🕸️ Chapter 83
"When you enter the mouth of a forgotten god, don't expect to come out human."
🏰 Scene 1: Entry Into the Forbidden Dungeon
The announcement was made:
"All qualified teams shall now proceed to Dungeon Delta-0, a sealed ruin from the Pre-Crack Era. Survive. Collect tokens. Compete."
But what they didn't say aloud?
Delta-0 was sealed for a reason.
The dungeon hadn't been touched in nearly 50 years—because the last time it was opened, an entire rank-2 academy vanished.
Now it was open again—under the orders of mysterious upper officials no one seemed to know well.
🎽 Scene 2: Team Aeren Enters the Depths
Aeren's team:
Aeren, still suppressing most of his Clockbound powers
Seris, still recovering, but her dreambinding ability proved crucial for mapping unknown paths
Anshi, determined, her bronze-tier combat skill unmatched among first-years
As they crossed the entry gate, they each felt the pressure.Not just magical pressure—but something watching them.
"The stone's not just old," Seris whispered. "It's angry."
Walls shifted subtly behind them. Once inside, the exit vanished.
"No turning back."
🦴 Scene 3: The First Floor – Tomb of Bones
The first level was littered with bones. Not skeletons—fresh bones.
Dozens of monster corpses… mutilated, torn, and clean of blood.
Then came the carvings: sigils of The Crimson Order scorched into the walls.
"These aren't ancient ruins," Anshi muttered."Someone's been using this place."
Soon, they found another team's broken equipment.
No bodies.
Just a single word written on the wall in dried blood:
"RUN."
⚔️ Scene 4: Crimson-Twisted Monsters
Suddenly, the walls howled.
From the cracks emerged creatures—once normal dungeon monsters, now warped with red veins and spiral eyes.
Crimson Leeches, three-eyed serpent-bugs with acid saliva.Chrono Rats, small beasts that blinked in and out of time.
Aeren's body reacted before his mind did—his observation core activated, calculating the blink intervals in less than a second.
He whispered:
"Three blink steps, north wall gap."
Anshi understood immediately and followed his lead—slicing a Chrono Rat mid-teleport.
Seris cast a binding on two leeches and reversed their memories, sending them into confusion spirals until they melted.
It was barely enough.
But it worked.
"This dungeon… isn't testing us," Seris panted."It's feeding something."
⛓️ Scene 5: The Whispering Gate
After hours of fighting and navigating, they reached a massive stone gate with 13 crimson eye-symbols carved into its surface.
The moment Aeren approached, one eye blinked.
Then a voice whispered into his skull:
"Clockbearer… You are late."
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"We are the ones who watched your fall. The ones sealed below… waiting for you to open the door again."
Seris pulled him back.
"Aeren. That's not a normal seal."
"I know."
He pressed his hand to it anyway.
For a moment… time stopped.
Every team inside the dungeon felt a quake—not of earth, but of time.
And far away… in Nexilis… The Veilmaster's eyes snapped open.
"He touched it."
🔚 End of Chapter 83