Chapter 2 The Heart Beneath The Ruins
Vaelith’s POV
The dungeon shook violently beneath my feet.
A deafening roar echoed from somewhere deep below the underground city, so powerful that the entire chamber trembled around us. Crimson crystals cracked along the walls while chunks of stone rained from above.
Panic spread instantly through the raid party.
“What the hell is happening?!”
“The dungeon’s collapsing!”
“Commander, we need to retreat!”
But Seredin remained calm.
Even as monsters surrounded us from every direction, the bastard stood there like he expected this.
Like this had always been part of the plan.
“Kill him,” Seredin repeated coldly.
Three adventurers charged toward me immediately. I moved before they could swing.
CLANG!
Steel collided violently as I blocked the first blade and drove my elbow into the attacker’s throat. He stumbled backward choking, but another sword came for my neck instantly.
Fast. I twisted sideways, grabbed the man’s wrist, and slammed my blade straight through his chest.
Warm blood splashed across my face.
“VAELITH!”
I barely ducked in time as Gareth’s greatsword tore through the air above my head.
The blade smashed into stone hard enough to crack the ground.
That idiot was trying to kill me along with everyone else nearby.
I jumped backward, breathing steadily despite the chaos erupting around me.
Monsters flooded the chamber now.
Dozens of them.
Pale creatures with elongated limbs and glowing crimson eyes swarmed across the ruins like starving beasts.
One leapt onto an adventurer and ripped his face apart.
Screams echoed everywhere. The raid formation had completely collapsed. Confusion was the only reason I was still alive.
“Traitorous bastards…” I muttered coldly.
Gareth laughed while dragging his sword free from the stone floor. “Don’t act surprised. Did you really think the nobles would let a commoner keep gaining influence?”
“I never cared about politics.”
“That was your mistake.”
Another creature lunged toward him suddenly. Gareth split it in half effortlessly.
Blood sprayed across his armor.
“You were becoming too important,” he continued. “The people trusted you more than the Holy Dominion itself.”
My jaw tightened slightly. So that was the real reason. Not fear of rebellion.
Fear of influence.
Seredin stepped forward calmly while chaos consumed the chamber around us.
“You should feel honored, Vaelith,” he said.
“Very few people are considered dangerous enough to warrant an execution ordered directly by the Dominion.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Everything I did was for humanity.”
“And that,” Seredin replied quietly, “is exactly why you had to die.”
A monster suddenly dropped from the ceiling behind him. Before it could attack, Seredin raised one hand casually.
Golden light exploded outward.
BOOOOM!
The creature disintegrated instantly.
Even I felt the pressure from that spell.
Paladin-class holy magic.
No wonder the Holy Dominion worshipped him.
Unfortunately for them… I wasn’t planning to die quietly. Another tremor shook the underground city.
But this time… Something changed. The monsters stopped moving. Every creature in the chamber froze simultaneously.
Even Gareth noticed.
“What now?” he muttered uneasily.
Then the crimson crystals across the ruins began glowing brighter.
Until the entire underground city looked submerged beneath blood-red light.
A low voice echoed through the darkness.
Ancient. Inhuman.
“Who… dares…”
The entire chamber went silent. Even the monsters lowered themselves instinctively.
Fear crawled down my spine.
Seredin’s confident expression finally cracked slightly.
“What is this…?”
The ground beneath us split apart suddenly.
Several adventurers screamed as they fell into the widening abyss below.
I barely kept my footing near the edge.
Then I saw it. Deep beneath the city… A massive crimson crystal pulsed within the darkness like a living heart.
My eyes widened.
No… That wasn’t possible.
A Dungeon Core.
The realization struck instantly.
This entire underground kingdom… It wasn’t beneath the dungeon.
It WAS the dungeon.
“Impossible…” the mage whispered in horror.
The ancient voice echoed again.
“Humanity… returns…”
Every monster in the city began screeching simultaneously. The sound nearly ruptured my ears. Then they attacked. Absolute chaos erupted.
Creatures swarmed the raid party from every direction while the dungeon itself continued collapsing around us.
An adventurer beside me was dragged screaming into darkness. Another lost his arm moments later. Blood covered the ruins.
“RETREAT!” someone shouted desperately.
But there was nowhere left to run.
Seredin finally moved.
“Forget him,” he ordered Gareth sharply. “We’re leaving.”
Gareth looked furious. “But…”
“That’s an order!”
The knight cursed violently before glaring at me.
“You got lucky today.”
I almost laughed.
Lucky?
I was trapped underground with monsters, surrounded by collapsing ruins, while the strongest paladin in the kingdom abandoned his own men to escape.
Some luck.
Seredin’s cold gaze met mine one final time.
“Goodbye, Vaelith.”
Then golden light engulfed him. A teleportation spell. Several surviving adventurers vanished alongside him instantly. Cowards.
The remaining raid members panicked.
“WAIT!”
“DON’T LEAVE US!”
“COMMANDER!”
The holy light disappeared. And they were gone. Silence followed briefly. Then came the screams. The monsters descended upon the abandoned adventurers mercilessly.
I watched without moving. Not because I pitied them. But because I understood something now.
The Holy Dominion never planned for anyone to survive this raid.
Not even their own soldiers. We were sacrifices. A loud growl suddenly echoed behind me. I turned slowly.
Three crimson-eyed creatures crouched nearby, staring directly at me.
Unlike before… They weren’t attacking.
One of them tilted its head slightly, sniffing the air around me.
Confusion flickered through my mind.
Why weren’t they moving?
The largest creature stepped closer.
Its glowing eyes locked onto mine.
Then, unbelievably… It lowered its head.
As if bowing.
“What…?”
A violent pulse erupted from the massive crystal beneath the ruins. The moment it happened, unbearable pain exploded through my chest.
I staggered backward sharply. My vision blurred. Something was wrong.
The crimson light surrounding the underground city intensified violently.
The ancient voice echoed once more.
“You…”
My body froze.
“…bear the mark.”
Mark? What mark?
Before I could react, a burning sensation spread across my chest. I looked down instantly. A strange crimson symbol was glowing beneath my skin.
My heartbeat stopped. I recognized t
hat symbol. It was the exact same crest engraved on the ancient gate.
“No…” I whispered.
The dungeon trembled violently again.
Then the massive crystal beneath the ruins cracked open and countless crimson chains exploded toward me from the darkness.
