Inside a Deep Underground Chamber:
The air was damp and still, thick with the scent of earth and ancient stone. The environment was dark and cold, with only a few weak beams of light seeping through narrow cracks in the cavern roof, casting long, trembling shadows across the jagged walls.
Cold droplets clung to the stalactites above, forming slowly before falling in steady intervals. Each drop splashed onto the uneven ground below, sending ghostly ripples across shallow pools that reflected the faint light like broken mirrors.
A young man and a woman stepped cautiously into the chamber, guided only by the shaky beams of their flashlights. The narrow shafts of light wavered across the walls, revealing faded carvings, remnants of old symbols, and moss-covered stone.
Their faces were filled with tension, their breath shallow. Fear clung to them like a second skin, unspoken but heavy in the silence.
Every small noise echoed—each drip, shuffle, and breath amplified into something more ominous.
The flashlights flickered intermittently, casting their faces into brief, pale ghost-like images. Each flicker made them pause, as if expecting something to emerge from the shadows just beyond the light's reach.
"This place reeks of death, Reva. Are you sure it's a good idea to be this deep underground?" the young man muttered, his voice trembling behind her.
Reva didn't stop. She moved ahead with purpose, her boots crunching over damp stone, posture unshaken like a seasoned warrior unfazed by darkness.
"Stop acting so cowardly, Dave. If you're like this now, there's no way my father will ever accept you as my partner," she snapped over her shoulder.
Dave scratched his head, face flushed with a mix of shame and nervousness. His flashlight trembled slightly in his grip.
"I am trying to be brave, Reva. But why here of all places? We are so deep... What if something happens to us?"
"You'll never learn," Reva sighed, shaking her head with frustration. "I found clues. Traces that point to the Radiant Hero's presence, right here. If we uncover anything, it'll be a breakthrough. Our names would be etched in history."
Dave blinked, confused and unsettled. "Wait... Radiant Hero Kael? The same Kael who supposedly died over 3,000 years ago? The one the Ancients declared a traitor to humanity?"
Reva paused at a collapsed stone arch, running her fingers over weathered symbols glowing faintly under her flashlight.
Dave's words hung in the air like a curse.
"And what kind of achievement are you expecting from unearthing that bastard's remains?" he growled, "The world might think you're one of those cultist Devotees of the Wicked One. That could get you executed, Reva..."
Her gaze sharpened as she looked at him calmly. Then, slowly, her lips curled into a smile. Not a warm or reassuring one, but something crooked and chilling. A strange, creeping grin that made Dave's skin prickle.
"I have no problem with that," she said softly. "I am a cultist after all."
Dave's heart skipped. He took a step back, his eyes wide. "You're... joking, right?"
She tilted her head slightly, the flashlight casting an eerie halo around her face.
"And what would you do if I'm not joking?" she asked with an unsettling amusement. It wasn't a real question, it was a test.
"I... me... I—" Dave stammered, mouth dry, words caught between fear and disbelief.
Reva rolled her eyes and let out a theatrical sigh. "Alright, alright. I was just trying to scare you. And you really fell for it."
She smirked, turning her back to him as she continued forward. "You haven't changed. Still as cowardly as ever. How do you expect to handle the position of Heir to the 'Hades' Group acting like that?"
Dave didn't answer. His fists clenched at his sides, nails digging into his palms. He stared at her sexy back, feeling the heat of humiliation rise in his chest. The air between them grew colder, more silent than before.
He didn't know if she was joking anymore. And that terrified him more than anything else in the dark.
They were boyfriend and girlfriend. But sometimes her behaviours unsettles him.
Like how she insisted they come here. All alone.
The chamber was nearly 500 meters beneath the surface, hidden in an uninhabited region far from any signs of civilization. If anything were to happen to him down here, no one would ever find out. No rescue. No signal. No escape.
He didn't want to be suspicious of her. He cared for her truly. But this couldn't just curiosity. No one ventured this deep underground chasing mere legends. Something else was pulling her here. Something she hadn't told him yet.
"Hey, I found something, Dave!" Suddenly her voice rang out, filled with excitement.
With pounding heart, he rushed toward the sound of her voice.
As he stepped into the area she had entered, his eyes caught a strange gleam ahead.
Something black and smooth, gleaming under their flickering flashlight beams.
From their vantage point, it looked like a wall. But it wasn't. It's surface shimmered with an unnatural sheen, like polished obsidian reflecting not light, but something far older. Far darker.
Reva stepped back slowly, trying to get a clearer view. The light revealed more. And then, her breath caught in her throats.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened, unable to form words at first.
"Oh my God..." she finally gasped.
"What is it now?" Dave asked, exasperated. Until he looked up and caught the full glimpse as her.
He took a step back. Then another. His foot hit a rock, and he nearly tripped. His flashlight trembled in his hand. He felt his bladder tighten in sheer panic.
"This—this can't be real," he stammered. His entire body shook, his instincts screaming at him to run. To get away.
But Reva wasn't moving.
Her eyes glowed with an eerie light—wild, awestruck, almost reverent.
"A Dragon's Skull..." she whispered. "Not just any dragon. Those regal horns, that crown-like ridge... it could only belong to one being."
She turned toward him, voice rising with almost holy fervor.
"The Abyssal Dragon Monarch."
Her words hit him like a hammer to the chest.
The skull loomed ahead, half-buried in the stone but still impossibly massive. Over 300 meters high, its width stretching into darkness beyond their sight. The skeletal eye sockets like vast, empty voids seemed to stare directly into Dave's soul.
He couldn't breathe.
He couldn't speak.
Then, with another creepy smile, Reva turned to him.
"And Dave, you know what this means, right?"
Dave was too shocked to answer.
But she continued:
"The legend said the Abyssal Dragon Monarch and the Hero perished together..."
"The Radiant Hero... the Wicked One..."
"HE IS HERE!"