The Minotaur's shadow-forged blade crashed down where Juliet had stood a heartbeat ago.
She rolled aside, sparks flaring at her heels. "I've got this!"
"Juliet, fall back, group sync!" Frank's voice cut through the chaos like steel.
Juliet snarled but dropped back into formation, scroll clutched in one hand. "One shot's all I need."
"No, it's not," Frank said. "You swing, it adapts. You hesitate, we die."
Kaito's wind glyph flared beneath his boots. "I can't hold much longer… mana's draining fast!"
"Same!" Zara ducked behind a broken column, loading a bolt with shaking hands. "I'm on fumes!"
Frank's system pinged in the back of his vision, his new Reflexive Guard skill was still active, but barely. His stamina bar blinked at 24%.
"Alright," he breathed, tightening his grip. "We hold the line, control the tempo. Kaito, circle clockwise…. use wind bursts to distract. Zara, disable movement. Juliet…."
"I'm not holding back," she growled.
"You don't have to," he replied. "Just wait for my signal."
The Minotaur charged again, rune-marked hooves gouging deep grooves into the stone. It swung its blade low this time, fast, jagged, unpredictable.
Frank braced. "Shield up—!"
The impact sent a bone-deep tremor through his arm. But he held.
"Now, Kaito!"
A blast of wind shoved the Minotaur's weapon off trajectory. It stumbled…
Zara fired. The bolt hit behind the knee.
Juliet surged forward on instinct.
"No…wait…!"
But she was already mid-spin, spear arcing with fire, scroll trailing violet energy behind her.
The Minotaur turned quicker than it should've.
"Juliet, pull back!"
It struck, not at her, but toward Kaito.
Frank didn't think.
He moved.
Steel slammed against flesh, not the Minotaur's, but Frank's back.
Pain exploded across his ribs.
He hit the ground, choking, but conscious.
Kaito stared at him in disbelief. "Frank—!"
"I'm fine," Frank gasped, coughing blood. "Keep formation."
Juliet stood frozen, the scroll flaring in her hand.
"You okay?" she asked tightly.
Frank pushed himself upright, blood leaking down his side. "I'll live. But we won't if we keep pretending we're invincible."
Juliet's grip tightened.
The Minotaur's eyes locked onto her again.
Frank raised his head, voice steady. "Now… listen to me."
The Minotaur charged again, hooves carving cracks into the stone. Its blade-arm shimmered with violet heat, raised for a cleave meant to end everything.
Juliet's boots shifted on instinct. Her fingers flexed around her spear.
I see it. Left side exposed. One clean leap, through the ribs. I can end it now.
She crouched then heard his voice behind her.
"Juliet… wait!"
She didn't move. Not yet. "We won't get another chance. I've got the angle."
"You think it's exposed," Frank called out, voice low but firm. "It's baiting you."
"You don't know that."
"I've been watching it adjust," Frank said. "The way it staggered last time? It didn't fall… it repositioned."
The Minotaur's glowing eyes locked on her. It twitched—like it was waiting for her to make the first move.
Juliet gritted her teeth. "I can still hit it."
"You can hit it. But not finish it." Frank stepped closer, shield dragging slightly. "If you go now, it shifts. You miss, or worse, you get boxed in."
She spun toward him, eyes flashing. "I'm not hesitating while it kills someone."
"Neither am I!" he snapped. "That's why I need you to trust me."
Kaito groaned behind them, breath ragged. "Guys, if you're gonna argue, do it after we're not dead."
"Please pick the less painful option," Zara muttered. "We're about two bolts away from total disaster."
Juliet looked back at the Minotaur. It hadn't moved. It was… watching her.
A familiar heat rose in her chest. That itch to charge. To move faster than everyone else. To end it her way.
But…
Frank had taken a hit meant for Kaito. He was reading the field like a tactician, not a brawler. And now, bruised and bleeding, he was standing between her and a monster because he believed she could do the killing blow, if she didn't waste it.
"I don't follow orders," she said, but her voice was quieter.
"I'm not giving orders," Frank replied. "I'm trusting you with the final shot."
A long beat passed. She looked down at the scroll still wrapped around her spear shaft, runes softly glowing with arcane warmth.
She exhaled slowly. "You sure about this?"\
"Dead sure."
Juliet snorted. "Poor choice of words."
Frank gave a thin smile. "I'm full of them."
Juliet rolled her shoulders. "Alright, Commander. Tell me the plan."
Frank turned slightly, eyes scanning the Minotaur's posture. "Zara disables its movement. Kaito casts a vertical updraft to break its stance. When I call it, you leap. Centerline. Use the scroll at the peak. Spear through the chest."\
She twirled the spear once, flipping it into reverse grip, then forward again. "Got it."
Frank raised his shield. "Let's do this clean."
Zara's voice piped up weakly from behind a shattered pillar. "I swear, if this ends in fire and screaming…"
"It always does," Kaito coughed. "That's kind of our thing."
Juliet stepped forward, flame lighting in the soles of her boots.
"Don't miss the call," she said, glancing sideways at Frank.
"Don't waste the strike," he replied.
They shared a nod then pulled out their different weapons, knowing they were facing the same war.
