The moments stretched into stillness following the violence. Atop a broken heap of bodies and shattered chitin, the Master stood, wiping fluid from his fists onto his trousers. Not a single sign of exertion marred his calm, his breathing utterly steady. The standstill from the rest of the team was absolute, a shared paralysis born of shock and terrible respect.
He turned, his gaze, passing over them without lingering. "Alright," his voice was casual through the quiet. "Let's go." Without further word, he turned his back on the carnage and walked deeper into the dungeon's encroaching gloom.
The team followed, their own footsteps seeming too loud in the aftermath. Their minds wrestled with the display of effortless destruction they'd just witnessed. The dungeon floor changed texture underfoot, the hard stone giving way to something damp and yielding. Patches of luminous green and red plant life pulsed faintly, slickly placed into walls where thick, rope-like veins, disturbingly organic, became increasingly numerous, threading across floor and ceiling. The stagnant air grew dense, carrying the aroma of wet earth and decay.
Abruptly, the tight passage opened into a cavern of staggering size. The main path stretched forward into shadow, but countless other tunnels gaped like dark wounds in the dungeon's walls.
Tiren looked up, his voice hushed with awe. "So many... Which tunnel?"
The Master, facing away, gestured upward with his thumb toward the enormous breach. "That one. Has to be how the dragon descended." The sheer scale was undeniable; it was an aperture easily large enough for such a colossal beast. It dominated the space, dwarfing all the others around it, its framing a pitch-black void.
Steeling themselves, they angled towards the opening, climbing the loose scree beneath it. Entering felt like stepping into a vast, ruined subterranean plaza. Kin held the crystal light aloft, its steady glow pushing back the profound darkness, revealing only endless emptiness.
"It felt like hours," Kin's voice inside, narrating their trudge through the immense space, "we just kept walking and walking. The deeper we went, the more... insistent this feeling became. A sort of pressure within the walls, in the air, in the very space around us. Like whatever was ahead knew we were coming."
"Right," the Master clapped his hands, the sound cracking like whip, disrupting the cadence of their footfalls. "Water break. Stay alert."
They paused gratefully, uncorking waterskins. Even the simple act of drinking felt loud. But before they all could truly quench their thirst, a new sound arose. Distant at first, a faint clicking, rapidly swelling into a skittering, scratching wave of noise. Not the heavy tread of large monsters, but the frantic patter of countless feet. It came from the path ahead, multiplying in the vast space.
Weapons appeared in hands instantly. The Master produced a small, dull crystal from a pouch, its surface catching the barest hint of Kin's light. With a practiced toss, he sent it spinning down the passage. It landed without a sound, and a pulse of cold, revealing light bloomed outwards.
What the light exposed was a flood of pure red fury. Tiny demons, no taller than a man's knee, poured from the darkness in a churning tide. Their skin was the colour of dried blood, stretched taut over skeletal frames. tiny sharp claws scrabbled on the stone floor, and maws packed with needle teeth gaped wide. Alone, they were insignificant. Together, they were a rushing river of death.
"40th Floor Devils," the Master identified them, a new alertness tightening his voice.
Tiren flinched back. "What?"
The Master replied curtly, eyes scanning the oncoming horde. "Fast, but fragile. Each one's barely a match for a 9th Floor beast."
Tiren reset his stance, grip whitening on his weapon, bolstered slightly. Kin whispered, eyes wide on the seemingly infinite stream, "There are so many..."
"Swarms are their way," the Master confirmed. The first wave of devils reached the discarded crystal, swarming over it, extinguishing its glow and plunging that section back into shadow. "But this... this is beyond a typical swarm. This is unification."
Then the devils were upon them. Tiren's spear became a blur of motion, each swing ripping through multiple bodies, spraying dark ichor. Sye moved like smoke between attacks, her blade flashing. Minimal effort, maximum effect – a twist of the wrist, a precise swipe. Thin lines of escaping blood appeared on the devils' necks just before they tumbled, lifeless. But for every group slain, another surged forward, trampling their fallen kin without pause, a chittering, snapping wave intent on drowning them through sheer numbers.
Time dissolved into a relentless cycle of block, strike, kill, repeat. "They just keep coming!" Tiren yelled, sweeping another cluster aside.
"Multiple swarms must have merged!" the Master shouted back, crushing a handful under his heel as he searched the darkness beyond the immediate fray. "Where is their Lord?!"
Suddenly, Kin's eyes spark. A clear idea came into his mind. "Master! That crystal—do you have another?"
"Yes!" He didn't hesitate, pulling a second shard out from his pocket.
"Give it to Sye!"
He tossed it. Sye, spinning out of a near-miss, plucked it from the air seamlessly.
"Sye!" Kin called out, simultaneously lunging to intercept devils aiming for her. "Bind it to an arrow!"
While Kin held the line, a temporary bulwark of flashing steel, Sye worked with focused speed. Notching an arrow, she swiftly secured the crystal near the head with wraps from her pouch. She drew the bowstring, the immediate chaos seeming to fade from her perception as she sighted not at the dark, but into its farthest suspected reach.
FTHWIP.
The arrow whispered away, carrying the crystal into the unseen depths. A tense moment passed. Then, far down the passage, the pulse of light erupted again.
It illuminated the source: a true legion of devils, pouring endlessly forward. And standing among their ranks, a slightly taller devil, its mouth perpetually open as if issuing silent commands, was a distinct figure. Atop its head sat a crude crown woven from the elongated canine teeth of some fearsome predator.
"There!" the Master roared, pointing. "The Devils leader! kill it, and all of them will fall!"
The words seemed to hang in the air, but Sye was already ahead of them. In the instant the light revealed the target, she had vaulted onto a pile of corpses. Now time slowed, she hung elevated above the swarm, bow drawn taut, one eye closed, the other locked onto the distant, crowned figure. Her release was like letting go of a held breath.
Time seemed to normalize as the arrow sped true. It didn't merely strike their Lord; it punched clean through its skull, the crystal flaring brightly at the moment of impact before the arrow continued into the darkness beyond.
The reaction was absolute. Utterly synchronized. Every single devil, from those closing in on their feet to the furthest reserves, stopped. Their frantic energy vanished as if a switch had been thrown. Then, like puppets with severed strings, they all collapsed, a simultaneous clatter of small bodies hitting the stone floor.
An almost painful silence descended, thick and sudden, broken only by the ragged, desperate gasps of the four companions. They stood surrounded by an immobile carpet of red, chests burning, limbs trembling with adrenaline's aftermath.
The Master, recovering with uncanny speed, turned to Sye, a clear note of approval in his voice. "Exceptional shot, Sye."
Kin lowered his weapon, managing a weary smile. "Amazing. I was about to go in. But you saw a shot and took it."
Sye lowered her bow, securing it smoothly across her back. For a brief second as their eyes connected, and a slight upward curve touched both sides of her lips, "thank you." Her gaze lowered swiftly afterwards, as if shielding the faint warmth that remained on her face.
Tiren leaned on his spear, as he surveyed the field of inert demons. "I hope that's the last welcoming party..."
Sharing a grim understanding, they took a moment more to catch their breath, then carefully stepped over the silent red tide, continuing their journey deeper into the dungeon's oppressive heart.