The atmosphere outside the dungeon gates was tense.

Hunters crowded around the long stone benches and the supply stalls that lined the common area—refilling bombs, food packs, potions. Normally it was noisy but cheerful. Today, it felt like a pressure cooker.

Two groups faced each other near the central fountain. Guild Sirius stood on one side, and Black Moondrop stood opposite in their dark gray gear. Both were glaring.

"You think we don't know whose fault this is?" a tall Sirius huntress shouted, pointing a finger across the fountain. "Your leader ignored the warnings! She tried to run back to her house and hide when our leaders fought with those terriost."

"What a joke!" a Black Moondrop member snapped back. "Your leaders left the academy exposed! If she cared, the terrorists wouldn't have gotten inside in the first place!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"You first!"

The two groups closed the gap, shoulders bumping, hands straying toward their weapons.

Kyouka and Selene sat at a food stall a little way off, bowls of steaming noodles in their hands. They were the only ones at the table not even looking at the argument.

Selene slurped a noodle, raised an eyebrow, and muttered, "They weren't even at the academy, but they're the ones fighting. We're just chilling here…"

Kyouka smirked. "Guess so."

Selene put her chopsticks down. "How's your brother? Poor boy must be traumatized after everything that happened."

Kyouka gave her a flat look. "Of course not. He's my brother. He won't be traumatized by anything silly like that."

Selene laughed softly. "Figured you'd say that." She tilted her head. "So… what are you going to do about his enrollment to a guild? If you keep stalling, the government will interfere. And then it'll get ugly."

Kyouka's smirk faded. "I've talked about it with my mother. She and I decided to enroll him into a low-key guild—Eclipsed Eden. Mother used to be a healer there."

Selene blinked. "Eclipsed Eden? That quiet little group?"

"Yeah. I'm not in a position to protect Ren inside Valkyrie," Kyouka said. "If someone like Nina decided to mess with him… well…it will be a disaster for this whole guild." She trailed off.

Selene rolled her eyes. "Nina wouldn't do something like that. You know how she is."

"I was just giving an example," Kyouka said. "She wouldn't, of course. But still. Eclipsed Eden is safer. Mother knows the former leader—the grandmother of the current leader. It's the best guild for him to be in."

Selene swirled her soup thoughtfully. "Mm. True enough." She smiled faintly. "Speaking of Nina… what's she up to these days?"

Kyouka leaned back. "What else? She's putting off steam in the dungeon. On a killing spree. We're lucky these dungeon monsters exist to take her anger."

Selene chuckled. "Classic Nina."

At the fountain, the shouting got louder. A Sirius member's hand landed on the hilt of her blade. A Black Moondrop mage raised a glowing hand in reply.

Before anyone could strike, a squad of NDA officers in dark armor stormed in. "Disperse immediately!" one barked. "This is a restricted supply zone!"

Two officers pushed themselves between the guilds, forcing the women apart. Another officer snapped his fingers; a pulse of mana spread out, dampening magic in the area. Reluctantly, the guild members backed off, still glaring at each other.

Selene watched with mild interest. "And just like that, the fun's over."

Kyouka's eyes drifted to the dungeon gate, the tall black arch covered in glowing runes. "Yeah…"

A sudden commotion broke out near the entrance. Several people stumbled out of the gate—bloodied, clothes torn, some leaning on each other, others being half-carried like sacks of grain. Their badges marked them as belonging to different guilds, yet they were all together, clinging for support.

"What the hell…" Selene whispered, already standing up.

Hunters from the supply area rushed toward the injured group. NDA healers hurried from their tents, spells already glowing at their fingertips. "Make way! Clear the path!" one shouted.

An officer crouched beside a bleeding huntress, pressing a glowing palm to her wound. "What's going on inside the dungeon?" he demanded. "We can't communicate from outside!"

The huntress coughed, eyes wild. "The dungeon… it's releasing… abnormal numbers of monsters… like they're trying to break through—" She broke off in a fit of coughing.

Kyouka and Selene exchanged a sharp glance.

"Nina," they muttered at the same time.

Selene's expression hardened. "She's still inside."

"Let's go," Kyouka said.

They darted toward the gate. The NDA officers were too busy with the injured to stop them. The runes on the arch glowed a sickly green, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Selene reached out first. "Nina! We're coming!"

Kyouka was right behind her.

The moment Selene's hand crossed the threshold, a violent shockwave erupted from the gate. A force like an invisible hammer struck both women.

"—!"

They flew backwards, slammed into the canvas of a nearby supply tent, and crashed through crates of potions. Glass shattered around them.

Selene crumpled to the ground, eyes rolling back, unconscious.

Kyouka landed on her side, breath knocked out of her. She struggled up on trembling arms. Selene's body had cushioned her from the worst of it, but her ears rang, and her vision swam.

