Cain, Lyra, and Seraphine are in a separate section of the dungeon. The air here is thicker… darker… like the shadows are alive.
Lyra keeps glancing around, blade at the ready.
Seraphine is completely silent, eyes half-lidded, sensing something the others can't.
Cain presses his palm against a wall, annoyed.
"This place is a maze. We're wasting—"
A whisper. Not in the air. In his mind.
> "Little Vessel…"
Cain's pupils tremble. His breathing stutters for a split second—then he scowls, shaking it off.
"Who—?"
Lyra immediately turns. "You hear something?"
Cain forces a shrug. "Just the wind."
But Seraphine's gaze sharpens. She felt it too—but said nothing.
---
A Shadow Appears
As the group advances down a corridor, the torches flicker out one by one.
Not from wind.
From presence.
A figure is already waiting in the darkness ahead—hidden behind a column of carved stone shaped like a dragon's spine.
No footsteps. No aura. No heat.
Just a grin beneath a mask and a whisper of music only one boy can hear.
The Pied Piper doesn't reveal himself to the group—only to Cain.
His voice curls through Cain's mind like smoke:
> "The seal sleeps, but the vessel breathes."
"Your blood remembers me… even if you do not."
Cain freezes mid-step.
Lyra doesn't notice—she's scouting ahead.
Only Seraphine turns. Her eyes narrow beneath her mask.
She doesn't see the Piper…
But she feels the demon intent.
And she recognizes it.
> One of the Seven Legions…
Commander of the Abyss Choir…
The only one who knows the Vessel exists…
The Piper's masked face appears for a heartbeat behind Cain—visible only to the demon commander's eyes.
His fingers hover above invisible strings.
> "Awaken slowly, little king. You won't break yet."
"But soon… you will play my song."
Cain's breath fogs in the cold air. He doesn't turn. He can't. His eyes unfocus like a puppet resisting its strings.
Lyra calls from ahead, oblivious.
"Cain! You coming or not?"
He blinks—control snapping back.
"…Right behind you."
The Piper fades—only to reappear deeper in the dungeon… waiting.
Unstable Sector | Floor Unknown
The corridor opened into a wide cavern lit by flickering ghost-flames embedded in the walls. At first, it was silent.
Then the growls began.
Low. Numerous. Echoing.
Lyra drew her blade in one fluid motion.
"We've got movement."
From the shadows, eyes began to appear.
First ten.
Then twenty.
Then more.
Wolves — but not natural ones.
Their fur was ash-gray, their eyes pitch black, and veins of shadow-red pulsed beneath their skin. Their claws dragged against the stone like metal.
Cain clicked his tongue. "Tch. Wolves? This is nothing."
One wolf lunged.
Lyra cut it down cleanly—
But the corpse… dissolved into mist.
Another emerged from the darkness to take its place.
Seraphine spoke quietly for the first time:
"…They're not hunting normally. They're being called."
Lyra frowned. "Called? By who?"
Before anyone could answer—
DOOOOM.
A deep, invisible note vibrated through the air.
Not a sound… a command.
The wolves moved in unison.
Dozens. Then more. Surrounding. Coordinated.
Cain froze for half a second as a chill bled down his spine.
That note…
It echoed inside his blood.
Seraphine's eyes widened behind her mask.
She whispered under her breath:
> "The Piper is testing the vessel…"
Cain didn't hear her — he was clutching his head, a flicker of crimson glow flashing behind his pupils.
Lyra didn't notice — she was already cutting down the front line, barking orders.
"Cain! Snap out of it and burn them!"
He raised his hand — fire flared violently, harsher than before.
Too harsh.
A blast of crimson flame tore across five wolves, incinerating them—
But ten more took their place.
And Cain's flame… didn't look like mana anymore.
It looked closer to demonic fire.
His heartbeat thundered.
A voice slithered in his skull—
> "Play your part, Vessel. I'll lend you a note."
His flames surged without his control—
Lyra whipped around. "The hell was that?!"
He growled, trying to steady himself.
"I—don't—need—help!"
But the wolves kept coming.
Endless. Tireless. Controlled.
And the Piper watched from the shadows above, unseen.
