The swamp exhaled a final, fetid breath as Wu Hei and his companions stepped onto solid ground, leaving the murky waters and towering mushrooms behind. The air was lighter here, though still thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying vegetation. Behind them, the swamp loomed like a fading nightmare, its edges already tinged with an ominous darkness—Kami's creeping void, swallowing the southern biome whole.
Wu Hei wiped sweat from his brow, his fingers brushing against the twin shards at his chest—one pulsing with heat, the other humming with restless wind. The battle with the worms had drained him, but the adrenaline still thrummed in his veins. He glanced at his companions: Yuna, her golden fur matted with mud but her posture still alert; Kael, favoring his left side where the worm's tail had struck him; and Róng Róng, the dwarf, who was currently prying a leech off his boot with a look of profound disgust.
"Next time," Róng Róng grumbled, "I'm disguising as something that doesn't live in a swamp. Maybe a desert fox. Or a—"
"Shut up and help me with this," Kael interrupted, nudging the worm's massive carcass with his foot. The creature's segmented body had already begun to dissolve, its flesh turning to blackened sludge that seeped into the earth. But something glinted in its gaping maw—a metallic edge, half-buried in its throat.
Wu Hei crouched and reached in, ignoring the squelching sound as his fingers closed around the object. He pulled it free—a rectangular metal case, its surface etched with strange, angular runes.
"A loot drop," Yuna murmured, her ears perking up. "Kami's rewards."
Wu Hei pried the case open. Inside lay a folded parchment that shimmered faintly, its edges shifting like liquid. He unfurled it, and the others crowded around as ink bloomed across its surface, sketching landscapes in real time.
"A map," Kael said, leaning in. "But—"
"It's incomplete," Wu Hei finished. The area where they stood—the swamp's edge—was blank, as if the map refused to acknowledge its owner's current location. Instead, it displayed the terrains beyond: a dense forest to the west, a frozen tundra to the east, and to the north, a narrow strip of land labeled The Outskirts. The southern quadrant, where they'd just fought, was now a swirling mass of black ink, devouring the parchment like spilled oil.
"The darkness moves fast," Yuna murmured, her tail flicking uneasily. "If it's already consumed the south, the swamp could be next."
Wu Hei traced the edge of the void with his finger. The ink seemed to recoil at his touch, as if alive. "Then we head north. This 'Outskirts' biome is smaller. Less room for surprises."
"Or more," Kael muttered, but he shouldered his pack anyway.
The journey through the swamp's northern reaches was easier without the threat of worms or hags. The mood lightened, buoyed by their hard-won victory. Even the dwarf, still damp and bedraggled, found his voice again, regaling them with increasingly improbable tales of his past exploits.
"—and that's how I won a drinking contest against a yeti," Róng Róng declared, puffing out his chest.
Yuna snorted. "You're making that up."
"Swear on my beard!"
"Your beard isn't sacred," Kael said dryly.
Wu Hei smirked. "It's the only thing holding his face together."
Róng Róng clutched his chest in mock offense. "You wound me! After I saved you all—"
"By stabbing a blind worm," Yuna finished. "Heroic."
Laughter echoed through the thinning trees, a rare moment of camaraderie in Kami's merciless game.
But the swamp wasn't done with them yet.
A low, guttural growl rumbled through the underbrush. Wu Hei's hand flew to his shard, flames flickering at his fingertips. The others tensed, weapons drawn.
Then—a rustle. A pair of glowing eyes emerged from the foliage, followed by a snout, then a shaggy, wolf-like body. But this was no ordinary beast. Its fur was matted with glowing spores, and its breath came in ragged, phosphorescent puffs.
"Sporehound," Yuna hissed. "Don't let it bite you. Its saliva carries a hallucinogen."
The creature lunged. Wu Hei reacted on instinct, hurling a fireball that singed its flank. It yelped, twisting midair to land awkwardly. Kael followed up with a whip of hardened mud, cracking across its muzzle. The hound recoiled—then turned and bolted into the trees.
"Damn things travel in packs," Róng Róng muttered. "We should move."
They picked up the pace, their earlier levity replaced by wary silence. The swamp thinned around them, the ground rising into rocky foothills. And then, abruptly, the trees ended.
Before them stretched a vast, open plain. And there, rising like a monolith from the earth, stood their destination: a gargantuan concrete structure, its walls pockmarked with age and weather. It stretched as far as they could see in either direction, a brutalist fortress in the middle of nowhere.
Wu Hei's breath caught. "What is this?"
Kael craned his neck. "A bunker. Or a prison."
"Built for giants, maybe," Yuna said, her nose wrinkling. "Look at the scale."
They followed the wall for what felt like hours, their boots crunching on gravel, until they found it—a door. Or what was left of one. The reinforced metal had rusted at the hinges, leaving a gap just wide enough to squeeze through.
Wu Hei went first, his fire shard casting flickering light into the darkness beyond. The corridor was decrepit, lined with open doors that hung crookedly from broken frames. The air smelled of mildew and something sharper, like ozone.
"This place gives me the creeps," Róng Róng muttered, sticking close to Yuna.
Wu Hei paused at a junction. "We need to mark our path. The map won't help us in here."
Before anyone could protest, he summoned a small flame and pressed it to the wall, searing an arrow into the concrete. The mark glowed briefly before cooling into a permanent scar.
"Are you trying to piss off whatever lives here?" Kael hissed.
Wu Hei shrugged. "Does this look inhabited to you?"
Yuna's tail twitched. "Famous last words."
Still, they pressed on, following Wu Hei's fiery trail. The deeper they went, the more the bunker felt like a tomb—silent, suffocating.
Then, at the end of a long hallway, they found it: a staircase. But not just any staircase. Each step was nearly half a meter tall, the risers towering like obstacles.
Róng Róng groaned. "Who built this? A race of titans?"
Wu Hei eyed the steps. "Or someone who didn't want visitors."
Kael was the first to climb, hauling himself up with a grunt. Yuna followed, her feline agility making it look effortless. Wu Hei went next, then turned to offer Róng Róng a hand.
The dwarf glared. "I don't need—" His foot slipped, and he barely caught himself. "Okay, maybe I do."
Wu Hei hauled him up, step by laborious step. As they climbed, the air grew colder, the walls slick with condensation. And then, from above—a sound.
A door creaking open.
Wu Hei's grip tightened on the dwarf. "Quiet."
They froze, listening.
Footsteps. Heavy, deliberate.
Something was waiting for them at the top.