"Did it just speak?" Mira said, staring in disbelief, like her brain refused to process what she had just heard.
"Yes, it did…" Grokk muttered, mirroring her expression.
Ais stayed silent, but her eyes narrowed slightly, locked onto the creature on Amphisbaena's tail.
For me, I already knew what it was.
A Xenos.
The mermaid struggled again. "Help… please…"
"Go," I said quickly.
That snapped them out of it.
Mira blinked. "Huh?"
"Move," I added, sharper this time. "Now."
Something in my tone finally broke through their shock.
Grokk shifted immediately. "Right."
Mira hesitated for half a second longer, then clicked her tongue and moved. "Tch… fine."
Ais didn't question it. She was already stepping forward, blade ready.
Grokk shifted left, hammer rising. Mira moved right, rolling her shoulders like she was forcing the last of her hangover away. Ais stepped forward without a word, calm and precise, taking point as if it was second nature.
The Amphisbaena reacted too late.
Both heads snapped up, letting out a deep, distorted hiss that shook the cavern.
I stayed where I was.
There was no need for me to step in.
Ais reached it first.
Her blade flashed once.
One head dropped instantly, severed mid-motion before it could even fully turn.
The body convulsed violently, slamming into the stone and rattling the ground.
Grokk moved next.
The second head lunged in panic, but he met it head-on. His hammer came down with brutal force, crushing it against the floor in a single, heavy impact that echoed through the cavern.
Mira followed immediately, slipping into the opening they created.
"Don't mind if I do," she muttered.
She drove her weapon into the exposed body, carving through weakened flesh and disrupting what remained of its structure before it could recover.
The Amphisbaena let out a final, broken screech.
Then it collapsed. Still and silent.
Dust drifted through the air as the massive body stopped moving entirely.
It was over.
Grokk exhaled slowly. "That was easier than expected."
Mira rolled her shoulder. "Yeah… I was expecting more fight than that."
Ais lowered her blade slightly, gaze steady, already assessing that it was done.
My eyes shifted to the mermaid, it was barely clinging to the lifeless tail, trembling, weak.
It lifted its head slowly. "You… saved me…"
Mira stared at it for a moment, expression unreadable, then looked away like she didn't know what to do with that.
Grokk stayed silent.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Before it could even nod, it let out a sharp hiss.
That's when I noticed it.
A wound on its left side. Bad enough that if it was left alone, it would turn fatal.
I didn't waste time.
I knelt beside it immediately and brought my hands up in front of the injury. Mana gathered at my fingertips, warm and steady as I activated healing magic.
Behind me, I could already hear Mira and Grokk reacting.
"You have magic too, Boss?" Mira blurted out, clearly surprised.
Grokk didn't say anything at first, but I could hear the shift in his tone when he finally added, "You really are an amazing boss, is there something you couldn't do?"
I didn't reply.
My focus stayed on the mermaid.
The wound was worse up close than it looked from a distance. The mermaid flinched at first, then slowly started to relax as the pain eased.
It didn't take long before the injury fully closed.
The torn flesh knitted back together under the soft glow of healing magic, leaving only faint traces of what had been there moments ago.
"Thank you… for saving me," it said.
I exhaled, letting the last of the healing magic fade from my hands.
"No worries," I said. Then my gaze sharpened slightly. "Now tell me. What is a Xenos like you doing in the jaws of an Amphisbaena?"
Then its expression shifted, almost embarrassed.
"I was mesmerized by a flower I saw… I didn't realize it was behind me," it said.
Oh right. I remember now.
This Xenos was the one Bell had encountered on the 25th floor.
Behind me, I could already feel Mira struggling to keep it together.
"…A flower?" she repeated.
"…Really?" Grokk added, sounding like he wasn't sure whether to be impressed or disappointed.
"You got yourself nearly eaten over a flower?" Mira said again, incredulous.
A small, sheepish giggle came from the mermaid. "Hehe…"
I pinched the bridge of my nose slightly, letting out a quiet sigh as I looked at it.