His grin behind the mask widened.
> "Let the dungeon bleed him awake."
Dungeon – Aria's Side
Sub-Level? Sector Unknown
Aria's boots slipped slightly as she stood. Damp stone. Cold air. A faint mist curled along the floor like breath.
Only two figures were nearby:
Liam — already scanning the surroundings, calm but alert.
Nyssa — kneeling, hand pressed to the ground as she analyzed the mana currents.
Aria exhaled, steadying herself. "We're split. The others didn't land here."
Liam nodded. "The teleportation malfunction scattered us, but we're likely still in the same general dungeon layer. Our first objective is regrouping."
Nyssa rose to her feet, frowning slightly.
"This floor's mana pattern is wrong. The terrain here is artificially quiet."
Aria blinked. "Artificially?"
Nyssa nodded once. "Meaning… something is suppressing the natural monsters in this zone."
Liam's brow narrowed. "A guardian presence?"
"Or bait," Nyssa muttered.
Before they could discuss further—
CRACK—
The wall behind them shifted.
Not broke. Moved.
A massive circular slab of stone turned slowly like a hidden door, revealing a dark passage glowing faintly with bioluminescent moss.
Aria tensed. "That wasn't triggered by us."
Liam studied the moving wall. "Dungeon mechanism… or something guiding us."
Nyssa's eyes flickered with realization.
"This dungeon is adaptive. It alters pathways to test or isolate targets."
Aria looked between them.
"So someone — or something — wants us three specifically to move."
A soft clicking sound echoed from within the tunnel.
Not claws. Not footsteps.
Like… chitin scraping stone.
Aria's pulse tightened. She gripped her dagger.
Liam drew his blade soundlessly.
Nyssa whispered a quick spell, candlelight-blue mana weaving around her fingertips.
A shadow rippled at the far end of the tunnel—
Then the creature stepped into view.
Not a wolf.
Not a goblin.
Not undead.
It was tall — nearly twice Aria's height — with elongated limbs and a body shaped like a twisted centaur, part insect, part reptile. Its head was smooth, eyeless, and its breath came out in slow rattles like broken pipes.
Nyssa's voice dropped to a whisper.
> "That… thing isn't in the Academy's bestiary."
Liam stepped forward slightly, assessing.
"No visible eyes. Likely relies on sound and vibration."
Aria's grip tightened on her dagger, but something was off.
It wasn't charging.
It was waiting.
Like a sentry.
Nyssa's gaze turned razor-sharp.
> "This dungeon spawned custom enemies. Someone modified the environment… possibly the same force behind the teleport interference."
Liam lifted his sword in silence.
Aria took one step forward.
Then—
The creature's head snapped toward them.
Not at the group.
At Aria.
Its jaw split, revealing no tongue—
Just a void humming with faint echoing whispers.
A whisper she recognized.
Not with her ears.
But in her blood.
"Little survivor of the forest…"
Her heart jolted.
Liam glanced at her sharply. "Aria?"
She didn't answer.
The creature moved.
Not rushing.
Bending low like it was bowing—to her.
Then it lunged.
The creature didn't attack all three.
It ignored Liam.
It ignored Nyssa.
Its eyeless head locked onto one person—
Aria.
Its jaw split open again, and this time, the whispers leaking from the void weren't random.
They were commanded words.
Not spoken for everyone.
Spoken to her.
Like an order delivered second-hand.
> "Target the girl who walks with the forest's scent."
Nyssa stiffened. "It's ignoring us… entirely."
Liam's eyes narrowed. "It was sent. This isn't a wild dungeon spawn."
The creature didn't roar — it bowed.
Bowed.
To an unseen master's will.
Then it lunged at Aria with inhuman speed.
Liam intercepted, blade raised, sparks flying as steel met chitin.
Nyssa stepped back, weaving a layered barrier spell around Aria.
Aria's pulse thundered.
"How does it—why only me?!"
Liam parried another strike, eyes cold.
"Not random. Someone gave it an order."
Nyssa's gaze darted across the walls, runes flickering faintly.
> "Something — or someone — tampered with this dungeon before we arrived."
Not for Cain.
Not for Lyra.
