SSS-Ranked Trash Hero: I Was Scammed Into Being Summoned-Chapter 18: The Drowned Catacombs (Floor 1)

The entrance to the Drowned Catacombs wasn’t a cave mouth. It was a doorway.

Stone archway, twelve feet wide, carved with script Hiroshi couldn’t read. Ancient beyond measurement. And half of it was underwater.

The party stood on a stone pier jutting from the cliff face. Black lake stretched before them, perfectly still. The water reflected nothing, not the sky, not the trees. Just emptiness.

Commander Gideon had come personally this time. He hadn’t for Warren.

"This one’s different," Gideon said, looking at the submerged entrance. "Warren was organic with living enemies in living space. The Catacombs is dead space. Everything in there is dead or dying."

Kenji studied the archway. "Water fight. We can handle that."

"The water is the first enemy," Gideon continued. "It slows you. Chills you. Reduces your effectiveness before you even see combat."

Aria examined the script carved into the archway. "Significantly more warning text than Warren’s entrance."

Marcus stood near the water’s edge, hand extended but not touching. He pulled back suddenly.

"I can feel them. Below. The dead."

Everyone looked at him.

"Divine sensitivity," he explained quietly. "There are... many. Beneath us."

Gideon nodded. "The lake sits above the dungeon’s deepest levels. Water feeds in from above. Upper floors less flooded. Lower floors progressively worse."

Inverted flooding, Hiroshi’s thought, Water gets worse as you go deeper. Boss on Floor 5, deepest flooding. They want you drowning when you fight the boss.

"We handled Warren," Kenji said. "Water’s just another obstacle."

"Warren’s obstacles were alive," Gideon said flatly. "They could be scared, tricked, outmaneuvered. Undead don’t get scared. They don’t hesitate. They don’t flee."

Silence.

Gideon’s eyes found Hiroshi specifically. Brief contact. "Come back."

Hiroshi nodded. "Intend to."

They adjusted equipment. Torches replaced with phosphor rods, glow underwater, blue-green instead of orange. Weapons checked. Hiroshi’s repaired armor would hold, but water would weaken the leather bindings eventually.

Formation: Kenji front, Marcus second, Aria third, Hiroshi rear. Same as Warren.

"In flooded sections, single file," Kenji said. "Water reduces formation effectiveness."

They crossed the threshold.

Water hit immediately. Ankle-deep. Cold, bone-penetrating cold, nothing like Warren’s damp chill.

The System notification appeared.

[ENTERING DUNGEON: THE DROWNED CATACOMBS]

Rank: E

Floors: 5

WARNING: Water hazard present. Breathing management required. WARNING: Undead enemy presence. Physical resistance varies by type.

Sound changed instantly. Complete silence except their own movement through water.

Light changed. Phosphor rods cast blue-green shadows instead of torch orange.

The air was heavy and ancient.

And the silence. God, the silence.

Warren had constant background noise, goblin activity, dripping, movement. The Catacombs had nothing until it had everything. Silence that felt deliberate.

The dungeon was holding its breath.

Fifty feet into Floor 1, the water still ankle-deep throughout.

Stone walls on both sides. Ancient masonry worn smooth. Occasional alcoves, doorways to dark side chambers filled with water.

No sound except their footsteps.

Hiroshi focused on [Combat Sense], scanning for temperature.

Cold. Cold. Cold. Everything the same temperature.

Then: One spot colder.

Not by much. Fraction of a degree. But detectable now that he was looking for it.

Three cold spots. On the floor. Ahead. Fifteen feet.

"Stop." His voice cut through the silence. "Three contacts. Floor. Fifteen feet ahead."

Everyone froze.

Kenji’s sword came up. "The floor?" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Submerged. Lying flat. [Combat Sense] reads them as colder than the water."

Aria’s staff pulsed faintly. "[Sense Enemies] confirms. Three Level 7 Skeletons. Stationary."

"On the floor," Marcus said quietly. "Waiting."

"They were there the whole time?" Kenji asked.

"Vibration detection through the water," Hiroshi said. "We walked toward them. They knew we were coming."

Aria raised her staff. "Can I target submerged enemies?"

"I have exact positions."

Hiroshi described locations, precise coordinates based on [Combat Sense] readings.

"[Ice Spear]."

CRACK underwater. Water displaced. Bone fragments floated up.

Skeleton 1: Destroyed.

"[Ice Spear]."

CRACK.

Skeleton 2: Same.

"[Ice Spear]."

Skeleton 3 rose, standing there, sword raised.

No expression. Obviously—skull. But also no hesitation.

It charged immediately.

Kenji stepped forward. "[Quick Strike]!"

SHATTER.

Silence returned.

Kenji stared at the bone fragments settling in water. "That was... different."

