Chapter 3: War Beneath the Earth
Abyssal winds howled across the thirteenth layer as Kael stood atop the jagged black throne. Around him, the dungeon pulsed with rhythm, its essence tethered to his very soul. The monsters that once prowled this abyss now knelt in silence, waiting.
He had conquered the bottom. Now it was time to rise.
> [New Objective: Conquer Layer 12]
[Warning: Layer 12 Sovereignty belongs to the Parasite Queen "Xylessa the Broodmother"]
[Estimated Threat Level: S+]
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Let her come."
At his command, the obsidian gates at the top of the throne chamber creaked open. A swirling portal of corruption and mana tore through space. It connected his realm—Layer 13—to the realm above.
> [Dungeon Link Established.]
[Initiate Invasion?]
[Y/N]
He raised his hand.
"Yes."
---
Layer 12 – The Broodmother's Realm
Rot. Decay. Humidity that clung like flesh to bone.
The stench hit Kael before the light did.
Layer 12 was a nest—a cathedral of eggs and sinew. The walls oozed translucent fluids, and the air thrummed with the pulse of a thousand unborn monsters. In the distance, massive insectoid creatures scuttled on bone legs, their mandibles twitching in unison.
This wasn't a dungeon. It was a womb.
> [You have entered enemy territory.]
[Sovereign Resistance Detected – Layer 12 is under lockdown.]
[Foreign Influence Detected: You are considered a virus.]
Kael grinned.
"Then I'll be the sickness they can't cure."
With a thought, the Abyssal Chains burst from his shadow. His new elite monsters—Aetherfang the Shadow Wolf, Glaiveclaw the armored drake, and Vyrna the spectral banshee—emerged behind him, each bearing a sigil of his sovereignty.
"Cleanse the infection," he ordered.
And they charged.
---
Surface – Draxenholt Capital, War Council
The council chamber rang with chaos. Magical reports flickered across crystal displays. Guild masters shouted over each other. And at the center stood Lira, hands clenched.
"There's no doubt anymore," she said. "Kael is alive. And he's rising."
"Rising?" a noble scoffed. "He's trapped in a dungeon!"
"You don't understand," she replied. "He's controlling it. Reshaping it. Every death strengthens him. He's turning the Abyssal Dungeon into a kingdom."
A silence followed. Then the Archmage leaned forward.
"Then we don't just have a rogue adventurer."
"We have a Dark Sovereign."
---
Back in Layer 12
Kael moved like a shadow between webbed tunnels, his body now fully harmonized with the Shard of Sovereignty. Mana clung to him like a cloak, thick and oppressive. Yet he wore it with ease.
He encountered resistance quickly.
Massive parasites, ten feet tall, burst from the walls. Their flesh was armored with chitin. Acid hissed from their fangs.
> [Enemy Detected: Xylessa's Brood]
[Level 54 | Hive-Mind Combatants | Weak to Void Magic]
Kael didn't flinch.
He raised his hand, and the shadows behind him twisted.
> [Skill: "Void Crucible" Activated]
A vortex of black fire erupted, pulling the parasites inward. Their screams didn't echo—they were consumed, their essence drained directly into his core.
> [You have gained 1.2% control of Layer 12.]
[New Skill Unlocked: "Devour Essence – Hive Variant"]
But then—he heard her.
A hiss.
A voice.
"You dare violate my womb, outsider?"
The walls trembled. Webs snapped. A presence slithered into the chamber, thick and suffocating.
Kael turned slowly.
The Parasite Queen had arrived.
---
Boss Encounter – Xylessa the Broodmother
She was towering—twenty feet tall, a grotesque hybrid of queen bee and serpent. A crown of bone curled around her skull. Hundreds of eyes blinked across her thorax, and her swollen abdomen pulsed with life.
"I will lay your corpse among my children," she snarled.
Kael's aura surged.
"You're already dead. You just don't know it."
She lunged.
Mandibles snapped toward him like guillotines. Kael ducked, rolled, then thrust his palm toward her.
> [Skill: "Abyssal Will – Terrain Control"]
[Command: Spike Rise – 30 meters]
Spikes of obsidian burst from beneath her, impaling her lower half. She shrieked, thrashing. Acid spewed from her fangs, melting parts of the terrain.
> [Warning: Terrain Corruption Detected – Defensive Mode Engaged]
Kael summoned his chains, binding her limbs.
> [Skill: "Pariah's Judgment" – Channeling 40% Shard Power]
The dungeon trembled as his throne's shadow appeared behind him, ethereal and massive.
"By my will," he growled, "this domain falls."
He drove a chain through her heart.
The Broodmother screamed.
Then silence.
> [Boss Defeated: Xylessa the Broodmother]
[Experience Absorbed. Dungeon Core Consumed.]
[Layer 12 Sovereignty Transferred.]
---
The Dungeon Shifts
As her body dissolved, the air changed.
Eggs withered. Larvae burned. The layer's walls stopped pulsing. A cold, black light swept across the ceiling.
> [You now control Layer 12.]
[Skill Unlocked: "Hive Override" – Convert Enemy Spawns to Loyal Minions]
[Dungeon Core Level Up: 2 → 3]
[New Title Earned: "King of Ash and Hunger"]
Kael stood in the silence, his shadow stretching across the broken nest.
"I am not their equal."
He raised his hand.
"I am their end."
---
Surface – News Spreads Like Fire
In Draxenholt, a storm of fear rolled through the streets.
The Abyssal Dungeon had shifted again. A second layer had fallen. Scouts sent to probe it vanished.
And now, a new sigil—unlike any seen before—appeared on every guild's artifact tracking system: a black throne wrapped in chains, marked with a broken crown.
A name echoed in the taverns, the war rooms, and even among kings.
"The Godbound Pariah."
Lira stood at the castle's tower, staring toward the distant mountain range where the Abyssal Dungeon lay.
"I saw you fall," she whispered. "But now… you rise."
---
Kael's Throne – Now Double-Layered
Back in the dungeon, Kael returned to his now-expanded domain. The Throne of Chains was larger. The air heavier. And his monsters had evolved.
Aetherfang now bore six tails of shadow. Glaiveclaw's wings glowed with void runes. Vyrna, once ghostlike, now radiated death.
And Kael… was no longer fully human.
> [Shard Assimilation: 23%]
[Next Evolution Unlocked at 30% – "True Sovereign Form"]
He sat on his throne and opened his map.
Layer 11 loomed above.
He smiled coldly.
"One layer at a time. And then... I reach the surface."
---