In the dark corridor, eight floating specters circled an adventurer clad in heavy, dark plate armor that covered him completely.
Letting out menacing hisses as they slowly closed in.
"Hah! Hwah! Orah! Heyah!" The armored adventurer brandished his sword overhead, futilely attempting to strike something.
As if toying with their food, the specters circled closer and darted away, never allowing the sword to truly threaten them.
The adventurer looked upward nervously, watching those dark, murmuring clouds closing in from all sides; he felt the tension rising and his arms growing weary.
However, perhaps growing impatient, one of the ghosts broke away from the group, dropping in altitude as it sped toward the adventurer.
"You are mine. Die, monster!"
The adventurer poured all his remaining strength into the strike, driving the heavy blade downward with a desperate force that should have split the creature in two.
Clang!
The heavy broadsword hit nothing but solid stone, vibrating violently through his gauntlets.
Instead of dodging, the specter lunged forward and phased straight through the adventurer's armor and body, leaving a freezing sensation that completely stole the air from his lungs.
"D-damn... it... Ghost freak..."
He collapsed weakly to his knees, nearly droppimg his weapon as he braced his hands against the ground to maintain a shred of composure, the misty floor blurring in his vision.
But he barely had time to catch his breath when two shadowy non-faces emerged from the ground before his eyes.
His eyes widened as he realized he was screwed, but it was too late.
SKRRR-SHHH-THUD!
The two specters yanked him off the ground in a flash. One ghost clawed the greaves while the other grasped the side of the helmet, flying high them going down and dragging his heavy body violently across the rough brick floor.
Metallic sparks flew as armor plates grinded against stone, his head banging repeatedly inside the iron helm, scrambling his mind until he was hurled into the dead end.
BAM!
"Kh-hh... ugh..." A ragged, wet groan escaped the visor, accompanied by the screech of twisted iron as he forced his battered limbs to move.
"Gah... hah... Go- damn it..."
Every joint in the armor creaked under the strain, leaking small trails of dark blood onto the floor, but through sheer willpower, he balanced his weight against the wall—bruised, bleeding, and utterly wrecked, yet standing.
He raised his gaze, barely able to make out anything through his helmet's visor. What he saw were dark shapes—almost like hallucinations, yet all too real and deadly.
He tried to lift his arm—miraculously, he hadn't dropped his weapon when he was thrown, his fingers still weak around the hilt—but he could barely keep it raised.
"Wh-what's... the matter... you fuckers?" He wheezed, a bloody cough rattling inside his chest as his arm trembled violently under the weight of the blade. "S-scared... of a dead man...?"
The ghostly monsters didn't seem affected by his taunt. Instead, they drew closer with agonizing slowness, as if savoring his despair, deliberately dragging out the suffocating tension.
It was working. Watching those blurry, dark figures slowly expand in his vision, crowding the narrow corridor, a raw panic began to claw at the adventurer's chest.
'Is this where I die? Damn it... I shouldn't have pushed past the seventh floor. Every monster is already stronger than me. Why was I so reckless and come to these floor with even harder ones?'
Realizing he probably wouldn't make it out alive, a sudden surge of pure adrenaline overrode his battered senses. Resolving to make one final, desperate stand.
"I'll take at least one of you down with me, damn it!"
He cast his sword aside and, his hand flew to his waist to draw his secondary weapon.
Unlike his previous blade, this one was forged from a blood-red crystal. It seemed light and fragile, yet it concealed tremendous power.
"Eat this!"
Crimson flames erupted from the hilt, wrapping around the blood-red crystal blade with a roaring hiss.
The sudden, blinding light pierced the corridor. Caught completely off-guard by the explosive surge of heat, the specters froze in place, their dark shapes recoiling from the intense glare.
With a fierce roar, the adventurer swung the weapon forward.
BOOM!
A massive tidal wave of fire detonated from the blade. The sheer force of the blast rattled the stone corridor, making the heavy walls shake violently as debris rained from the ceiling.
"Hah... Hah... hah..." Heavy, ragged panting filled the corridor as the residual flames died down.
The smoke began to clear, revealing a completely empty hallway. The monsters were gone.
The adventurer let out a series of weak, exhausted laughs.
"Hah... hah... I did it... I actually did it." He said, incredulous, not having expected his strike to take them all out at once.
