Seth felt the subtle caress of dense spatial waves brush against his face, silver strands of hair whipping against his back as his figure sank straight into the massive gate.
[You have entered Bronze Grade Cosmic Dungeon: Seven Immortal Kings of Damnation!]
[Details: An echo of an age when blood flowed in seas, corpses made towers, Seven Immortal Kings stood tall as hegemons. But just like every reign, theirs came to an end in the hands of the Seven Heroes — the Swordsman, the Knight, the Archer, the Mage, the Reaper, the Ruler, and the Prophet.]
Seth barely had time to pay this notification any heed as his frame flipped in the air, simmering runes from his genetic battle suit igniting instantly, detecting the unstable state of its host.
[Flight Mode Activated!]
A familiar robotic voice rang from his helmet as he slowly stabilized from free fall into a light glide.
A blue translucent screen flickered over his face, acting as a shield against the wind.
Now in control, Seth observed his surroundings: a blood-red, motionless sea... that was all he could see below, stretching endlessly.
The crimson waters were so unnaturally still it felt wrong, unsettling in its silence.
’Where are the other participants?’ Seth thought. He wasn’t the last to enter the dungeon gate, neither was he the first.
So the isolation made no sense. Unless...
"Separate dimensions?" he muttered, glancing upwards at the ashen, hazy gray skies.
’Fine, let’s land first and see what this quest is all about...’ he thought, his figure beginning to streak downward in a controlled descent.
He hovered briefly above the still crimson waters, his blurry reflection staring back at him. He frowned, unnerved by how silent and unmoving everything was.
He sent his Will rippling forward into the waters and, surprisingly, even though he half expected his probe to be repelled, it wasn’t. Instead, it seeped in seamlessly.
And surprisingly, the bottom wasn’t even that deep. His guard still high, he landed knee-deep into the waters, his soles feeling the sandy floor beneath.
The disturbance of his descent sent a small ripple undulating across the eerily calm surface of the crimson waters. That slight disturbance released a pungent odor of rot, blending into the air.
"The fuck?" Seth gasped, his nose wrinkling in disgust. But that would be the least of his worries.
The ripple across the water’s surface, though slow and small initially, began to form into a turbulent current.
The ground shook heavily, causing Seth to stumble, provoking even more currents. A sudden rush of wind howled through the air, carrying wisps of sinister chill in its embrace.
The once placid face of the blood waters transformed into a churning, roaring disaster. A streak of blood lightning tore across the skies, followed by a disastrous boom that sent Seth’s mind reeling, his ears ringing with high-pitched shrieks.
"Argh!" He gasped, clutching his head, caught off guard by the abrupt shift as he staggered backward.
All these changes happening so fast, he decided to play it safe and take back to the skies.
But as his frame rose into the air, resisting the absurd wind pressure that suddenly howled with furious intensity, Seth’s body went rigid as he felt a shadow cast over him.
A cold wave washed over him, causing his hair to stand on end as a feral aura seeped into the atmosphere.
This was unlike anything Seth had ever felt before. Sweat pooled across his back as his figure turned, desperate to glimpse whatever abomination he had awakened.
His eyes widened...
A massive behemoth stirred, the bloody waters swelling into a small mountain as a pair of crimson orbs blazed through the pungent flow, locking onto Seth.
[Immortal King: Blood Sea has Awakened!]
The foul tide streamed down in miniature waterfalls as the behemoth’s full physique was revealed in all its abominable glory!
Carrying a humanoid shape, the figure stood tens of feet tall, its skin dripping red and wet, revealing ancient rusting armor that still radiated power beyond Seth’s imagination.
Its face was obscured by shadows cast by a large crimson-horned helm, a pair of bloody orbs burning through the darkness beneath.
Seth’s heart hammered against his ribs as he scanned the monstrosity, his adrenal matrix surging with hot intensity, adrenaline flooding his veins.
The battle had yet to begin, but his racial trait was already revving into full gear.
A bronze sheen shimmered beneath his armor, his human cells entering a hyperactive state — a state provoked only when faced with an Apex Predator.
A sickening growl reverberated through the air as the Immortal King’s rust-plated chest heaved.
[Battle Mode Engaged!]
[Would you like to permit Battle Assist?]
His Gene-Built AI, Mark’s voice rang in his ears, requesting permission.
Seth’s gaze sharpened, already ready to engage. "Permission granted!"
The runic imprints across the metal plates flared. Seth opened his palm, summoning a glistening silver orb from his inventory.
[Legacy Item!: Xenon’s Sphere]
[Details: A small metallic silver sphere, crafted by a being near divinity. It can become any and many items!]
[Warning!: Item grades and rank are predetermined by the wielder!]
The Xenon’s Sphere rippled, bursting with liquid-metal intensity as it glittered with a brilliant silver cadence.
Instantly, it formed into a handy silver greatsword — a weapon Seth was accustomed to.
His chest rose and fell, his breathing steady, his Will seeping into the atmosphere, an invisible clash of aura breaking the air.
Seth had never entered a dungeon before. Today was his first time even hearing one existed.
But seeing the things he’d seen, there was hardly any shock. Now, however, he had a problem.
How were dungeon monsters classified, and what did this mean?
His eyes narrowed, glancing at the flashing warning at the corner of his vision.
[Warning! Warning! Divinity Remnant Detected!]
’Divinity? Like a god?’ he thought, a cold chill creeping down his spine as the stifling pressure the Immortal King emanated suddenly grew denser.
The crimson eyes behind the shadows cast by the helm burned as the behemoth finally broke the silent face-off, its arm whipping through the wind at a speed no being of that size should possess.