"Tell me again why we're walking into the pit of hell with half our supplies gone?"
Kaito's voice echoed down the narrow obsidian corridor, eyes darting warily between flickering runes etched into the walls. Magic sparked faintly beneath each rune like static, the dungeon pulsing with a life of its own.
Frank wiped dust off his sleeve. "Because Juliet refuses to leave unfinished dungeons, and because I'm too broke to argue."
"Also because I want to hit something," Juliet added, leading the pack. Her ember-forged spear balanced easily across her shoulders, crackling faintly with restrained heat. "And it just so happens that there's a ten-foot bull-thing with my name on it."
Zara loaded a bolt into her crossbow with a metallic click. "Do you ever not want to hit something?"
Juliet glanced back, smirking. "Not lately."
The air grew hotter the deeper they went. The narrow passage widened into a fractured hallway where old Hunter banners hung in tatters. Burn marks scarred the floor, and a twisted helmet rested in the corner, dented, bloodstained, and long abandoned.
Frank's system pinged softly—"Environmental Mana Spike Detected."
He muttered under his breath, "Yeah. Something's definitely still alive in here."
Kaito pushed his glasses up. "This dungeon's been classified E-Rank for the last two years. What kind of Minotaur gets left to stew for that long?"
"A mutated one," Juliet said. "Or worse, an empowered one."
"Fantastic," Zara muttered. "Can't wait."
As they walked, Frank fell into step beside Juliet. "You've got that look again."
She raised an eyebrow. "What look?"
"The one that says 'I'm about to solo the boss whether the team keeps up or not.'"
She scoffed. "It's not a solo if you all play your part."
Frank exhaled slowly. "Right. As long as the part isn't 'meat shield.'"
The hallway finally opened up into a massive chamber.
Twin doors, each twenty feet high, stood before them, carved with spiraling runes and crowned with the horned sigil of the dungeon boss. Old blood pooled beneath the door's threshold, long dried into blackened streaks.
Kaito hesitated. "This is it. Boss chamber."
Juliet approached the door and placed one hand against it. Her expression darkened with purpose.
Frank stepped up beside her. "You good?"
"I'm always good," she replied, voice low. "This one's just personal."
He didn't ask. He knew her past with Azrathene's massacre still haunted her. Every dungeon, every fight, it was another brick in her wall of control.
Frank looked over his shoulder. "Kaito, stay mobile with your spells. Zara, shoot and move. No reloads in place. Juliet and I will draw fire."
"Great," Zara said. "I'll just do what I always do, be brilliant and underappreciated."
Kaito gave a shaky grin. "Let's survive first. Then we can argue about credit."
Juliet turned the handle and the massive doors began to creak open, stone grinding against stone.
A wave of heat and the scent of scorched bone hit them. Inside was shadow and firelight, a cathedral-sized chamber riddled with debris, broken weapons, and melted armor.
At the center, surrounded by a circle of glowing runes, stood the Minotaur.
Its chest rose with the rhythm of a slumbering beast. Its axe, twice the size of Frank, rested beside it. Veins pulsed with flickering orange mana beneath its skin.
Frank's voice caught in his throat. "Okay. That's not an E-Rank boss."
Juliet smiled faintly. "All the better."
She stepped into the chamber without hesitation.
Frank followed, drawing his sword. "This is how I die. Following the scary girl into a flaming death room."
Kaito murmured, "If we're lucky, we won't all die together."
Zara raised her crossbow and said, "I call dibs on your boots, Frank."
He sighed. "Can't even die in peace."
The Minotaur's eyes snapped open.
"Eyes up! It's awake!" Juliet shouted as the Minotaur's glowing eyes snapped open. The sound it made, half roar, half death bell, rattled their bones.
Frank raised his shield. "Yep. That's the ugliest alarm clock I've ever seen."
"I'm going in!" Juliet launched forward, her spear igniting mid-leap.
Zara's boots skidded across scorched stone as she dropped behind cover. "Try not to die in the first ten seconds!"
