CHAPTER 88: DUNGEON RAID II

The Titan’s scream rattled the Maw, dust and bone splinters raining from the ceiling. Its regeneration redoubled, roots reknitting with grotesque speed, cores pulsing like diseased hearts. The floor buckled as more spawn clawed free of the chasm, wailing in voices not their own.

The dungeon itself seemed to breathe through them.

Rhys planted his boots wide, Verdant Scholar Sword humming in his grip.

"Bounce, Puddle—focus fire. We cut through its cores, no matter how many it throws at us!"

Bounce snarled, silver aura spiking like a storm. Puddle gave a sharp kuyuuu, halos brightening until the chamber gleamed with holy and abyssal fire at once.

The Titan lunged again—an arm of roots like a tidal wave.

Rhys charged head-on. [ Swift Cut ]—his body blurred green, slipping between tendrils. He twisted mid-dash, [ Vertical Slash ]—his blade carved down, splitting a root-arm in half, sap bursting like blood.

Bounce slammed into the severed stump, aura flaring with crushing weight. His fangs found another glowing node, silver light detonating in an explosion of shattered roots.

But already, the Titan pulled itself back together.

"Persistent freak," Rhys spat. He swung his free hand forward—[ Magic Missile ]. Arcane bolts screamed across the air, hammering into spawn as they clawed onto the ledge.

Puddle swept in, spinning halos—[ Dark Mist ]. A veil of shadows washed across the battlefield, choking spawn sight and slowing their charge. Then—[ Light Bullets ] ripped through the cloud, detonating in bursts of radiance that seared through hidden cores.

The spawn shrieked, collapsing into mulch.

The Titan roared again, slamming both arms into the ground. Roots erupted in a forest of spikes. Rhys’s instincts screamed—he flared [ Mana Shield ]. Emerald light wrapped around him just as three spikes punched through his chest plate—absorbed, not pierced.

Still, the shield cracked under the strain. "Damn—!"

Bounce darted, silver afterimage trailing as he shoulder-checked Rhys clear. The wolf’s back was pierced instead, blood spraying. His aura surged to cover the wound, but his growl was ragged.

Puddle’s halos flared wide—[ Gleaming Halo ]. Golden radiance swept over them. The wounds hissed, closing as fast as they opened, Bounce’s silver fur knitting back together.

The Titan staggered, its chest core exposed as its body strained to control both its mass and the spawning horde.

Rhys seized the moment. "Now!"

He drew deep, channeling fire into his blade, water flowing over it like a second skin. Heat and mist clashed—[ Steamburst Edge ]. He launched forward, swinging in a wide arc. The explosion of vapor tore across the Titan’s chest, burning away bark and roots alike.

The monster screamed, thrashing so hard the entire cavern shook.

The chasm below widened, more spawn pouring out—skeletons, root-wraiths, malformed beasts with ember cores. Dozens, then hundreds.

Puddle whirled upward, halos glowing black and white in unison. His body pulsed, mana flaring like a star. [ Abyssal Grasp ] erupted, dark tendrils ripping up from the chasm, binding half the spawn mid-climb. Then—[ Light Shield ] snapped over Rhys and Bounce, bracing them as the Titan’s roots smashed down in blind rage.

Rhys’s voice rang clear, battle-mad grin splitting his face.

"Good work—let’s carve this beast apart!"

Bounce launched again, claws crackling silver. He tore through a rib-like cage of roots, snapping it in half. His jaws closed around another glowing core—shattered in an instant.

The Titan convulsed, body tearing as two-thirds of its roots recoiled.

But then—its chest split wide.

A massive heart of roots and bone revealed itself, pulsing like molten stone, veins glowing brighter than any before. The Titan shrieked in fury, every remaining limb whipping outward in a storm.

"Core’s exposed!" Rhys shouted, already leaping forward. "Puddle—cover me!"

Puddle shrieked his cry, halos fusing into a single blazing corona. [ Radiant Eclipse ]—light and dark magic entwined, bursting outward in a beam that carved through spawn and pinned the Titan’s limbs in searing chains.

Bounce crashed upward, slamming into its chest, forcing it open wider. "Rrrraaaaugh!"

Rhys’s sword ignited—fire roaring, water spiraling, mana surging emerald bright. All three flows converged.

He screamed, thrusting down.

[ Arc Surge Slash ] fused into [ Steamburst Edge ], a hybrid strike that carried the weight of every floor cleared, every cut survived.

The sword plunged into the Titan’s heart.

The chamber detonated.

Light, steam, and root-flesh exploded outward. The Titan shrieked one final time, then collapsed in on itself, its body unraveling into ash and splinters that rained into the chasm.

The heartbeat stopped.

For the first time since they entered, silence filled the dungeon.

Rhys landed hard, one knee to the ground, sword buried in the stone. His chest heaved. Bounce staggered to his side, silver fur scorched but glowing steady. Puddle drifted down slowly, halos dim but humming, his cry soft and tired.

The cavern walls groaned. Roots peeled away from the stone, withering into dust. And then—from the far end—a stairwell revealed itself, carved from raw bone and glowing faintly with golden light.

[ Clear Condition: Defeat the Guardian – Floor 5 Complete ]

Rhys stood, pulling his sword free. His grin was sharp despite the blood streaked across his face.

"We made it. Next is the Core."

The heartbeat no longer pounded in the stone—but inside his chest, he still felt it. Quieter, but deeper. Waiting.

Bounce growled low, steady. Puddle bobbed once, as if to agree.

Rhys turned toward the stairwell.

"Let’s end this."

The stairwell of bone spiraled downward, tighter than before, but the air was no longer hot or suffocating. Instead, it was heavy—like being submerged underwater. Each breath Rhys took dragged like liquid through his lungs. The golden glow of the stairwell dimmed the deeper they went, until only the faint pulse of his own heartbeat lit the way.

But it wasn’t his heartbeat.

It was the dungeon’s.

And now, it was inside him.

The steps ended abruptly. They spilled out into a chamber so vast it felt as though they had descended into the body of a god.

[ Dungeon Core – The Root of Hearts ]

The walls were a cathedral of veins, roots, and bones. At the center, suspended by thousands of cords, pulsed a colossal heart. Not flesh, not wood—something in between. Its surface glowed with veins of molten ember, light and shadow sliding over it in pulses. Each beat shook the chamber like thunder.

And then, the heart opened its eyes.

Dozens of them—violet flames blooming across its surface, gazes that burned with malice and sorrow. The dungeon’s voice filled the chamber, not sound but pressure in their minds.

"Intruders. Parasites. You will not cut the root."