"What… the hell…" she muttered, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. "What's going on…"

Around them, people shouted. The NDA officers were running toward the gate, weapons out, as the runes pulsed brighter and brighter.

Kyouka's heart hammered in her chest. She forced herself to her knees, eyes fixed on the black archway. "Nina…" she whispered.

***

Nina stood among a circle of glowing stones, her greatsword already dripping crimson. Around her, the bodies of several Wyrmscourage Wolves lay twitching, their snarls fading into silence.

Another wolf lunged out of the shadows. Nina twisted, her muscles moving on instinct.

Her blade came down in a wide arc—shhhhk!—splitting the beast from shoulder to belly. The spray hit her face, but she didn't flinch. Her berserker aura burned bright, a red haze dancing around her arms.

"Come on…" she growled. "Is that all?"

Two more wolves circled. Nina roared, leapt forward, and spun her blade. The impact of steel against bone cracked like thunder. Both wolves went down before they could even yelp.

Her chest heaved, sweat mingling with blood. The haze around her flickered, the familiar burn of her berserker power still buzzing in her veins. She grinned faintly, then let her eyes half-close.

And just like that, the dungeon faded for a heartbeat.

She saw herself sitting at the market district, a mug of beer in her hands. Across from her sat a red haired woman with a scar on her face—Astrid—laughing so hard her drink nearly spilled.

"Another round?" Astrid asked in the memory, slamming her mug down.

"You're on," Nina said, laughing too.

The flash shifted: the two of them in the woods, hunting side by side, Astrid's axes whistling past Nina's shoulder as Nina's sword carved a path.

Then another flash—Astrid smiling, holding out a guild badge. "Welcome to the team, Nina. You're one of us now."

The images faded. The blood and stone of the dungeon returned. Nina stood still, her knuckles white on the hilt of her sword.

"…Why, Astrid…" she muttered quietly.

Her gaze drifted over the dead wolves. She forced a breath out, wiping her blade on a wolf's fur. "Waste not." She crouched and began butchering the carcasses, cutting out fangs, cores, and pelts with practiced efficiency. The work steadied her mind.

Then—tremble.

She froze. The stone under her boots shivered once, faintly. She glanced up at the huge, gnarled trees of the cavern, their roots glowing faintly blue. Nothing else moved.

"Probably just the mountains shifting," she muttered. She kept working, sliding a core into her pouch.

The ground trembled again—stronger. Dust drifted from the cavern ceiling. The trees around her swayed as if a great wind had passed through, but there was no wind here.

Nina stood, eyes narrowing. She slid the last pelt into her bag and reached for her greatsword. "All right… what now?"

The third tremor rattled her boots. Somewhere ahead, deep in the forest of stone trunks, something howled—a sound too many-throated to be one monster.

Leaves and moss shook loose from the trees. Shapes moved between the trunks, growing larger and larger. Nina tightened her grip on her sword, expecting one giant beast.

Instead, dozens—no, hundreds—of shapes burst into view. Long, spined bodies of Cliffstalkers, hulking Boulderbacks with shells like living boulders—all of them stampeding toward her at once, a living tide of fur, scales, and claws.

Nina's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding me."

Her fingers twitched on her hilt. Her berserker aura flared, but she knew the truth. Even she couldn't handle this alone.

She sheathed her sword in one sharp motion, turned on her heel, and sprinted.

Sweat poured down her back as she ran. "No way, no way, this is happening," she muttered under her breath, weaving between glowing roots. "We cull monsters daily! Why is the dungeon overflowing?"

Her boots splashed through a shallow stream as she angled toward the path her team had taken earlier. "Need to get to the surface. Warn them…"

She slowed when she saw something ahead on the path.

A figure stood in the middle of the trail, motionless. At first glance it looked like a naked woman—pale skin, long hair hanging over her face. She didn't react to Nina's approach at all.

Nina's instincts screamed. This wasn't a person. Even at a distance she could see the wings folded behind the figure's back, feathers light as sunlight. They twitched faintly, like an birds's.

Nina's hand went to her sword again. "What the hell…"

The figure's head turned—not naturally, but with a slow, creaking twist that ended in an upside-down tilt. Her face came into view. Her eyes were blank and colorless, her mouth a small line.

And then she spoke.

"Where… am I?" the creature asked in a soft, unearthly voice. Her lips barely moved.

Nina's grip on her sword tightened. "What are you?"

The woman tilted her head further. "Where is my sister?"

The question hung in the damp air, echoing between the giant trees. Nina's heart pounded. All thoughts of Astrid and of the stampede behind her flickered together like sparks.

"…This day just keeps getting better," she muttered, setting her feet.