"Not planning on it!" Juliet's voice was sharp as flame. "Kaito, updraft!"
Kaito threw his arms up. "Gust rune, active!" A swirling burst of wind launched her higher. Juliet twisted midair, her body a flickering blaze, then brought her spear down in a blazing arc.
"Direct hit!" she yelled, landing hard as her weapon sliced through muscle. "Right leg's staggered!"
Frank charged in behind her, slamming his shield into the Minotaur's other knee. "Zara, pin it!"
"Already on it, left joint, firing!" Thunk! The bolt embedded with a satisfying crunch. "That's a tendon, thank me later!"
"Don't get cocky!" Juliet barked, spinning into a second strike. "We've got momentum, don't waste it!"
Kaito dashed wide, hands pulsing with blue wind. "I've got your blind side!"
The Minotaur bellowed and swung its greataxe. Frank blocked, boots skidding across the rune-scorched floor. "Okay, this thing hits like a freight truck."
"Hold position!" Juliet said, ducking low. "I'll take the top!"
"You always take the top!" Frank grunted, deflecting another swing. "Try sharing!"
"I'm leading, not sharing!" she snapped.
Zara ducked another blast of air. "This tension is cute, but if one of you gets me killed mid-flirt, I'm haunting both your graves."
"We're not flirting!" Juliet and Frank said at the same time then groaned in unison as the Minotaur backhanded them both with a snort.
Kaito flinched. "Less bickering, more dodging!"
Juliet hit the ground in a roll. "Still breathing."
Frank spat dust. "Barely."
Juliet's eyes locked on the Minotaur's throat. "It's open. I'm going for it… now!"
"No… Juliet, hold up!"
But she was already sprinting, fire lashing behind her.
Frank saw it. The angle. The bait
"Zara, move!"
He dove, tackling Zara sideways just as the Minotaur's axe slammed into the floor. The impact split stone, sending chunks of earth flying. A rune-lit column behind them cracked, the glow sputtering.
"Ow," Zara hissed beneath him. "Next time, warn me before playing hero."
"Next time, duck faster," Frank panted, helping her up.
Juliet staggered to her feet across the room, spear raised again. "I had it!"
"You almost had us buried!" Frank shot back.
Kaito's voice rang out, laced with panic. "Guys, wounds are closing! Look!"
They turned.
Veins along the Minotaur's side pulsed violet. Torn flesh began to stitch together, runes flickering under its skin.
"Regeneration?! That's new!" Zara shouted.
"It's evolving mid-fight," Kaito said. "We need to finish it now or not at all!"
Juliet growled. "Then we press harder. No holding back!"
Frank wiped blood from his chin. "No solos either. We do this as a team."
Juliet hesitated, just for a breath, then gave a curt nod. "Fine. Kaito, flank left with wind. Zara, angle for the neck again."
Kaito cast. "On it!"
Zara loaded. "Bolt's hot, make it count!"
Frank raised his shield. "I'll anchor. Juliet, I've got your back."
Juliet exhaled, eyes locking with him. "Then don't fall behind."
The Minotaur roared again, louder this time, echoing like thunder through the molten chamber.
"Move!" Juliet shouted.
They surged.
Frank braced for the next strike. Juliet danced through the firelight. Kaito spun wind like blades. Zara's bolt flew true.
The Minotaur shrieked in pain and then collapsed with a final, echoing crash.
Silence.
Frank's breathing slowed. "That was... a lot."
Juliet stood over the corpse, blood running down her arm. "But it's down."
Kaito lowered his hands, panting. "Did we… win?"
Zara leaned against a cracked pillar. "Tell that to my frayed nerves."
Frank exhaled. "Yeah. We won."
But then….
THRUM.
A pulse of dark energy rolled across the chamber like a heartbeat.
The Minotaur's corpse twitched.
Then runes ignited across its body, black and violet, pulsing with unnatural heat.
Frank's eyes widened. "Everyone, move back!"
The Minotaur's limbs jerked. Bone snapped. Fire bled from its eyes.
Zara's voice cracked. "No. No, no… what is that?"