Not for anyone.
For Aria.
A low tremor passed through the stone beneath them.
Nyssa's expression darkened.
> "We're not being tested. We're being hunted."
Liam pushed the monster back with a burst of mana and looked over his shoulder.
"Aria — focus. You've fought worse."
She gripped her dagger, breathing steady, but part of her mind froze at the memory of the first night she met him.
Nyssa suddenly spoke quietly:
"And Liam—be ready. This may not be the only ordered target."
The creature's claws scraped stone as it circled again.
And far away, in another part of the dungeon—
a masked figure on a spire whispered through a curse-sigil:
> "Test the Vessel with wolves… and test the girl with the forest mark."
"Both will break eventually."
Unknown Sublevel | Target Acquired
The creature lunged — claws slicing through air so fast they left ripples.
Aria dove aside, rolling into a crouch as the stone shattered where she'd been standing.
Liam met its second strike head-on.
His sword flared with silver mana, carving a clean arc through its arm —
but instead of blood, dark vapor hissed out, forming another limb instantly.
"Regeneration," Liam muttered, expression flat.
"Mana type — corrupted abyssal."
Nyssa's voice snapped from behind them:
"I can suppress its core flow, but not for long! It's not pure mana — something's binding it."
Aria exhaled sharply. "Then we cut what's controlling it."
She closed her eyes for a heartbeat.
Her chakra pulsed.
The energy wasn't like mana — it moved more organically, thrumming through her veins in rhythmic waves. Her fingertips sparked faint gold, veins lighting faintly beneath her skin.
Liam's eyes flicked toward her briefly. "Don't overuse it."
"I'm not planning to."
The creature hissed, screeching like metal twisting in fire. It slammed both arms into the floor, the ground rippling outward in a shockwave.
Liam braced. Aria leapt clear, chakra flaring in her legs — the ground cracked where she had stood.
It turned toward her again.
Ignoring everything else.
Nyssa spread her hands wide. "Aria, jump!"
Aria obeyed instantly.
A circle of runes exploded beneath the creature's feet.
Nyssa's binding spell.
The monster's legs fused into the floor, momentarily trapped.
Liam moved.
His blade flashed once, twice, thrice —
and the creature's torso split apart.
But instead of dying, its upper half twisted backward, black tendrils lashing wildly. One grazed Aria's shoulder, cutting fabric but not flesh.
The wound smoked — burning faintly purple.
Nyssa cursed under her breath. "Poisoned aura — don't let it touch you!"
Aria clenched her jaw and pushed chakra into her limbs again.
The burn faded instantly, neutralized by internal energy flow.
Liam's gaze flickered with faint approval. "Good control."
"Less talking," she shot back. "More cutting."
The creature roared again —
but this time, Aria didn't retreat.
She rushed in.
Her dagger glowed faint amber as she flooded it with chakra, the air around her blurring from speed.
She ducked beneath one tendril, slid across the slick floor, and drove her blade upward through the monster's chest.
The energy burst inside it — like a pulse detonating.
For a moment, silence.
Then a blast of light.
The creature convulsed and collapsed into smoke — leaving behind only a faint black crystal, pulsing weakly.
Liam approached cautiously. "Core fragment."
Nyssa picked it up with a gloved hand, eyes narrowing.
"…Corrupted signal rune embedded. Someone issued it a command string."
"Meaning?" Aria asked.
Nyssa looked up slowly. "Meaning this thing was programmed to find you."
Aria's fingers tightened on her dagger.
Liam's tone was calm, but sharp. "Then whoever's behind this knows about your chakra."
Aria froze.
That wasn't supposed to be possible.
Only one person alive was supposed to know.
---
Meanwhile — Somewhere Above
On the spire overlooking the trial grounds,
the Pied Piper traced one finger along the black crystal twin in his hand.
His smile widened beneath his mask.
> "So the forest child carries the forbidden current after all."
"The Demon God's vessel and the child of the old blood, together in one trial… How poetic."
He plucked a silent note.
The air around him hummed.
> "Play your tune, little Aria… and let the vessel answer."
Meanwhile — Aurelius Academy
The Gate Hall pulsed with unstable light.