"Ahh!"
She suddenly jolted, eyes widening.
"I have to go back!"
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she quickly slipped out of my reach and hurriedly crawled towards the water, movements still a little unsteady but far better than before.
Just before diving in, she paused and looked back at us, lifting her hand in a small wave.
"Thank you… for saving me."
Then she disappeared beneath the surface.
Gone just like that.
"That was…" Mira started.
"Weird?" Grokk finished.
Mira nodded, then turned her attention back to me.
"Boss, what the hell was that?"
I let out a small sigh. There was no point dancing around it.
"That was a Xenos."
The words settled over them immediately.
Mira frowned. "A Xenos…"
Grokk's expression darkened slightly as he processed it. "So the stories were true."
Ais, who had been quiet the entire time, finally looked away from the water and toward me, her attention sharpening.
I glanced back at the spot where she had disappeared, then continued.
"Intelligent monsters," I said. "They think. They speak. They even have their own kind of society."
Mira blinked. "Monsters… that talk?"
"Yeah," I replied simply.
Mira still looked unconvinced, but the disbelief had shifted into something more uncertain. "So… that thing we just saved… wasn't just some random monster?"
I shook my head slightly.
"No. It wasn't. That was a Xenos."
"A Xenos?" she repeated
I nodded. "Yeah. They're monsters that somehow gained intelligence. They can think, understand, and some of them can even speak like we do."
Grokk frowned. "That's… hard to believe."
"It should be," I said. "They're rare. Way rarer than anything you'll find in the Dungeon."
"Still doesn't explain how that even happens."
I paused for a second, then answered.
"They're believed to be monsters that have been killed over and over again by adventurers," I said. "At some point, something changes. Instead of coming back the same way, they… remember."
"So they remember dying… and that changes them?" he asked..
I nodded.
"Something like that. No one fully understands the process, but that seems to be the most accepted theory. Once they awaken as Xenos, they stop attacking adventurers on sight. Most of them just want to survive and find a place where they can live in peace."
Mira crossed her arms, still processing everything. "That's insane. We've been killing these things for years, and now you're telling me some of them can think and talk like people?"
"Not all monsters," I corrected. "Only a very small number become Xenos. And even then, they're still dangerous if provoked. But this one… she was harmless."
Ais remained quiet, but I noticed the subtle shift in her posture. She was listening carefully.
Grokk rubbed the back of his neck. "If word gets out that we're helping talking monsters, it could cause problems. The Guild might not like it. Other adventurers definitely won't."
"I know," I said. "That's why we keep this between us for now. Xenos are already hunted by some groups. They don't need more enemies."
Mira let out a long breath and glanced toward the water where the mermaid had vanished. "Still… saving her felt weird. But I guess it wasn't a bad feeling."
A small smile tugged at my lips. "That's a start."
The cavern grew quiet again, the only sound coming from the gentle lapping of water against the rocks. The dust had mostly settled, leaving the massive corpse of the Amphisbaena sprawled across the ground like a fallen giant.
Ais finally sheathed her blade with a soft click. Her golden eyes met mine.
"You knew," she said simply. It was not quite an accusation, but there was clear curiosity behind her words.
I met her gaze evenly. "I did."
She studied me for a moment longer, then gave a small nod, accepting the answer without pressing further.
Mira stretched her arms above her head. "Well, whatever. As long as it doesn't come back to bite us in the ass later. Let's loot this thing and get moving. I didn't come all the way down here just to chat with fish girls."
Grokk chuckled. "Always so practical."
I glanced at the fallen Amphisbaena. Even in death, its body looked imposing. "Take what you can. Magic stones, materials, anything useful. We'll split it evenly."
As the group began to move toward the corpse, I stayed back for a moment, staring at the dark water where the mermaid had disappeared.
I wondered if she would make it back safely to her kind.
And more importantly, I wondered how long it would be before our paths crossed again.
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