CHAPTER 133: [700 ML]

Eli wasn’t thinking anymore.

His head was too full of pain, his body too close to collapse, but more than that—he was empty of ideas. And that was terrifying.

Because usually, he did have ideas.

If there was one thing he could cling to, one thing he could proudly say about himself, it was that he was smart.

Maybe not the strongest, maybe not the fastest—but he could think his way through things when others couldn’t.

He could adapt. His mother used to tell him he was gifted, her voice soft and proud in a life that had no room for luxuries.

"If we had money, I’d put you in the best schools... you’d do something great one day, Eli."

But there had been no money. No schools.

Just him, teaching himself, memorizing everything he could get his hands on, and learning how to use it.

And here—here in this godforsaken dungeon—it had been the only reason he’d survived this long. Elione’s danger detection worked with his brain like second nature.

He could spot patterns, anticipate, improvise. It made him useful. Made him something other than dead weight.

But for the entirety of this raid... something had been wrong.

Off.

Like he’d been two steps behind from the start.

His mind couldn’t keep up with the avalanche of chaos: Zaira fainting, Mel being shoved under, Mio snapping into something unrecognizable, Kairo bleeding himself dry, and the monsters—leeches, phantoms, and now this...thing.

From the very beginning, it felt like they never had a choice.

The moment Zaira and Mel dropped, it was already decided. They weren’t fighting. They weren’t winning.

They were just surviving.

And now? Now survival looked thinner than thread.

Especially with what Eli had realized—and what Kairo had probably already noticed too.

This dungeon wasn’t just S-Class.

It was beyond.

An SS-Class.

And that massive octopus—grotesque, regenerating, able to control minds—it wasn’t the boss.

No matter how powerful it seemed, no matter how suffocating its presence was, it didn’t have that same soul-crushing weight bosses radiated.

That aura of inevitability that bent space and air around them.

No... this thing wasn’t the end.

It was just the gatekeeper.

And Eli’s blood went cold at the thought.

’If this isn’t the boss... then what the fuck is waiting for us at the bottom?’

Not only that—Eli could see it.

Even through the blur of blood in his eyes, even with the cavern’s shadows closing in, he saw it as clear as day.

Kairo’s panic.

His frustration.

It was faint, buried under that iron mask he always wore, but it was there. The subtle tightness in his jaw. The slight flicker of his black eyes as his calculations came up short.

Emotion was something Kairo rarely let bleed through, but if Eli could read it now—if he could see it—that meant things were getting bad.

Really bad.

Even with his team at his back.

That was why Eli had offered his blood—his cuts, his nosebleeds, anything he could give. Whatever Kairo was willing to take.

But it wasn’t enough.

Not even close.

Even after Kairo’s detonation and Mio’s threads slashing together in desperate tandem, the octopus was still unyielding. Its limbs writhed and regenerated, its eyes glowed with mocking hunger, and the nightmare only deepened.

Because now, to everyone’s horror—

Mel was sinking deeper.

The tentacle didn’t just clutch him anymore. The translucent flesh was swallowing him whole, inch by inch, until half his body was already gone, his outline distorting inside the shifting mass.

"Mel!" Zaira’s scream cracked sharp against stone, terror fraying the edges of her voice.

Mio cursed violently, silver threads whipping uselessly as he staggered forward. "Hold on! HOLD ON!"

Eli’s heart thundered against his ribs, each beat shaking him harder. His chest was heaving, his breath choking.

’I’m not ready to see someone die. Not like this. Not in front of me.’

His nails dug into his own palms, trembling as his body locked between fear and desperation.

And then—

Ding.

A familiar chime split the chaos, glowing letters cutting through the haze.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

Do whatever it takes to help TARGET [KAIRO]

Eli’s eyes widened. His head jerked as if he could shake the words off his screen.

’I’m trying!’ His thoughts screamed raw, jagged. ’My danger sense isn’t helping here! I can’t detect the monster’s next move fast enough, I can’t—there’s no way for me to help except—’

Ding.

Another window. His vision shook as fresh text carved itself into the air.

[SYSTEM ASSIST]

+ Dagger

Tip: Use the dagger to help TARGET [KAIRO].

Eli’s breath hitched, his chest rattling with the intake. ’Is it telling me to do what I think it’s telling me to do?’

