Entering the Second Layer of Black Hollow Dungeon

(Samuel's POV)

The silence in the dungeon was thick, broken only by the faint crackling of residual abyssal energy left from our battle. The first layer was conquered, the Abyssal Tyrant erased. But we weren't here to sit around reminiscing about shitty pasts and even shittier people.

I pushed myself up, my body still aching but my will stronger than ever.

Henry raised an eyebrow as I stretched, rolling my shoulders before turning to him.

"Alright," I said, my voice sharp with renewed focus. "Let's get moving. Second layer. We didn't come here to sit around talking about the shit novels written by shit authors."

Henry let out a low chuckle, shaking his head as he stood up beside me.

"Damn, you're still salty about transmigrating into a trash novel?" he smirked.

I snorted, cracking my knuckles as my Abyssal Gauntlets pulsed with power once more.

"Henry, I got thrown into a trashy novel where the original protagonist was a broken man being played by a bitch. Meanwhile, you got dropped into the final chapter of a different garbage story where the protagonist had already lost everything. So yeah, excuse me if I still think this was some cosmic-level bullshit."

Henry chuckled, grabbing his Sword of the First Dawn as golden energy flickered around him again.

"Fair enough," he admitted. "But hey, at least we're rewriting the ending."

I smirked, stepping toward the massive archway that had appeared after the Abyssal Tyrant's death—a swirling black vortex leading to the Second Layer.

"Damn right we are."

With that, we stepped forward, leaving the first layer behind, knowing that whatever was waiting for us in the next stage—

We'd destroy it. The moment we stepped through the vortex, a violent force yanked us forward—not just our bodies, but our very souls.

My vision warped, reality twisting like a broken mirror. My feet no longer touched the ground, my senses flickering between dimensions, as if I were falling into infinity itself.

Then—

SLAM!

I crashed hard against something solid, my body rolling across what felt like… grass?

I groaned, pushing myself up, blinking rapidly as my vision adjusted.

And then I froze.

"What the… hell?"

Henry landed beside me, his sword already drawn, his eyes narrowing as he took in our surroundings.

We weren't in a dark abyss anymore.

We were in a vast, endless battlefield.

A place that stretched as far as the eye could see, under a blood-red sky, with ruined structures, broken weapons, and scorched corpses littering the landscape.

It was like we had stepped into the aftermath of a war that never ended.

And then—

The air shifted.

A cold, chilling presence wrapped around us, sending a shudder down my spine.

And suddenly—

The corpses moved.

Henry and I immediately snapped into combat stance as the fallen warriors of this battlefield began to rise.

But these weren't just ordinary undead.

Their bodies were covered in abyssal armor, their hollow eyes glowing with a soulless light, and each one of them radiated power equal to high-ranking warriors.

Then—

A deep, ominous voice echoed through the sky.

"Welcome, intruders… to the Battlefield of Eternal Kings."

A massive, towering figure appeared on the horizon—a warlord clad in abyssal armor, holding a greatsword as tall as a mountain. His eyes burned with endless rage.

----

[SYSTEM ALERT!]

⚠ YOU HAVE ENTERED THE SECOND LAYER OF BLACK HOLLOW DUNGEON! ⚠

Location: The Battlefield of Eternal Kings

Ruler: Abyssal Warlord Kruvok, the Undying Tyrant

Special Condition: The dead never stop rising. Escape is impossible until the war is won.

----

I let out a low whistle, rolling my shoulders.

"Great. We just stepped into a fucking infinite war zone."

Henry grinned, his golden aura crackling to life.

"Good." He lifted his sword. "I was hoping for a warm-up."

And just like that—

The Second Layer Battle had begun.

----

The battlefield was a nightmare without end.

I unleashed another Breath of Destruction, a wave of abyssal fire consuming everything in its path. The flames devoured both body and soul, ensuring that whatever I hit was erased from existence itself.

And yet—

They kept coming.

No matter how many we cut down, no matter how many we obliterated, their numbers never decreased. The moment one fell, another took its place—like an army that refused to die.

I gritted my teeth, slamming my fist into the ground, creating a shockwave of destruction that shattered the area around me.

Nothing.

They still rose again.

Henry was panting, his divine energy still flaring but his expression now frustrated.

"This isn't working," he growled, slicing through three enemies with a single arc of golden lightning. "I've erased entire battlefields before, but this… this is different."

I exhaled sharply, dodging a blade thrust, grabbing the attacker by the neck, and snapping it in half—only for the body to melt into the ground and reform seconds later.

"This isn't just regeneration," I muttered, scanning the battlefield.

Then, suddenly, it hit me.

"Summoned…fuck."

Henry looked over at me sharply.

"What?"

I clenched my fists. "These things aren't just regenerating—they're being summoned."

Henry's eyes widened, realization dawning.

"You mean—"

"There's a Summoner."

We had been fighting the wrong battle.

These things weren't an army with endless regeneration. They were being brought back every time they fell.

Henry let out a low curse, his golden eyes scanning the battlefield. "So all of this… is just a distraction."

I nodded, my blood boiling.

"And we've been playing right into their hands."

Henry grinned, rolling his shoulders despite his exhaustion.

"Then let's find the bastard controlling this mess and end this war."

I smirked, cracking my knuckles.

"Let's hunt ourselves a Summoner."

The real battle had just begun.