As my eyes fluttered open, the world had changed.
""Uggh!-""
I groaned, my eyes blurry and unfocused as I stood in the heart of the labyrinth I'd glimpsed during my earlier sensory bombardment—only now it was real, tangible, and impossibly vast. Endless stairways spiraled into nowhere, corridors twisted at unnatural angles, and great archways stretched between floating structures that seemed both ancient and half-built. Everywhere I looked, walls flickered between states of ruin and construction, some rising skyward in pristine white stone while others lay shattered and unfinished—suspended mid-collapse.
""Ow~""
I was standing on a pedestal, the base of which was etched with a softly glowing magical circle—still pulsing faintly beneath my feet. The air around it crackled with residual energy, the taste of ozone sharp on my tongue. Beyond the platform, the labyrinth stretched out in all directions—folding into itself like a mythical ouroboros. Corridors doubled back into their own shadows, staircases led to nowhere, and windows opened into lightless darkness. Perspective was a confusing puzzle here.
""As if my headache couldn't get any worse""
The words spilled out in a wince as I clutched my head, swallowing down the rising tide of bile clawing up my throat. My skull throbbed, echoing with the aftershock of whatever forceful teleportation spell had brought me here. It felt like someone had taken a tuning fork to the center of my brain and struck it repeatedly. I staggered slightly, the edges of my vision rippling as my body fought to recalibrate to this new reality.
((It's times like these when I really appreciate Limbo's [Realm Gates]...))
""Haaaa~""
I took a slow, measured breath, forcing myself upright as the headache slowly dulled from a hammer-to-the-head to a steady throb.
((Common teleportation is always so unforgiving on my equilibrium...))
All Choromancy—magic that manipulates space and dimensionality—drew its power from the void in order to achieve crude effects such as folding dimensions in on themselves to connect two points or forcibly stretching space to ensure something never reaches it's intended destination. Effective, sure—but the result was always nausea, disorientation, and occasionally the delightful possibility of being turned inside out, if not disintergrated outright.
But Limbo's [Realm Gate] spell was something better altogether, refined, elegant. Instead of messily warping space, it created a controlled entrance into the void—a dimensional door instead of a chaotic warping of distance, smooth and seamless. No compression, zero distortions and absolutely none of the vomiting your stomach out.
I gritted my teeth, casting one last glance at the glowing sigils beneath my feet, the magic circle slowly dimmed, then winked out completely.
((No going back...))
My eyes adjusted to the low, shifting light that pulsed from the walls. There was no sun in this place, no moon either. The labyrinth was lit solely by torches hanging on the walls along with its own impossible geometry—arches that glowed, stairwells that shimmered faintly as if remembering light they'd never seen, bricks that radiated subtle warmth with each step I took.
There was no sound but my own breathing, the echo of my boots on the warped stone, and the occasional creak of the world adjusting around me—as if the labyrinth itself was alive and shifting ever so slightly when I wasn't looking.
I narrowed my eyes, scanning the horizon—or what passed for one in this place.
((No signs of activity...))
I paused, eyes narrowing as I swept the area again with [Life Sense]. The results came back the same—empty.
((Still nothing. Not a single flicker of Prana...))
Which made no sense. For a place so saturated with mana it practically screamed through the air like a rushing torrent, the complete absence of Prana—the energy of living beings—was unnerving. Like standing in the eye of a hurricane that had swallowed every living thing in its path.
""Either all life in this place has been purged...""
I murmured, voice low and careful as the words echoed slightly down the stone corridors.
""...or something is masking their presence with a high-grade concealment ability""
Neither possibility was comforting.
The silence here wasn't peaceful. It was hollow. Dead. Every step I took echoed just a bit too long. Every shadow lingered just a little too much. It felt like the walls were holding their breath.
I moved forward, careful not to disturb the quiet any more than necessary. My steps were slow, deliberate—each footfall landing with practiced silence as I hugged the edges of the corridor. The architecture around me twisted at strange angles, rooms stacked atop one another like broken dollhouses, staircases crawling across the walls and ceilings like vines.
Up ahead, a narrow stone stairwell spiraled upward—though "up" was a relative concept in this maze. It led toward a cluster of rooms twisted together in a tangled knot, suspended across multiple planes of orientation. One room jutted sideways out of a wall, another was upside down, its furniture pinned by some unseen force.