"It didn’t hesitate at all," Hiroshi said.

"No fear response," Aria confirmed. "No self-preservation instinct. Pure mechanical aggression."

"They’re not alive," Marcus said. "They’re echoes of violence. Impressions left in dead bodies."

"Can’t scare them off," Kenji said.

"No. Every one must be destroyed."

Kenji glanced at Hiroshi. "Good call on the detection. We’d have walked right into them."

They advanced deeper. Hiroshi maintained [Combat Sense] scan, calibrated now, reading cold signatures in cold water.

"Two. Left alcove. Stationary."

Aria got coordinates. Two more pre-emptive kills.

Pattern establishing: Hiroshi detects, Aria eliminates, party advances.

The corridor opened into a larger chamber. Water depth increased to knee-deep here.

Architecture visible beneath columns, arched ceiling above water line, stone pews beneath. A drowned cathedral.

Eerie and beautiful and horrifying all at once.

Hiroshi scanned. Ten cold signatures.

"Ten hostiles," Aria confirmed. "[Sense Enemies]: Eight Skeletons Level 7-8. Two Risen Level 10."

"Risen," Kenji said grimly. "Physical resistance."

"Risen resist physical damage by approximately sixty percent," Aria explained. "Swords are ineffective for finishing blows."

"Then I handle the Risen," Marcus said. "[Holy Smite] bypasses resistance."

All eight Skeletons rose simultaneously. Marcus’s divine sense gave two seconds warning.

Formation: Skeletons formed a wall, Risen behind them. Flanking positions.

Tactical. They were using the Skeletons as a screen.

"[Frost Nova]!" Aria’s ice exploded outward.

Five Skeletons frozen. Three shattered instantly. Two survived, higher level, more durable.

Kenji engaged the survivors. [Quick Strike] shattered one. The second charged. Three-second exchange, then shattered.

The Risen advanced, one left, one right. Flanking maneuver.

Marcus targeted left. "[Holy Smite]!"

Holy damage hit. The Risen staggered, visible cracks spreading through ribs. Dark energy dissipated slightly.

One hit wasn’t enough for Level 10 durability.

The right Risen moved toward Hiroshi.

The Risen moved through knee-deep water faster than expected.

[Combat Reading] activated. Attack pattern visible: overhead strike, angled left.

Hiroshi stepped right. [Dodge].

The Risen’s sword hit water where he’d been.

Splash.

Counter-strike. Hiroshi’s sword into the risen’s chest.

Nothing happened.

The sword hit. Penetrated. Did damage.

But the Risen kept moving. Didn’t slow.

Hiroshi pulled his sword out. The Risen didn’t even register the hit.

It swung back. Horizontal slash, fast.

[Parry]. Sword met sword.

[ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION] TRIGGERED.

[Analyzing combat pattern... Risen Glide Strike Lv.3 observed]

His body copied the technique. But it felt wrong.

Learning to move in ways things that weren’t alive moved.

His body executed the copied pattern automatically. Counter-attack using the Risen’s own movement style. Efficient strike to the joint and shoulder area.

Sword severed the Risen’s arm at the elbow.

The arm dropped into water.

The Risen didn’t react. Continued attacking with its other hand, sword still ready.

It lost an arm and didn’t care.

"[Holy Smite]!" Marcus arrived, targeting the right Risen.

Holy energy flooded through the undead body. Dark animating force dissipated visibly.

The Risen collapsed. Bones settled into water.

Marcus turned to the left Risen, already damaged from the first hit.

"[Holy Smite]!" Second holy blast.

The Risen fell.

Aria and Kenji finished the remaining Skeletons quickly.

Chamber cleared.

Hiroshi checked his System.

[Undead Stride Lv.1] learned

Copied from the Risen’s movement pattern.

He tested it. Moved his foot in the learned pattern.

"New skill?" Aria was watching him.

"Yeah."

"What type?"

"Movement. Copied from the Risen."

She studied him. "How does it feel?"

Long pause. "Cold."

He didn’t elaborate. She didn’t push.

They cleared the rest of Floor 1 over the next few hours.

The safe room appeared, first dry ground since entering. Stone chamber carved into the cliff wall, above flood line. Protection runes hummed faintly.

Kenji stepped onto dry stone. "God. Dry ground. Forgot what that felt like."

"Blessings upon solid earth," Marcus said.

They stripped wet outer layers.

"Floor 1 complete."

"Good work, everyone." Kenji’s voice was quieter than Warren. Subdued.

"Tactical assessment," Aria continued. "Hiroshi’s [Combat Sense] detection was critical. Three separate ambush scenarios neutralized through early warning. Without it, things could have been dangerous. "

Kenji looked at Hiroshi. "You did good today. That detection skill made a huge difference."

"Skills finally earning their keep."