Senen met the plummeting dragon. Airborne, he spun, planting a vicious roundhouse kick against the crimson head's jawline. The crack of impact was sharp, vertebrae likely shearing as the head and neck whipped sideways to slam against the dungeon floor. Senen landed as the black head lunged immediately, jaws agape, aiming to bisect him. Senen stood his ground, eyes tracking the attack, then snapped a knee upward in a perfectly timed intercepting strike beneath its chin. The force lifted the head, arching the neck violently backward until the whole creature flopped onto its spine, impacting hard enough to shake dust from the distant ceiling.
Senen vaulted onto the stunned head's throat. He stared down, features obscured by shadow, yet emanating discernible pressure. "Do you recognize me?" The query was soft, layered with menace.
The black head, regeneration struggling against the trauma, focused its eyes. "You… Your the one who kicked my brother," it growled, dark energy already pooling in its throat, preparing a point-blank attack.
Senen watched the dark power swell, obsidian energy churning and spitting within the gaping throat. The air itself seemed to curdle around the unstable sphere. As the energy reached its violent peak, instability flickering at its edges, Senen's voice resonated, cold and heavy with stored grief "You're the one. Who killed my friends." The dragon drew a fraction of a breath to unleash its payload – but in that sliver of an instant, Senen moved. His palm struck upwards like a piston, connecting with the underside of the jaw and slamming it shut. His follow-up sidekick struck the sealed maw like a battering ram. The head skidded across the stone, snapping back violently. Contained, with nowhere to vent, the concentrated abyssal energy detonated within the confines of its skull. There wasn't a loud explosion, but a horrific, wet splash that seemed to implode inwards. For a fraction of a second, the skull structure was hideously backlit by the internal blast. Then, pressurized gore – a thick slurry of brain matter, superheated ichor, and shattered cranial bone – erupted forcefully from the dragon's eyesockets, nostrils, and even burst through the fractured seams of its skull plates. Steam hissed furiously from the utterly ruined cavity, leaving nothing recognizable behind. The head lolled, instantly lifeless, a grotesque fountain spraying its last vestiges onto the dungeon floor.
The others remained transfixed, witnessing Senens onslaught. The crimson head stirred, shaking off the daze from the initial kick. Its gaze found the now-inert black head, "BROTHER!" then its eyes swiveled to Senen. The cry was a ragged tear in the silence, pure anguish mixing with hate. Sensing the shift in tides, it writhed, desperately trying to drag itself inside a wide crevice below the dungeon wall.
Senen blurred, appearing at the side of the fissure's entrance just as the scaled neck slithered in. He sank his hands into the flesh, fingers finding deep purchase between the beasts bones. The dragon thrashed, bellowing in agony. Senen countered with his own raw-throated cry, a sound torn from his very soul, fueled by loss. Veins stood out on his arms as muscles strained against the resistance of thick flesh."YOU DIE HERE!" With a final surge of devastating strength, he pulled. The sound that followed was obscene – a dense, wet shearing of muscle, sinew, and bone. He tore the ravaged neck free from its body.
An explosive spray of arterial blood painted the immediate area crimson, coating Senen, pooling on the floor around the twitching corpse. The great body shuddered, then stilled. Utterly finished.
Silence descended like wet velvet, smothering the air, disturbed only by the ghost-thread hiss of Senen's breathing and the slow, metronomic drip of blood unraveling from the throat's ruin. The two-headed terror lay vanquished.
The tension drained from Senen's frame. His blood-soaked arms fell limp at his sides, the immense strain finally released. Exhaustion settled deep in his features as his eyelids drifted shut. Slowly, deliberately, he brought his palms together before him, fingers steepled, and inclined his head in a deep, solemn bow towards the slain beast – a gesture of the end and a new beginning.
A collective intake of breath seemed to hold the others captive, their focus entirely locked on Senen's quiet ritual. Then, the pent-up adrenaline detonated. Relief, surged through Tiren and Kin.
"YEAH!" Tiren roared, slamming a fist into his palm. "We actually beat that thing."
Kin, practically vibrating, launched himself onto Tiren's back, hooking an arm around his shoulder, "yeah! Man I must of levelled like 10 times there"
Sye's voice, quiet but clear, came through their elation. "It had almost fully regenerated just before Senen came."
Tiren's triumphant grin froze for a moment, "Yeah?"
"You only get xp for the damage done, and. Well... we did barley any."
The implication struck home like a physical blow. Kin slid off Tiren's back, the exuberant energy abruptly short-circuiting in both of them. Shoulders sagged in shared deflation, a synchronized groan escaping their lips.
Then, the unexpected occurred. A genuine, radiant smile ignited across Sye's usually composed face, her eyes lighting with a warmth they rarely witnessed. "But you guys were incredible!"
The sudden praise, the sincerity shimmering in her voice, caught Kin and Tiren completely off guard. Their shared gloom paused, startled, then began to dissipate under the unexpected sunshine of her smile. Returning grins, spread across their faces. They both straightened, posture regaining some pride.
"What about the Master?" Kin asked, his gaze shifting towards their leader, who had remained silent throughout.
The Master remained where he stood, his back partially turned, his gaze fixed on the still form of the vanquished dragon. Even from behind, Kin could sense the stillness in him, a profound quiet. Then, slowly, the Master turned, facing them fully.
His eyes, when they met theirs, were already awash. Unashamed tears welled, shimmering, reflecting the faint crystalline light of the dungeon. They spilled over, tracing clean paths down his rugged cheeks as he looked from one companion to the next. Yet, beneath the clear evidence of his grief, a smile bloomed on his lips – not simple happiness, but the deep, resonant curve of a soul finally unburdened, as if chains carried for an age had just crumbled to dust.