Crack. A snapping sound cut through the silence.
He looked down just in time to see the beautiful red crystal blade lose its luster, fracturing instantly into dull, grey fragments that crumbled to the floor.
He stared at the empty hilt in his hands, letting out a heavy sigh.
"That was the last charge... and the last one. Getting back to the surface is going to be hell. But at least... I'm still alive."
He collapsed backward, sliding down the wall until his buttocks hit the stone floor. He pulled his knees up, resting his head against them in absolute exhaustion.
Wanting to breathe better, he unlocked his helmet and pulled it off. But the moment he wiped the sweat dripping over his eyes, his vision caught something straight out of his nightmares.
A shadow was rising from the floor.
Not just one. Multiple dark shapes were oozing out from the ground, the adjacent walls, and the ceiling.
A chill shot up his spine. As if a supernatural aura—mortal, freezing, and oppressive—hung in the air.
Mortified, he slowly turned his head to the side.
A specter was gliding out of the solid wall right next to him, casually staring him down.
"SCREEEEEECH!" The shrill cry echoed violently, the dark silhouettes lunged forward to shred their defenseless prey.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
...
Footsteps thundered through another corridor. Luki and Ryuu sprinted through the misty shadows, weapons drawn, their eyes shining focused straight ahead in the dark.
"Turn right here!" Luki yelled, adjusting his trajectory without losing speed.
They skidded around the corner, only to come face-to-face with a dead end at the far end of the hallway.
"Luki-san, what is the meaning of this? There is no path ahead!" Ryuu questioned without slowing her pace.
"That is our path ahead!"
Luki shot ahead of her. Instantly understanding his intent, Ryuu closed the distance, catching up to him.
As they reached the dead end, the two clenched their fists. Together, they delivered a synchronized strike so powerful it could have demolished a house.
BOOM!
Debris was sent flying as a cloud of fine dust rose from the impact, yet neither of them paused.
"There!" Luki shouted, quickly lowering Lili from his back.
"AHHH!!! AHHH!!! HELP!!! ARGH!!!" Suspended high in the air, the knight screamed as his limbs were being pulled apart by the ghostly monsters.
Ryuu narrowed her eyes at the sight.
"Hah!" With a low shout, she gripped her wooden sword like a javelin and launched it with an Olympic throw.
Puff! Puff!
Two specters were instantly obliterated as the weapon pierced their cores perfectly; they didn't even have a chance to scream.
Surprised, the remaining monsters halted the tug-of-war on the limbs they were about to tear off, and turned their attention to the new intruders.
Unlike the prey they had been torturing, these newcomers seemed entirely confident and unafraid. In fact, for a reason they couldn't comprehend, one of them even felt a bit like them.
However, the monsters' confusion was cut short as the two adventurers lunged at them—extremely fast.
"Ha! Hah!" Luki sliced two specters in half, destroying them instantly, while the others barely managed to escape by phasing through the strikes and flying away.
At the same time, Ryuu caught the man right before he hit the ground, retrieved their dropped sword, and retreated back to Lili's side.
"Watch over him. I will assist over there," she said before running back into the fray.
"Yes, ma'am!" Lili shouted, immediately dragging the heavy, armored man behind the rubble to take cover.
Meanwhile, Luki was leaping across the corridor and slashing with his Zweihänder, trying to strike the floating monsters. It was difficult, though; even if they were weaker, their escape skills were tremendous.
"Oh, come on—can't monsters these days just die when I try to kill them?!" he complained after failing to slice one of them for the umpteenth time.
Suddenly, Ryuu appeared right behind him. She jumped, using his shoulder as a springboard to launch herself up to the specters' height.
"Hyah!" Like a deadly ballerina, she spun through the air and struck the monsters in her path with her wooden sword—and to Luki's surprise, the blows connected.
She landed gracefully on the stone floor as three more specters dissolved into spectral ash.
"You can still hit them if you strike their cores," Ryuu explained calmly.
"But how? What's the logic behind that? They pass through walls and everything; just because it's their vital point, that shouldn't automatically make it tangible!"
"I do not know the reason, but it does not matter. What matters is that we can kill them."
"Fair enough."
Without a second thought, Luki violently drove his hand into the ground and tore out a chunk of shattered brick.
"SCREEAAAACH!!!" Seeing all its companions perish so quickly, the final monster was seized by pure terror and tried to fly away.
