Tower 1 — Floor Three, Boss Chamber
The door closed behind them with a heavy, final slam.
Aetherion muttered:
"We're locked in."
Ragnor rolled his shoulders.
"Good. Means we can punch our way out."
Lyra scanned the chamber.
The boss arena was massive:
circular
floors layered like cracked obsidian
glowing red lines tracing like veins
walls shaped like curved fangs
ceiling opening into a black void
A pit in the center pulsed like a heart.
Iris shivered.
"That looks like… a giant pupil."
Aetherion nodded slowly.
"Because it is."
The pit dilated.
A single enormous blood-red eye opened beneath them.
And the chamber shook.
The Eye of the Maw Rises
It emerged slowly—wet, grinding, scratching.
A monster unlike anything they'd seen:
A massive central eye the size of a carriage
Black sclera bleeding into the ground
Dozens of spiked tendrils spreading around it like legs
A vertical mouth splitting beneath the eye
Rows of needle teeth dripping acidic saliva
A flesh veil hanging loosely, twitching
The terrified remnants of the earlier Maw creature's face hung from it like trophies.
Lyra whispered:
"…that… thing… is a boss?"
Iris clutched her trembling hands to her chest.
"M-multiple tendrils… reactive learning… eye-based illusions… high-level perception magic—"
Ragnor cut her off.
"So it's ugly. We kill it."
The boss's eye focused on them.
A deep voice echoed—not from its mouth, but directly into their minds:
"You devoured my child…"
The ground split beneath them.
"Now I will devour YOU."
Boss Battle Begins: THE EYE OF THE MAW (LVL ???)
Its tendrils slammed down like iron whips.
Ragnor punched one aside—
but the moment he touched it, the tendril mimicked his movement, whipping back twice as hard.
He was thrown across the room.
"G—AGH! Okay—OW—everything here HURTS!"
Lyra shot arrows—
Void Arrows pierced tendrils, only for more to regenerate.
Aetherion formed a gravitational barrier as another tendril smashed down.
"This thing is regenerating way too fast!"
Iris threw a time-bind—
but the boss's eye flashed.
Time snapped back.
Her spell reversed mid-air.
It hit her.
Iris screamed as her own time slowed, trapping her body.
Ragnor sprinted to shield her.
Lyra glared at the eye.
"It's controlling time-magic?!"
Aetherion nodded.
"This is a perception-tier boss. It sees everything. Predicts everything. Reads everything."
Ragnor spat blood.
"So how do we beat something that SEES AHEAD OF US?!"
Aetherion's expression darkened.
"…with something it can't understand."
Ragnor blinked.
"What's that supposed to—"
A tremor shook the chamber.
Everyone froze.
The Eye of the Maw's gaze shifted—
past them.
Toward the shadows behind the group.
Lyra's voice became barely a whisper.
"…it's looking at… him."
DRM stood behind them.
Silent.
Small.
Hands at his sides.
Mask blank.
Eyes glowing red beneath.
The Eye of the Maw trembled.
The tremor turned into a violent shake.
Its voice cracked.
"N—NO… NOT YOU…"
Ragnor blinked.
"…the giant eye monster is scared of the eight-year-old?"
Iris tried to scream but time distortion muffled her.
Aetherion watched with narrowed eyes.
"This is… unexpected."
DRM took one step forward.
The entire room dimmed.
The Eye of the Maw shrieked in pure terror:
"YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE—YOU SHOULD NOT EXIST—"
DRM tilted his head.
Red aura flickered.
Just Stage 1.
But it was enough.
The tendrils recoiled instantly.
Some ripped themselves off just to get away.
The boss's huge eye darted around in panic.
"NO—NO—NO—NO—NOT HIM—PLEASE—"
DRM lifted his small hand—
—then lowered it.
He wasn't attacking.
He was granting permission.
Quietly.
Silently.
The boss was not killed by DRM.
He was telling the squad:
"Finish it."
Ragnor grinned savagely.
"I LOVE THIS KID."
The Team's Counterattack
Ragnor
Charged in, smashing tendrils aside with Earth-enhanced punches.
Lyra
Fired Void Arrows straight into the exposed flesh under the eye—
the eye couldn't predict DRM's interference.
Aetherion
Created a gravitational well that pinned the tendrils in place.
Iris
Her slowed time snapped back—
DRM's aura disrupted the reversal.
She unleashed a high-intensity Time Recoil:
"G-go BACK!"
The Eye of the Maw's tendrils reverted momentarily—
undoing its regeneration.
Ragnor smashed the core.
Lyra pierced the pupil.
Aetherion destabilized its gravity center.
The boss shrieked, collapsing—
CRACK
SHATTER
The massive eye imploded, dissolving into a pool of black ichor.
Silence.
Then a glowing orb floated above the remains.
A Boss Drop.
Lyra approached carefully.
"It's… a perception essence. Very rare."
Aetherion nodded.
"This will greatly enhance one of our abilities."
Ragnor wiped blood from his face.
"We actually won."
Iris breathed shakily.
"I was so scared…"
Aetherion touched her shoulder gently.
"You did well."
But Lyra wasn't looking at the orb.
She was looking at DRM.
He stood still, staring at the fallen boss.
Not victorious.
Not proud.
Not satisfied.
Just watching.
Silent.
Observing.
As if he wasn't seeing a dead monster—
but something else entirely.
Lyra whispered, barely audible:
"…what are you?"
DRM turned.
His glowing eyes met hers.
A chill ran down her spine.
Then DRM walked past her without a sound.
Ahead.
To another opening door.
To Floor Four.
But something important happened here.
A faint shimmer lingered beside DRM's shoulder.
A flicker of translucent outline.
A ghost-like silhouette of another boy.
A boy the readers won't recognize yet.
A boy who doesn't exist yet.
Rio Dimos.
Aetherion's cosmic vision caught the shimmer.
His breath caught.
"…what was that?"
But when he looked again—
It was gone.
CHAPTER 9 — STATUS REPORT
Ragnor
Level: 10
EXP: +1100
Skills:
Earth Strike
Ground Pulse (Stable)
Physical Status: Heavy bruising
Mental State: Excited, confident
Notes: First major boss crushed
Lyra
Level: 9
EXP: +920
Skills:
Constellar Mark
Void Arrow (Intermediate++)
Physical Status: Light fatigue
Mental State: Uneasy interest in DRM
Notes: Void resonance spiking
Iris
Level: 7
EXP: +900
Skills:
Temporal Bind
Chrono Sense
Time Recoil
Physical Status: Exhausted
Mental State: Fear cooling
Notes: Time recoil reaction improving
Aetherion
Level: 10
EXP: +1100
Skills:
Microcosm Blast
Gravity Pulse
[New] Gravitational Crush (Minor)
Physical Status: Stable
Mental State: Deep suspicion about DRM
Notes: Detected anomaly
DRM
[UNREADABLE]
Level: ERROR
EXP: Unknown
Aura: Stage 2 Awakening Approaching
Domain: Slight distortion
Mask Sync: 68%
Emotional State: Unknown
System Note: "Subject destabilized a boss's perception. This should be impossible."