Sae Jaehyun walked through the dungeon—his anger and frustration both causing him to lose control since for now. He had lost a bit of his normal intelligence and clarity.
The inside of the dungeon was twisted and deformed—it wasn't a complete dungeon, it was a rather incomplete one.
The surroundings were akin to a circus, and he was in the middle of the stage. Even though no one was watching him—he felt.. Something. And when he looked up, something fell down from the deep dark sky.
It was a whole herd of rusty carousel animals, horses, unicorns and all. Their paint peeled off—leaving them half destroyed.
"I always hated these damn metal dolls as a kid.."
Sae Jaehyun materialized his daggers through a small slit on his finger, the blood drawn forming into hard crystals that shaped themselves into the daggers he held.
The beasts roared forward—unicorns trying to ram their horns into his body, horses trying to kick him, seahorses attempting to wrap their tail around his neck—but they were met by one answer.
Death.
Sae Jaehyun wasn't in the mood to play around, he cut through the foreign metal that formed the animal's body with ease—his eyes gleaming red as he took a few steps forward.
"I'm here to prove myself.. I'm not gonna live in Ji Won's shadow anymore, he might be in the spotlight—but now. I'm gonna make sure the bulb is destroyed. Both of us will live in the light, or both in the dark."
All of a sudden—Sae Jaehyun was captured in a suffocating hug by brightly colored gigantic teddy bears and other stuffed animals that reeked of sugar that was mixed with tears and mold.
"Get off of me!"
Sae Jaehyun managed to kick one of them off—but the one behind the hunter caught him in a full nelson, allow one of the monsters to claw at his stomach. Leaving behind a trail of crimson.
"Idiot.."
As soon as the blood fell to the ground it exploded in a powdery boom of red light that didn't effect Sae Jaehyun but stunned the monsters enough for them to let out freakish yells.
"Help! Help! Mommy!"
Sae Jaehyun didn't bother feeling bad for the monsters—he knew they were mimicking a child for him to let his guard down, and he learnt his lesson about letting his guard down.
"Just shut up.. You aren't tricking me!"
The stuffed animals stopped yelling and moving—bugs and black goo crawled out from their eyes and fur, crawling towards Sae Jaehyun who stood still. Unbothered.
The liquid and insects slowly formed into a completely different monster—one that strongly resembled Hyuk Ji Won but was a bit older, more well built and taller.
"So, you're still content with me being your anchor?-"
Sae Jaehyun didn't let the clone speak—he slashed at the creature's neck. Causing a slit to open up but the mimic monster managed to jump away just in time.
"Anchor? You're not even Ji Won. That asshole wouldn't say that... He would say something way more rude."
The clone chuckled, its eyes popping out from the sockets, its hair falling down to the ground as its arms drooped down into fleshy whips with blades at the end.
"Oopsie.."
Sae Jaehyun stared at the dangling eyes of the monster, tilting his head in disgust—he almost wanted to puke then and there. But his time was running out, he needed to kill this monster before the Clown could do anything else.
They both lunged at each other—the monster swinging its elongated hands towards the assassin, blades aimed straight for the kill but Sae Jaehyun managed to dodge.
He sent a few slashes of condensed blood at high speeds towards the monster who cut through them with terrifying efficiency—but the fight was just starting.
Sae Jaehyun threw away the fancy skills. instead jumping straight into a close quarters brawl with the creature who responded with a toothy grin—but instead of teeth it had a cockroach where the teeth should be.
Its arms rearranged themselves into normal ones. The hands still replaced by a pair of sharp curved blades, but Sae Jaehyun wanted exactly that. A stronger opponent.
'I'll end this quickly..'
Sae Jaehyun headbutted the monster which stumbled backwards before using that same momentum to spin around and try to kick the Hunter's neck but was quickly tackled to the ground.
Sae Jaehyun drove his daggers through the creatures heart—but when it still tried to fight back?
He stabbed it—again, and again, and again. Until it was nothing but a mush of black blood, maggots and other critters. But instead of being disgusted, Sae Jaehyun was satisfied. Thinking the dungeon was cleared.
"Ladies and gentleman! My precious audience, I present to you the newest and most modern participant of our Show!!"
It was a voice coming from above, one that sounded like someone's voice was reverberated through mountains and valleys—unnatural, layered and definitely not kind.
"Oi, get down here. There ain't an audience. You're running a flop show-"
Sae Jaehyun was cut off, getting hit in the face by a metal cane in the face. But he didn't move from his place—even though he definitely lost a tooth from that hit.
It was from a rather short yet strong man with a ballooned up stomach and charcoal like skin that looked to be melting off.
It was wearing the usual, bright and vibrant Ringmaster outfit that would be found in a carnival or a circus. Only that it was completely white with splashes of what seemed to be blood on the jacket.
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY SHOW!!"
Sae Jaehyun ignored the monster's roar—instead he countered with a knee to the stomach, but instead of injuring the monster—the assassin was sent flying backwards like he just hit a giant trampoline.
"What in the absolute.. Fuck happened?"
He got up—leaning against the wall of the stands. Staring at the Ringmaster with an injured ego as well as a fire—a fire that burnt solely off of proving himself, not to anyone else. But to himself.
"I suffered under my father. Escaped... I won't die here! Not against some freakshow like you!!"
The Ringmaster grunted, pulling out a weapon that looked to be the cursed mix between a whip and a chakram. Its handle joined together like bones, through tendons and joints. And it seemed to be made of those too.
"I. AM. NOT. A FREAKSHOW!! I'LL END YOUR PATHETIC CAREER OF ACTING IN FRONT OF THE AUDIENCE!! COME HERE!!"
The Dungeon Boss rolled up the whip, the surface hardening up into a perfect circle—exactly like a chakram and it used it like one too. Throwing it at blazing speeds.
Sae Jaehyun, in a rage, caught the weapon in mid-air. Using the momentum to spin around like a tornado before throwing it back even harder. The monster getting hit in the shoulder by its own weapon.
"YOU DARE?!"
It ran towards the assassin at unnatural and inhumane speeds, teeth turning into fangs as it bit down on Sae Jaehyun's forearm—but the assassin used this as an opportunity to push his dagger into the creatures back.
'This thing.. It doesn't feel pain, nor will it tire. It doesn't seem like that. I'll kill it.. I'll definitely kill it no matter what."