The storm's deafening roar dimmed as Belle and Kai descended the stairwell, its fury muffled behind the thick stone walls of the frozen corridor. Each step they took felt like moving deeper into the belly of a monstrous, slumbering beast.
The chill in the air clung to them, biting at their skin, but it wasn't enough to erase the heat of the battle still smoldering within them. The echoes of their last escape reverberated in their minds—raging beasts, deadly clashes, a world threatening to tear them apart.
Kai stumbled behind Belle, his breath a sharp, ragged rasp, trailing her like a ghost in the wake of his exhaustion. His every movement was slow and deliberate, the weight of the cold and the strain of the fight anchoring him to the ground.
His limbs felt as if they were made of stone, numb and unresponsive. He staggered, his katana slipping from his hand, the clang of metal against stone nearly drowned by the thudding of his own heartbeat.
He crumpled to the floor. The force of the fall wasn't one of defeat—it was the body simply no longer capable of holding itself up.
He slid against the stone, coming to a rest with his knees pulled to his chest, his body trembling in ways that no amount of grit could fight off. His skin was pale, and his lips were now a shade of blue that could've rivaled the frostveil expanse they had just escaped.
His breath came in desperate gasps, and his voice was a hoarse rasp, barely audible over the pounding of his pulse.
"Damn it… so cold…" His words barely formed, lost under the shiver that wracked his frame. "I can't… feel my hands…"
Belle crouched beside him, a rare flicker of worry shadowing her usually composed features. Her silver hair, wild and windswept from their earlier dash, fell around her face in a soft halo. The warmth of the fire she conjured seemed to shine brighter in contrast to Kai's raw condition.
She didn't speak immediately. Instead, she studied him—the way his body trembled, the way his hands shook uncontrollably, his breath coming too shallow, too fast.
"You should've said something sooner," Belle said, her voice softer than Kai had ever heard it, though it still carried that sharp edge of responsibility she always wore like a second skin.
Her hand extended toward him, palm open. In an instant, a fire blossomed in her hand—a calm, steady warmth that radiated with a soothing, welcoming heat. It was the warmth of a campfire, comforting, constant, and all-consuming. It contrasted starkly with the harsh, bone-chilling cold that seemed to seize Kai's very soul.
She held it out to him, and Kai, without thinking, reached for it. His hands, stiff and numb, hovered near the flame, shaking as if afraid of it.
"H-Holy hell… that's warm…" Kai muttered under his breath, his voice rasping from exhaustion.
His fingers moved closer, trembling, desperate for the warmth that might save him from the cold's relentless assault. "You weren't kidding… You're really not cold at all, huh…"
Belle didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she focused on the fire, watching it flicker and dance in the palm of her hand, casting its soft glow over her features. Her eyes never left it.
"No. It doesn't affect me. Not the cold. Not even the windburn or frostbite."
Kai let out a dry, humorless laugh, his voice cracked. "Of course not. You're a freak."
Belle's lips curled slightly into a faint smile, her silver eyes gleaming in the low light. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Kai's smile was weak, and though his exhaustion remained, a flicker of something softer, more human, shone through the weariness in his gaze. "I guess it's not..."
The smile faded as quickly as it had come, and a long, uncomfortable silence settled over them.
Kai's hands gradually warmed, the sensation returning as the fire's heat seeped into his fingers, but the relief was only temporary. His eyes fluttered closed, and when they opened again, the weariness was still there—weighty and suffocating.
"Just for your heads up, as we're heading to the dungeon core…" Belle's voice broke the silence, and her tone became unusually serious, even for her. "You're not going to follow me into the final floor."
Kai frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean I'm not?"
Belle's gaze flickered to the floor, her lips tight, and she shifted slightly. "I'm sure the final floor will be dense with miasma… maybe even the floor before it. And I know humans can't survive within miasma, that's why you won't be following me."
She said it as if the facts were already a foregone conclusion, but there was a heavy weight in her words that hung in the air between them.
Kai's lips parted in disbelief, his voice hoarse from both the cold and the surprise. "Belle, don't tell me that you are…"
Belle's eyes met his. There was an intensity there—a quiet certainty. A piece of the puzzle she had kept hidden until now.
"I'm immune to miasma," she said, the words plain, simple, and resolute.
