CHAPTER 180: [DUMB FUCKING BOSS MONSTER]

"They’re hiding something from us."

Caelen’s voice came out low, roughened by the chill in the air as he walked, his boots crunching against splintered bark.

The mist hung thick around them, weaving through the broken forest like a living thing.

Punzo, walking just off to his side, turned his head slightly—an eyebrow arched, the faint glow of his flame-touched fingers briefly lighting the edge of Caelen’s face. "What do you mean?"

"They’re whispering," Caelen muttered, his tone sharp but quiet, eyes fixed ahead.

The group in behind—Kairo and his vice-captain—moved in tense formation, their shapes barely visible through the fog.

"They know something. I can feel it. I know that look in Kairo’s eyes. He’s keeping something from us."

Punzo frowned, brow creasing. "You think they’re leading us on a goose chase? Like... Eli isn’t actually wherever we’re going?"

He hesitated, glancing back at Mio and Kairo. "Because, honestly, I’ve been suspicious for a while. They’re not exactly being subtle about it—"

"I don’t think it’s that either."

Caelen’s interruption was curt, immediate.

Punzo blinked, watching as his captain’s hand flexed against the hilt of his sword, thumb brushing the crossguard in thought.

The red sheen of Caelen’s mana flickered faintly across his arm, casting eerie light against the fog.

"Then what, Captain?"

Caelen didn’t answer right away.

He tilted his head slightly, scanning the terrain ahead—twisted roots, shattered trees, the faint residue of mana burns still lingering on the ground.

His voice came quieter now, lower, almost thoughtful.

"I don’t know yet." He exhaled through his nose, slow and controlled. "But all of this... everything—it’s suspicious. The fact that we’re here is suspicious. The timing, the teleportation, the gate that appeared right under us."

His gaze hardened, his next words barely above a murmur. "I think they might know something about it."

Punzo squinted at him. "You just said you don’t know yet," he pointed out dryly, "and then proceeded to tell me what you think they might be hiding. You realize those are two very different things, right?"

For a second, there was silence—just the creak of trees shifting above and the faint hum of mana in the air.

Then Caelen’s lips curved into a small, smug smirk. "You know I like being complicated."

Punzo huffed, his tone exasperated but fond. "Yeah, but it’s usually toward someone else."

Caelen chuckled under his breath, the sound low, humorless.

His gaze flicked toward the faint silhouette of Kairo ahead, watching the man’s careful steps, his measured movements, the way he occasionally glanced back as if to make sure no one lagged behind.

He’d known Kairo long enough to read him—to recognize when something was off.

And right now, everything about Kairo screamed restraint.

’He knows something he doesn’t want to say,’ Caelen thought, narrowing his eyes. ’And whatever it is, it’s tied to that gate—and to Eli.’

And maybe something else.

He adjusted his grip on his sword, the faint hum of his golden mana resonating against the weapon’s steel. "Keep your guard up," he murmured under his breath.

Punzo glanced at him, uneasy. "You think we’re walking into something?"

Caelen’s smirk faded, replaced by that quiet, dangerous calm that always came before a fight.

"I think we already have."

The sound of footsteps died all at once.

Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Caelen’s boots sank slightly into the mud, a low squelch cutting through the suffocating stillness. His breath came out in thin clouds, ghosting in the frigid air as his eyes fixed on the open space ahead—where the forest finally broke apart into a vast, shattered clearing.

And there it was.

The serpent eel.

Only... it didn’t look like an eel anymore.

Its monstrous body was coiled into itself, a mass of muscle and scale that shimmered between dark indigo and deep obsidian under the fractured sky. Veins of dull light pulsed faintly beneath its skin—like it was still alive, still humming with power even as it lay motionless.

The creature’s tail vanished into the mist, and its head—massive, horned, jaws half-buried in the churned earth—rested still, the faint rumble of its breath sending tiny ripples across the shallow puddles around it. The air buzzed with mana, heavy and electric, pressing down on them like a warning.

It looked asleep.

At least, that’s what Caelen wanted to believe.

Arman came up beside him first, steps slow, one hand hovering near his weapon. "Cap," he muttered, his tone clipped, uneasy. "Orders?"

Jabby appeared on Caelen’s other side, her movements soundless but tense, eyes darting over the length of the beast. "Do we move around it? Or—"

Caelen didn’t answer. His focus stayed on the monster, instincts gnawing at the back of his mind. ’This doesn’t feel right.’ His muscles tightened, every sense on high alert. Something was off—something that didn’t belong.

He turned slightly, eyes scanning behind him. The others followed his movement, their breathing shallow in the charged air.

Where the hell—

"Where’s Eli?" he asked suddenly, the edge in his voice cutting through the silence. His head snapped toward Kairo. "You said he’d be here, Kairo—where is he?"

The question struck like a spark in dry air.