Puff!
However, its flight was cut short. It died instantly as Luki hurled the rock with crushing force, shattering its magic crystal to pieces.
"Aaaand... done! All the monsters are dead, and we saved the day," Luki said with a satisfied smile as he wiped his hands.
"That was unusual. The last one tried to flee from us; that rarely happens with Dungeon monsters," Ryuu noted, her tone analytical.
"It must have realized we were way out of its league and that a suicidal attempt wasn't worth it."
"Perhaps... But we should mention this to the Guild later anyway. Monster behavior is always a mystery waiting to be unraveled."
"Oh, come on! Stop thinking about that kind of stuff. We're here—can't we just, I dunno, enjoy the moment? High five!"
Ryuu looked at him and then at his outstretched hand, her expression entirely impassive. She made no move to bridge the distance, her posture remaining stiff and guarded.
"Your enthusiasm on occasions like this is contagious, Luki-san, but you really ought to take these matters more seriously."
"It's just a high-five," Luki insisted, stepping slightly closer to keep the gesture alive. "There's no harm in two friends doing that, especially after a win like that."
"Luki-san, I already said. We are friends, but that does not mean-"
"Come on, I know you're an elf, but it's just a high five. It's not like you've never touched me before," Luki interrupted her, offering a casual shrug.
Ryuu snapped her jaw shut, her gaze shifting away from his palm to lock directly onto his eyes. Her silence was heavy, deflecting the lighthearted request as if she genuinely intended to leave him standing there forever. The quiet moment stretching until it became almost awkward.
"Hey? Yoo-hoo? Earth to Ryuu—my arm's getting tired here. You wouldn't do this to me, would you?"
She stared at him for a few more moments, utterly motionless and subtly bewildered by his sudden childishness. Yet, looking at his persistent smile, the rigid tension in her shoulders finally gave way. She let out a quiet sigh, giving in to his stubborn pace.
"High five..." she murmured, her voice laced with a faint reluctance.
Luki grinned broadly and pressed his palm against hers.
Slap!
Sheathing their weapons, the two adventurers turned around and began walking back down the dusty corridor, their boots crunching against the super-valuable and expensive spectral ashes they came looking for, but seem to have forgotten about.
"You know, I think we make a great team. We should do this more often."
"Not in a million years," Ryuu replied smoothly.
"Don't say that; you're hurting my feelings."
"I don't care. I'm only here today out of convenience."
"Uh-huh, sure—keep pretending you don't care about me; I'll let you know when I'm convinced."
Ryuu merely offered a slight tilt of her head, choosing to ignore the comment as they approached the pile of collapsed brickwork. Hearing their familiar voices, Lili poked her head out from behind the rubble, her tense expression instantly melting into relief.
She stepped out into the open, a bright smile on her face.
"Luki-sama! Ryuu-sama! That was absolutely incredible!" Lili cheered, clapping her hands together. "You handled those monsters like it was nothing!"
"Thanks, Lili," Luki replied with a brief nod, his expression shifting to a more serious tone as he looked toward the hiding spot. "How is the guy doing?"
Lili sighed, her ears drooping slightly as she gestured for them to follow. "Well... as well as can be expected. Both of his arms were dislocated during the struggle, and he seems to be suffering from a severe headache, but he will live."
They stepped behind the pile of debris and approached the fallen warrior. The weight of the damage became painfully obvious up close.
His heavy armor was battered and scratched, yet it remained mostly intact. However, his arms were loosely extended and hanging at unnatural from his shoulders.
Also, his face was flushed crimson, sweat coating his forehead as he winced in agony.
Luki stared down at the man's face. A strange, nagging sensation tugged at the back of his mind. For some reason, he felt a persistent gut feeling that he had seen this person somewhere before—yet his supernatural memory didn't seem to want to work today.
Ryuu knelt beside the warrior, lightly pressing the back of her hand against his burning forehead. Why be ashamed, right?
"His temperature is unusually high," She reported, her brow furrowing as she analyzed his condition. "The trauma from his injuries, combined with exhaustion, now that the adrenaline has faded, must have caused it. He is likely suffering from a blinding migraine as well."
"What do we do? Do I teleport him to the surface with me?" Luki suggested, stepping closer.