I ducked into the nearest alcove, flattening myself against the wall as I scanned the path forward. My senses were on high alert, every muscle coiled and ready to move. Just because I couldn't sense anything didn't mean I was alone.
In places like this, nothing stayed dead forever.
...And I was right.
""...!!!""
My instincts screamed at me to dive behind cover so I did, every muscle fiber in my body running on pure instinct.
*CRACK–BOOM!*
The unmistakable whip-crack of a high-powered rifle split the air just as I vaulted cleanly over a broken arch and dropped behind cover.
*KRA-KOOM!!*
A thunderous impact followed half a second later as part of the stone barrier exploded beside me. Chunks of shattered masonry and dust burst outward like arterial spray, fragments pelting my cloak and skittering across the floor.
""...""
I glanced down.
*Sizzle* *sizzle*
A jagged, smoking hole was drilled into the ground near where I'd been crouching—a clean punch straight through concrete and ancient tile.
((Judging by the crater...definitely .50 caliber. AP rounds, no doubt))
My eyes narrowed, calculating the damage.
((Muzzle energy...roughly 15,000 to 18,000 joules. That's anti-materiel class. Whoever this is, they're equipped to take down light vehicles, not people))
I let out a sharp breath, more irritation than fear.
((And I've so coveniently found myself in a nightmare tangle of vertical corridors and floating platforms—basically a sniper's heaven. Of course...fvck my abhorrent luck!))
*CRACK–BOOM!*
Another shot echoed—this time from above.
*SKRAAAK!!*
The floor behind me erupted as the round tore through two layers of stone and sent debris shrieking off the walls. I flung myself into a roll just in time, narrowly avoiding the shower of shrapnel.
""Tch!""
I snapped my head upward, eyes locking on a particlar something in the distance.
There—perched on a suspended walkway roughly 120 meters up and 110 meters out southwest of me, a silhouette.
A hooded figure knelt in perfect firing posture, hunched over a long-barreled precision rifle. A faint glint off their scope told me all I needed to know—it was still trained on my last position.
They were actively tracking me.
((This is going to be a pain…))
I ducked back behind cover, heart steady but mind already calculating—angles, blind spots, trajectories, next move.
The figure above had vanished without a trace.
((I can't sense their Prana signature with [Life Sense]…a puppet? A construct? No…more likely someone with high-level concealment skills))
Whoever it was, they knew what they were doing.
Staying still wasn't an option.
I moved fast and low, keeping to cover while weaving through the environment in a zigzagging pattern. Speed, direction, rhythm—I varied it all. Never let them lead the shot.
Every few steps, I shifted my movement pattern again, trying to make it as unpredictable and erratic as possible.
""…""
As an assassin, I naturally had [Presence Obfuscation] passively active, at all times cloaking my Prana and suppressing my Mana pulses to a degree, it was standard practice. But either they were tracking me purely by line of sight as [Presence Obfuscation] also muffles sounds…
…or they had something that could pierce through my concealment.
Either way, this was going to be an annoying fight.
*CRACK!—BOOM!* *SHATTER!*
The air split open with a thunderous report as the floor just inches from my from me exploded into fragments. Shards of concrete and stone rained down like glass, that could've easily turned me into mush.
((Seriously? The floor too?!))
I didn't waste time gawking. My feet were already moving, sprinting forward at full tilt. No hesitation. No pause. Every second spent idle was another opening for the sniper to paint my skull across the architecture.
Up ahead, the floor ended abruptly, transitioning into a wall—a massive slab of stone suspended sideways in the air, like someone had taken the ground and turned it vertical.
""Hup!""
With a quick hop and a burst of muscle, I vaulted onto the side wall and began sprinting across it like it was the floor, my boots hammering down on the perpendicular surface without pause.
*CRACK-BOOM!*
Another shot. Closer this time. It screamed past my left side, heat licking my cheek as the round pulverized a chunk of the wall behind me.
""!!!""
I didn't stop.
I jumped—legs coiling, then releasing like springs—flipping off the current wall and landing on a higher one that jutted out at an impossible angle. Gravity felt loose here, inconsistent. I used it.
