Chapter 85

Separating from Hae-gun cuts the timer down drastically. A wave of dizziness rushed in as well. Now that I have a signature weapon, couldn’t they at least give me a little more time?

Gauging the distance to his target, Eui-rim backed up until his spine touched the wall. Taking several deep breaths, he surged forward toward the sigil branded into the ceiling.

Just reach. I don’t even need to shatter it in one blow—just leave a scratch!

“Hup!”

Hurling the weapon with everything he had, the blade soared farther than anticipated. As though projecting its wielder’s intent, it gouged violently into the ceiling.

Skrrrt!

Catching the falling blade on the descent, Eui-rim saw the gouged sigil begin to distort. Even without a direct stab, the strike had connected. The ceiling shuddered violently, signaling the onset of another monster wave.

“Ugh…!”

Swoooosh!

There was no time to catch his breath. Blackened blood poured from the shimmering sigil, dyeing the room in crimson.

Through the deluge of red mist, a bizarre silhouette flickered into view.

It was too small for a dungeon beast, yet too deformed to be a standard human host—a grotesque, twisted shape.

Hehehehe.

A familiar rasping cackle echoed in his ears. The torrent of blood was sucked into the stunted figure, until a recognizable shape stood before him, its mangled limbs knitting together.

The corpse found in the first chamber.

The corpse of the hunter who had touched the monument despite his comrades’ desperate pleas, corrupting the dungeon’s layout, was now grinning straight at him.

[Because of those… weak… things… it could not… be fully… completed.]

Not fully completed?

At its rasping words, Eui-rim looked down. Indeed, the lower half of the corpse was grotesquely malformed.

Its left leg was twisted backward, and its right foot was missing entirely. Was it because only two sigils had merged into the vessel?

Remembering how the second sigil had wept before burning away, while the third vanished entirely, the theory made complete sense.

Hehehe.

Snapping its neck at a grotesque angle, the corpse let out another wet, metallic laugh. Staring at Eui-rim and his blade with blank, milky sockets, the entity hissed out its words.

[Thou… disgusting… soul… who took… a part… of our brother…]

[Even if… we have failed… to assume… a complete… form…]

[With a mere… blessing of… The Scales… thou shalt never… halt us…]

The creature’s hiss cut off just as the countdown reached zero. Gritting his teeth, Eui-rim braced for impact.

KABOOOM!

The moment the skill’s duration expired, the corpse detonated like a time bomb.

A scalding wave of heat threatened to scorch his skin. Curling into a tight ball, Eui-rim waited for the shockwave to pass, until an eerie silence settled over the chamber.

“Cough, cough…”

Prying his eyelids open, he saw smoldering embers and flickering dark flames. The searing heat had begun to abate, making the air breathable once more.

Yet the shockwave was the least of his concerns.

In the exact spot where the corpse had stood, an enormous, single-eyed sigil was burned into the floor.

The sigil began billowing pitch-black shadows like toxic haze. In an instant, the darkness devoured the room, warping and stretching the stone walls. When Eui-rim slashed his sword to arrest the spread, the entire chamber violently convulsed.

What followed was an unbelievable sight.

The dungeon’s architecture writhed like living tissue. The staircase dissolved into darkness, and a brand-new sealed chamber materialized around him.

A hallucination?

…No, that couldn’t be.

Though he had shielded his eyes during the explosion, he felt no sensation of being overtaken by shadows. The terrifying dissociation of losing his mind was completely absent.

Then what is happening? Why did the dungeon mutate so abruptly? If the stairs are gone, how do I reach the others?

Then, ghouls tore through the stone walls—the dreaded monster wave Hae-gun had described. Born directly from the shadows, they surged forward like a black tide, screeching with shrill sobs and manic laughter.

“Eui-rim-ssi!”

Startled by the crack of splitting bone, Eui-rim whipped around to see a ghoul’s severed head flying through the air. Spotting a tall figure yanking a bloody axe from a corpse, Eui-rim gasped in shock.

“Hae-gun-ssi, how did you get here…?”

“The dungeon shook without warning and I was teleported here. I can’t see the others either.”

Separated from the party? Was only Hae-gun displaced, or was the entire team scattered across the dungeon?

No, before that—
“Stick close to me for now,” the man said, grabbing his arm. “Don’t wander away if you can help it.”

Why does the hand gripping my arm feel so foreign?

Eui-rim blinked in confusion, watching Hae-gun butcher the ghouls.