Ryuu thought for a few moments before shaking her head. "No, your magic is very strange. We don't know what it would do to him in this state."
She then turned to face them. "Do any of you know how to put a dislocated arm back in place?"
Lili raised her hand.
"Fine, then you don't do it," Ryuu said before standing up and walking away, wiping her hands as if she had touched something disgusting.
'Elves,' Luki thought, observing her behavior with a dry expression.
"Luki-sama, help me remove the chest armor," Lili requested, already unbuckling the leather straps that held the heavy plates together.
Luki knelt down beside her, carefully lifting the heavy, dented breastplate away to give Lili more room to work. Once the chest was clear, Lili firmly grasped the man's distorted right arm. She positioned her foot against his torso for leverage and looked up at Luki.
"Hold his shoulders tight, Luki-sama. On three. One... two..."
Before she even hit three, Lili gave a sharp, violent yank.
CRACK!
"ARRRRGHHH!!!"
The man's eyes snapped wide open as a blood-curdling scream ripped from his throat. His entire body convulsed with agonizing pain as the joint popped back into its socket.
Without missing a beat, Lili shifted her weight to the left arm and delivered another powerful pull.
SNAP!
"GAHHH-!"
The second scream was cut short as the sheer intensity of the pain overloaded his already exhausted system.
His head fell back heavily onto the stone floor, his breathing turning shallow and weak, slipping into unconsciousness as his battered body finally shut down to recover from the trauma.
"Done," Lili said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
"Good job, Lili. What do we do now? Take him to the surface?" Luki asked, turning his gaze toward Ryuu.
"That would be a good idea—better than just waiting down here until he recovers or regains consciousness."
He nodded and turned to Lili once more. "Help me get him onto my back."
Struggling slightly due to the cumbersome plate armor, Luki managed to hoist the heavy man onto his back, firmly gripping the stranger's legs while draping the limp arms over his own shoulders.
"Let me carry those," Ryuu said, stepping forward to take both Luki's weapon and the swords belonging to the unknown man.
With that, the three of them set off, now carring an extra passenger, leaving behind all tge valuable loot they had come for—also abandoning a few pricey, discarded pieces of the armor, something they would likely regret later.
Moving at a slower pace so as not to disturb the unconscious man, Luki led the way through sections with fewer monsters this time. It was mostly a matter of convenience, given that Ryuu could have easily dispatched any threat with a single blow on her own.
As they ascended the floors, the thick fog gradually thinned until it vanished completely. They now could make out the distant silhouettes of dozens of people by the stairs wide entrance.
A low, gravelly vibration traveled through Luki's shoulder as the man behind him stirred weakly.
"Th-thanks..." the man wheezed, his voice barely a raspy whisper against the metal armor.
"Don't strain yourself," Luki replied quietly, adjusting his grip so the stranger wouldn't slip. "We're taking you to the surface."
"O-owe you... one..." the man managed to grate out, each word sounding like a painful effort.
Luki offered a casual nod, but instead of just walking silently, he shot a smug, lingering look back toward Lili.
Catching his eye, Lili instantly rolled her eyes and let out a small, irritated huff.
The man had just thanked them, which meant her earlier doubts were completely wrong, and Luki was definitely basking in the victory.
Passing through the bustling crowds of the upper levels, they finally reached the grand staircase. They ascended together, letting the harsh, brilliant sunlight of the early afternoon hit their faces as they stepped out of the tower.
Right at the plaza, a dedicated medical team from the Tower of Babel was already on standby, moving quickly to assist any battered adventurers coming out.
As the paramedics carefully transferred the heavy man onto a stretcher, he gathered the very last of his strength, his unfocused eyes straining to look at Luki one final time.
"Wh-what's... your... name... friend...?" he croaked out, coughing weakly.
"Luki Bryan," Luki answered with a confident smile.
"G-good... I'll... repay you... later..."
"Don't sweat it, man. Just focus on getting better," Luki said, waving his hand dismissively.
With a final, frail nod, the man went limp again as the paramedics quickly wheeled him away, leaving the three adventurers standing together in the middle of the crowded, sunlit plaza.
Luki stretched his arms over his head, letting out a satisfied breath. "So... time to cash in the loot, right?"
Both Ryuu and Lili nodded in agreement. Turning away from the plaza, the three of them crossed the busy street, heading straight toward the Guild headquarters.