Landing smoothly, I ran a few more steps before vaulting again—this time to the opposite wall, keeping my momentum alive.
((I need to figure out this dungeon's gimmick if I want to reach that sniper. There—maybe?))
My searching eyes scanned the terrain mid-run. All around me, the architecture twisted into impossible geometries: walkways that looped upside-down, staircases that spiraled into dead ends, rooms merged into corridors and sliced in half. But to the East—there. A tower-like formation, half-embedded in the air like it had been stuck there mid-construction, linking one chunk of the labyrinth—the one I'm currently moving through— to another above me.
There was only one problem, no way to climb it, at least as far as I could see.
No platforms, no ladders, no handholds. Just smooth surface and open air.
*CRACK—BOOM!*
I kicked off the wall mid-sprint and dove into a roll, the shot missing me by a whisper and detonating against the path behind me with a screech of metal and stone.
I landed hard on a new path—a large crumbling bridge suspended in the void—and bolted toward an intersection ahead.
((No dungeon is unconquerable…there's always a mechanic. A trick to it, I just need to find out what that is))
Another shot rang out—
*CRACK—BOOM!*
And I ducked into a slide, the bullet shrieking overhead. Sparks trailed from its wake like comet tails as it tore through a dangling piece of chain and vanished into the void.
*CRACK!—BOOM!* *CRACK!—BOOM!*
Multiple sequential shots, now—echoing from opposite ends. I twisted through the air, leaping from platform to platform, wall-running along crooked surfaces, flipping over low-hanging pipes and ducking beneath debris. The sniper fire chased me with surgical precision.
((What in Gehenna?! They're firing upon me from multiple directions now... it should be impossible to reposition that fast. Are there two of them? A mirage spell? Teleportation? Some kind of rebound trajectory? Damn it—focus!))
I kept running, movements honed and fluid, until I closed in on the tower-like area I spotted earlier.
""Hmm?""
And as I drew near, something flickered at its base—a floating object hovering eerily in the air.
*Glimmer...* *glimmer...*
It stood completely still in the air, almost gently, a human-sized compass needle suspended in the center of the tower's hollow base. Two arrows jutted from its ends—one red pointing down, the other white pointing up.
(([Analysis]))
Even mid-sprint, my mind was already dissecting it, casting an analysis spell on my eyes to read it's function through the Mana pulses radiating from it. Said pulses were powerful—dense and deliberately shaped.
((Aaaah...so that's what this dungeon's deal is...))
Information was absorbed quickly into my brain as a conclusion clicked into place. The object's purpose, the configuration of directional markers, the logic of the layout—
*KRA-KOOM!* *CLANG!*
Another sniper shot rang out, but this one didn't aim for me—it slammed into the compass.
*EEEEE!*
The needle rotated with a screech, the red arrow locking in place—pointing ahead.
""!!!!!""
Immediately, I felt something shift.
""—Woah!""
My footing disappeared as gravity turned on its head. The force of nature holding me in place rotated like a wheel. I fell—not down, but forward—into a new direction dictated by the altered gravitational axis.
*CRACK—BOOM!*
A shot came straight for my chest in midair—
""Tsk!""
no time nor room to dodge, just enough to respond.
*SHING!*
My sword tore through the ether, manifesting from my [Item Box] in a flash of metalic light. I drew and cut in a single motion, slicing the bullet in half.
((Heavy!))
Even with the bullet split into two, the kinetic force slammed into me like a freight train. My body flew backward, crashing into what used to be the floor beneath me—and was now, thanks to the gravity shift, a wall at my back.
*SLAM!*
Dust kicked up around me as I rolled into a crouch on the stone surface of the tower like formation from earlier, which has now become a path for me.
((The way to traverse this dungeon is to shift gravity using those needles...they generate a field that alters the direction of gravity for everyone within a certain radius. The only way to move between sectors is to use these things wisely))
I stood and immediately broke into a sprint, zigzagging to avoid presenting an easy shot, but my brain was already three steps ahead—analyzing my situation as well as plotting the optimal path forward.