Kai blinked. The revelation hit him like a slap in the face, and for a moment, he could only stare at her, speechless. The storm of thoughts in his mind collided, each one harder to grasp than the last.
"How do you know that?" His voice was low, disbelief thick in the air.
Belle hesitated. It was only for a moment—an imperceptible pause—but it was enough for Kai to sense that this was something deeper.
"I haven't told anyone about this," she began, her gaze softening. "But I've survived in the Forbidden Forest… for days."
Her words hung in the air like smoke, curling around them both.
Kai's eyes widened. "You've been in the Forbidden Forest? But that's…"
"I know," Belle interrupted, her voice quiet but certain. "Nobody could ever find their way there. And even if they could… no one would be able to venture deeper. It's where the miasma is the most concentrated in the world. Humans can't last long there."
Kai struggled to comprehend this, the implications swirling around him. "Did the guild know?"
"Of course not," Belle answered, her eyes never leaving his. "I just told you. You're the first to know about this."
Kai paused, his mind racing. He wanted to ask more, to push her for answers, but there was something in her gaze that stopped him—a quiet understanding that whatever this was, whatever was happening to her, was something she couldn't fully explain yet. But it was real.
"Wait, more importantly…" Kai leaned forward, still struggling to make sense of it. "Why were you even in the Forbidden Forest in the first place?"
Belle exhaled slowly, her voice taking on a quieter, more serious tone. "I'm not sure what's happening to me… or what power I have. But I'll tell you when the time's right. Right now, we need to stop this dungeon break. The longer we're here, the more dangerous it is on the surface."
A long silence followed.
The fire crackled softly in her hand. The air around them was still heavy, thick with the weight of the fight they had just survived—and the ones still to come.
Their bodies were battered, their energy drained, but there was no time for rest.
Belle's eyes swept over Kai once more. His arms were raw from the cold, his boots soaked through, and yet, he was still here. Still standing. They both were.
"Don't burn yourself out," she said gently, her hand settling on his shoulder with a firm, reassuring pressure. "I'll take the lead from here."
Kai nodded slowly, his breath steadying, his eyes clear for the first time in what felt like forever. "Yeah… sounds good."
Belle's gaze turned ahead, her silver eyes sharp, focused once more.
There was something in her stance—an unspoken readiness that sent a chill down his spine, one that had nothing to do with the cold.
"They know we're coming," she murmured, her voice steady and composed, but there was an undercurrent of tension, of something deeper stirring.
Kai frowned. "Who?"
"Whatever's waiting on Floor Nine," Belle replied. "The moment I activated Aura Sense… something noticed. It only lasted a second, but it felt like… pressure. Like we've already been marked."
Kai groaned under his breath, the exhaustion crashing back over him. "Great. And here I thought Floor Eight was the worst it could get."
Belle extinguished the fire in her palm, the embers flickering out into nothing. She extended her hand to him, helping him to his feet. The moment he was standing, she turned toward the path ahead.
"Be ready," she said, her voice low, but the weight of her words hanging heavy between them. "This was just the storm before the real storm."
They shared a brief, weary glance—tired, yes, but united. And without another word, they descended into the dark depths once more.
As they stepped onto the stone platform of Floor Nine, the descent ended with a sickening silence.
No sound of shifting gears. No echo of wind. Just a quiet so profound it felt alive—pressing against their ears, their lungs, their thoughts.
The space before them opened into a colossal cavern.
And yet, the moment they set foot inside, it felt wrong. The air turned heavier, as though they had walked into the lungs of some slumbering beast. The weight wasn't physical, not entirely—it was emotional, psychological.
Fear. A raw, primal dread that clutched at their chests and squeezed.
Kai staggered slightly, sweat already beading on his brow. "What the hell is this place…"
The chamber was vast—an underground cathedral of jagged, obsidian stone. Towering pillars of black crystal reached down like claws from the ceiling. Pools of murky, violet liquid dotted the cracked terrain, swirling slowly like they were breathing. A thin fog coated the ground, faintly luminescent with sickly green threads weaving through it.
Then came the sound. Not a growl. Not a roar.
CLICK... CLICK... CLICK...
The slow tapping of something sharp against stone echoed behind them.
Belle froze. Her Aura Sense pulsed violently, warning her of something her eyes hadn't yet seen. A flare of instinct struck her spine like lightning.
