The chamber was too quiet. Only the faint hum of the Hovering Blaze broke the silence, its orange glow throwing shadows across the floor of bones.
Eron's boots crunched against brittle ribs as he moved carefully between the piles of remains. The serpent's corpse had been one thing, but this was different. This was an entire graveyard of beasts and forgotten things, all tangled together, their rusted parts crumbling into dust. The silence felt wrong, too heavy, and then came the rattle.
At first, it was just a single clink, like a pebble falling. Then another. Skulls rolled from where they'd been resting, their jaws clicking open and shut. A skeletal hand twitched, its fingers scratching against the stone. Ribs shifted as though they were breathing again.
Eron froze. His Hovering Blaze spun faster, flaring brighter as if sensing the danger.
"Don't tell me..."
The ground erupted in sound.
Bones lifted all around him, slamming together. Spines snapped into place with wet, sharp clicks, and skulls clamped onto necks with hollow grins. Rusted weapons scraped against the ground as skeletal hands gripped them once more. Dozens of twisted forms rose from the ash.
"I knew it!" Eron shouted, flames sparking at his fingertips. He exhaled, forcing himself to calm down. "So many scattered skeletons... of course they wouldn't just stay still."
One screeched, a horrible, rasping sound that echoed off the cavern walls, and lunged at him with a broken spear.
Eron's palm lit instantly. "Fireball Number Two... Piercer!"
A blazing lance of flame shot forward, punching clean through the skeleton's chest. It shattered into pieces, bones clattering across the floor. But even as the pieces hit the ground, they twitched. Some ribs started crawling back together, and the skull's jaw kept snapping as if mocking him.
He clicked his tongue. "Damn, classic undead."
Three more closed in from the left.
Eron stepped back, boots scraping against the stone as he put some distance between them. The air shimmered with heat around his palms, gathering mana for his next move.
"Number Three... Scatterburst!"
The fireball split midair, bursting into fiery pellets that broke brittle bone. Ash sprayed across the chamber as flames danced in the shadows. Yet still, some pieces kept moving, dragging themselves toward each other again.
The sound grew louder, rattles, screeches, and the grinding clack of skulls. Eron's Hovering Blaze darted in circles around him, its light catching dozens of hollow sockets staring from the dark.
He backed up to a ridge, sparks dancing across both hands.
"Fine. Let's see how many of you can handle fire all at once."
He pressed his palms together, heat building at his fingertips. "Number Four... Split Bloom!"
The fireball divided into three mid-flight, exploding against the group. A wave of flame scattered bones in every direction, lighting the floor in an orange glow. Some skeletons collapsed completely, reduced to ash, but others dragged themselves forward even as fire ate at their remains.
A blade scraped against stone. One skeleton warrior had pulled itself together enough to swing a rusted sword. Eron ducked the strike, but the blade caught his clothes, tearing through the fabric before he pulled back.
He thrust out his open hand. "Number Seven... Reverse Burn!"
The scattered fires across the chamber stirred, then surged toward the skeleton in front of him. Every ember and flicker of flame shot across the floor, wrapping around its bones like hungry serpents. The fire clung tighter, coating the creature from head to toe.
Eron closed his hand into a fist. The gathered flames collapsed inward, crushing the skeleton beneath a whirl of burning air. Its body glowed white-hot, the light flashing across the chamber.
Then he opened his hand.
The compressed fire exploded outward in a violent surge. A shockwave ripped through the hall, scattering ash and bones in every direction. The blast hit the nearby skeletons first, tearing them apart before they could rise. Some shattered on impact, others burned where they stood, their rusted weapons melting under the heat.
The cavern roared as the flames rushed outward, bouncing off the stone walls before fading into drifting embers.
But for every one that fell, more kept rising.
Eron's breathing quickened. His fire still burned endlessly in his veins, but the tension was getting to him. His flames were working, but never fast enough to stop them all.
"They're not supposed to keep getting back up..."
The ground shook.
Eron paused, his chest tightening. This vibration was deeper than the clatter of bones. Something beneath. Something massive.
The skeletons all turned their heads at once, not toward Eron, but to the far side of the chamber where the largest bone piles lay heaped in shadow.
The Hovering Blaze flared, and Eron saw it.
A mountain of bones shifting. Spines rolling into place. A skull larger than a wagon lifting from the pile, its horns jagged, its eye sockets empty yet glowing faintly blue.
Wings of shattered bone stretched outward, scraping the cavern walls with a sound like knives on stone.
Eron stepped backward. "Fvck... a boss fight already?"
His breath caught, and his grip tightened instinctively. Flames flickered around his fingers as the massive skeleton rose higher, the ground trembling under his boots.
The smaller skeletons screeched together, as if welcoming their master.
The massive form rose fully now, a dragon built from the bones of hundreds of creatures, its body a patchwork mess yet somehow whole.
Its wings snapped once, shaking the entire cavern. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Then it spoke.
The voice wasn't just sound. It was a vibration through the stone, through bone, and through Eron's own chest. Each word pressed down, heavy and old.
"How did you reach this place, human?"
Its sockets flared blue, focusing on him.
"To pass the guardians above. The cursed beasts that tear intruders apart. The forbidden tunnels that swallow all who stray. Even the Abyss Serpent that coils in the depths."
The dragon's skull lowered, grinding against its own spine as the fire burned brighter within its sockets.
"No mortal survives those paths. No mortal should stand here."
The blue fire flared brighter. "Tell me, human... was it you who shook these depths? The tremor that woke the dead?"
Eron's throat went dry. His flames sputtered, and even the Hovering Blaze shrank back. He had fought monsters before, even the serpent, but this was different. This wasn't just a monster. This was something that remembered.
The skeletons around him stood perfectly still now, waiting, their empty sockets fixed on him. He felt the weight of judgment pressing down.
His fists shook, sparks twitching uncontrollably across his knuckles.
For the first time since entering this floor, he realized he wasn't just fighting for survival. He was being tested.