Presence Beyond the Veil

The dungeon trembled. The air was thick with an unnatural weight, pressing down on Eris as if something intangible was pushing against her. She barely had time to catch her breath from the battle before the System Alert materialized in front of her.

System Alert:

Special Dungeon Event Triggered!

??? Has Taken Notice of Your Presence.

Eris's hand stopped inches from the treasure chest.

"Leon… tell me this is some kind of bonus event and not a nightmare about to happen."

"I'd love to, but something feels… wrong," Leon murmured. "Whatever triggered this, it's beyond a normal dungeon boss."

A low, distorted sound echoed through the chamber. It wasn't a voice. Not exactly. It was more like a whisper from the abyss, something speaking without words, reaching straight into her mind.

"You… are not supposed to be here."

The wall torches blazed savagely before they were extinguished, reducing the room all but to complete darkness. There was only the faint light of the System Interface.

Eris's grip tightened on Leon's hilt.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly invited," she snapped through clenched teeth, her temper warring with her in an effort not to lose control.

Then—

The shadows stirred.

A presence formed at the far end of the room.

It stood tall, improbable so, draped in a seemingly ever-changing darkness. No visage. No features. There was but one silhouette that gobbled up the light.

System Alert:

Identified Unknown Being.

Threat Level:????

"Leon," she said softly. Barely heard.

"What in the devil's name is that?"

"I do not know. And that terrifies the crap out of me."

The figure moved closer. While there was space between them, Eris got a wave of pressure crash down on her—like looking into the abyss, and the abyss looking back.

Then it talked again.

"The Trial was not for you."

Eris clamped her teeth together. "Yeah? Well, I'm here, so what now? You gonna kill me?"

The thing cocked its headless head, like weighing her words.

"Not yet."

Then it moved.

Blazing faster than anything Eris had ever witnessed. One second, it was across the room. The next—

It was in front of her.

"MOVE!"

Eris didn't even have time to think. She used Phantom Dash, her body blurring back just as the thing's black hand hurtled through space, ripping reality apart.

The walls behind her were gone.

Not blown up. Gone. As if they'd never been there.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of Eris. That was not natural magic.

"Eris, we must go now."

She didn't protest.

Shadow Step!

She moved herself to the opposite side of the room, trying to put as much distance between herself and the monster as possible. But even as she fell, she could sense it.

It had nothing to do with her.

It was watching her.

"You're holding something you shouldn't," the entity said, its voice closer than it was, but stationary.

Eris's heart beat in her throat. "What the hell do you mean?"

There was silence long enough that the air thicken with tension. Then—

"The Sword."

She braced herself.

"Leon…?"

"I don't like where this is headed," Leon growled. "Not at all."

The entity inched closer still, and Eris saw, for the first time, its shape change.

Not into a human.

Not into a beast.

But into something infinitely large, as if the idea of space didn't exist for it.

It grew, overflowing the room, overflowing her mind.

Then—

The System Screamed.

---

System Malfunction!

Warning! Unknown Force Interfering!

System Functions Disabled!

---

Eris's whole perception went numb as the interface faltered, writhing in lunatic aberrations.

"Eris, the System—!" Leon's voice was cut off.

Silence.

For the first time since she'd come into this world, the System had disappeared.

And she could feel it.

The weight of reality.

Her body, all at once, weakened, as though taken away from the unconscious shieldings she never even knew she had. The room pressure doubled and doubled again, pressing down upon her chest, smothering her will.

Then, at last, for the last time, spoke the creature.

"We will meet again."

As soon as the words were out of its non-existent lips, it disappeared.

Like that.

The torches flared to life. The air grew lighter. The chamber resumed normal function.

The only evidence that anything had occurred was the lingering cold in Eris's marrow.

Then, the System finally came back online.

---

System Alert:

System Operations Restored.

Error Log Cleared.

---

Leon's voice returned, swift and clipped.

"Eris! Are you alright?!"

She didn't reply immediately. She stood there, her hands shaking.

Then she breathed out. "What… the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Leon admitted. "But we just encountered something that doesn't exist. And it knows who we are."

Eris breathed carefully, trying to calm her pounding heart. Whatever that was, it had let her live. But not in mercy.

In curiosity.

And that was worse somehow.

However, she had no choice but to go on.

Taking a shaking breath, she turned again to the treasure chest—the sole constant.

Might as well claim her reward.

She dropped to her knees, grasping the lid, and with a single smooth motion, she flung it open.

A beam of golden light flooded the room.

---

System Alert:

You have obtained a Unique-Class Item!

[Ring of Dimensional Veil]

Effect: Gives resistance to mysterious forces. Shields against detection by certain entities.

---

Eris stared at the description, her stomach twisting.

"…Yeah, that's not a coincidence."

Leon's voice was grim. "Something—or someone—knew you'd need that."

Eris slipped the ring onto her finger. Immediately, the lingering pressure in the room lessened, if only slightly.

She didn't know what she had just encountered.

But she knew one thing for sure—

This dungeon was just the beginning.

And something far worse was waiting for her beyond it.