The air in the boss chamber still felt tainted, the remnants of void energy clinging to the stone like an invisible fog.

  James flexed his fingers inside his new gauntlet, feeling the faint hum of void magic pulsing through it. The fight had been brutal, but they’d finally won. They were still standing.

  But the dungeon wasn’t done with them.

  A single pathway led out of the chamber, deeper into the unknown. The boss they’d just fought had been an obstacle, not the final challenge.

  Lyra adjusted her daggers. “So. Are we taking bets on whether this next area is worse?”

  Riona snorted. “I’m assuming yes. Always bet on yes.”

  Garrick cracked his neck. “Then let’s not waste time.”

  James took the lead, stepping forward cautiously. The walls here were different—smoother, the carvings more intricate, as if whatever civilization had built this place had put more effort into this part of the dungeon.

  The deeper they went, the colder it became.

  Not just physically—but a bone-deep chill that made James instinctively tighten his grip on his sword. The last time he’d felt something like this had been when the boss pulled him into the void.

  Lillian exhaled sharply, rubbing her arms. “Yeah. This place has ‘bad idea’ written all over it.”

  Riona glanced at the walls. “Whatever’s ahead… it’s different from the rest of the dungeon.”

  James slowed as the corridor opened into a massive chamber.

  At first glance, it looked empty. No enemies. No traps. Just a single stone bridge stretching across an abyss, leading to another set of doors on the far side.

  The problem?

  The bridge looked wrong.

  Parts of it were floating, disconnected, held in place by what looked like shimmering energy. Some sections looked stable—others pulsed with the same void essence the boss had used.

  Lyra scowled. “Yeah, I don’t trust that.”

  Garrick grunted. “Agreed.”

  James studied the bridge carefully. There had to be a trick to it.

  Then he saw it.

  On the far side of the chamber, a faintly glowing sigil was etched into the wall. A rune, similar to the ones they’d seen before.

  James exhaled. “Alright. My guess? The bridge isn’t just some broken mess. It’s probably a puzzle.”

  Lillian sighed. “Because of course it is.”

  Riona smirked. “Hey, at least it’s not a room full of instant-kill teleporting monsters.”

  Lyra shuddered. “Yet.”

  James stepped forward, reaching out with his void-warped gauntlet toward one of the unstable sections.

  The moment his fingers brushed the air above it, the shimmering energy pulsed—and a section of the bridge shifted.

  James took a step back. “Okay. That did something.”

  Riona narrowed her eyes. “Try it again.”

  James focused, channeling a small amount of magic through the gauntlet.

  This time, the energy responded, causing a pathway to form—the floating sections clicking into place, one after another.

  James grinned. “Looks like I’ve got a key to this place.”

  Lyra folded her arms. “That’s great and all, but, uh… what happens if you let go?”

  James hesitated.

  Then, as if to answer the question for him, the bridge started coming apart again.

  Lillian swore. “Oh, come on.”

  James clenched his fist, forcing the bridge to reform. “Alright. New rule: I don’t stop until we’re across.”

  Riona nodded. “Then we move fast.”

  They hurried across, one step at a time, James keeping his focus locked on the shifting bridge.

  The moment they were halfway, however—

  The dungeon reacted.

  A low, distant hum echoed through the chamber, followed by the sound of stone shifting.

  Then, from the abyss below—

  Something moved.

  James didn’t see it.

  But he felt it.

  A deep, thrumming pulse of void energy, far stronger than anything they had faced so far.

  The bridge lurched beneath them.

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  Lillian yelped, nearly stumbling as the path flickered.

  Lyra drew her daggers. “Uh. Guys?”

  James’s heartbeat spiked. “MOVE!”

  They sprinted, pushing toward the far side. The void presence below wasn’t attacking—yet—but James had a feeling that if they stayed too long, it wouldn’t stay passive.

  They reached the final stretch—

  And then the sigil on the far wall ignited.

  A wave of energy rippled through the room—

  And the bridge collapsed.

  James lunged, grabbing the closest ledge as the others barely made it to safety. His grip slipped—

  Then Garrick’s massive hand closed around his wrist.

  “Got you.”

  With a single, powerful pull, he hauled James up.

  James collapsed onto solid ground, breathing hard. “...Okay. That sucked.”

  Lyra groaned. “Yeah, no kidding.”

  James looked up at the door ahead.

  The dungeon was testing them.

  And whatever was waiting behind that door…

  Was going to be worse.

  James pushed himself up, shaking off the lingering ache in his muscles. The bridge was gone, swallowed into the abyss below. There was no turning back now.

  Riona exhaled. “Okay. I don’t know what the hell that was, but I’m gonna assume we just woke something up.”

  Lillian adjusted her quiver, glancing back at the void. “Yeah, and I’d rather not find out what.”

  James turned toward the massive stone door before them. Unlike the others they’d encountered, this one wasn’t locked—no puzzle, no mechanisms. Just waiting.

  That felt more ominous than anything.

  Lyra folded her arms. “So, what’s the over-under on something trying to kill us the second we open that?”

  James sighed. “I’d say a hundred percent.”

  Garrick rolled his shoulders. “Then let’s get it over with.”

  They pushed the heavy door open.

  What lay beyond was wrong.

