Destro and Signa moved at the head of the retreating column. Their formation held steady, shields forming the outer shell while the casters and archers kept tight in the middle. Front and rear watchers checked every corner with weapons angled low for quick reaction.

There were no wasted words, only short instructions and hand signs, just as they had practiced so many times.

Their steps echoed in careful rhythm as they retreated through the corridor they had bled to secure.

A few dozen seconds later, the familiar silhouette of the dungeon's entry point came into view. A swirling doorway of distorted space, marking the link back to Planet Earth.

The sight pulled something loose inside Signa. She hadn't realized how rigid her spine had felt until it softened.

She let out a long breath.

"It's over…"

She took one more step…

Then the world vibrated.

A voice rolled through the cavern. It was deep, masculine, and thoroughly ominous.

It came from everywhere and nowhere at once. It filled the stone, seeped into their bones, and left no direction to pinpoint.

"After marching into my home, after cutting down my creations, after trying to lay hands on my women. You expect to walk back through that gate and return with reinforcements."

The air thickened. The voice sharpened even further; its extreme amounts of hateful hostility were clear for all to feel.

"You believe you can regroup. Train. Prepare. Try again."

A pause came.

Then the tone turned more authoritative than Signa had heard even presidents speak.

"I will not permit it."

The final words, despite being spoken without shouting, felt incredibly threatening to all who heard them.

"You committed the gravest sin, yet you think I will allow your escape?! You vermin will be butchered right where you stand!"

The portal's soft distortion convulsed.

Its calm surface twisted into a violent red churn, like a warning pulse under the skin of the world.

"No!" Signa lunged forward with her hand outstretched. She slammed directly into the doorway.

Not through it.

Into it.

It had turned solid.

A locked door pretending to be a gate.

She stumbled back, eyes wide.

Around her, confusion spread like a slow sickness.

Men and women touched the barrier, then pushed, then struck it with shields.

Nothing.

Then the voice returned, more hateful than ever before. The cavern vibrated with it, as if the stone itself recoiled. Every syllable carried the weight of a sentence passed by the judge of hell himself.

He no longer sounded like a distant overseer.

His fury cracked through the dungeon as he roared, "March, my minions, march! Feast on the flesh of those who dared believe your master and his family could be touched without consequence!"

The roar rolled over them and left the air hot with tension.

Then, just as suddenly, the raging edge vanished.

His tone dropped to something colder.

Sharper.

Spoken with deliberate calm that drew every heartbeat in the hallway to a crawl.

"And you, wretched scum..."

A short pause followed, long enough to make several soldiers swallow hard.

"Make your final stand."

Some of the soldiers buckled the moment the last word faded.

A man near the front dropped to one knee, with his hands shaking so hard his shield rattled.

A woman behind him pressed her back to the wall as if hoping it would swallow her.

Another stumbled toward the gate and clawed at its surface, trying to shove his arm through the solid barrier.

This place had been strange since the moment they entered.

But this…

A dungeon that spoke with intent.

With hatred.

With such guttural fury…

It broke whatever steadiness they had left.

Then the cavern filled with screeches.

There were no scattered cries… An entire swarm of high-level monsters started howling in unison.

Those already unraveling turned ghostly pale. One man collapsed to the floor, breath stuck in his throat, while others kept pushing on the immovable gate as if effort alone would break it open.

That was when Destro's grunt snapped the panic in half.

He brought his palms together.

A sharp detonation burst outward, cracking the stone under his boots and rattling every bone in the corridor.

"Enough! If you give in to despair now, you will die. Stand up and fight, if you want to live."

He didn't shout in anger, nor did he try to give an elaborate speech reminiscent of great leaders of old.

He just stated some facts.

No fight = Death

Fight = Maybe survival.

Signa seized the moment.

"This lock will not last! I bet it's time-gated! Furthermore, they monitor every expedition. If we don't return, they will dispatch reinforcements! Hold out, and we get out of this."

The words hit the shaken group as if they were splashed with icy water.

Their posture straightened bit by bit.

Breathing steadied.

Shields rose again.

Casters tightened their grips on their staves and wands, while archers drew their bowstrings.

Even the ones who had fallen earlier forced themselves upright, leaning on comrades as the screeches grew louder from the tunnel's depths.

Then Signa stepped close to Destro, lowering her voice so only he could hear.

"That was him, I believe. He mentioned his lovers with extreme protectiveness, referencing them multiple times. This voice's behavior fits everything we were told about him."

Destro gave a small nod.

"It seems he has become a full dungeon-class entity, and he has authority over its systems far beyond what we've seen; not even she can match up. Perhaps this is because a human claimed the core instead of a monster."

Signa clicked her tongue.

"Save the analysis for later."

She turned toward the ceiling, squared her shoulders, and raised her voice.

"We're ready to negotiate, Kaiden Grey! You'll be compensated a hundred times over for any losses you suffered. Furthermore, you'll be recognized as an ally. And listen closely! What we offer is far greater than anything you get from Nova Circuit or Runewoven! That little alliance of yours could not hope to match up to what you could get from associating with us!"

Silence followed.

It stretched long enough to make her think he was considering it.

Then a sound slipped through the air.

A low chuckle.

It built slowly, shaking with amusement, and soon rolled into full, unrestrained laughter.

Signa's jaw tightened as she stomped on the floor and spat, "What's so funny?!"

The voice answered without hesitation.

"You are."

The humor drained in the next moment.

"You want to negotiate? Even though you came after the government pulled out of the area, ensuring you didn't have to fight them for entry? You saw an opening and walked in to take what wasn't yours."

The tone grew even heavier, colder.

"You made no attempt to speak to me. You could've reached out in a myriad of ways. Contact my allies, send me a message through the awakened platform, bring a loudspeaker with you, or how about just waiting at the front peacefully until I emerge? You didn't do any of that. You simply marched into my home and began killing my minions."

The cavern trembled with the shift in his voice.

"Invaders. That is what you are."

A final breath followed.

"And that is how you will be treated."

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