The moment they stepped past the opened gate—
The air screamed.
A violent pressure exploded from the darkness ahead, forcing all three of them to leap back on instinct.
The stone floor cracked.
Purple-black mana surged outward like a tidal wave.
"…What the hell was that?" Arelion gasped.
A dry laugh echoed through the chamber.
Bones scraped against stone as a figure emerged from the shadows.
A skeletal mage clad in rotting ceremonial robes floated above the ground, a cracked crown fused into its skull. Hollow green flames burned within its eye sockets.
Around it, corpses began to rise.
Skeletons.
Zombies.
Too many.
The thing raised its staff.
"Those who trespass," the lich intoned, its voice layered and unnatural, "shall return to silence."
Arelion swallowed.
Inner thought:That thing feels wrong. Not strong—wrong.
"Ah," Iris said calmly. "A lich."
Arelion's head snapped toward her. "You say that like it's normal."
"It's not," she replied. "That one especially."
The undead army surged forward.
"No time!" Elayne shouted.
Iris slammed her staff into the ground.
"Freeze."
A wave of ice erupted outward, encasing dozens of skeletons mid-charge. The floor crystallized, frost crawling up the walls like living veins.
Elayne moved instantly, stepping into the gaps Iris created, her blade flashing as she cut down the ones that broke through.
Arelion's vision shifted.
Value Sight activated.
The lich burned in his perception—not with numbers, but with density. Its existence pressed against reality itself.
"…It's an S-rank," Arelion said sharply.
Both of them stiffened.
"In a dungeon like this?" Elayne muttered.
The lich raised its staff again.
Chains of necrotic mana lashed out, wrapping around Elayne's limbs. Her movement slowed instantly.
Debuff.
Curse.
Mana erosion.
"Persistent curse field," Iris clicked her tongue. "Annoying."
Elayne grit her teeth and forced herself forward anyway, but the lich retaliated—bolts of decay slamming into her armor, corroding metal and flesh alike.
Arelion tightened his grip on his sword.
Inner thought:If this keeps up, she'll get worn down.
His gaze sharpened.
Value Sight peeled deeper.
There.
"Elayne!" he shouted. "The core—behind its crown! That crack!"
She didn't hesitate.
Iris moved at the same time.
"Got it."
Ice spears formed instantly, slamming into the lich's staff and freezing its casting motion.
Elayne surged forward through the curse, her blade glowing faintly as she pierced straight through the fissure in the lich's skull.
The lich screamed.
A sound like a thousand dying breaths.
Its body collapsed inward, mana spiraling out of control.
One by one, the undead crumbled.
Silence returned.
Arelion exhaled heavily, leaning on his sword.
"…How," he muttered, "does something like that exist in an old dungeon?"
Iris shrugged. "Old dungeons feed on blood, mana, and corpses. Sometimes… people don't just die here."
The lich's remains dissolved into ash.
But before vanishing completely, it whispered—
"We will meet again."
Arelion frowned.
"That's ominous."
Iris laughed it off. "Relax. Summon gone, core destroyed. What matters now is—"
She clapped her hands.
"—the treasure."
Arelion straightened. "Before that. Did you grab the drop?"
Iris blinked. "…Huh?"
They looked down.
Nothing remained.
"No item?" Arelion muttered.
"Meh," Iris said. "Probably cursed anyway."
Arelion sighed. "Fair."
He turned. "Come on, Elayne. Let's find what this place is hiding."
She nodded, already scanning the chamber.
Behind them, deep within the dungeon—
Something shifted.
And the darkness listened.