“Weren’t they saying…” Fifteen halted, gazing around at the vast, lifeless cavern, his voice tinged with confusion, “that the deep layers of the Amethyst Dungeon were crawling with dangerous monsters?”
This was already the third cavern they had passed through since entering the deep zone.
All they saw were jagged gray rock walls and ground coated with rubble and dust.
Not only were there no savage monsters as expected—there wasn’t even moss.
“It used to be full of life,” the Sword Saint replied casually from ahead, without turning his head.
“How long ago?”
“Uh…” The Sword Saint hesitated, as if digging through a fuzzy memory. “Maybe… twenty years?”
Fifteen fell silent. Information that old was useless…
Inanna, meanwhile, kept her gaze on the ground. She could feel something beneath the layers of rock—fungal threads…
The thought of mycelium brought with it another wave of longing.She had been suppressing this feeling since they entered the Dungeon.
She wanted so badly to turn back into a Puji, to lie upon the soft fungal mats, to merge into the network where there was no fear, only peace.
Before she had experienced it, she hadn’t known. But once she had, the return to being cut off, isolated, was unbearable.
But the threads seemed buried deep, faint to her senses.
She glanced at Aedin, only to see him keeping a straight face, as though he noticed nothing.
…
On the far side of the cavern, at the site of the Chiss rift, a battle for survival was raging.
This time, the Chiss were the defenders.
The cavern swarmed with Chiss of every form, pressed against jagged walls and natural cover, forming a living barricade against the Puji army’s assault.
Having fought them for weeks now, the Chiss knew exactly what these strange mushroom creatures were—and they could not, under any circumstances, allow them to seize the rift.
Otherwise, even their lair would face annihilation.
Fortunately, the terrain granted them a sliver of advantage.
The Evil Eyes hovered high along the cavern ceiling, out of range of exploding Heavy-Armor Pujis, casting down petrifying beams that denied them cover.
The Chiss forces focused fire on exposed heavy units. With this tactic, they managed to hold the Puji offensive at the tunnel mouth.
And the freezing environment hindered the Pujis greatly.
Though they had adapted with [Cold Resistance LV7], the icy ground was treacherous.
Their stubby legs slipped constantly; firing spore cannons sent them spinning and skidding backwards.
The Chiss, on the other hand, dug their sharp claws into the ice, darting and striking with ease, turning agility into a deadly edge.
The battle devolved into a brutal war of attrition—an endless grind of bodies shoved into a meat grinder of a corridor.
And beyond the slaughter, another contest unfolded: corpse-snatching.
Whether Chiss or Puji, the fallen were immediately dragged away by their allies. Neither side left even scraps for the enemy.
Thus, though the fighting had lasted long, no heaps of bodies remained—only scattered mycelium and violet blood smeared across the tunnel.
At last, the Pujis abruptly ceased their attack—and withdrew.
But it was no rout. They retreated in perfect order, and so the Chiss did not give chase.
Even holding the line here demanded everything they had…
Yet unease gnawed at them. Early on, the Chiss had spotted Pujis wielding magic shields. Fragile though they were—easily shattered by petrification beams—the implication chilled them.
If only they could close the rift immediately… but that was beyond their control.
What they didn’t know: the Pujis had retreated because others were coming.
In a connected passage, an Eye Worm floated silently, guarded by a dozen Chiss.
While the front lines distracted, this detachment watched for ambushes.
The Pujis had caught them like that before.
But this time, what they saw wasn’t mushrooms—
It was something resembling demons.
Yet before they could examine closely, the Eye Worm and its guards all vanished from contact in an instant.
A new threat had arrived.
…
“Finally, a monster! I was starting to think they were all gone! But… huh, why’s its blood purple? What kind of weird breed is this?” Fifteen squatted, prodding a still-warm Chiss corpse with his sword sheath.
Mage Gug studied the viscous, syrup-like violet blood, lips twitching as though to speak—but he said nothing.
Inanna, instead, asked a different question. “It was invisible! Uncle Elvien, how did you even spot it from so far away?” Her wide eyes gleamed with curiosity.
“It’s qi—” Fifteen began, only to be cut off by a sharp side-kick from the Sword Saint that landed squarely on his backside.
“It’s called qi sense, little one.” Elvien withdrew his foot, grinning. “You can directly feel presences around you. The stronger they are, the brighter they appear. What do you say, little Inanna? Want to learn?”
Inanna considered, then shook her head. “No thanks. Father said most of your techniques can’t be learned by others. Besides…”
She raised a hand. The air shimmered as moisture condensed.
A sapphire-blue water serpent, as thick as a man’s arm, coiled into being, hissing softly as it circled her, head raised to guard.
Even if she missed an enemy, her elemental spirit wouldn’t.
“Tch, forgot about your ridiculous pet…” Elvien muttered.
The group pressed on. Fifteen, still rubbing his bruised rear and muttering complaints, suddenly stiffened. Inanna’s water serpent tensed as well.
The tunnel opened into a vast cavern—and the sight before them made their hearts sink.
A vast army of Chiss sprawled across the space like a field of black stone, countless eyes glaring coldly with naked hostility.
Farther in, bloated carrion-bugs squirmed, gorging on the last scraps of Puji and Chiss remains, slurping wetly.
And above, a colossal Evil Eye floated, radiating suffocating pressure.
But most terrifying of all—
At the cavern’s center yawned an enormous spatial rift.
“So it is the Chiss…” Gug’s voice was low, grim with realization. “No wonder the regions we passed were barren wastelands.”
“Chiss? What’s that?” Fifteen demanded, eyes locked on the monstrous swarm, sword clenched.
“A species from the far northern wastes,” Gug explained swiftly. “In theory, no human should see them in a lifetime. Even I’ve never laid eyes on one until now. To think… a rift connects us to such a place!”
“Alright, enough talk.” The Sword Saint pinched his nose against the stench. “Let’s get through quickly.”
With a flick of his wrist, his sword slid free. Along its length shimmered a concentrated, pure glow of magic.