The teleportation circle for Team Twelve flickered violently, mana surging and collapsing in unpredictable waves.
Instructors exchanged sharp glances — this had never happened before.
Instructor Seren frowned, sweat beading along her temple as she stabilized one of the runes.
> "The circle's distortion isn't fading. Something's fighting back from inside."
Instructor Ryneth struck the stone floor with his palm, arcs of lightning scanning through the array lines.
> "The mana frequency is… wrong. It's not demonic, not human, not elven — nothing registers."
A low hum rippled through the air.
The students who'd gathered nearby stepped back instinctively; the very walls of the hall seemed to breathe, the barrier warping for a heartbeat.
At the upper balcony, Headmaster Astaroth Drakenwald stood unmoving, crimson eyes gleaming faintly. His expression was unreadable.
> "The dungeon's pulse has changed," he murmured. "Something ancient has stirred inside it."
From the back of the hall, the priest approached — tall, robed in white and gold, his slit foxlike eyes glinting under the torchlight.
He extended his staff toward the gate, murmuring a purification chant.
The air brightened — for an instant.
Then dimmed again.
> "This presence… it is not purely demonic," he said slowly. "Nor divine. It feels like… life and death fused together, moving through one vessel."
Ryneth turned sharply. "Inhuman?"
The priest's poker face didn't change.
> "Beyond classification."
Seren's wings of light dimmed slightly. "Can we identify which student it's coming from?"
He hesitated, eyes narrowing.
> "No. It's buried — masked by an older signature. As if… the energy itself doesn't want to be recognized."
The Headmaster's gaze darkened, his claws flexing.
> "Then whatever it is, it predates our systems."
The priest turned to him quietly.
> "You've seen this before?"
Astaroth's eyes flickered — not with denial, but memory.
> "Once. Long ago. In a war the world no longer remembers."
The hall fell silent.
The light of the teleportation gate dimmed again, flickering like a dying heartbeat.
> "Prepare the reinforcement team," the Headmaster ordered. "If the dungeon's stability drops any lower, we're pulling everyone out."
The priest tilted his head, still watching the runes spiral and twist.
> "Tell me, Headmaster," he murmured softly. "When something beyond your comprehension surfaces within your walls… do you save it—"
His eyes glinted like polished gold.
> "—or seal it again?"
Astaroth didn't answer. He turned away, crimson eyes reflecting the broken light of the gate.
> "That depends," he said quietly, "on whether it wakes… or remembers."
The air was a graveyard of echoes — the kind that made breathing feel like trespass.
Team Twelve — or what was left of it — pressed their backs against the shattered wall of an ancient corridor. Blood, dust, and mana smoke filled the air.
"Aria, stay down!" Liam barked, slashing aside a lunging beast. His blade flickered weakly, lightning sputtering from the edge — he was running out of energy.
Nyssa was pale, one hand clutched against her bleeding shoulder, the other desperately tracing runes across the ground. "The seals—won't hold—"
The earth trembled again.
Dozens of creatures prowled out of the darkness — monstrous distortions of mana and flesh, half-formed, eyes burning crimson. Their bodies twitched, reshaping endlessly as if the dungeon itself were trying to manifest nightmares.
Aria pushed herself up, coughing blood. Her chakra lines pulsed weakly beneath her skin — glowing, cracking like glass under strain.
She could feel it — her energy was unstable. The dungeon's corrupted mana kept interfering with her chakra flow. It was like trying to breathe underwater.
"Damn it… it's feeding on us," she muttered. "It's using our mana to multiply."
Liam blocked another blow, barely keeping his footing. "Then stop holding back, Aria!"
She hesitated — her body screamed in warning. Sajam's voice echoed faintly in her mind.
> "Power without control will eat you alive."
But they had no choice.
She pressed her palm to the ground, drawing on what was left of her strength. Her veins burned — seven colors flickered, unstable and wild.
The creatures sensed the surge and roared, charging all at once.
Aria shouted, "Get behind me!"
Chakra erupted outward — a shockwave of raw energy, the seven elements blending into chaotic light. Fire and lightning tore through the air, earth split open, wind howled like a scream. For a moment, it felt like the world itself held its breath.
