped against sharp stone ridges, sending sparks flying as he crossed the uneven ground. The Constrictor hissed and swung its blazing tail in a wide arc.
The tail slammed into Hyun-wu's shield with a thunderous crash.
The impact sent a shockwave through the chamber. Loose fragments broke free from the jagged walls and rained down, glowing red from the heat. Hyun-wu was pushed backward several meters, his arms shaking violently.
"Get away from her!" he roared.
The Constrictor tightened its grip on Seo-yeon, flames flaring brighter along its coils. Smoke rose from where its burning body touched her clothes and skin.
Seo-yeon cried out again, her free hand striking uselessly against the monster's blazing scales.
Kim raised his staff, eyes wide as he took in the scene. "That thing's heat is unreal… if it keeps holding her, she won't last long!"
Seung-hoo forced himself upright despite the pain burning through his arm. He stared at the monster's chest, watching how the flames pulsed unnaturally, as if fed from something deeper inside.
"There's something inside it," he said quickly. "A core… it's what keeps the flames alive."
The Constrictor suddenly flung Seo-yeon aside.
She crashed into a jagged stone pillar near the tower and rolled across the uneven floor, stopping just short of a spike of rock jutting upward like a spear.
Hyun-wu rushed to her side. "Can you move?!"
Seo-yeon coughed and pushed herself up. "Not… dead yet."
The Constrictor reared higher, its burning body weaving between sharp stone columns. Flames spread across the ground in glowing trails, lighting the jagged walls in violent shades of red and orange.
Kim stepped forward, gripping his staff tightly. "If that core breaks, the flames die. We have to hit it directly."
The Constrictor lunged.
It surged forward like a river of fire, jaws snapping toward Kim. Kim barely rolled aside as flames slammed into the wall behind him.
The jagged stone exploded outward.
Rock shards flew like blades through the air.
Hyun-wu charged from the side and smashed his shield into the Constrictor's head. The blow forced its jaws upward, sending a blast of fire toward the cave ceiling. Several sharp stalactites cracked and shattered, raining burning debris down.
"Now!" Hyun-wu shouted.
Kim raised his staff, red light gathering at its tip.
Before he could release the spell, the Constrictor's tail whipped around and struck him square in the chest.
Kim flew backward and slammed into a spiked stone wall, sliding down with a cough as his staff clattered beside him.
Seung-hoo clenched his fists. "Hyun-wu, keep it focused on you!"
Hyun-wu charged again, pouring mana into his shield. He planted himself between the monster and the others, feet braced against the sharp stone floor.
The Constrictor slammed into him repeatedly, its burning body crashing against the shield. Each impact shook the chamber. Flames washed over the metal surface, and the shield began to glow faintly from the heat.
"Come on…!" Hyun-wu growled. "Over here!"
The monster coiled tighter, trying to wrap around him. Its burning body scraped against jagged rock pillars, sending sparks and stone fragments flying.
Seo-yeon forced herself to stand. Pain surged through her arm, but she clenched her teeth and sprinted along the edge of the chamber, using the sharp formations as cover.
"I'll distract it!" she shouted.
She leaped and slashed at the Constrictor's side. Sparks burst where her dagger struck burning scales. The monster screeched and twisted violently.
A wave of heat blasted outward.
Seo-yeon was thrown back and slammed into the rough cave wall, scraping across sharp stone before dropping to the ground.
Seung-hoo ran to Kim and grabbed his shoulder. "Did you see the core?"
Kim nodded, breathing hard. "Inside its chest… but it only shows when it attacks."
The Constrictor reared up again, towering between jagged stone columns. Flames licked along the sharp edges of the cave walls as it opened its mouth wide.
A blazing sphere of fire formed in its throat.
"Move!" Kim shouted.
The torrent of fire burst forward.
Hyun-wu raised his shield and took the blast head-on. Flames wrapped around him, lighting the chamber in blinding orange. The jagged walls reflected the fire in broken, flickering patterns.
Cracks spread through the stone beneath his feet.
He was pushed backward but did not fall.
The Constrictor slithered closer, sensing weakness.
"Hyun-wu!" Seo-yeon cried.
Hyun-wu slammed his shield into the ground to stop himself from sliding into a cluster of sharp rocks. "I'm fine! Just—find an opening!"
Seung-hoo stared at the monster's chest.
For a brief moment, as the Constrictor leaned forward to strike again, the flames around its chest thinned.
A bright, pulsing glow appeared beneath its scales.
"There!" Seung-hoo shouted. "That's the core!"
Kim forced himself upright and raised his staff with both hands. "Hold it still for three seconds!"
Hyun-wu roared and charged once more, ramming his shield into the Constrictor's head.
Flames burst outward as the creature thrashed violently, its burning body scraping against the jagged walls while fire and shadows danced across every sharp surface of the fractured chamber.