No.

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was obvious.

The system wasn’t subtle, and the dagger in his hand was proof enough.

One blink he was empty-handed, the next—a cold weight materialized against his palm, steel gleaming faintly under the cavern’s pink-and-scarlet light.

Instinctively, his fingers curled around the hilt. His grip trembled, slick with sweat and blood, but he held on, staring at it as Kairo’s arm still locked firm around his body.

His heart pounded hard enough to hurt. Each thud felt like a hammer against his ribs.

’How many liters of blood can I lose before I die of blood loss?’ Eli asked it in his mind, not sure if he was asking himself or the glowing interface.

His stomach twisted at the thought, at the weight of the blade, at the fact that his hand didn’t even shake from fear anymore—only exhaustion.

Ding.

[SYSTEM RESPONSE]

User may lose up to 700ml of blood before critical condition occurs. Further loss may result in [UNSTABLE STATUS] and [DEATH].

Eli’s eyes flicked over the floating text, the numbers searing themselves into his skull.

’Seven hundred milliliters... That’s... nothing.’

Less than a bottle of water. Less than a cup of coffee. That was all he had left to give.

His pulse thudded against his ribs like a war drum, hard and frantic.

He wasn’t a big guy—twenty years old, barely 62 kilos, 165 centimeters, already pale and drained from blood loss and system overload.

Losing any more would drop him straight into shock. He knew that. He wasn’t stupid.

But above him, Mel’s body was blurring into the octopus’s translucent flesh—fading inch by inch as if the creature was swallowing him into another dimension.

Every second his outline shrank. Every second more of his life disappeared into that writhing mass.

They didn’t have time.

Even if he was afraid—even if his instincts screamed at him to stop—he couldn’t.

His fingers tightened on the dagger until his knuckles whitened. His breath rattled, sharp and broken, spilling from his lips like steam.

’I don’t want to die. I want to live. But if I don’t do this now, none of us will.’

"Captain! What do we do?!" Zaira’s voice cracked across the cavern, jagged and raw, drowned under the creature’s wet screech.

"Captain—Mel is—!" Mio’s voice carried that same desperation, higher, thinner, trembling like a snapped wire.

Eli closed his eyes. Just for a heartbeat. Enough to steady the tremor in his hand. Enough to silence the instinct clawing at him to run. Enough to lock himself into what he was about to do.

And then—he moved.

The dagger’s edge kissed the raw grooves of his already bleeding wrist. It bit in deeper with a wet, sharp sound. Warmth spilled instantly, running hot and fast down his arm.

A broken gasp ripped from his throat but he didn’t stop. He dragged the blade across just enough to open the wound wider, crimson flooding his skin and dripping into the shallow water below like spilled paint.

’Don’t think. Don’t hesitate. Just do it.’

Scarlet streamed between his fingers, pooling against the black stone. His heart slammed against his ribs, each beat hammering another rush of blood free.

"Eli—!"

The shout cracked like a thunderclap.

Kairo’s hand snapped out faster than thought, seizing his wrist in an iron grip and wrenching the dagger from his grasp.

The blade clattered against jagged stone, ringing out like a struck bell before spinning to a halt.

Kairo’s black eyes blazed, sharp enough to cut. His grip around Eli’s bleeding wrist was unyielding, his fingers digging into the boy’s skin even as crimson smeared them both.

His aura hissed faintly around his arm, reacting to the flood of fresh blood.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" His voice cracked like a whip across the cavern—cold, furious, but threaded with something raw and unguarded. For a heartbeat, his composure faltered, just enough to show the flash of fear behind his fury.

Blood dripped from between their locked hands, trailing down Kairo’s arm in bright streaks. His aura pulsed with each drop, scarlet veins of energy sparking at the edges of his palm. But his focus never left Eli’s face.

Eli’s yellow eyes snapped open, glowing faint and wild through the haze of pain and exhaustion. His lips trembled, his chest heaving against Kairo’s hold.

"He doesn’t—have time—" he rasped, voice raw and torn. His grip on Kairo’s sleeve tightened, smearing blood across the black fabric.

"Mel’s—he’s almost gone. Use...Use this blood! Use it now!" His scream tore from his throat, breaking through the roar of the monster like glass under pressure.