Then the backlash hit.
Aria's barrier cracked instantly. Blood poured from her nose. The light shattered, flinging her backward against the stone wall.
"ARIA!" Nyssa cried, scrambling toward her — only for a creature to swipe her aside. Liam cut it down, but three more took its place.
The world blurred — heat, dust, blood, screams.
Aria tried to rise. Her limbs felt like lead. Her chakra flared again — flickering, unstable, breaking apart.
I can't… I can't hold it anymore—
Something cold touched her cheek.
When she opened her eyes, the dungeon had changed. Shadows rippled, slow and deliberate, coiling around her — not suffocating, but protective.
For a heartbeat, she saw him.
A tall figure cloaked in shadow — indigo eyes watching from afar. Sajam.
Or maybe just her mind remembering him.
His voice drifted faintly, calm as ever.
> "You've already surpassed what I expected. Now stand."
Aria's trembling hand clenched. "Right… standing…"
She forced her body up, legs buckling, blood dripping from her fingertips. Her chakra re-ignited — but this time it wasn't bright. It was deep — steady — the pulse of life itself.
The creatures hesitated.
Aria's voice was barely a whisper.
"Liam… Nyssa… when I move… hit everything that moves."
Liam, bloodied but grinning, lifted his sword. "Heh. Finally."
Nyssa nodded weakly, runes flaring one last time.
Aria drew a deep breath and slammed her palms together.
Chakra erupted like a heartbeat. Seven-colored light blazed through the ruins, swallowing the monsters whole. Their screams melted into the roar of colliding energy.
The explosion tore through the dungeon — shaking the upper floors, sending cracks spidering through the barrier walls.
When the light faded, only silence remained.
The ground was scorched. The walls wept dust.
Liam knelt, coughing hard. Nyssa collapsed beside him.
And in the center, Aria stood swaying — bloodied, half-conscious — her chakra fading like dying embers.
The corridor behind her caved in. The exit had vanished.
She fell to her knees, chest heaving, eyes glassy. "We're… trapped."
Her voice barely a whisper.
The sound of a flute answered her from somewhere in the dark — soft, mocking, almost curious.
Her hand tightened weakly around her dagger.
"…So this… is death's door, huh?"
And then everything went black.
Meanwhile — Aurelius Academy Command Hall
The control chamber beneath the Academy roared with activity. Mana screens flickered across the walls, each projecting the live feeds and vital readings of all twelve dungeon teams.
Ten showed steady green lines.
One blinked faint red.
And one — Team Twelve — was flashing black.
"Instructor Mirelle," a technician shouted, panic edging her voice, "team twelve's mana signatures are dropping fast! We're losing connection!"
"What?" Mirelle turned sharply, her robes flaring with water-light. She scanned the crystal display, face paling. "That can't be right — their dungeon zone isn't even mapped that deep."
Another instructor, Kael Draven, slammed his fist against the control table, cracking the edge. "I told you that teleportation gate was unstable! You let them through anyway!"
Veynar growled, firelight rippling across his armor. "Enough! What's their status?"
"Aria von Elsworth — chakra fluctuations exceeding human threshold, unstable resonance detected. Liam Ferris — near mana depletion. Nyssa Calwen — bleeding out but alive."
A silence fell. The readings pulsed slower.
Then — static.
"Connection lost!" the technician yelled. "I can't locate their coordinates — it's like the dungeon swallowed their signal!"
The room trembled as the rune pillars around the main array sparked, one by one.
Headmaster Astaroth Drakenwald appeared at the center dais, cloak trailing, his slitted crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dim. The moment he entered, everyone froze.
"What happened?" His voice was calm — too calm.
Mirelle bowed slightly, trembling. "Sir, Team Twelve's gate destabilized mid-transfer. We've lost visual and mana link. Their life readings are faint — almost gone."
Astaroth's gaze turned toward the pulsing crystal at the heart of the room. The light inside it was flickering — red, then black, then nothing.
"…So it begins," he murmured.
"What?" Kael asked, confusion cutting through the tension.
"The interference… isn't from the dungeon," Astaroth said softly, his tone darkening. "Something outside is tampering with the flow of mana itself."
