Lilith remained crouched behind the roots, half-submerged in the thick, reeking mud. Her crimson eyes were locked on the glowing rift that had just opened.
Four figures stepped out of the blue tear — all dressed and equipped like seasoned adventurers.
A tall, imposing man wielding a heavy shield and a broadsword.A lean, quick-footed youth with a pair of curved daggers at his waist.A woman in robes, holding a staff that radiated a cold, silvery glow.And a short boy with a recurve bow — clearly the youngest of the group.
The team looked around in confusion, taking in the swamp's devastation and the faint traces of ash left behind by Lilith's Shadow form.
"What the hell happened here?" the tall warrior muttered, his deep voice thick with disbelief.
The robed woman frowned, brushing her hand through the air and sensing the residual chaos. "Looks like someone cleared this dungeon before us… and did it way too efficiently."
The archer — the one with sharp eyes and a sharper mind — adjusted his thin glasses. "That's impossible. Once a party enters a dungeon, the portal seals automatically and the floor resets. And this energy… it doesn't belong to an ordinary human."
Lilith frowned beneath the muck.
Dungeon? she thought. What in the nine heavens are they talking about?
The dagger-wielding youth — clearly the most impulsive — ignored the logic entirely and pointed toward the glowing portal Lilith had been preparing to step into moments before.
"Guys, enough talking! Whoever wiped this place out must be up ahead — maybe at the boss room! If we hurry, we can catch up."
The shielded warrior gave a grave nod. The mage lifted her staff in silent agreement, and the four moved together — fluid, practiced, like veterans.
From her hiding spot, Lilith watched them charge straight toward the circular portal hovering above the muck. They vanished one by one in a flare of blue light.
But the portal remained — still open, pulsing faintly, as if waiting for one last traveler to pass through.
Lilith stayed still for ten full seconds, listening to the silence.
Then, slowly, she rose from the mud, dripping with foul, black water. Relief at avoiding a pointless confrontation washed over her — immediately followed by an irritated sigh.
"Dungeons… boss rooms… what kind of ridiculous jargon is this?" she muttered mentally, brushing slime from her shoulder as she turned toward the glowing gate. Lilith imediatally thought of entering the portal too, "No," she thought, her body tense. "I'll wait."
The quartet of adventurers — the Shield Warrior, the Dagger Rogue, the Ice Mage, and the Sharp-Eyed Archer — stepped through the blue portal in a confined flash of light.
They didn't fall into another swampy pit. Instead, they emerged into a vast cavern where the air smelled not of sulfur, but of wet earth and ozone.
The sight before them was breathtaking. The cavern was completely enclosed by solid basalt walls, its ceiling lost in shadows. The place was a long-abandoned fortress — thick walls in ruins, cracked pillars, and fallen arches rising from clean soil, all covered in moss and climbing vines.
The environment glowed with living magic. Thousands of blue and green fireflies floated in gentle upward drafts, weaving a shimmering veil of light. Tufts of pale yellow luminescent flowers bloomed along the walls, casting a calm, otherworldly radiance.
The tallest man, the warrior, lowered his shield with a heavy clank and looked around in quiet resignation."Well, folks, we've reached the boss chamber, and apparently, whoever cleared the last area isn't here," he said, stating the obvious.
The group pressed on, moving cautiously through the cavern — past mossy ruins and beneath fallen arches, following the widest path the fireflies illuminated. The tunnel wound deeper, and the scent of wet earth grew stronger.
At the end of the cavern, the concentration of fireflies revealed a chamber.
There, seated upon an improvised throne of basalt stones and glowing flowers, was a Fairy.
But not the frail, delicate kind found in children's tales. This one was human-sized, with large, translucent wings of vibrant electric blue, and eyes that gleamed a cruel crimson. Her body was wrapped in a long, flowing gown made of petals and spider silk, barely concealing her shape.
The bespectacled boy — the archer — blinked once, adjusting his aim and composure."Well, that boss was easy to find," he muttered, his surprise momentarily drowning out any sense of caution.