Chapter 1 : Birth part 2

Leaving the room, Harold sighed. Lord Belmorn never changes. A man who could smell profit in a graveyard and still find a way to tax the corpses.

Mina crossed her arms for a moment… then both burst into laughter, fingers intertwining.

“I guess,” Mina sighed with a crooked smile, “we’ll be spending our honeymoon dungeon diving.”

The laughter faded into the night, their worries set aside for just a moment.

By the next morning, the adventurers had gathered, weapons gleaming, banners swaying in the breeze. Among them stood familiar faces old comrades waiting for Mina and Harold’s arrival.

One of the men spotted them from a distance. “Hey, you guys!!!” he shouted, waving to the others. “Look who the pig dragged in!”

Greetings were exchanged, and Mina and Harold finally met with their old party members of the Horns of Taurus.

Issac, a tank-class adventurer, pulled them aside. “So? How much did you get? I know old man Belmorn was desperate you had to get extras, a double.”

Harold laughed. “It’s good to see you, Issac. And no you aren’t leeching off my pockets this time.”

On the other side, Mina’s eyes caught a familiar face in the crowd: Alicia. They had never truly gotten along, but neither could deny the bond forged through the years. Rivals, yet still friends.

Mina smirked. “Well, look at that. What’s a cow doing here?”

Alicia’s expression didn’t falter, though the edge in her smile betrayed her irritation. “Lady Mina, still foul-mouthed as ever, I see. Tell me did your time away also bless you with a little extra weight? I suppose it runs in the family… your father is quite the giant.”

Mina’s smile sharpened, her aura flickering faintly. Cow, huh? Then let’s put it to the test. “How about a match? Arm wrestling?”

Alicia leaned closer, her grin turning sly. “Gladly. If I recall, the score was 189 to 186, with me in the lead.”

Excitement lingered for a while but was soon interrupted as Belmorn finally arrived to give his final words for the mission. Everyone lined up, waiting. The silence was finally broken.

“My dear adventurers,” he began, “I want to sincerely thank each of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join me for this critical mission. Though preparation was brief, you have all shown remarkable dedication. I would like to extend special thanks to our heroes, Harold and Mina Ellsworth, for even sparing time from their honeymoon to join us in the dungeons.

“But enough pleasantries. Soon you will descend into the lowest levels of the dungeon. Some may not return, and others may bear wounds even from falls. But for the future of this town, we must ensure this new level is secured. Within it lie invaluable treasures and resources that will greatly aid in improving the lives of all here.

“And rest assured, all who participate in this scouting mission will be generously rewarded for their efforts after all, courage deserves its due compensation. Now, may we all return safely and bring honor to the Horns of Taurus!”

The adventurers soon entered the dungeon, pressing deeper into shadowed halls and vanquishing monsters in their path. Yet as they ventured further, something felt off the usual chaos was muted. Fewer enemies prowled the corridors, and the frequent clashes gave way to an eerie silence.

Finally, they stopped one level shy of their target, taking a much-needed break from the long crusade. Weapons clattered to the floor, packs slipped down, and a heavy stillness settled over the party. For a moment, exhaustion gave way to relief.

Issac moved closer to Harold, who sat hunched beside the crackling fire, its glow painting sharp lines across his tired face.

“The prodigy himself, Harold the Great,” Issac began with a crooked grin. “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d make it here in one piece but here we are.”

Harold chuckled, sipping from his cup. “I’m as surprised as you are. The monsters on the front lines seemed more aggressive than usual lashing out, then folding just as quick. All bark, no bite.” He shrugged, leaning back against his pack. “But I can’t argue with free coin.”

The laughter around the campfire had faded into quiet murmurs. Only the crackle of the flames filled the chamber now, echoing faintly through the vast hollow of the dungeon floor.

Then came the sound soft, distant, almost like stone grinding against stone.

Issac’s hand froze mid motion, cup halfway to his lips. That sound…

A sharp rumble followed, then the unmistakable chorus of guttural roars.

“Positions!” Harold barked, springing to his feet. His sword was out before the fire had time to dim.

From every tunnel around them, shadows poured forth monsters, twisted and frantic, their eyes glowing crimson. There were too many.

Steel clashed. Spells lit up the dark. The calm of rest shattered in an instant.

Issac slammed his shield forward, intercepting the charge of a wolf-beast, its claws screeching across the metal. “They’re coordinated! Since when do dungeon mobs coordinate?”

“Forget formation!” Harold shouted, cutting through two more beasts. “We hold the line and thin them out!”

Flames burst from the mages’ side. Wind blades, lightning arcs every element danced violently against the swarm. Still, the monsters didn’t falter. They fought like something had driven them mad.

Mina loosed a burst of mana arrows, her bow glowing with heat. “They’re not acting normal! Harold, we need to pull your ass back here!

But Harold was already deep in. He had noticed a larger creature among the horde a hulking form, half the size of a house, its breath shaking dust from the ceiling. He swung at it, his blade biting deep but the creature barely flinched.

The beast retaliated, slamming its arm into the ground. The shockwave sent Harold flying against a wall of rock, his sword tumbling away.

“Harold!” Mina screamed.

He tried to rise, but three beasts cut him off, surrounding him like vultures circling prey.

The beasts closed in too many, too close. No time to think, but she didn’t need to. She’d trained for moments like this.

Her bow pulsed in her grip, veins of fire crawling up the string. “Tch… I hate using this,” she muttered, planting her feet. The air thickened, the heat spiked.

Then her voice rose not desperate, but commanding.

“By the power vested in me, I summon thee flames of war!

Let the embers of purgatory heed my call!

Forge from fury an arrow to rend the heavens!

Burn the false, pierce the unworthy, and deliver judgment in your sacred name!”

purgatorial Lance of tharion

A golden blaze formed along the arrow’s edge, the dungeon trembling as the incantation took hold. Even the monsters froze some primal instinct warning them too late.

Mina exhaled sharply. “Harold duck.”

She loosed. The shot tore through the corridor, igniting the world in light.

“Mina, don’t !” Issac roared, blocking another lunge as she took aim.

She released.

The arrow screamed through the air, tearing light into the darkness. It hit the center beast squarely but the explosion that followed was beyond anything they expected.

Flame surged outward like a living storm. The ground beneath them cracked and split, the dungeon floor buckling under the pressure.

Harold looked up through the smoke, barely making out Mina’s attempt to save him run “Mina wait !”

The ground gave way.

Stone crumbled beneath Harold’s feet, and in that single heartbeat, their eyes met fear, love, and unspoken goodbye.

She reached for him. He reached back. But the gap widened, and Harold fell into the darkness below.

The light of her flames faded after him, swallowed by the abyss.

Issac staggered toward the edge, panting, the remaining beasts retreating into the dark. “Harold Harold, can you hear me?!”

But only silence answered.

And deep below, where no light reached, where mana itself pulsed like a heartbeat, something stirred.

A faint cry. The beginning of something neither Mina nor Harold could have ever imagined.