CHAPTER 2 — THE DEPTHS OF OLD TOKYO

The air beneath Old Tokyo was heavy and stale, thick with dust and the scent of rusted metal.
The four adventurers descended the cracked staircase into what was once a subway station—now transformed into a dungeon of shadow and silence.

Flickering lights from broken neon panels illuminated fragments of the old world: shattered ticket gates, half-buried trains, and graffiti that had long lost its color.

“It’s so dark down here… I can’t even see the floor.” Wanda’s voice trembled slightly, her pointed ears twitching at every echo.

“Come on, Wanda,” Shin chuckled, leading the group with his blade drawn. “You’re an Elf warrior! Warriors don’t get scared of the dark, remember?”

“Easy for you to say,” she muttered, clutching her bow tighter.

“Alright, alright,” Ayano sighed softly, the faint glow from her staff lighting their path. “You two need to focus. We’re adults now, remember? No teasing each other in a Dungeon.”

Before anyone could answer—

BRAAAAK!

A loud crash echoed from the tunnel ahead.
All four froze, weapons raised, breath caught in their throats.

Silence. Then—a small shadow darted across the floor.

“T-T-That’s just… a rat?” Wanda exhaled shakily.

Shin burst out laughing. “Ha! Look at your face, Wanda! You were ready to cast your final spell!”

“That’s not funny!” she snapped, her cheeks burning red. “Just wait until we get back, I’ll show you who’s scared!”

Ayano and Shion exchanged glances, sighing in unison. Their leader was impossible to deal with sometimes.

Still, they pressed onward. The tunnel deepened, the walls slick with moisture, the faint hum of dripping water echoing like distant whispers.

Then—

“Shh…”

Wanda’s ears twitched. Her hand went to her bowstring.

“What is it?” Shion whispered.

“Something’s here. I can feel it.”

Shin narrowed his eyes, scanning the darkness. “Spider Beast. I can smell the acid.”

No sooner had he spoken than a massive figure crawled from the ceiling—its eight legs clicking against the metal beams, its fangs dripping with black venom.
A Soul Beast Spider, the size of a truck, dropped down before them with a screech that shook the air.

“Engage!” Shin shouted.

The tunnel erupted into chaos. Arrows and energy bolts flew through the darkness as Wanda fired, Ayano cast shields, and Shion dashed forward, firing her pistols in rhythmic bursts.
The creature lunged, webbing flashing like blades—but with coordinated strikes, they cut through its limbs until Shin drove his sword straight through its head.

The spider shrieked, convulsed, and fell silent.

Panting, Shin knelt down and sliced open its abdomen—then froze.

A pale, severed human hand rolled out from the creature’s gut.

Everyone stopped moving.

“W-What… is that?” Wanda whispered.

Ayano turned pale. “Oh… gods.”

Shion covered her mouth, her breath trembling as nausea crept up her throat.
“That’s… someone from a previous Party…”

No one spoke. The silence felt colder than the stone around them.

Then—the ground began to shake.

“An earthquake?” Ayano gasped.

Shin frowned. “No. That’s something else.”

“Something big,” Wanda said, drawing another arrow. “And it’s coming fast.”

The water around the tracks began to ripple. Ayano raised her staff.

“Light—Hikari Orb!”

A sphere of pure light floated upward, illuminating the flooded rails… and the monstrous shape moving beneath.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes opened in the water.

“Leech Beast!” Shin shouted. “Get back—!”

Before he could finish, a massive, slick tentacle burst from the water and coiled around his arm.

“LEAVE ME ALONE! LET GO! AAAARGH!”

The Leech’s maw clamped down, siphoning blood in a violent gush. Shin screamed, swinging his sword wildly until he finally severed the creature’s tongue—along with his own arm.

He fell to his knees, clutching the bleeding stump as Ayano rushed forward.

“Stay still! Health!” she cried, her healing light barely slowing the bleeding.

But there was no time.
From the darkness, another roar bellowed—a deep, guttural growl. The Crocodile Beast, larger than any of them had ever seen, lunged from the flooded tunnel.

It moved faster than thought.
Its jaws snapped shut around Shin.

Blood filled the water.

“SHIN!”

Ayano screamed as the creature vanished beneath the surface, leaving only Shin’s lifeless head floating for a moment—before it, too, sank into the depths.

Wanda backed away, trembling.
“No… no, no, this can’t—”

A sudden hiss from behind.
She turned just in time to see webbing streak through the air. The Spider Beast had returned—another one, larger.

“HELP! SOMEONE—HELP ME!”

Her scream was swallowed by the darkness as she was dragged into the tunnel, her voice fading into nothing.

“WANDA! NO!” Ayano cried, but she had no chance to run.
A grotesque Larva Beast burst from a cracked wall, spewing silk-like fluid that wrapped around her in seconds.
Her staff dropped as the cocoon swallowed her whole.

Only Shion remained.

Her pistols trembled in her hands, her breath ragged and uneven.

“Back off! I said BACK OFF!”

She fired wildly, each shot lighting the tunnel in flashes of blue.
Two beasts fell—but more crawled from the shadows.
Dark Goblins, Undead, twisted remains of other adventurers—surrounding her like a tide of death.

“No… no, please…”

Her voice cracked as she stumbled backward, slipping on blood and water.
Behind her, one of the goblins raised a rusted blade.

“SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP ME!”

The scream tore through the darkness—
and then, silence.

For a moment, all that remained was the echo of water dripping, the faint hum of the Hikari Orb dimming.
Then… a sound.

Step.
Step.

A figure moved through the shadows—a silhouette in a black coat, a white mask glowing faintly red in the eyes.

He looked down at the corpses, the webbing, the blood-soaked ground.

Without a word, he drew his blade.

The Revenant had arrived.