"How dare you."
The human—no, the monster spoke.
He was not human. Though he wore the shape of one, the aura pouring from him was something else entirely. It was something ancient. Something terrifying.
The moment the spirit felt it, an old memory resurfaced. A nightmare buried deep within its existence.
As a spirit that had absorbed countless others throughout its long life, it had inherited fragments of their memories as well. Among them was one memory that stood above all others. A calamity etched so deeply into its existence that even after centuries, the fear remained.
The One-Eyed Black Dragon.
And the presence before it now reminded the spirit of that same terror.
But even then, another thought surfaced within its mind.
A desire that rose above even the terror clawing through its existence.
Greed.
The spirit trembled as it stared at him, yet the hunger inside it only grew stronger. The aura pouring from this being was immense, far beyond anything it had ever consumed before. Every instinct within it screamed danger.
And yet—
If it could devour him…
How much stronger would it become?
How powerful could it become?
The thought consumed the spirit almost instantly.
If it could devour him, absorb that overwhelming power into itself, then perhaps—perhaps it could finally transcend its limits. No longer would it remain bound to this cursed place.
For the first time in ages, the spirit imagined it.
Freedom.
Freedom from the Dungeon.
Freedom from the chains etched into its very existence.
Its distorted eyes trembled with madness and greed as it stared at him. The fear remained, buried deep within its being, but the desire to consume him was beginning to surpass even that.
With all its might, the spirit called for its children.
The entire floor trembled in response.
Monsters stirred from every direction, their roars echoing endlessly as they answered the call of their creator. One after another, they emerged from the darkness, flooding the area like an endless tide.
Yet even then, the human did not move.
He simply stood there, silently watching it.
Observing.
As though none of this mattered.
The spirit felt rage boil within its existence. It was not fear this time, nor hunger.
It was humiliation.
For the first time in its life, something looked upon it without panic or desperation. The human's calm gaze felt less like caution and more like indifference, as though the spirit itself was insignificant before him.
And that enraged it.
"Oh? So you can feel."
The human finally spoke.
"But you're not a Xenos… hmm." His eyes narrowed slightly as he observed it. "This is curious. What exactly are you?"
Xenos?
The mighty it?
Compared to those weak creatures?
Rage exploded within the spirit.
How dare this human compare it to those inferior beings. Those failures that had abandoned their purpose and chosen to side with mortals.
It shrieked violently, the sound shaking the entire floor as killing intent flooded the surroundings. Its children roared alongside it, responding to their creator's fury.
"Go on. Take your time, Give me your best shot. Call every child of yours."
The human said calmly then he smirked.
That single expression only fueled the spirit's fury even further.
Mockery.
The human was mocking it.
Not once since his arrival had he shown fear. Even now, surrounded by countless monsters and standing before its overwhelming presence, he remained completely relaxed, as though none of this posed even the slightest threat to him.
The spirit's screams grew louder, more violent, as waves of monsters continued pouring into the area without end. The floor itself trembled beneath the sheer number gathering around him.
And still—
The human simply stood there, watching.
If that's the case…
The spirit's attention shifted to the woman lying nearby.
Aria.
A surge of instinctive hunger flared within the spirit. If it absorbed her, it would grow stronger. Enough to overturn this situation. Enough to finally wipe that infuriating smirk off the human's face.
A thick, shadow-like tentacle lashed out toward her.
Closer.
Closer—
Prt.
Something severed it cleanly.
For a moment, the spirit did not understand what had happened.
Then pain followed.
What…?
It froze.
Its tentacle lay severed, dissolving into dark particles before it could even hit the ground.
What happened?
"Did you really think I would let you do that?"
The human's voice was calm, almost bored.
"You really are a dumb monster."
That sentence struck deeper than any blade.
Then the spirit shrieked.
A piercing, furious sound that shook the entire floor.
Kill him.
Devour him.
The command erupted through its existence as it unleashed everything it had gathered. Hundreds upon hundreds of its children surged forward at once, flooding the space like a tidal wave of claws, fangs, and killing intent.
All of them aimed at one target.
The human.
Destroy him.
It thought it would be easy.
Hundreds against one, it was an overwhelming advantage. An absolute certainty.
But it was wrong, so completely wrong.
Because there was not just one of him.
The space around the human shifted as darkness stirred.
And then they appeared.
Shadow-like figures emerged silently from every direction, manifesting without warning. One after another, they surrounded the battlefield, slipping into existence like living voids.
All around its children, all around the swarm it had unleashed.
The spirit froze.
What followed was like a haze.
Its children—hundreds of them—were being cut down one by one.
The shadow-like creatures moved without hesitation, without sound, and without mercy. Its swarm, which it had believed to be overwhelming, was being erased as if it meant nothing at all.
The spirit reacted instinctively, launching attacks toward the shadows in a desperate attempt to halt the slaughter.
But it was useless.
Even when struck down, they reformed.
Even when destroyed, they were replaced.
Endless.
Relentless.
Unchanging.
The battlefield it had once filled with confidence turned into something else entirely.
A one-sided massacre.
And for the first time, the spirit understood something it had refused to accept until now.
It was not the predator here.
Then it found itself alone.
The screams faded as the roars of its children vanished one by one, swallowed by the endless shadows until there was nothing left but silence.
Only the spirit remained.
It stood there, frozen in place, as the last traces of its swarm dissolved into darkness around it.
All of them—gone.
The human walked closer.
It tried to move.
But it was useless.
Shadow-like chains erupted from beneath it, coiling tightly around every limb, every fragment of its existence. They restrained it completely, locking even the smallest movement in place. The more it struggled, the tighter they became.
It was helpless.
The human stopped in front of it.
"Perhaps, you have some sad background or backstory. But frankly, I don't care."
His gaze remained cold.
"You tried to hurt my familia, and that is unforgivable."
A pause.
Then the human finally unsheathed his sword for the first time then he raised it slowly.
"But I will grant you this mercy. I will make it painless for you."
The human raised his sword and pointed it directly at the spirit's face.
"Deny, Ruina."
The words fell like a final verdict.
The spirit felt its existence unraveling, bit by bit. Its essence broke apart under the weight of that single command.
It should have felt rage.
It should have felt fear.
But it did not.
Instead, something unfamiliar filled the void where those emotions should have been.
Freedom.
Yes… freedom.
This was what it had always wanted.
To break free from the Dungeon. To escape the endless cycle of hunger, of instinct, of chains it could never see but always feel.
And now, at the end, it finally understood.
It had been granted its wish.
As its consciousness continued to dissolve, something surfaced within the fading remnants of its mind.
A word.
No—
A name.
"Sphere."
And it was gone.
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