Not enough.
Ryu's hands—coated in blood—dug deeper, pushing the sword through layers of molten iron and living mana. Thess's heart inside the executioner's chest pulsed erratically. Flickered. Wavered.
He dared to hope.
Then it stabilised. Hardened.
A sound, deep and ancient, rolled through the chamber. Not a heartbeat. A verdict. The dungeon's will.
The corps drank the sake. Swallowed it.
"No…" His voice broke. "No—no—damn it!"
The answer came in the form of a shockwave. A hateful pulse that split stone, bent light, and collapsed the sky around him. For one second, gravity turned inside out. Then everything snapped back.
Ryu flew.
He slammed into a crumbling pillar—stone shattered, ribs gave way. A burst of blood filled his mouth. Pain—white-hot, then black.
He couldn't move. Limbs twitching. Eyes unfocused. Lungs refusing air.
The executioner still stood.
And now—it burnt.
Its veins glowed with searing white. Not heat—judgement. The helm turned. No face beneath. Just a scream—a soul-deep vibration that echoed in marrow.
The chamber thickened. The dungeon itself is watching.
It moved.
Not a stride. A descent.
And the killing began.
Cole
He rose. Barely.
Left leg useless. Armour cracked open. Exposed flesh cooked and torn.
But he stood. Sword buried in the floor. Propping him up.
"We're not done," he muttered. Blood between his teeth. "Come on…"
The executioner came.
Too fast.
Cole saw the blade fall. Tried to lift his sword. Too slow.
The cleaver split him in two. No scream. Just the wet sound of bone and steel and finality.
The floor cratered beneath what was left. Blood-drenched stone. His sword rolled free. The guild's banner—tied to his back—fluttered once. Then fell.
"Cole!"
Ryu's cry was hoarse. Useless.
Cole didn't hear.
Lina
"No—!" she gasped. Sprinting. Weaving through fire and blood.
She dropped to her knees beside Cole, fingers tracing his face. Lips trembling.
"You idiot," she whispered. "You said we'd go home."
She kissed his brow. Quiet. Finally.
"I loved you, you know."
She didn't wait for a reply.
Didn't look back.
She rose. Turned to face the executioner.
"You want more?" Her voice cracked. "Come get it."
Light flared—raw, divine. Her staff surged with forbidden power.
She cast.
The blast ripped into the boss's chest, holy magic exploding on contact. Armour cracked. Lightly seared.
The executioner staggered.
Then it struck.
A clawed hand—faster than thought—closed around her torso.
The spell died.
Her scream split the room.
Then silence.
Her body fell beside Cole's, broken. The staff, once radiant, snapped in two. The last flickers of magic scattered like ash.
Dain
He stood alone.
Smoke. Blood. Severed limbs. Silence. The others are gone.
He trembled.
"I—I wasn't meant for this," he whispered. "I'm not—no, not like them. I just—"
He turned to run. Slipped. Stumbled forward.
The executioner's chain lashed out. Wrapped around his throat.
He gasped. Hands clawing, heels scraping stone.
"I—don't—want—"
The chain snapped tight. A crack.
His body flew. Crashed against a column. Slumped.
Discarded.
Miyuki
Ryu saw it all.
Buried beneath rubble. Arms shaking. Body useless. Breathing glass.
Then—movement.
She stepped forward.
Unharmed. Blades drawn. Face empty.
But he knew that look. Knew what hid behind the silence.
"You took everything from me," she said.
The executioner turned.
Steel still wet with her guild's blood.
She charged.
Too fast to follow. A blur of silver and rage. Blades struck with precision—between plates, at joints. Sparks flared with every hit.
"For Cole!" she shouted. "For Lina! For Dain!"
She leaped.
Daggers aimed for the core—
Caught.
The boss's hand closed around her, mid-air. Her weapons fell. Her cry was cut short.
"Miyuki!"
Ryu's heart twisted.
She struggled. Eyes burning. "Let me. Go."
The executioner tilted its head. Almost curious.
Then clenched.
Her scream—pure, raw—stabbed through him.
And then—silence.
It flung her.
She hit a jagged stone. Crumpled. Blood spreading beneath her like ink in water.
She didn't move.
Ryu
He screamed.
Dragged himself forward. Crawled through blood and shattered bone.
Reached her.
Her chest moved. Barely. Eyes flickering.
"…Ryu…"
He pulled her close. "No. No. Don't—please. Please, not you too."
Her hand—so light—touched his face. Shaking.
"You have to finish it…"
"I can't." His voice cracked. "I need you. I need you."
Her smile—small, cracked. Beautiful.
"I always believed in you…"
Her eyes closed.
Didn't open again.
Her hand fell.
And with it—everything.
The Boss Transforms: "Berserk
The executioner paused.
Still.
Then—a tremor. Not in the ground.
In the air.
The boss's body pulsed once—twice—then ignited in pale fire. Its helm lifted skyward, and from within came a sound Ryu had never heard:
Agony.
Not rage. Not hatred.
Grief.
Its armour began to shift—to grow jagged. Its limbs thickened. The cleaver split into two jagged blades of glowing obsidian.
From deep inside its chest, a new core emerged. No longer just judgement. Now—vengeance.
It had seen them die. Every one of them.
And something inside it broke.
The boss entered "Berserk Mode.
For the first time, it looked almost alive.
"You killed them," it spoke in a fractured voice that echoed like a choir of damned.
"My enemies. My purpose. But not without cost. Not without loss."
It turned toward Ryu, the last survivor.
"I will finish what they began. For their memory. For their sacrifice. For the Guild".
Then its entire body lit up—sigils etching across its surface. Magic boiled in its wake.
It screamed. A sound of fury and mourning.
It promised vengeance.
Ryu: Ascension
Something broke.
Not just his heart. Deeper.
Grief collapsed into rage. Rage ignited.
His rune—S-class regeneration—didn't heal. It transformed.
Veins lit. Sigils surfaced. Power surged.
He screamed. Not words. Not human.
The dungeon felt it.
His body reshaped—bones reforged, muscles rebuilt. Blood boiled. Magic overflowed.
The executioner—now fully awakened—turned.
Ryu's eyes—glowing red—met it.
"You took them," he whispered.