But none of Kairo’s team answered.

They didn’t even turn to look at Caelen.

Mio, Zaira, Mel—and Kairo himself—had all gone still, their gazes locked upward. Their bodies were rigid, faces pale, like they were seeing something that didn’t make sense.

Kairo’s hand was already on his sword, the blade half-drawn, its bloodlight flickering faintly across his jaw.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Caelen demanded, stepping closer, his voice low and controlled only by habit.

Kairo didn’t look down. His voice came quiet—steady, but laced with unease."Look up."

Something in his tone made Caelen freeze.

It wasn’t a command.It was a warning.

So he looked.

And his breath caught in his throat.

High above them—barely visible through the drifting mist—a figure clung to the monster’s scaled hide.

Small. Human.

Eli.

He was climbing.

Hand over hand, dragging himself up the serpent’s slick body, his soaked clothes clinging to his frame. Every movement was slow but certain, driven by something that wasn’t bravery—it was desperation.

The sight made Caelen’s chest seize.

’What the hell is he doing?!’

His first instinct was to shout, to order him down, but the realization hit almost instantly—any sound could wake the creature. One yell, one burst of mana, one wrong move—and the entire clearing would be their grave.

He swallowed hard, forcing the words back down his throat, his pulse thundering in his ears.

"Is he insane?" Punzo hissed from behind, voice barely above a whisper. "He’s actually—"

"Do not speak too loudly." Caelen snapped, sharp and quiet, not daring to tear his eyes away.

He didn’t blink. He couldn’t.

Every movement Eli made looked impossibly slow—painfully deliberate. Each time his hand found purchase on the serpent’s scales, light shimmered faintly beneath his palm, mana vibrating so densely that the air around him bent.

Even sleeping, the monster radiated power thick enough to crush them all if it so much as twitched. The air crackled faintly, humming like a storm waiting to happen.

And still, Eli climbed.

No hesitation.

No fear.

Just grim, reckless determination.

From below, not one of them dared breathe too loudly.

Zaira’s hands hovered uncertainly, trembling as though she might cast a spell but couldn’t bring herself to risk it. Mel’s throat bobbed with a shaky swallow, his lips parting soundlessly as if to say something—then thinking better of it.

Mio’s silver threads pulsed faintly around his fingers, the instinct to protect him almost visible—but he didn’t move them. He didn’t dare.

Caelen’s heartbeat thundered so hard he could feel it in his fingertips. He could see the faint rise and fall of Eli’s back, the flicker of his soaked blond hair against the serpent’s scales.

’What are you trying to do, Eli?’

Every instinct screamed to move—to run forward, to climb after him, to drag the stupid bastard down before he got himself killed. His body ached to move.

But he stayed still. Rooted.

Because one breath too loud, one shift of aura, one misstep—

—and the serpent would wake.

"He’s going for the serpent’s head..." Arman whispered, his voice almost lost to the wind. His eyes stayed locked upward, wide and anxious. "What the—Captain, we should do something. If it wakes up, it’ll kill him."

Caelen didn’t take his eyes off Eli. His jaw tightened. "If we go get him, it’ll definitely wake up."

The words came out as more of a growl, though quiet. Controlled. Barely.

"This is fucked up," Punzo muttered under his breath, heat flickering faintly from his palms in nervous bursts. "Kairo’s right—he’s insane."

Caelen’s first impulse was to snap at him. To tell him to shut the hell up. But he didn’t.

Because somewhere deep down, he knew Eli wasn’t being stupid.

Eli was reckless, yes—but never without reason. The kid didn’t act without purpose. Every risk he’d taken since stepping into this dungeon had been calculated, measured—even when it looked like suicide.

Caelen clenched his fists.

Eli was smart.

Too smart sometimes.

Which meant this climb—this madness—had a reason.

"He probably has a plan."

Kairo’s voice was low, nearly lost in the tension between heartbeats. His eyes stayed fixed on the climbing figure above, his grip on his sword loosening slightly. "Stupid as the plan may be... he probably thinks it’s effective."

Caelen’s lips twitched. That was the first thing they’d agreed on all day.

’At least we’re on the same page for once.’

He took a slow breath, forcing his voice calm when he spoke to his own team. "We wait. Let him do whatever the hell he’s trying to do—and be ready to move the second it backfires." His gaze didn’t waver from Eli’s faint outline above. "He’s careful. Managed to climb that high without waking it up. So let’s not—"

"HEY, YOU DUMB FUCKING BOSS MONSTER! WAKE UP!!!"

The shout slammed through the clearing like a thunderclap.

Every head snapped up.

For a heartbeat, nobody moved. The silence that followed was so heavy it roared—like the entire forest itself was too stunned to react.

Caelen’s jaw dropped, eyes wide in disbelief. He never froze—but right now, his mind blanked.

"Is he fucking stupid?"