The Bio-Research Facility's doors groaned as Seun kicked them open, the stench of rotting flesh and chemicals flooding his senses. The walls pulsed with something *alive*, veins of blackened tissue threading through the concrete like parasitic roots.
**[System Alert: Artificial Dungeon Detected]**
**[Threat Level: B+ (Aberrant Human-Types, Bio-Engineered Hostiles)]**
**[Primary Objective: Exterminate All Targets]**
**[Secondary Objective: Discover Anomaly in Sub-Level 4]**
Seun's dagger was already in hand. **"Yuna. You better be listening."**
Static crackled in his earpiece before her voice cut through. **"Loud and clear, Shadow Boy."**
**"If this goes south, I'm carving the truth out of your skull."**
She laughed. **"Noted."**
---
### **The Butcher's Work**
The first wave hit like a storm—twisted figures with too many joints, their mouths split ear-to-ear, dripping black bile.
**[Corrupted Test Subject – B-rank]**
**[Abilities: Bone-Blade Protrusion | Acidic Regurgitation | Pack Tactics]**
Seun didn't wait.
**[Shadow Step]**
He vanished—reappearing behind the lead abomination, dagger plunging into its spine. The creature screeched, its spine *popping* as he twisted the blade.
**Sizzle.**
Acid blood sprayed. Seun yanked the corpse into the path of the droplets, watching it melt into sludge.
**"Pathetic."**
The Voidfang Alpha erupted from his shadow, tearing through two more in a blur of fangs and claws.
**[Enemies Eliminated: 3/23]**
**[DP +450]**
---
### **The Trap in Sub-Level 4**
The deeper he went, the worse it got.
The facility's lower levels weren't just infested—they'd been *repurposed*. Surgical tables stained brown with old blood. Chains bolted to the walls. And at the center of it all, a **living woman**, her body hooked to machines, veins glowing toxic green.
**[WARNING: Bio-Engineered Host Detected]**
**[Designation: 'Subject Sigma' – A-rank Threat]**
Her eyes snapped open.
**"P-Please…"** she gasped, her voice raw. **"Kill… m-me…"**
Seun's grip tightened on his dagger.
Then the **walls exploded**.
---
### **The Bio-Queen's Birth**
Flesh *surged* from the woman's body, a grotesque tidal wave of muscle and teeth. The thing that rose from the table was no longer human—it was a **pulsating mass of eyes, mouths, and writhing tendrils**.
**[Final Boss Activated: 'Bio-Queen']**
**[Abilities: Adaptive Regeneration | Flesh Assimilation | Neural Overload Scream]**
Seun didn't flinch.
**"Yuna,"** he snarled into the comms. **"You set me up."**
Her voice was ice. **"I needed it dead. You were the only one who could do it."**
The Bio-Queen **shrieked**, the sound vibrating his bones.
Seun bared his teeth. **"You owe me."**
Then he **charged**.
---
### **The Fight**
The battle was brutality incarnate.
Every severed tendril regrew. Every wound adapted. The Bio-Queen **learned**—dodging his Shadow Steps, resisting his dagger's mana-edge.
Seun's ribs cracked under a whip-like strike.
**[Health: 67%]**
He spat blood. **"Fine. Let's play dirty."**
**[Shadow Extraction: Voidfang Alpha – Full Manifestation]**
The beast **tore** into the Bio-Queen, its shadowfangs ripping chunks of flesh—but even that wasn't enough.
**[System Warning: Enemy Evolution Detected]**
**[Bio-Queen Developing Shadow Resistance]**
Seun's eyes narrowed.
Then he **lunged**—not at the monster, but at the **machines** feeding it.
His dagger **shattered** the central tank.
The Bio-Queen **screeched**, its body convulsing as the green fluid drained.
**[Weakness Exposed: Nutrient Dependency]**
Seun didn't hesitate.
**[Shadow Step]** → **Dagger through its primary eye cluster**.
The Bio-Queen **imploded**, collapsing into a puddle of lifeless sludge.
**[Target Eliminated]**
**[Reward: 1,200 DP | 'Adaptive Resistance' Trait Unlocked]**
---
### **Yuna's Reckoning**
The facility shook, ceilings caving in as Seun stormed back to the surface.
Yuna stood at the entrance, arms crossed, her cybernetic eye whirring as it assessed his injuries.
**"Took you long enou—"**
Seun's fist **slammed** into her stomach, lifting her off her feet. She crumpled, gasping, but he didn't stop.
A knee to her ribs. **Crack.**
A backhand that sent her skidding across concrete.
He hauled her up by the hair, her face a mask of blood.
**"You lied."** His voice was death-calm. **"You sent me in blind. That thing was *A-rank*. You wanted it dead without the Association knowing *you* made it."**
Yuna coughed, grinning through split lips. **"And yet… you won."**
Seun's grip tightened. **"I should kill you."**
**[System Prompt: Execute Yuna?]**
**[Option 1: Kill Her – Reward: 500 DP]**
**[Option 2: Spare Her – Reward: 'Black-Market Intel Network']**
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he **dropped** her.
**"You live because you're useful,"** he said, turning away. **"But cross me again, and I'll feed you to the shadows *slowly*."**
Yuna touched her broken nose, laughing wetly. **"Worth it."**