The chamber vibrated like a living creature.
The broken dungeon core flickered violently, shards pulsing with unstable mana. The air crackled, heavy with tension, as the shadow-cloaked figure stepped fully into the light.
Friezzar's glow dimmed instinctively.
Every carved line in his wooden frame trembled.
Lyra clung to Arden, breath caught in her throat.
Arden raised his sword.
Oren held a defensive stance, jaw clenched.
But none of them moved.
None of them dared to—
Because the intruder's presence filled the room like a monstrous tide.
Calm.
Cold.
Absolute.
He studied Friezzar with a gaze too ancient to be human.
"So this is the form you awakened into," the figure murmured. "How quaint. How incomplete."
Friezzar stepped backward.
Just one step.
But enough for Lyra to see the fear crack across his glow.
She grabbed his hand without hesitation.
"I'm here."
Friezzar tightened his grip.
His runes steadied.
The figure's head tilted.
"How sweet," it whispered mockingly. "The vessel clings to its pet human."
Arden nearly lunged.
"Say that again, you—"
Lyra held him back.
"No. Don't provoke him."
The figure chuckled softly.
"Sensible girl. I remember your kind. Fragile, but occasionally clever."
He turned back to Friezzar.
"Vessel. Step away from them."
Friezzar's runes flared with sudden heat.
"…no."
The intruder paused.
Not surprised.
Amused.
"'No'? Such a small word. Such a human word."
He raised a pale hand.
"And such an incorrect answer."
A shockwave of mana blasted outward.
Arden threw himself in front of Lyra.
Oren braced.
Several adventurers were knocked backward.
But Friezzar—
Friezzar absorbed it full force.
His wooden chest cracked.
His knees hit the stone.
Lyra screamed, reaching for him—
"FRIEZZAR!"
He lifted a trembling hand.
"Lyra… safe… stay…"
The intruder stepped forward.
"I warned you," he whispered.
"You were not made to protect them."
Lyra's voice broke.
"You don't get to decide that!"
The intruder ignored her entirely.
His voice dropped into a tone dripping with cruel nostalgia.
"Do you remember, Vessel… the experiments?
The rituals?
The chamber where you were carved?"
Friezzar's glow flickered violently.
Images flashed behind his hollow eyes—
A table.
A blade.
A chanting voice.
Dark runes carved into wood.
Pain—not physical, but existential.
A command written into his core:
SERVE.
OBEY.
CONSUME.
Friezzar clutched his head.
Lyra grabbed his face with both hands.
"Friezzar! Look at me! Not him—ME!"
His glowing eyes locked onto hers.
Her warmth cut through the pain.
Her voice softened the burning noise in his mind.
Her presence pushed away the shadows.
"…Lyra…" he whispered.
The intruder's voice sharpened.
"Enough."
He snapped his fingers.
The dungeon roared.
The ground split.
The air cracked.
The core shards trembled violently.
Oren shouted:
"Brace yourselves!"
Arden yelled over the quake:
"He's forcing the dungeon open!"
The intruder raised both hands.
The dungeon obeyed.
From the walls, dozens of corrupted beasts erupted—
half-formed constructs, incomplete guardians, creatures whose runes were broken and whose bodies were twisted.
They surrounded the chamber.
Growling.
Twitching.
Waiting.
Lyra grabbed Friezzar's arm.
"Stay with me—stay—"
Friezzar rose shakily.
His runes blazed violently.
"…no…"
The intruder's smile widened.
"You still resist? How precious."
He pointed at the core.
"Finish what you were born for.
Restore the dungeon.
Become my vessel."
Friezzar stepped backward.
Toward Lyra.
Toward Arden.
Toward safety.
The intruder's voice grew cruel.
"You cannot choose humans, Vessel. You are not one of them."
Friezzar shook violently.
He whispered:
"…not… human…"
Lyra cupped his face.
"Friezzar—listen to me."
Her voice was trembling, but steady.
"You don't need to be human.
You just need to choose."
He froze.
Choose?
He looked at Lyra.
Her fear.
Her warmth.
Her hand in his.
He looked at Arden.
Fierce.
Protective.
Impossible to intimidate.
He looked at the intruder.
Cold.
Commanding.
Owner.
And something inside him—
something dormant, fragile, new—
cracked open.
He stepped between the humans and the intruder.
His voice rose, stronger than ever before.
"…Friezzar…
choose."
The intruder's smile vanished.
"…You are defective."
Friezzar's back straightened.
His glow intensified.
His carved symbols blazed like living flame.
"…not… yours."
The dungeon lurched in violent fury.
The intruder hissed.
"Then I will BREAK you."
He raised a hand—
—and every corrupted beast in the chamber lunged at once.
Lyra screamed.
Arden roared and swung his blade.
Oren shouted orders.
And Friezzar—
Friezzar moved faster than he ever had before.
His wooden feet shattered stone.
His glowing arm carved through the air like a blade.
He intercepted the first five monsters simultaneously.
He didn't devour them.
He didn't kill them outright.
He broke their cores without feeding—
choosing restraint because Lyra was behind him.
Arden's eyes widened.
"He's… holding back? In a fight like this?"
Lyra whispered:
"He's protecting us. Not hunting."
Friezzar's movement shifted again—fluid, controlled, almost graceful.
He blocked every monster heading toward Lyra.
He pushed away every creature rushing Arden.
He stood as a shield.
A pillar.
A wall.
The intruder narrowed his eyes.
"Enough."
He lifted both arms—
—and the dungeon itself began to rise.
Cracks spiraled across the floor.
The core rose in the air, trembling violently.
Mana burst from the walls in streams.
And the intruder spoke a single word:
"Vessel."
A command.
Ancient.
Burned into Friezzar's very being.
Friezzar collapsed to one knee, clutching his chest in agony.
His runes flickered.
His wooden limbs locked.
His essence screamed.
The intruder hissed:
"Obey."
Lyra ran to him instantly.
"FRIEZZAR!"
She slammed her hands onto his face, forcing him to see her.
"LOOK AT ME! Not him—me!"
His glow flickered.
Pulsed.
Wavered—
"FRIEZZAR!
You choose—YOU decide!
Not him!"
The intruder snarled:
"He cannot choose!"
Friezzar's runes blazed—
He rose.
Slowly.
Shakily.
Defiantly.
"…Friezzar…
choose…
Lyra."
The dungeon exploded in rage.
The intruder screamed in fury.
And the core shattered fully.
Mana surged outward like a tidal wave.
The whole chamber tore itself apart—
—and Chapter 15 ends on the brink of all-out chaos.