((And if that's true, then the dungeon is definitely enforcing a ban on teleportation and potentially even an anti-flight law. It's the only way this mechanic would hold together without adventurers just short-cutting their way through with magic. There shouldn't be a way to bypass this—unless you're one of the entities on the dungeon's exceptions list))
Dungeons are bubbles of self contained reality that had their own rules for how things are suposed to work. This meant that if I wanted to reach the sniper or whatever was behind the scope I'd have to play by the dungeon's laws at least until there's no other option but to violate them.
Up ahead, the path fractured into a chaotic web—branches forking off in three, four, five directions, each suspended in impossible geometry and twisting skyward toward different sectors of the labyrinth above. Some platforms corkscrewed into pillars, others clung to walls that may once have been floors, all of them interconnected in a tangle of shifting architecture like veins of some great stone beast.
*CRACK–BOOM!*
Another roar of a high-caliber shot split the air like thunder. The moment it hit my ears, my body moved on pure reflex to avoid it.
""Tch—!""
I lunged forward and twisted my body in mid-air just as the bullet grazed passed my addonmen before hitting the stone beneath detonating it into dust and splinters. A jagged bolt of kinetic force slammed into the ground behind me, sending a geyser of pulverized rock into the air.
*CRASH!*
Debris peppered me as I landed with a roll, before getting up from a low crouch with my momentum bleeding into another dash.
It was a good thing that my cloak had resistance against things like debree jamming into my skin.
((They're adjusting faster now—anticipating my routes...))
My boots slammed against the uneven stone—heel to toe, heel to toe—as I burst into another full-tilt sprint. Yet each step remained silent not that any sound wouldn't be swallowed up by this dungeon's warped acoustics. Overhead, fractured arches groaned under their own weight, and the whine of air pressure warping under gravity distortion hummed in the background like a sickly chorus.
As I veered left into a branching path, the terrain shifted again—this section of the labyrinth was a chaotic web of disconnected chambers, revolving staircases, and half-collapsed, tunnel-like halls that twisted in on themselves like a broken spine. The air here was dense with dust and mana residue, a quiet hum buzzing beneath my boots as I sprinted forward.
*Glimmer...* *glimmer...*
The path I was currently on was at an end up ahead as there was no more path to move forward through but at the same time, I caught sight of another one—another gravity-altering compass needle, suspended mid-air. This one's red arrow was pointed down relative to me.
There was no hesitation.
""Haaah!""
With an all too familiar motion, I hurled my sword forward. The blade spun end over end like the rotor of a low-flying airship, slicing clean past the compass needle in a blur of steel.
Then—on cue—its trajectory reversed midair, drawn back to me by the tether of my will woven into it's very blade.
*CLANG!*
It struck the compass on the return, triggering the mechanism. I caught the spinning blade one-handed as gravity tore free beneath me.
The world flipped.
I tucked into a tight backward roll just as I started falling in reverse—then landed in a crouch against the newly "upright" stairs, legs flexing to absorb the impact. No time to waste.
I broke into a sprint again, boots pounding upward toward what had moments ago been a ceiling.
*CRACK–BOOM!**CRACK–BOOM!**CRACK–BOOM!*
Sniper fire erupted behind me in quick succession—each shot blitzing in from a different direction gouging fresh craters into stone, just inches from my body. I dove hard to the right, hurling myself into a nearby chamber and crashing shoulder-first behind cover.
*Thud!*
""Haaa~...""
Letting out a sigh, I slid down the wall and sat against it, sword resting across my knees. For just a second, I let the silence settle around me—cool stone at my back, the echo of gunfire fading into the bowels of the dungeon.
((Okay...I think I'm starting to see it, how they're firing on me from multiple directions))
Being crouched low behind the wall, my breath steadying, I expanded my [Mana Sense] outward as I searched once again for fluctuations in Mana to confirm my theory. I scanned the ambient Mana of the dungeon which still felt like a hammer against my skull with how much information it contained but nonetheless I persevered, feeling the powerful flows and pulses in the environment. Every inch of this dungeon throbbed with residual energy, like a living organ constantly in motion.
But nowhere in that current did I feel the violent pull of space being torn or rewoven.
