Chapter 36: The Descent into Chaos

Two days later, the team was assembled. Jinyoung, Yuna, Minah, and two other elite members of the White Flame Guild—Kim Haejin, a brawler with earth manipulation, and Lee Minho, a swordsman with lightning affinity—stood at the entrance of the newly discovered dungeon. The portal was unlike any they had seen before. It was jagged, pulsating with chaotic energy, as if the very fabric of reality was struggling to contain the power within.

"Everyone stay close," Minah instructed. "We don’t know what’s waiting for us inside."

The moment they stepped through the portal, the world shifted violently. The air was thick with mana, almost suffocating, and the walls of the dungeon seemed to pulse with dark, twisted energy. The light was dim, the ground uneven, and the oppressive weight of the entities’ presence was everywhere.

Jinyoung’s All-Knowing Eye activated immediately, scanning the area for threats. But what he saw made his heart skip a beat.

There were no monsters. No creatures lurking in the shadows.

Only shadows. Flickering, intangible figures that seemed to watch their every move from the edges of the dungeon’s corridors.

"This doesn’t feel right," Yuna muttered, her voice tense.

Jinyoung nodded, his sword already drawn. "Stay alert. The real threat might not be visible yet."

They moved deeper into the dungeon, each step heavier than the last. The air grew colder, and the shadows around them seemed to whisper, faint voices echoing through the darkness.

Then, without warning, the shadows moved.

"They're coming!" Minho shouted, raising his sword as the shadowy figures lunged forward, merging into massive, amorphous shapes. The air was filled with the sound of shrieking—a high-pitched, unnatural noise that seemed to claw at their very souls.

Jinyoung’s instincts kicked in, and he summoned his shadow beast with Dawn of the Summoner. The creature materialized beside him with a snarl, lunging at the nearest shadowy figure. But the moment the beast made contact, the shadow warped, splitting into multiple smaller forms that darted toward the group.

Yuna stepped forward, her hands glowing with icy mana as she unleashed a barrage of ice spears, pinning several of the shadows to the ground. But more kept coming, their numbers seemingly endless.

"This isn’t working!" Haejin shouted, his fists glowing with earth magic as he tried to crush the shadows beneath stone pillars. But no matter how many they destroyed, more shadows kept forming.

Jinyoung’s mind raced. These weren’t ordinary enemies. They were constructs—manifestations of the cosmic entities’ power. They couldn’t be fought like normal monsters.

"Focus on disrupting their mana!" Jinyoung shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos. "They’re not physical beings. We need to sever their connection to the dungeon’s core!"

Minah’s eyes widened in realization. "He’s right. If we can disrupt the mana flow, we can weaken them."

But before they could act, a deep, rumbling voice echoed through the dungeon.

"You should not have come here, marked one."

The voice was ancient, filled with malice, and Jinyoung recognized it immediately. It wasn’t just any entity. This was one of the overseers, one of the beings responsible for controlling the dungeons.

"You are a threat to the balance. You will not leave here alive."

Chapter 37: An Unseen Foe

The ground beneath them shook violently as the voice spoke, and the shadows around them began to coalesce into a single massive form—a towering figure made entirely of darkness, its eyes glowing with a cold, blue light.

Jinyoung’s heart pounded in his chest. This wasn’t just a dungeon boss. This was something far more powerful.

"Get ready," he warned, his grip tightening on his sword.

But as the shadowy figure loomed over them, something unexpected happened. The air rippled, and the massive figure paused, as though it had sensed something… wrong.

Jinyoung felt it too—a strange, familiar presence. His All-Knowing Eye flickered, and for a brief moment, he saw it.

Eunwoo.

She appeared out of thin air, stepping into the dungeon as though she had walked through a door only she could see. Her silver hair shimmered in the dim light, and her eyes were filled with both fury and… something else. Regret, perhaps?

"Jinyoung," she said softly, her voice cutting through the tension. "You shouldn’t be here."

Jinyoung’s heart twisted. "Why are you doing this, Eunwoo? You were one of us."

Eunwoo’s expression remained unreadable, but there was a flicker of emotion behind her cold exterior. "I have no choice. If you continue down this path, you’ll destroy everything."

Before Jinyoung could respond, the massive shadowy figure roared, its form shifting as it lunged at the group. Eunwoo raised her hand, casting a barrier of temporal magic that stopped the creature in its tracks.

But her actions left everyone stunned—especially Jinyoung.

"Are you… helping us?" Minah asked, her voice filled with confusion.

Eunwoo didn’t answer directly. "This dungeon was never meant to be conquered. The overseers won’t let you leave here alive, Jinyoung. But I can buy you time. Get out while you can."

Jinyoung’s mind raced. Why was Eunwoo helping them now? Was this part of some larger plan, or had she regained a fragment of her former self?

"I can’t leave," Jinyoung said firmly. "Not until I understand why the entities are doing this."

Eunwoo’s eyes softened for the briefest moment. "Then you’ll have to face the consequences of defying them."

With a flick of her wrist, Eunwoo’s barrier expanded, pushing the shadowy figure back as she turned toward Jinyoung, her voice barely above a whisper. "I hope you’re ready, Jinyoung. The next trial will be unlike anything you’ve ever faced."