It’s wrong. The man skillfully swinging the axe looks identical to Seo Hae-gun. Yet why won’t this gnawing dread leave me? That innate sense of resonance—the tether that assured me I could find Hae-gun anywhere—is completely severed.

It’s as if an entirely different being is standing before me…

A chill prickled across his nape. Instinctively brushing against the Watch of Seclusion, Eui-rim held his breath as he watched the figure methodically slaughtering ghouls. Then, calling upon his skill in complete silence, he checked the timer floating before his eyes.

His blood ran cold. Gritting his teeth, Eui-rim instantly dismissed the skill. Cold sweat drenched his palms.

He didn’t notice, did he? It was only a fraction of a second. Unlike ordinary monsters, the creatures birthed from the shadows are immune to time stop—and the thing wearing Hae-gun’s face didn’t freeze for an instant either.

Act natural. Whether this thing is a phantom or something far worse, I can’t let it know I’ve seen through it.

Quietly. Back away slowly and put distance between us. Then look for an exit. I have a blade blessed by The Scales; as long as I keep my head, I can survive this.

“Where are you going?”

Sensing Eui-rim inching backward, the man crushing a ghoul’s skull turned around. Forcing a calm smile, Eui-rim asked, “Pardon?”

“Why do you keep backing away?”

“Because if I’m too close, I might get in your way.”

He tried to sound casual, but there was no telling how convincing it was. The figure tilted his head, adopting a thoughtful expression. “You’re wearing the defensive bracelet anyway, so you won’t get hurt. If you stray too far, I can’t protect you from unexpected ambushes. Stay close.”

The flawless mimicry of Hae-gun’s tone and expressions sent a shiver through him. If Eui-rim hadn’t had a definitive way to test reality, he would have believed the lie without hesitation.

Striving to maintain his composure, Eui-rim took a tentative step forward. Taking tiny strides at an excruciatingly slow pace, he bought every second he could.

Piecing the rules together, Eui-rim understood: only entities tethered to the Fragments were immune to Rewinding Hand.

Either those consumed by shadows to become hosts, or the fragments themselves.

And since the shadow-spawned ghouls ignored the stasis entirely, any being linked to the Fragment was unconditionally immune to time stop. That meant the thing wearing Hae-gun’s face was an extension of the darkness.

Did the skill work on the zombies because they belonged to the original dungeon?

Come to think of it, there had never been this many ghouls in the original dungeon records. A handful had guarded the core room, but never in a ravenous horde like this.

“Eui-rim-ssi.”

The voice, noticeably colder now, snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking up at the axe-wielding figure, Eui-rim realized his feet had stopped moving.

The creature’s face went deadpan. Scanning Eui-rim with hollow, freezing eyes, it curved one corner of its lips and asked in Hae-gun’s voice, “Oh dear. Did you notice?”

His body moved almost on pure reflex.

Before the axe could swing for his neck, Eui-rim lunged forward and brought his sword crashing straight down upon its skull.

CRUNCH!

Pitch-black shadow erupted like ink from the shattered skull. In an instant, the illusion dissolved, reverting into a writhing ghoul that melted back into the swarming horde.

Activating the Watch of Seclusion on his wrist, a translucent ripple pulsed outward. The ghouls’ frantic movements slowed, and as the watch’s face lit up, the monsters began snapping their heads in confusion, his scent and presence erased from their senses.

Pant, pant…

Forcing down his ragged breaths, Eui-rim slipped carefully around the blind ghouls. No matter how perfectly balanced the sword was, it was still a heavy blade. Striking with all his strength twice in succession left his right arm throbbing with numbness.

What should I do now?

Did he need to shatter the corrupted domain just like before? If so, what should he target? The patch of living shadow vomiting monsters into the room? Since wiping out hundreds of ghouls single-handedly like Hae-gun was impossible for a D-rank healer, destroying the shadow’s source was his only viable option.

Backing into a corner to gather his thoughts, Eui-rim scanned the stone beneath the ghouls’ feet, searching for the core of the sigil.

Yet nowhere across the stone walls or floor was the single-eyed sigil visible. He had distinctly watched the massive brand burn into the ground when the corpse detonated. Yet the stone was completely unmarked, as though the entire scene had been a phantom.

…Did it seal me in here while it went to claim a new host?

The sickening realization made his blood run cold. Because the likelihood was so high, his breath hitched in his throat.

It was entirely plausible. Ghouls were pouring forth without end, and the chamber was completely sealed. The Fragment could leave this endless horde to crush him, while seeking out an easier victim to claim as its true vessel.