((No spatial warping…no mana spikes… no sudden influx or collapse, it definitely isn't teleportation))
Any teleportation spell—even high-level ones cloaked in stealth—left behind echoes in the ambient Mana of the environment. I would've felt them, smelled the ozone tang of dislocated space. But here? Nothing except the turbulent but natural Mana of the dungeon was felt.
((Which means they're not bypassing the dungeon's laws…they're obeying them. Same as me.))
My mind flicked back to the compass needles—the floating, humming devices embedded with gravity-altering magic. I'd used them to flip gravity, reorient myself, and reach impossible sectors of the labyrinth.
((They're using those too, the compass needles like objects that alters the direction of gravity. That's how they keep getting into new positions from multiple directions))
I exhaled slowly through my nose, then narrowed my eyes as a more precise theory crystallized in my mind.
((But they're not just using any of the needles like I am, no…))
I tapped a finger lightly against the stone as I played back the sequence of attacks—the timings, the angles, the locations. My opponent moved with too much precision. Too much ease. It was as if they didn't need to plan their next jump—they were simply ready every time.
((...They must have their own version of the objects. A portable one. A personalized version of the same compass artifact, likely made from the dungeon's core material))
It made sense. Dungeons had certain, consistent behavioral patterns, laws almost as rigid as physics. And one of those laws? Conquerors—those who defeated or claimed dominion over a dungeon—were sometimes rewarded with artifacts derived from its systems if they happened to choose not to consume the dungeon core outright for power. Semi-divine trinkets with authority over the dungeon's architecture.
((This was likely how the pioneer class facility was built as well...))
I clenched my just a little tighter.
((No matter...I'm getting close, I know it. It's time to go on the offensive))
Just then, a shimmer flickered at the corner of my vision—a glint of reflected light far off in the distance. Up near the upper spine of the chamber's arch, where metal scaffolding kissed ancient stone.
""Got you!""
My arm extended in a single, fluid motion. Mana surged to my palm—electricity coiling like a hungry serpent.
I chose the fastest spell, activation-speed and attack-speed wise to begin my counterattack on the sniper.
(([Lightning Bolt]))
The spell snapped forward at near-invisible speed—a lance of blinding blue that tore across the expanse.
*ZAAAK-KRAKOOOM!*
The shot struck home—an ear-splitting blast erupting from the impact zone. Rubble flew. Stone fractured. The sniper's perch exploded into a cloud of smoke and fire. But just before the explosion...
Flick—
The glint vanished.
((Tch! They slipped out...but no matter))
But this time, I was ready. The moment the blast cleared, I activated [Life Sense].
((Ahaha...sloppy work. I knew there was a reason my [Life Sense] couldn't pin point you))
And there it was, it wasn't a signature nor a presence but the opposite.
A blank spot in my perception. A hollow orb of vaccuum, kind of like a hole in the atmosphere—no Prana. A blindspot so perfect it became it's own downfall.
((They're not camouflaging themselves the way I do with my [Presence Ofuscation]. I blend into the environment—my Prana mixes with the ambient Mana, whereas theirs erases their presence entirely. A brute-force method. Like cutting a hole out of the sky and hoping no one looks up))
""Heh...""
I chuckled faintly, it was more of a hollow sound rather than a genuine expression of amusement.
((I don't have to chase what's there. I just have to follow what's missing...easy enough))
My fingers brushed the edge of my sword, and I broke into a sprint—eyes locked not on the scenery, but on that sphere of vacuum that moved too precisely to be natural.
""You're running out of places to hide. I've got your scent now…""
I said, my voice sounded uncharacteristically excited to my ears.
*CRACK!-BOOM!*
I bolted out of my hiding spot dodging another sniper shot.
This game of cat and mouse had been dragging on for tooo. I fired another bolt of lightning across the sector, the spell crackling like a whip through the charged air before exploding against a broken stone outcrop. The only answer was the shriek of displaced gravel and the echo of another gunshot.
*CRACK–BOOM!*
The shot whistled past my cheek, tearing through a piece of archway beside me. I didn't flinch—my body had long since settled into the rhythm of this hunt. Vault, run, aim, fire. Keep moving. Always moving.
I cut across a twisted staircase turned sideways by gravity shift, sprinting along what should have been a vertical surface. Finding the compass needles had become second nature to me now—I didn't think, I reacted. My sword flew ahead of me like a thrown chakram, spinning past the next gravity point before ricocheting back into my waiting hand.
