As Lumi and Amber crawled quietly through the underbrush, keeping their presence hidden, a sudden wave of noise drew their attention. Shouts echoed from the campsite. Curious and alert, they carefully peeked through the bushes.
What they saw startled them—Atlas operatives were scrambling in panic, voices raised in confusion and fear. Bloodborn Guild members, normally composed and disciplined, moved frantically, others looking toward the dungeon gate with dread. Something had gone wrong—terribly wrong—and the entire camp was on high alert.
Lumi's eyes flicked to the system tablet floating beside her. What had once been a calm, sky-blue interface now flared an intense, pulsing red. Her heart skipped a beat as the warning unfolded before her in bold, urgent text.
[ Warning: The mission has started earlier than expected. Countdown bypassed. Immediately proceed to the dungeon and save Summer Rose. ]
[ Extra Reward for adapting to the sudden change: Aura and Magic Cultivation Scroll ]
Amber gasped, her breath catching in her throat as the red glow reflected in her wide eyes. Lumi's expression mirrored her sister's—shocked, but instantly resolute.
Without hesitation, both of them broke cover and bolted toward the dungeon gate.
Their footsteps pounded the ground as they sprinted past the perimeter. The sudden movement caught the attention of nearby Atlas soldiers and Bloodborn guild members still in disarray. Shouts rang out behind them—warnings, confusion—but it was too late.
[ Notice: Dungeon classification has evolved—Current Rank: S ]
[ Entry Restriction Activated: All individuals outside the dungeon are now locked out until it is cleared or all inside perish. ]
[ Temporary Exception: Creating a 5-second entry gap for mission-linked individuals… now. ]
A pulse of mana rippled across the field. For a brief instant, the sealed dungeon gate flickered, and a thin, glowing seam split open like a door forced ajar by raw force.
Lumi and Amber didn't pause to read the notice. They only saw the light—and ran.
As the soldiers reached out, trying to intercept them, the girls darted into the shimmering breach. Their figures blurred through the glowing fissure just as the gate flared and slammed shut once again, the red lattice snapping back into place.
They were inside.
The system had honored its promise—Lumi and Amber had entered the S-rank dungeon. Now sealed in, with only each other and the mission ahead, they pressed on through the surreal floral landscape, where death was hidden beneath beauty… and time was running out.
=====
Summer Rose stood frozen for a moment, her breath caught in her throat as the gruesome image of the Atlas soldier's electrified corpse burned into her mind. She turned her face away, unable to bear the sight any longer. The once-glowing gate now pulsed with a hostile crimson light, sealed like a cage.
She turned toward Raven and the remaining survivors, eyes tight with urgency.
"So what now?" Summer asked, her voice low but steady. "Do we have a plan B for this?"
Raven's expression was grim as she stared at the sealed gate, her odachi still faintly glowing with residual heat from the elemental Sigil. Around them, the survivors tightened their grips on their weapons, shaken but focused.
"The A-rank dungeon we entered…" Raven began, her tone hard, "just evolved into an S-rank."
A cold silence fell.
"That's rare—and dangerous," she continued. "And one of the laws of S-rank dungeons is absolute. Once you enter, you're locked in. No one else can come in… and you can't leave. Not until one of two things happens."
Raven looked around at the remaining hunters—Atlas and Bloodborn alike—who were slowly gathering near her and Summer, listening intently.
"Either we kill the dungeon boss… or
we die inside."
As Raven's final words settled over the group like a heavy fog, the ground began to tremble—deep, rhythmic quakes that rippled through the field of flowers. The soil shifted beneath their feet, petals fluttered into the air, and a low, resonant hum echoed across the horizon, as if the earth itself was growling in warning.
Then, a voice broke the silence—shaken, trembling with fear.
"T-The one we need to defeat to get out of here… are you talking about *that*?"
Everyone turned sharply toward the source, an Atlas soldier pointing a trembling finger toward the far distance.
All eyes followed her gaze.
On the distant horizon, a titanic silhouette began to take shape—its size so vast it warped perspective. Towering at an unimaginable 200,000 feet tall, the monster loomed like a walking mountain. Its entire body was draped in thick, winding vines, each as wide as a fully-grown tree trunk. The living greenery pulsed faintly with unnatural energy, writhing slowly like serpents clinging to a titan's frame.
