The A-rank gate pulsed violently behind them as Kara and Xali stepped into the dungeon.

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Heavy.

The cavern stretched endlessly ahead, massive stone formations hanging from the ceiling like the fangs of some buried creature. The deeper parts of the dungeon vanished into darkness completely, broken only by faint crimson veins running through the walls.

Something alive was breathing inside the cave.

Kara adjusted the strap on her arm and exhaled slowly.

"Definitely A-rank."

Beside her, Xali rolled his neck once, calm as always despite the pressure.

Unlike most hunters, the two of them fought through accumulation.

Kara’s ability allowed her to store monsters she defeated and evolve them over time, strengthening their forms, instincts, and combat ability beyond their original limits before summoning them again in battle.

Xali’s ability worked differently.

He collected rare talents and skills instead of creatures—storing them within himself and activating them when needed, allowing him to wield techniques copied from powerful enemies and hunters alike.

Two abnormal abilities.

One dungeon.

Then the cave screamed.

The sound hit them first.

A high-pitched pulse tore through the chamber hard enough to shake the stone beneath their feet. The air distorted visibly as the sonar wave expanded outward through the darkness.

And then—

It came down.

The boss dropped from the ceiling like a nightmare.

A man bat.

Its body was tall and unnaturally lean, covered in patches of black fur broken by exposed gray skin stretched tightly across elongated limbs. Massive wings unfolded behind it, membranes twitching constantly as they absorbed and redirected sound throughout the cavern.

Its face looked almost human.

That was the worst part.

Sunken eyes.

Sharp cheekbones.

A mouth far too wide, packed with rows of hooked teeth designed to shred instead of bite cleanly.

And its ears—

Huge.

Constantly vibrating.

The boss’s sonar ability wasn’t just detection.

It absorbed sound itself.

The cavern around them became unnaturally silent the moment the creature focused its ability. Footsteps dulled. Breathing disappeared. Even the movement of air felt muted.

Then the force hit.

The absorbed sonar collapsed inward violently, creating a sudden pull that dragged both hunters forward.

"Kara!"

Too late.

The man bat appeared instantly out of the darkness and slammed its claws toward them.

Kara reacted immediately.

"Summon."

Mana surged beside her as a massive armored figure materialized between them and the strike.

Knight-class monster.

Tall.

Broad.

Covered head to toe in dark reinforced armor with glowing red cracks running beneath the plating. A massive sword formed in its hand as it intercepted the bat’s claws.

CLANG.

The impact shook the cavern.

The knight held.

Barely.

The man bat shrieked again, wings flexing as it twisted unnaturally mid-air before attacking again immediately.

The knight answered with a heavy slash.

The bat dodged.

Fast.

Way too fast.

It moved through the darkness in violent bursts, constantly using the cave’s silence to disappear between attacks. One second it clashed directly against the knight—

The next it vanished entirely before reappearing behind it.

Claws tore sparks from the knight’s armor.

The knight retaliated instantly, sword carving across the cavern wall when the bat narrowly avoided decapitation.

Stone exploded everywhere.

Kara narrowed her eyes.

"It’s reading movement through sound."

"No," Xali corrected quietly.

"It’s stealing the sound."

The knight charged again.

This time the man bat met it head-on.

The clash became brutal immediately.

Heavy sword strikes collided against claw swipes sharp enough to carve through reinforced stone. The knight fought with overwhelming power and discipline, each movement measured and efficient.

But the bat adapted too quickly.

It constantly manipulated the silence around itself, making its attacks impossible to track properly. The knight swung where the creature should’ve been—

Only for claws to suddenly appear from another angle entirely.

CRACK.

One slash tore through the knight’s shoulder armor.

Another ripped into its leg joint.

The armored summon staggered but continued fighting, driving the bat backward through sheer force alone. Its sword finally landed clean across the creature’s ribs, drawing black blood across the cavern floor.

The bat screamed.

Then vanished upward.

Kara’s eyes widened.

"Above—"

Too late.

The man bat folded its wings inward and dropped like a spear directly onto the knight.

BOOM.

The impact cratered the floor beneath them.

Claws pierced straight through the knight’s chest plating before the creature unleashed another compressed sonar burst point-blank.

The armor cracked.

Then shattered.

The knight dropped to one knee.

Still trying to fight.

The man bat grabbed its head with both claws.

And tore it off.

The summon collapsed instantly into dissolving mana.

Silence filled the cavern again.

Kara stared at the empty space where the knight had stood moments earlier.

And above them—

The man bat hung upside down from the cavern ceiling once more.

Watching.

Xali stepped forward slowly, eyes fixed on the man bat hanging above them.

The creature’s claws still dripped with dissolving mana from the destroyed knight while the silence in the cavern deepened unnaturally around it.

Kara glanced sideways.

"You good?"

Xali rolled one shoulder once.

"Yeah."

The man bat screeched again.

The sound vanished immediately into its own ability, absorbed into the suffocating silence coating the chamber. Then it dropped from the ceiling once more, wings folding inward as it accelerated straight toward them.

Xali raised one hand calmly.

"Starfire."