"Now!" Frank barked, voice hoarse but unwavering.
"I've got the leg… don't miss!" Zara yelled, her fingers already squeezing the trigger.
The bolt slammed into the Minotaur's back knee with a loud thunk. The beast let out a twisted roar, staggering on one side.
"Wind bind incoming!" Kaito shouted. "Give me five seconds!"
"You've got three!" Frank snapped. "Go!"
A cyclone flared from beneath the Minotaur's hooves. Dust and embers swirled. The creature stumbled off balance and confused.
Juliet didn't wait.
"Finally," she whispered, breaking into a full sprint.
"Juliet, now! Centerline!" Frank called.
"I know!" she shouted back, and the scroll wound tight around her spear lit up, runes flaring with white-violet energy.
Zara stood up from behind a pillar. "That thing is watching her…"
"Too late," Kaito said, squinting. "She's in the air."
Juliet shot upward like a comet, fire bursting from her boots. Her silhouette cut through the cyclone's edge, blazing against the glowing chamber ceiling.
She twisted midair. "Hey, horn-head… eat this!"
The Minotaur looked up just in time to catch her blade.
With a cry, she brought the spear down with both hands. The scroll activated on contact, unleashing a thundercrack of energy as it struck the monster dead-center in the chest.
"Holy—!" Kaito flinched.
"Did that just cancel its glyphs?" Zara asked, wide-eyed.
Juliet landed in a crouch beside the beast as it began to shake.
Frank stepped forward, watching the light crawl up its body.
Cracks formed, small at first, then spreading like shattered glass across black marble.
"It's unraveling," he said quietly.
The Minotaur made one last choking sound.
Then it crumbled.
No scream. No final roar. Just ash, falling in slow, swirling spirals to the floor.
Silence followed.
"We did it?" Kaito asked, like he didn't believe it.
Juliet stood, brushing soot off her arms. "Told you. One strike."
Zara groaned as she slumped against a wall. "One suicidal, scroll-boosted, flaming pole vault strike but yeah. Sure."
Frank lowered his shield. "Is everyone still in one piece?"
"Barely," Kaito muttered.
Juliet smirked. "Next time, I get a cleaner landing."
Zara waved vaguely. "Next time, I get a nap."
But Frank wasn't smiling.
He was staring at the floor, where the Minotaur had fallen.
"Uh… anyone else seeing that?" he asked.
They all turned.
A mark faint but glowing, burned in the ash.
A circle, jagged edges, strange twisting script. It pulsed softly, rotating.\
Zara stepped closer. "That's… not a dungeon glyph."
Kaito blinked. "No. No, it's not. That's… hold on, that symbol…"
Juliet walked past it. "Weird coding bug. Old floors glitch all the time."
Frank frowned. "That's not a glitch."
"Well, it's not my problem," she said, striding toward the corridor. "If it's not trying to kill us, it doesn't get my attention."\
Zara raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't want to stab it too, just in case?"
Juliet grinned. "If it twitches, I'll come back."
Frank stayed behind for a moment, still staring.
The symbol pulsed once more then vanished, fading into black ash.
His system pinged.
⟡ Notification: Unregistered anomaly detected
Further observation recommended.
…
[System] Status: Brief instability recorded
The interface flickered.
Frank blinked. "What…?"
"Frank?" Juliet's voice echoed from up the corridor.
He turned toward the others.
Juliet stood with one hand on her hip, still dusted in soot and dried blood. Zara leaned on Kaito's shoulder, her crossbow now slung lazily behind her.
"You zoning out again?" Juliet asked. "Or are you writing a novel about our heroic triumph?"
Frank shut the system window with a blink. "Just… checking damage reports."
"Your ribs still broken?" Kaito asked, half-grinning.
Frank winced slightly. "Cracked, maybe."
"Then congrats," Zara said dryly. "We all get out of here with cool scars and trust issues."
Juliet raised an eyebrow. "You're assuming we didn't have those already."
Frank stepped forward at last, walking past the ash that used to be a B-Rank nightmare. "Let's move. Dungeon's not over until we're out the gate."
"Right," Juliet said. She glanced back one last time at the scorched chamber. "Still think that symbol was just a bug."
Frank didn't answer.
Zara smirked. "You're really quiet back there, Frank."
He shrugged. "Tired. Thinking."
Juliet fell in beside him as they walked. "What is it?"
Frank looked ahead, not meeting her eyes. "We won this one. But something's… off. That wasn't a normal revival. That sigil—it was designed. Like it was waiting."
Juliet scoffed. "If something else wants a piece of us, they can take a number."
Zara snorted. "Hope they bring snacks. I'm out of bolts."
Kaito muttered, "I'm out of blood."
Frank offered a faint smile. But his thoughts stayed elsewhere.
He didn't mention the glitch.
He didn't mention the way the system paused like it was thinking for itself.
As they moved down the corridor, Juliet gave him a sideways look. "You gonna be alright?"
Frank nodded. "I'm always alright."
She frowned slightly. "That's not the same as 'fine.'"
"No," Frank said softly. "It's not."
They walked on.
Behind them, deep in the dust, something stirred.
Just for a moment.
Then silence.