The instructors exchanged nervous glances.
Astaroth's clawed hand rose, tracing a rune in midair.
"Activate full-spectrum trace. Search every frequency of magic — demonic, divine, or otherwise. Find the source."
The crystals blazed with light — then dimmed again, overpowered by a single, chilling resonance. A sound filled the chamber — faint but unmistakable.
A flute.
Its haunting melody rippled through every magical circuit, making even the seasoned instructors freeze.
Astaroth's eyes narrowed. "So the rumors were true."
The command hall lights flickered.
"Seal the Academy perimeter," he ordered coldly. "No one enters or leaves until we find where that song is coming from."
And for a moment — just a heartbeat — a shadow flickered across the main crystal display.
A tall figure wearing a foxlike mask.
A slit smile curving beneath it.
The 7th Commander of the Demon Army had entered the game.
The dungeon was collapsing.
Ash. Blood. Silence.
Liam's blade trembled in his grip, cracked halfway down the edge.
Nyssa's hands shook over Aria's limp form, her lips moving in a weak healing chant that did nothing.
The air was too heavy — corrupted mana pressing on their lungs like stone.
Aria's heartbeat was faint. One more minute and she'd—
A sound broke through the ringing in their ears.
Thump.
A single, soft step.
Then another.
Each one echoing like a heartbeat through the cavern.
The monsters that had begun to crawl from the fissures paused — their crimson eyes flickering with instinctive dread.
Liam's hand froze mid-guard. "…What… is that?"
The shadows along the walls began to bend. Not move — bend.
Like they were bowing.
The air split.
A ripple — quiet but absolute — spread through the cavern, crushing the corrupted mana instantly. The sound of the monsters' breathing vanished.
Then, out of the darkness…
He walked in.
Cloaked in black, steps silent, aura dragging the world behind him.
His eyes, deep indigo, glowed faintly beneath the hood — like twin shards of night sky condensed into light.
The creatures reacted first — one lunged, jaws wide, its roar echoing.
It never reached him.
A pulse of pure pressure exploded outward.
No gesture. No chant. No visible attack.
The monster's body folded in on itself, crushed to dust by an invisible force. The wave of power rippled through the chamber — every lesser beast collapsed instantly, their forms evaporating like mist.
Nyssa's breath hitched. "That's… not mana."
Liam could barely stay on his feet. His sword arm trembled violently. "Who… the hell is that…"
The figure stopped. Slowly, he lifted his gaze toward the final creature — a towering, regenerating abomination clawing its way through the ceiling.
For a second, the thing hesitated — its body shivering in pure instinctive fear.
Then Sajam raised one hand.
The world stilled.
Air compressed. Space distorted.
And in absolute silence — the creature ceased to exist.
No explosion. No flash.
It simply vanished, erased from reality.
The pressure lingered for a moment longer, then faded — leaving only the echo of footsteps and the sharp scent of burnt ozone.
He turned, cloak brushing the cracked floor, and looked at the three battered students. His gaze softened when it landed on Aria.
He knelt beside her, pressing two fingers to her wrist.
A faint indigo current pulsed from his fingertips — soft, controlled, ancient.
Her breathing steadied.
Sajam exhaled quietly. "…Still reckless."
Liam's mouth opened, but no words came. He could only stare at the man who had just rewritten the air itself.
The silence cracked as Sajam stood, cloak rippling from a breeze that shouldn't have existed this deep underground. His gaze drifted upward — through the layers of stone, through the barrier, through the city itself.
Somewhere above, the faint sound of a flute stopped mid-note.
The Piper felt him.
A tremor passed through the dungeon, as if even the corruption recoiled.
Sajam's voice was low, steady, terrifyingly calm.
"Enjoy your melody while you can, Piper. When I move…"
He turned, eyes glowing brighter.
"…the song ends."
He vanished — space folding silently around him.
A second later, every torch in the dungeon reignited — indigo flame flaring once, then fading to ash.
The monsters were gone.
The air was clean.
And the last thing Liam and Nyssa saw before blacking out was the faint shimmer of Sajam's shadow dissolving into nothing.