  The room stretched outward in a way that didn’t make sense. The walls curved too far, the ceiling loomed too high. It was like the space inside was bigger than it should be.

  And at the center—

  A pedestal stood, carved from the same void-infused stone as the rest of the dungeon. On it sat a single object—a black, crystalline shard, pulsing faintly with dark energy.

  James felt it immediately. The same unsettling hum as before, like the very air was vibrating in response to it.

  His gauntlet reacted, the runes glowing faintly.

  Lyra didn’t move closer. “That thing is screaming ‘bad idea.’”

  Lillian frowned. “So… do we take it?”

  James hesitated. The last time he’d grabbed something that felt cursed, he’d ended up with void tattoos and an affinity for summoning monsters.

  But something about the shard felt different.

  Stronger.

  Older.

  James took a slow step forward.

  The moment his boot touched the inner ring of the chamber, the air rippled.

  A low growl echoed from the walls.

  Then—

  The entire room shifted.

  The pedestal sank into the floor, vanishing. The void energy surrounding it spread outward, coiling through the air like living shadows.

  And from those shadows—

  Something stepped forward.

  It didn’t have a definite shape at first—just a swirling, amorphous mass of darkness. Then, slowly, it took form.

  A figure, humanoid but not. Its body was jagged, fragmented like cracked glass, glowing with deep purple veins of energy. Its face was a twisted, shifting mask, two burning white eyes glaring through the void.

  It spoke—except it wasn’t words.

  It was a feeling, a pressure in the back of James’s skull.

  “You do not belong here.”

  James barely had time to react before the creature lunged.

  He barely dodged, rolling aside as a razor-thin claw of void energy slashed through where he’d just stood. The stone behind him shattered instantly.

  “Oh, good,” Riona muttered. “Another boss fight.”

  Lillian loosed an arrow mid-sentence. It struck the creature’s torso—

  And phased right through it.

  “Okay,” she said. “That’s a problem.”

  James pushed up, gripping his sword tighter. Magic attacks, then?

  He reached out, channeling energy into his necromantic tattoos—

  Only to feel the magic fizzle the moment it left his body.

  The void ate it.

  James swore under his breath. “We can’t use magic here.”

  Garrick stepped up, swinging his axe with both hands. The blade met resistance, but the impact was dull—like swinging into something half-real.

  The creature twisted, moving in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. It teleported, vanishing into a swirl of shadows before reappearing behind them.

  James barely had time to shout before the void being reached out—

  And reality ripped open.

  For a fraction of a second, James wasn’t in the dungeon anymore.

  He was somewhere else.

  A void.

  An endless, suffocating black abyss, stretching in all directions. A whispering filled his mind—disjointed voices, speaking words that meant nothing, but still felt like they were meant for him.

  Then—

  He was back.

  But only a second had passed.

  Lyra was on her knees, shaking, gripping her head.

  Riona was breathing hard, her expression pale.

  Lillian was blinking rapidly, her bow half-raised but her hands unsteady.

  Only Garrick seemed unaffected, gripping his axe tighter.

  James’s pulse was hammering. What the hell was that?

  The creature laughed—a distorted, broken sound.

  James grit his teeth. “Alright. New plan.”

  He lunged.

  If magic wasn’t going to work, then maybe brute force would.

  He slashed low, aiming for its legs. His blade met resistance this time—a crackle of void energy, like the creature had only partially phased.

  It hissed, flickering out of existence—

  Then reappeared behind him.

  James barely twisted in time as a claw raked across his side. His HP bar plummeted.

  Lyra recovered first, lunging in with her daggers. She struck fast, her blades cutting shadows—but not flesh.

  Riona came in next, switching from her spear to a shortsword, her movements more precise.

  The creature still teleported unpredictably, but they were learning—watching for the telltale flickers before it vanished.

  Then—

  Lillian found a weakness.

  Her arrows didn’t work normally—but when she fired just as the creature reappeared, mid-teleport—

  The arrow hit solidly, sinking into its mask-like face.

  The creature screeched, its body flickering violently.

  Garrick took the opening, stepping forward with a full-force overhead swing.

  The axe connected, cracking through void energy.

  James didn’t hesitate. He lunged in, sword aimed for the core of its chest.

  The creature tried to teleport away—but its form wavered, unstable.

  James drove his blade straight through it.

  The void being let out a piercing wail, its entire form breaking apart, unraveling into the darkness from which it came.

  Then—

  Silence.

  The room was still again.

  James took a shaky breath. His HP was low, and his mind still reeled from whatever he’d experienced in that split-second of nothingness.

  Lyra wiped sweat from her brow. “...That sucked.”

  Riona sheathed her sword. “Agreed.”

  Lillian frowned. “Was that another boss, or are we just fighting the dungeon itself at this point?”

  Garrick grunted. “Not dead. That’s what matters.”

  James turned to the now-empty pedestal where the void shard had been.

  The object itself was gone—absorbed into the dungeon.

  But something else had appeared.

  A pathway, leading deeper in.

  James exhaled. “We’re not done yet.”

  Lyra groaned. “Of course we aren’t.”

  But despite the exhaustion, the injuries, and the sheer bullshit of the dungeon—

  They stepped forward anyway.