"Move—!" she hissed.
Too late. With a distortion in the air—like reality itself had twisted—a grotesque form unfolded from the darkness behind them.
No warning. No buildup.
One second, nothing. The next—a nightmare.
It was tall, maybe three meters, but hunched grotesquely like a marionette with snapped strings. Its body was twisted, fused from what looked like dozens of different beings. Bone protrusions jutted out like armor, and one of its arms had split open and morphed into a gleaming blade—raw, jagged, and humming with miasma.
A distorted shriek erupted from its throat like the grinding of metal over bone.
The blade came down. Belle's aura erupted like a detonation, silver-blue energy surging around her form. Her body turned on instinct alone.
Time slowed.
With a scream of muscle and force, she slammed her leg into Kai's side, hurling him out of the way. He tumbled across the stone floor, barely conscious of her voice shouting.
"Kai, get back!"
The blade sliced through the space they'd just occupied—air hissing as it was torn apart.
Belle bent backward, just narrowly dodging, then kicked against the edge of the descending blade itself. The impact sent her flipping through the air, redirecting the force of the strike.
She landed in a crouch, boots skidding across the uneven floor, her breath sharp and cold.
The creature was gone again. Vanished. Evaporated into the darkness like it had never been there.
"What the hell was that?!" Kai gasped, staggering to his feet.
Belle's eyes narrowed, scanning the cavern, her Aura Sense actively reaching out like a web to trace any movements. Her muscles remained tense, ready for the next strike, her body coiled with anticipation.
"It's hunting us," she said coldly. "And it's intelligent."
Kai shook his head, struggling to clear the fog in his mind from the adrenaline. "What was that thing?"
Before Belle could answer, a familiar shift in the air warned her of another imminent attack.
She turned instinctively, her eyes flashing ethereal blue as she relied on her heightened senses to detect the next movement—but it was too late.
A second slash came from her blind spot, so fast it left a trail of air behind it.
Belle barely managed to react in time. She pivoted on her heel, her aura flaring with a shockwave of power, but the creature's blade sliced across her side before she could fully avoid it.
The air crackled with dark energy as she kicked off the ground, barely escaping the full force of the strike.
Another boom echoed as the creature landed a few meters away, now fully visible.
It rose from the shadows like a phantom of death. Its form was even more grotesque in the open light. Bones jutted from its back like broken wings. Thick tendrils of black smoke curled from its joints. Its skin—or what remained of it—was riddled with pulsing, violet veins.
And then there were the eyes.
Not two. Not four.
Nine.
Each glowing red, scattered unnaturally across its head, shoulders and chest—some blinking in erratic patterns, others locked directly onto Belle. It was like looking into a hive of hatred and madness.
Its very presence warped the air, twisting light and sound. Each of them seemed to have its own sense of awareness, its own sense of sight, like the beast had a dozen different vantage points at once.
It was not just a beast. It was cursed.
Kai's heart skipped a beat as he saw the full extent of the creature. "That's... not just a monster."
"This is… a miasma creature, a sentinel." Belle murmured. "It's been corrupted beyond repair. Its senses are enhanced by the miasma. As if it was born from the miasma corrupted dungeon itself."
"Then what do we do?" Kai asked, voice tight with fear.
Belle's expression hardened. "We fight, Kai. This thing's not just strong—it's aware. We'll have to outmaneuver it."
The Sentinel's mouth opened—rows of uneven teeth grinding together. Then it screeched. A sound that pierced through bone and reason.
The ground beneath it cracked as it dashed forward again—faster than before, barely visible to the naked eye.
"Move!" Belle shouted, and the two of them dashed in opposite directions, each hoping to confuse the Sentinel's awareness.
But even as they moved, the Sentinel was already on them, its blade reconfiguring as it charged in a burst of speed.
Belle's mind raced, tracking every shift in the Sentinel's movement with her Aura Sense, her body already reacting before the beast even made its move.
Her eyes flashed. Her energy crackled.
Belle gathered her elemental magic, preparing to counter with an explosion of fire and lightning—but the Sentinel, as if sensing her thoughts, vanished once again.
It was no longer just a matter of strength. The Sentinel had become too aware of them. It was reading them, anticipating every move.
The fight was only beginning—and they had no idea just how much more dangerous it would become.
End of Chapter 60