The First Battle in Black Hollow Dungeon

(Samuel's POV)

Darkness.

The moment Henry and I stepped into the abyss, everything around us warped. There was no gradual transition—one second, we were in the warehouse, and the next, we were falling.

Not through space—through something deeper.

A void.

Then—impact.

I landed hard, my boots slamming against an obsidian floor. A dull ringing filled my ears before I quickly adjusted, my instincts kicking in. Henry landed next to me in a low crouch, already gripping his Sword of the First Dawn.

The dungeon was massive.

We stood in a dark cavern, its walls lined with twisted roots that pulsed like veins. The air was thick, heavy with something ancient, something unnatural. And then, as if sensing our arrival—

The walls moved.

No. Not the walls.

The monsters inside them.

A deep, guttural screech filled the air as creatures peeled away from the darkness, emerging from their hiding places. Their bodies were elongated, skeletal, yet wrapped in thin, black tendrils that pulsed like muscle fibers. Their eyes—if they could be called that—were nothing but glowing voids, endless and filled with hunger.

----

[SYSTEM ALERT!]

⚠ You have entered the First Layer of Black Hollow Dungeon!

Monsters: Abyssal Stalkers

Threat Level: S-Rank

Special Ability: Adaptive Evolution

----

Henry clicked his tongue. "Adaptive Evolution? That's never a good sign."

I smirked, cracking my knuckles as my Abyssal Gauntlets hummed with raw energy. "We'll kill them before they evolve."

The Abyssal Stalkers didn't wait.

The first one lunged, moving with inhuman speed, its tendrils whipping through the air as it aimed straight for Henry's throat.

Henry vanished.

Celestial Blink.

He reappeared behind the monster in an instant, his sword whistling through the air, slicing cleanly through its elongated neck.

SLASH!

The creature collapsed, its body twitching before turning into black dust.

"One down," Henry muttered.

The rest of the Abyssal Stalkers shrieked, then rushed us all at once.

Eight of them.

I didn't move—I waited. Let them get closer.

Five feet.

Three feet.

Then—

Void Step.

I disappeared, phasing through reality itself, reappearing right in the middle of the swarm. Before they could react—

BOOM!

I slammed my fist into the ground, unleashing a shockwave of raw destruction. The entire floor cracked, and two of the creatures were blown apart instantly, their bodies disintegrating under the sheer force.

The rest screeched, adapting—their bodies shifting, tendrils thickening, spines growing sharper.

"Tch. They're mutating." Henry frowned, gripping his sword tighter. "We need to kill them fast."

One of them sprang toward me, its claws elongating, aiming straight for my chest.

Too slow.

I caught its wrist mid-air, twisted it violently—

CRACK!

The thing let out an inhuman shriek, but I didn't stop. With a single, brutal movement, I ripped its arm off and drove my fist straight through its torso.

BLACK DUST.

Henry was already cutting down another, his movements like flowing water—a blur of divine steel and raw speed.

But the last two?

They had fully evolved.

Their bodies bulged, growing larger, their tendrils now covered in bone-like armor.

Then—

They spoke.

"We see you."

Henry and I froze for a split second.

Then they attacked.

One of them moved like lightning, its claws coated in some kind of corrosive energy, swiping straight at Henry. He barely dodged, but the air where he stood sizzled and warped, like reality itself was being burned away.

"Shit—" Henry cursed, flipping backward. "Their attacks just got a whole lot worse!"

The second one charged me.

I didn't dodge. I met it head-on.

It swung—I caught its arm.

It tried to claw my face—I shattered its fingers.

It screeched, thrashing—I ripped its head clean off.

BLACK DUST.

Only one left.

Henry and I moved together, flanking the final Abyssal Stalker, forcing it to split its attention.

It knew it was going to lose.

So it did something insane.

It screeched, and before we could react, it detonated itself, sending out a wave of pure abyssal energy.

BOOOOM!

The shockwave sent me flying backward, slamming into a wall. Henry was thrown in the other direction, his sword skidding across the ground.

The dust settled.

The monster was gone.

But the dungeon?

It was reacting.

The ground trembled. The walls groaned, and suddenly—

A deep, echoing voice filled the cavern.

"Two intruders… strong ones."

I wiped the blood from my mouth, looking up at Henry, who was already standing again.

"You hear that?" he asked, picking up his sword.

I grinned, my heart pounding with excitement.

"Yeah." I cracked my knuckles. "And that means we're just getting started."

The real battle was about to begin.