Its upper torso pierced the cloud layer, hidden partially by the drifting mist. Only one eye could be seen—massive, circular, and glowing with an eerie green light. From the field below, only the faintest outline of its enormous limbs and torso could be made out in the distance, shadowed by its sheer size. But that eye—that single, pulsing light—gazed down from above like the eye of a god.
It didn't move.
It didn't speak.
But its presence alone made the air feel heavy… as if the dungeon itself
was watching them.
Soon, the earth trembled again—not from the towering giant in the distance, but from the hordes rising from beneath the field. All around them, monsters began to emerge from the soil, bursting through flowers and roots like weeds given sentience. Plant-based creatures of every shape and size—some crawling, some towering, some slithering—approached from all directions. Vines whipped through the air, thorned limbs writhed, and glowing eyes blinked open like stars on a dark horizon.
Panic spread among the hunters as the sheer number of enemies overwhelmed the senses. The formation scattered, defensive lines breaking down under the weight of incoming threats. Amid the chaos, two figures stood firm at the front—unmoving, unwavering.
Summer Rose and Raven Branwen.
A monstrous, plant-like centipede surged forward through the ground, its massive, segmented body stretching over 20 meters long. Its vine-wrapped exoskeleton glistened with hardened sap, and rows of leafy limbs tore through the flower field as it charged directly at Summer with terrifying speed.
With no hesitation, Summer planted her feet and swung *Sundered Rose* downward with both hands. The weapon ignited with pyro energy, crashing against the monster's body in a massive impact that sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield. Dust and petals exploded into the air, the sound echoing like thunder—but when the dust cleared, the centipede still slithered forward, its armored body only mildly damaged.
It recoiled, then lashed its entire body to the right, aiming a bladed, leaf-covered segment at Summer's neck like a guillotine.
She leapt into the air with sharp agility, flipping high above the attack. Mid-air, she rotated *Sundered Rose* into its rifle form and fired a single round infused with pyro Sigils. The bullet struck the creature's midsection—and exploded. A burst of searing fire engulfed its vines, staggering it for just a moment.
Summer didn't stop.
In a flash, she dashed through the smoke, straight to the centipede's head. Her weapon's barrel locked on its face. She didn't hesitate. She pulled the trigger.
A violent detonation followed.
The head of the centipede erupted in flames and gore, blown apart in a fiery burst. Its body collapsed in a twitching heap behind her, smoke rising from the scorched vines.
Even surrounded by chaos, Summer stood strong—undaunted, relentless—as the battle had only just begun.
Raven Branwen moved like a storm—cutting, slashing, weaving through the waves of monsters with her odachi, *Omen*, glowing red-hot with Pyro Sigil energy. Each swing carved through vine-wrapped limbs and thorn-covered hides, but even with her immense skill, her strikes only inflicted mild damage. The creatures were resilient—too resilient. It took everything she had to bring just one down, and they were coming from all sides.
Summer fought just as fiercely, her hybrid weapon *Sundered Rose* switching between axe and rifle with seamless precision. She cut down any creature that dared approach the wounded or the distracted, using Pyro rounds and explosive slashes to keep the horde at bay. Together, she and Raven danced through the battlefield, a symphony of fire, steel, and desperate survival.
But it wasn't enough.
Their aura reserves were thinning fast. Every block, every dodge, every attack drained them more and more. The burn of fatigue crept into their limbs, their breathing growing heavier with each passing minute. And still—the monsters kept coming. An endless tide of mutated flora, twisted and bloodthirsty.
Then it happened.
A scream.
One of the Bloodborn hunters had been caught. A grotesque frog-like monster with mottled green skin and a massive, flower-like mouth lashed its long, sticky tongue through the chaos. It coiled around the unlucky man's leg and yanked him backward before anyone could react.
"Help! Someone—!"
The hunter's voice cracked in desperation, but no one could break formation—everyone was locked in battle, too occupied to save him.
The monster reeled him in.
Its gaping maw unfolded like a blooming flower, revealing rows of jagged, thorn-like teeth. As the man was dragged closer, the mouth began to spin—rotating violently like a blender. The moment his legs entered, his screams turned to agonized wails. Blood sprayed outward in arcs as the teeth shredded through armor and flesh.
His cries echoed through the field, desperate, human—until they stopped.
All that remained was the grotesque sound of meat and blood being torn apart—wet, grinding, and final. The monster's mouth snapped shut, red dripping from the petal-like fangs.
And the battle raged on.