The cavern changed.

Every source of light—

Gone.

The faint crimson glow inside the walls vanished first. Then the reflected light along the stone floor. Then even the ambient shimmer from Kara’s mana disappeared as the technique dragged every trace of illumination toward Xali’s palm.

The dungeon fell into near-complete darkness.

Except for one point.

A star formed above Xali’s hand.

Small at first.

Then growing.

Light compressed violently inward, folding layer after layer into itself until the orb became almost impossible to look at directly. Gold and white energy spiraled together in dense rotating patterns while heat poured off the sphere hard enough to distort the air around it.

The technique wasn’t ordinary fire.

Starfire — Rare Stored Skill

A condensed solar-type flame technique that gathers surrounding light into a single unstable mass before launching it as concentrated stellar combustion. Any target touched by Starfire will continue burning indefinitely until completely consumed, as the flame attaches itself directly to matter and mana alike.

The heat became unbearable.

Stone around Xali’s feet began melting.

Even Kara stepped backward instinctively.

The man bat finally hesitated mid-charge.

Too late.

Xali pointed upward.

And launched it.

The star screamed through the cavern.

Not like a projectile—

Like a miniature sun tearing across the battlefield. Light exploded outward behind it in massive streaks while the surrounding air ignited from sheer temperature alone.

The man bat tried to evade.

The star curved.

Tracking.

The creature shrieked and released a compressed sonar wave toward the attack—

The star punched through it.

Then made contact.

Silence disappeared instantly.

The explosion illuminated the entire cavern white.

The man bat screamed as Starfire attached itself to its chest, burning through flesh immediately while golden flames spread across its body unnaturally fast. The fire didn’t behave normally—it crawled.

Consumed.

Fed.

The creature slammed itself against the cavern walls desperately, trying to extinguish the flames.

It didn’t work.

The fire kept burning.

Wings caught first.

Then the torso.

Then the face.

The man bat’s regeneration couldn’t stop it because the flames burned mana too, eating through every attempt at recovery as the creature thrashed violently through the chamber.

Kara stared upward.

"...That’s disgusting."

The boss was dying.

It knew it too.

And in desperation—

It activated its sonar one final time.

The silence returned violently.

Then the pull began.

The entire cavern compressed inward toward the burning monster as absorbed sound collapsed around it. Stone ripped from the walls. Debris flew upward.

And Kara and Xali—

Were dragged forward.

The burning man bat spread its wings wide while falling apart mid-air, trying to pull them into the inferno consuming its body.

"To join it," Xali muttered.

The pull intensified.

Burning debris spiraled around the creature while the golden fire spread across the collapsing sound field itself, turning the cavern into a storm of light and heat.

The man bat lunged one last time—

Burning alive—

Trying to drag them into death with it.

The burning man bat came spiraling toward them like a dying star.

Its body was collapsing under Starfire, chunks of burning flesh tearing free mid-flight while golden flames devoured everything they touched. The sonar pull intensified desperately around it, dragging stone, debris, and heat itself inward as the monster tried to take them with it.

Kara dug her feet into the ground.

"Xali!"

Xali’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Then he clicked his tongue.

"...Fine."

He raised his hand.

And deactivated Starfire.

The golden flames vanished instantly.

Not faded—

Gone.

The cavern dimmed sharply as the unbearable heat disappeared, leaving behind only smoke and the half-charred body of the man bat still charging toward them through pure desperation.

But now—

It was weakened.

Its chest was burned open completely, wings torn unevenly apart while exposed muscle twitched beneath blackened skin. The sonar field fluctuated wildly, unstable after forcing itself beyond its limits.

Kara smiled slightly.

"My turn."

Mana surged beside her violently.

The floor cracked.

Then something massive emerged from the summoning circle.

An orc.

But wrong.

Far larger than normal.

Its proportions bordered on monstrous, muscles layered over each other in dense slabs while dark green skin stretched tightly over a frame closer to a siege weapon than a living creature. The thing stood nearly as tall as the cavern pillars themselves, massive tusks curving upward from a jaw broad enough to crush stone.

And in its hands—

A gigantic iron club reinforced with jagged metal plating.

Even Xali glanced sideways.

"...That thing got bigger."

Kara smirked.

"I evolved it."

The summoned orc roared loud enough to shake the chamber.

The man bat screeched back while diving toward them, claws extended despite its ruined body.

The orc moved first.

One step cracked the floor.

A second launched it forward.

Fast.

Shockingly fast for something that massive.

The man bat tried using sonar again—

The unstable field collapsed halfway.

Too damaged.

Too late.

The orc swung.

The club came down like a falling building.

BOOM.

The impact detonated the cavern floor instantly.

The man bat disappeared beneath the strike completely as the smash crushed straight through its body and into the stone beneath it, creating a massive crater while shockwaves blasted outward through the chamber.

The cavern trembled violently.

Dust exploded everywhere.

And when it settled—

Nothing remained of the boss except flattened black remains embedded deep into the shattered ground.

The orc stood at the center of the crater breathing heavily, club still lowered from the finishing strike.

Kara folded her arms proudly.

"Told you."