His voice, thick with unshed emotion, emerged as barely a whisper. "Thank you..."
He tilted his head back then, his gaze directed upwards, not at the stone ceiling, but into the vast, unseen darkness beyond, speaking to ghosts only he could see. To people long forgotten. To old memories. His lips parted, releasing the words on a soft breath, imbued with a quiet touch, "You can finally rest..."
He closed his eyes then, surrendering fully to the moment, the silent catharsis of his tears flowing freely, washing away the decades of pain.
A heavy, sodden thud resonated from the direction of the fissure in the dungeon wall, startling the team from their brief respite. They turned to see Senen standing beside the jagged opening. He reached into the darkness within, pulled free the dragon's severed neck—a thick, grisly length of scale and muscle—and then casually tossed it back behind him. The impact of the discarded remnant striking stone drew their attention. Senen paused beside the entrance, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Kin, ever impulsive, jogged over. "Hey, Senen! What's up?"
Senen didn't look at him immediately, still pondering the fissure. "This opening... why was the dragon trying to escape this way? Does this dungeon go even deeper?" he mused aloud, more to himself than anyone else.
"No use in thinking about it." Kin made a step past him into the darkness, but Senen's hand shot out, palm pressing lightly but firmly against Kin's chest. "Wait. For the others."
Moments later, the Master, Tiren, and Sye arrived, their expressions questioning. Senen addressed them directly, his voice regaining its clarity. "There's a passage here. It might lead further down." He paused, letting the implication sink in. "If it does, that means monsters far stronger will be waiting for us." His eyes shifted pointedly towards the Master. "It's your decision to make."
The Master considered the dark opening, then nodded slowly, retrieving the familiar teleportation orb from his coat. "We investigate... I intended to use this," he indicated the orb, "for our travel back regardless."
With a silent agreement, Senen took the lead, and they plunged into the fissure. It wasn't a natural tunnel but seemed torn or perhaps forced through the rock, descending steeply into profound blackness untouched by the ambient crystal light of the main chamber. Their own light sources carved feeble cones ahead, revealing rough-hewn walls that absorbed sound, creating an oppressive intimacy.
After several minutes navigating the winding descent, a new light source became apparent – faint at first, then growing steadily stronger. It wasn't the cool blue luminescence they were accustomed to, but a warm, almost welcoming amber radiance pulsing softly ahead. As they rounded a final bend, they stopped dead, speechless.
Before them stood not just the end of a passage, but an anomaly carved into the very bones of the earth—a towering doorway set into the stone. Its sheer scale seemed to mock reason, rising beyond sight into the heavy darkness above. The amber light didn't shine from embedded crystals, but radiated from the door's own surface—immense, unbroken panels that resembled sun-baked, petrified wood, framed by stone darker than pitch and smooth as glass. Across it sprawled intricate patterns—geometric, yet strangely fluid—etched in shapes of flawless gold that shimmered faintly. This was no mere threshold; it was a relic of purpose and patience, built to endure, and built to wait.
Whispers of awe escaped the team. "A door...?" Senen breathed, echoing their disbelief. They approached cautiously, dwarfed by its sheer presence, running hands over the impossibly smooth, warm surface and the intricate gold lacework.
"Push together," Senen commanded, finding spots for them to place their hands. "One... two... THREE!"
Heaving with combined strength against the immense weight, the great door groaned, slowly, grudgingly, it began to swing open, revealing not a deeper dungeon, not a treasure vault, not another monstrous lair... but something utterly, staggeringly impossible.
An immense expanse opened before them, light flooded their senses – not just the warm amber glow, but a broader luminescence bathing a space of breathtaking scale, mimicking a subterranean sky.
The ground teemed with movement, countless figures flowing through the vast space. Their eyes strained, trying to resolve the details from the sudden brightness.
They saw hulking silhouettes with tusks and rough green hides. Angular shapes covered in chitinous plating. Winged forms that swooped occasionally through the open space or perched on unseen high points. Figures cloaked in shifting, formless shadow. Beings that walked upright but bore the heads and muzzles of wolves. Others moved with the low, sinuous grace of reptiles. Horned figures gestured with sharp, decisive movements. Creatures with a disturbing familiarity.
Then, their focus shifted to what these impossible beings were doing. The tusked brutes clustered together, involved in animated discussion, their booming voices carrying clearly as structured sound, though individual words blurred into incomprehensibility across the expanse, while examining iridescent objects that resembled fruit. The chitinous figures stood behind raised surfaces, arranging arrays of strange implements. The wolf-headed figures lifted heavy blocks, placing them with practiced care onto rising barriers alongside the scaled reptilians who wielded tools spitting sparks like miniature lightning. The horned figures stood at points where paths of movement converged, directing the flow with sharp gestures. The many-limbed creatures guided bristles across the floor, clearing debris. The shadow-entities paused before illuminated niches, seeming to examine the contents within.
Bartering. Building. Directing flow. Cleaning. Examining goods.
It was only then, as their minds struggled to reconcile the monstrous forms with these utterly mundane activities, that the context clicked into place. The paths the creatures followed resolved into paved streets. The raised surfaces were market stalls. The rising barriers were buildings—some framed in familiar concrete and steel, others spiralling upward in alien architecture. The illuminated niches were shop windows. The sheer, overwhelming normalcy of the scene – the terrifyingly banal routine performed by beings once known only for violence within a structured, developed environment – left the team frozen in place.
This wasn't mere cohabitation; it was structure. It wasn't survival—it was society. These weren't just monsters; they were citizens. And stretching before them, in the hidden dark beneath the world, was not a battlefield, but a shattering truth: a functioning, thriving city, built and populated entirely by the creatures they knew only as savage beasts. A revelation that rewrote everything they thought they knew.