"It seems… I really am a Specialist."
The words echoed softly through the cavern, lingering in the stale, unmoving air before fading into silence.
Specialists were often called the wild cards of Nen. Their abilities didn't follow conventional rules, making them both unpredictable and terrifying. Unlike the other Nen types, Specialist powers varied wildly from user to user—some subtle, others catastrophically destructive. They were the rarest of all Nen users, accounting for less than ten percent of the total.
While Specialists could technically use all other Nen types, their true strength lay in a single, unique ability—one tailored entirely to them. These powers often came with strict conditions or limitations, but in exchange, they granted overwhelming strength.
"Unique, huh?" Sylas muttered, rubbing his chin as he slipped into deep thought.
He exhaled slowly, eyes drifting toward the jagged stone ceiling overhead. The air in the labyrinth was heavy and oppressive, pressing down on him like an unseen weight—the unmistakable atmosphere of a dungeon that devoured lives without remorse.
Meanwhile, far above him, in the upper layers of the Orcus Labyrinth—
Steel rang against steel.
"Don't break formation!" a brown-haired boy shouted, swinging his sword with all his strength. Sparks erupted as the blade struck a monster's hardened hide.
A group of high school students—barely trained—fought desperately for their lives. Skeleton-like monsters surged toward them in endless waves. Behind those lesser creatures loomed a massive triceratops-like beast, nearly ten meters long, its sheer size radiating menace. A true behemoth.
A black haired girl clad in a white-and-blue uniform raised her staff, panic creeping into her voice as she chanted.
"Wind—Wind Wall!"
A translucent barrier burst into existence just in time, blocking a rain of arrows and crude weapons that would have torn into there backline.
"More are coming!" another student yelled, fear bleeding through his words.
At the center of the group stood a quiet boy with short black hair—Hajime Nagumo. He remained slightly apart from the others, his expression tense but focused.
Slamming his hands into the ground, he distorted the earth beneath the charging skeletons. The terrain buckled and cracked, disrupting their advance—buying the group a few precious seconds to regroup.
"Well done, Nagumo," Captain Meld said sharply before signaling the retreat. "Everyone, fall back to the bridge!"
The students and knights regrouped hurriedly.
"On my command, prepare magic missiles, to cover his retreat!" Meld ordered.
Mana surged as spells were charged.
"Ready," the captain raised his arm.
"Fire!"
A volley of magic missiles streaked downward, smashing into the bridge beneath the behemoth. Stone shattered. The massive creature roared as the structure collapsed, sending it—and countless monsters—plummeting into the abyss below.
Nagumo turned to retreat with the others when something felt wrong.
A stray spell—unstable and glowing—hurtled its way straight toward him.
'Is that… heading for me?'
The magic detonated in front of him, the shockwave blasting him backward, causing his footing to vanish.
"No—!" Kaori screamed as she watched Nagumo fall into the darkness, swallowed by the abyss alongside the falling monsters.
She surged forward, desperate to follow him, to save him—but Shizuku, her best friend, struck her from behind, knocking her unconscious.
"Why did you do that?!" Kouki, the so-called hero of the class, shouted angrily.
"She did what had to be done," Captain Meld interrupted coldly. "If she'd gone after him, she would've died too. We can't afford to lose anyone else."
Kouki clenched his fists, teeth grinding. He knew the truth, even if he hated it. They'd barely survived this floor—there was no saving someone who fell deeper.
"Fall back," Meld ordered grimly. "We must regroup at once."
Far below—deeper than anyone had ever gone—
Hajime Nagumo was still falling.
The wind screamed past his ears as jagged rock blurred into a lethal nightmare. His body smashed against stone again and again. Bones cracked. Blood sprayed in hot arcs before vanishing into the darkness.
'So this is it,' he thought weakly as consciousness slipped in and out.
'Guess… this is where I die.'
His body skidded across rough stone before finally slamming into a wall. He collapsed in a broken heap at the edge of an underground cavern.
If anyone had checked his pulse, they would've found it weak—but stubbornly beating.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours.
Finally, his fingers twitched.
Nagumo's eyes snapped open, unfocused and hazy. Every nerve screamed as he tried to move.
"Still… alive?" he rasped, coughing up blood.
He forced himself to look around.
"Am I… still in the dungeon?" he murmured. "It's so dark… I can't see a thing down here."
As Nagumo's vision adjusted, he noticed something standing a few meters away from him.
It was a rabbit.
Its fur was gray, but strange red patterns glowed faintly along its body.
"…Just a bunny?" he muttered. "Aren't monsters supposed to get stronger the deeper you go?"
A low growl answered him.
Two gray-furred wolves with matching red markings lunged toward the rabbit.
*Slash*
*Slash*
In an instant, both wolves collapsed—headless.
Nagumo scrambled backward, landing hard on his backside.
"That thing's a nightmare beast—crap! I was wrong!"
*Zmmm*
The air vibrated.
The rabbit vanished—then reappeared directly in front of him.
It tilted its head, its crimson eyes studying him.
*Slash*
The attack missed him by a hair's breadth, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled, the rabbit prepared to finish him—before it froze.
Something massive stood behind Nagumo.
A bear.
A monstrous bear with grayish-white fur and a crushing presence that radiated danger. The rabbit's confidence vanished instantly. Using its Quick Step ability, it fled.
The bear roared, energy gathering around its claws before it slashed forward.
Three green energy sickles tore through the air.
The rabbit's head separated cleanly from its body.
'My predator just became prey,' Nagumo realized. 'And I'm next.'
As the bear began devouring the corpse, Nagumo forced his battered body to move. To run for cover.
Every step he took sent white-hot pain screaming through his shattered body, but fear drowned it out. Behind him, the wet crunch of flesh echoed through the cavern—the bear feeding.
'Don't look back. Don't slow down.'
His foot caught on a jagged rock. He pitched forward, barely managing to roll before slamming shoulder-first into the cavern wall. The impact knocked the air from his lungs.
"Gah—!" He choked, coughing blood as he scrambled to his feet.
Too late.
A deep, rumbling growl rolled through the cavern.
The bear had noticed him.
The ground trembled as it rose to its full height, easily several meters tall. Its eyes locked onto Nagumo with cold, predatory focus. Slowly, deliberately, it turned its massive body toward him.
'I can't outrun that.'
Nagumo's mind raced. 'Think. Think!'
The bear charged.
Stone cracked beneath its weight as it closed the distance in seconds. Instinct took over. Nagumo dove to the side just as a massive claw slammed into the spot where he'd been standing, pulverizing rock like wet clay.
Fragments tore into his back. His scream tore itself from his throat before he even realized what had happened.
The bear's second strike came faster—far faster than his broken body could react to. Massive jaws clamped down around his left arm with a sickening crunch.
For a second, there was no pain.
Then—
Agony detonated.
"AAAAAAHHH—!"
Bone shattered like glass. Flesh ripped apart. Nagumo felt everything—the pressure, the tearing, the heat as blood sprayed across the cavern floor. His arm was ripped free with brutal ease.
Nagumo hit the ground hard, spinning as shock slammed into him full force.
His vision went white.
His left arm—now gone.
The bear barely spared him a glance. Before it lowered its head and began to eat his arm right in front of him.
Chewing. Crunching. The sound was obscene.
Nagumo's body convulsed violently, nerves screaming where his arm had been. Blood poured from the ragged stump, pooling beneath him, the coppery smell filling the air.
'I'm going to die.'
To be Continued…