Dungeon Dream

The sky darkened abruptly, and an oppressive gloom settled over the battlefield, as though heralding the arrival of an unspeakable menace. All eyes were drawn to Dinio's severed corpse lying in the blood-soaked soil. But before anyone could process what was happening, the fragmented pieces of his body began to twitch and inch toward one another, the flesh knitting itself back together in a grotesque display of dark magic.

Gernold and the Beastmen watched in mounting horror, their courage faltering as Dinio's body stood once more, cloaked in a suffocating aura of malevolence that seemed to pulsate like a heartbeat. Tendrilsof dark energy writhed around him like serpents, the sheer weight of his presence forcing them all a step back. Slowly, Dinio leaned forward, a sinister grin carving itself across his face before he erupted into a chilling, maniacal laughter that echoed like thunder across the field.

Gernold tightened his grip on his blade, fighting to steady his trembling hand. "What in the abyss are you?" he demanded, his voice a brittle veneer of defiance.

Dinio's laughter stopped as abruptly as it began. His head tilted unnaturally to the side, the grin never faltering as his glowing eyes fixed on Gernold. Without a word, his form blurred and vanished, leaving nothing but a wisp of shadow in his wake.

"Stay sharp!" Gernold barked, scanning his surroundings frantically, his every muscle coiled like a spring.

Before anyone could react, Dinio reappeared beside a Beastman. His hand shot out like a viper, grabbing the unfortunate beastman by the head. The Beastman's screams were cut short as Dinio's fingers tightened, dark energy surging through his grip. In an instant, the Beastman's body exploded into a spray of gore, bones and blood splattering the warriors.

Gernold's stomach churned, his face pale as ash. This wasn't a battle-it was a nightmare given flesh.

[Few minutes ago inside the dungeon....]

As Melina introduced herself to Al, she noticed the room around them starting to deteriorate. The walls shimmered and flickered as though glitching, cracks forming and stretching like jagged veins. A low rumble echoed through the chamber, and the floor began to quake beneath their feet.

Alarmed, Al instinctively grabbed onto Melina for support. Without hesitation, she swung a quick punch to his face.

"Ow! What was that for?" Al complained, his tone halfway between pain and resentment.

Melina's eyes darted around the rapidly

transforming room, now losing its man-made appearance. The once-structured walls seemed to melt away, revealing rough, cavernous stone. Vines snaked through the cracks, and the entire space blended into what felt like an ancient, natural dungeon.

Before either of them could speak again, a deafening roar echoed through the air, so close that it seemed to shake the very ground beneath them.

Melina froze. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, her voice tinged with both urgency and fear.

Al gulped. "That... that must be the creature I saw earlier."

Melina narrowed her eyes. "What creature?"

"I don't know," Al admitted, shifting nervously. "But it looked dangerous. Big. Like, eat-you-whole big."

Melina's fists clenched as her survival instincts kicked in. "Then we need to get out of here. Now. Before that thing realizes we're still breathing."

Another roar echoed, louder and closer than before, urging them both to start moving without another word.

[Deep in the dungeon floor]

Amassive surge of mana was being drawn into the room where the Quinens were imprisoned, the air thick with the intensity of magical energy. The grand magic spell cast outside the dungeon had unleashed an immense wave of power, but instead of fully reaching its intended target, half of it was drawn into the dungeon's insatiable core. The walls pulsed faintly, as though the entire structure was alive, feeding hungrily on the stolen magic.

Then, with a low creak, the heavy door sealing the Quinens' prison shifted. A small gap appeared, a sliver of light spilling into the dark chamber. The dungeon's absorption of the spell seemed to have weakened the door's enchantments, leaving an opening as faint hope for escape.