Juliet gritted her teeth. "It's reviving."
Kaito stumbled back. "Those symbols, that's cult magic. It's not just a boss anymore. It's a ritual-bound spawn."
The beast rose again, taller, darker, smarter.
"Back! Get back!" Frank shouted, dragging Juliet by the arm as the Minotaur's corpse convulsed violently.
"I'm not running!" she snapped, but she didn't resist.
The body twitched again, limbs cracking in reverse like bones rewinding. The air grew colder—colder than fire should allow—and the runes scrawled across its skin ignited in deep, violet flame.
"Cult sigils," Kaito whispered, eyes wide behind his cracked glasses. "It's bound to something outside the dungeon… this isn't a natural resurrection."
Zara's hands trembled as she reloaded. "So, what, it's… possessed?"
"No," Frank said grimly. "It's upgraded."
The Minotaur's torso snapped upright. Its horns had twisted into sharper ridges. Its axe was gone—replaced with a jagged blade of shadow that extended from its arm like a living weapon.
Then it roared—a deeper, layered sound, like five voices howling at once.
The walls shook.
Juliet's grip on her spear tightened. "Round two, then."
Frank raised his shield again, barely steady. "Juliet, it's faster now. Don't just charge in—"
But the Minotaur did first.
It shot forward like a cannonball, slamming Frank straight across the chamber. He hit the ground hard, vision flashing white.
"Frank!" Kaito shouted.
Juliet lunged toward the beast, but it sidestepped—sidestepped—and swiped her across the ribs. She tumbled with a curse, clutching her side.
Zara fired a bolt. The shadow blade deflected it midair.
"This thing's reading our moves," she breathed. "It's learning."
Kaito threw out a wind burst, but it fizzled halfway. "Mana suppression—it's disrupting tier-2 spells!"
Frank rolled onto one knee, coughing. "System window—open!"
The screen blinked into existence in front of him, soft blue against the blood-soaked chamber.
[AVAILABLE POINTS: 126]
→ Market → Combat Boosters → Bloodrush Elixir (x3) → Confirm.
→ Tactical Scrolls → Disruption Seal (Melee Sync) → Confirm.
→ Skills → Reflexive Guard → Confirm.
Three glowing potions dropped into his hand. A scroll blinked into his inventory.
"Zara, Kaito—take these!" Frank tossed the potions, one each. "Strength and speed boosts!"
Zara caught hers mid-run. "Frank, I could kiss you."
"Please don't," he muttered, hurling the scroll toward Juliet. "Juliet—catch!"
She caught it, eyes narrowing. "What is this?"
"A Disruption Seal. Short-range anti-sigil burst. Your spear can activate it—if you don't die first."
Juliet looked at the scroll, then at Frank—still kneeling, shield raised, blood running from his mouth, eyes calm.
"You're giving me the finisher?"
"I'm trusting you," he said, voice low but firm. "Just… don't bull-rush it this time."
Juliet's fingers clenched the scroll. Her instincts screamed to charge. Go fast. Go hard. Finish it now.
But Frank had stepped up. He'd seen the shifts. Reacted. Made the calls. For the first time, he wasn't just keeping up—he was leading.
The Minotaur roared again and surged toward them.
Frank activated Reflexive Guard just in time.
CLANG!
His shield flashed gold, absorbing a killing blow. The impact sent him sliding backward—but alive.
Kaito downed his potion and cast. "Wind blast—reloaded!"
Zara spun and fired. "Left knee—now!"
The Minotaur stumbled.
Juliet stood perfectly still, the scroll pulsing with magic in her hand.
Zara shouted, "Juliet—move! Do it now!"
Kaito yelled, "We need you—this only works if you act!"
Frank, beaten but unyielding, looked up through cracked vision. "Juliet. I trust you."
She stared at the scroll… and hesitated.
For the first time, she wasn't sure if she should follow her instinct—or follow Frank.
The Minotaur's arm flared with black flame. It turned toward her.
And it charged.
Juliet didn't move.