*Clang!*
The moment it struck the compass, the floor peeled away from under my feet and I let myself fall sideways into the new plane. I landed in a shoulder roll, cloak fluttering, then rose straight into a sprint.
Another shot rang out.
*CRACK–BOOM!*
This one came from above—or rather, behind me now. A bullet slammed into a slanted beam just inches away as I dropped low, sliding under it. Pebbles exploded in my face. I spat grit and sprang upward onto a protruding slab.
There was zero time to breathe or slow down, one wrong movement in this dance would be near fatal.
I flipped forward, grabbing a ledge that had once been part of a crumbled corridor and swung myself into a narrow passageway made entirely of collapsed rooms folded into one another. The sniper had moved again, but I was closing the gap. I knew it.
I vaulted from room to room, each one connected by half-formed stairwells or narrow rails hanging in midair like bones of some dead giant. My hands barely touched the surfaces—just enough to pivot and push off before the next leap. Lightning sparked at my fingertips, charged and ready. I didn't fire it yet. I needed to hold the element of surprise.
*Glimmer*
There was a flash—just ahead.
*CRACK–BOOM!*
I dove behind a tilted slab of marble just as the bullet tore a groove into the stone. I popped out the side, raised my hand, and fired.
*FZZZZZ–BOOM!*
My lightning bolt shrieked across the chamber like a missile and slammed into the ridge where the glint had been. The impact tore a crater into the edge of the structure, sending chunks of stone cascading into the abyss below. But the figure was already gone.
They were fast—fast enough to avoid the blast radius, but not fast enough to vanish completely.
I pushed forward without hesitation.
The chase dragged me into the higher layers of the sector, where rooms stretched into needle-like spires and hallways looped in impossible spirals. The gravity needles here were tucked in harder-to-reach spots, forcing me to parkour upward with rapid jumps and narrow footholds while still evading fire.
*CRACK–BOOM!**CRACK–BOOM!*
I ducked, flipped, rebounded off a wall with a pivoting spin. Bullets shredded the corridor behind me as I cut through another compass field.
I threw my sword again.
*CLANG!*
Gravity tilted, and I fell upward onto a floating platform now reoriented as a bridge. I caught the blade mid-fall and broke into a sprint before the platform could destabilize. I saw another shadow move in the distance, just a flicker.
This time, I was already aiming.
*FZZZT!*
I fired. Lightning struck the ledge hard. Stone exploded. A cloak flared against the force of the blast and vanished into the smoke.
I jumped, landing on the same ledge moments later. The wind was thick with burnt ozone and falling dust. No sign of a body.
But I could feel them.
Their steps were softer than mine, their movement cleaner—but I had learned to follow something more precise. The sniper had gotten sloppier than before, maybe from desperation, or maybe because they realized I wasn't backing off. Their concealment spell still cloaked their Prana, but ironically that helped me zero in on their location.
I zeroed in.
""...""
I stayed low and silent.
I scaled a slanted wall and vaulted onto an outcrop that looped behind a thin corridor of fallen towers. The air was tense, compressed like the second before a trap snaps shut.
There. Just ahead.
The sniper stood with their back exposed—cloak swaying lightly, rifle slung low, their gaze scanning the open chamber in front of them. They hadn't seen me.
I moved fast. Silent as a phantom.
One step, two steps, sword already unsheathed and drawn in a downward arc—
*CLANG!*
Steel met steel.
The sniper spun at the last second, parrying my blade with the very same rifle that he had been plaguing me with. Sparks flew as the weapons clashed, and for the first time, I got a close look at them.
A mask, a cloak like mine. Movements smooth and practiced that seemed way too familiar.
""You...""
I found myself uttering out, a certain recognition hitting me.
They leapt back before I could follow up, using a gravity shift needle embedded into the floor to twist their orientation and launch themselves into the next corridor.
I dashed after them without missing a beat, feet leaving the floor as I flipped gravity again and dropped into the ceiling below—now a hallway.
((He's a GEN 7 as well...))
The conclusion rang loud in my head, I was facing a fellow enhanced soldier of the 7th generation.
One of my siblings....