And with that, she vanished, leaving the group standing in the crumbling dungeon, the massive shadow creature still looming over them.

Chapter 38: Escaping the Abyss

Eunwoo’s sudden intervention had bought them precious time, but the danger was far from over. The massive shadow creature, a manifestation of the cosmic entities' power, remained a looming threat. Its cold, glowing eyes locked onto Jinyoung, and the air around it crackled with dark energy.

"We have to sever its connection to the core," Minah said urgently, her flame sword already crackling with fire. "It’s feeding off the dungeon’s mana flow."

Jinyoung nodded, his mind racing. "Let’s split up. Yuna and Haejin, come with me. Minah and Minho, distract it."

As the team broke into action, Minah and Minho launched a coordinated attack, their magic and weapons clashing with the shadow creature’s massive limbs. Jinyoung, Yuna, and Haejin darted deeper into the dungeon, following the faint mana trails that led to the core.

Jinyoung’s All-Knowing Eye guided them through the labyrinthine corridors, revealing the intricate network of mana that fed the shadow creature. The closer they got to the core, the stronger the oppressive presence became.

Finally, they reached it—a massive, pulsating crystal embedded in the center of the dungeon, glowing with a dark, malevolent energy.

"This is it," Yuna said, her eyes narrowing. "We destroy this, and the whole dungeon falls apart."

Jinyoung stepped forward, raising his sword. But as he prepared to strike the crystal, a voice echoed in his mind.

"Destroying the core won’t stop them, Jinyoung."

The voice was familiar—Eunwoo. But it wasn’t just a warning. There was something more, a hint of something deeper.

Jinyoung hesitated, his sword hovering above the crystal. Was this what the entities wanted? Was this part of their plan?

Before he could decide, the ground beneath them shook, and a wave of dark energy surged from the crystal, knocking them back.

"We don’t have time!" Yuna shouted, her voice filled with urgency. "We have to act now!"

Jinyoung gritted his teeth, his mind racing. He had come this far, fought through so much. But something felt off. Something was missing. Why was Eunwoo trying to stop him?

Before he could decide, the crystal pulsed again, and the shadows around them began to shift. The dungeon was collapsing, the cosmic entities’ power growing more unstable by the second.

"Do it, Jinyoung!" Haejin shouted, his fists glowing with earth magic. "We need to get out of here!"

Taking a deep breath, Jinyoung steeled himself and brought his sword down with all his strength. The blade struck the crystal with a resounding crack, shattering it into a thousand pieces.

For a moment, everything was still.

Then the dungeon exploded.

Chapter 39: After the Collapse

The explosion tore through the dungeon, and for a moment, everything went black.

Jinyoung's body felt weightless as he was thrown through space, the remnants of the shattered dungeon swirling around him in a chaotic vortex. He couldn’t tell which way was up, and the oppressive mana from the destroyed core flooded his senses, suffocating him.

THUD!

He hit the ground hard, the impact rattling through his bones. Dust and debris clouded the air as he forced himself to stand. His vision was blurred, his head pounding from the sudden release of energy. Around him, the remnants of the dungeon lay in ruins—a twisted landscape of collapsed stone, broken walls, and fractured reality.

Jinyoung gasped for breath, his heart racing. He had destroyed the core, but something felt off. The dungeon hadn't simply collapsed—it had warped reality itself.

"Jinyoung!" Yuna's voice cut through the dust and chaos, and he turned to see her stumbling toward him, her face pale but determined. Her clothes were torn from the explosion, but she was still on her feet, her icy magic flickering around her fingertips.

Behind her, Haejin and Minho emerged from the wreckage, both of them looking battered but alive. Minah, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Jinyoung's stomach twisted with worry, but he forced himself to stay calm. "Where's Minah?" he asked, his voice strained.

"We were separated when the core exploded," Yuna said, her gaze flicking around the destroyed dungeon. "She went after the creature, but I haven’t seen her since."

Before they could search for her, the ground beneath them shook violently, and the air was filled with a deafening BOOM.

Jinyoung’s All-Knowing Eye flickered to life, scanning the environment for threats. The mana was still chaotic, but something was emerging from the rubble—a massive presence, dark and overwhelming. It was as if the very dungeon itself was reforming.

"No..." Jinyoung whispered. "This is their doing. The entities—they're still trying to stop us."

As if in response to his words, the shadowy form from earlier began to materialize again, but this time it was even larger, more terrifying. Its form pulsed with dark energy, and the glow of its cold, blue eyes pierced the fog of dust.

"This is bad," Haejin muttered, his fists glowing with earth magic. "We need to regroup."

But Jinyoung could feel it—the entity wasn’t just attacking. It was rebuilding the dungeon around them. The reality they stood in was being reshaped, and they were standing on borrowed time.

"We can’t run," Jinyoung said, his voice grim. "We need to face this head-on. If we don’t stop it now, the dungeon will regenerate, and we’ll be trapped inside forever."

Yuna’s expression hardened, her icy magic crackling around her. "Then let’s finish this."