The wetness of the forest clung to everything, and the rhythmic rustling of leaves whispered through the dense canopy overhead. But louder, more persistent than the leaves, were the beats of wings. It was as if the very air itself pulsed with each powerful stroke. Then, a fireball tore through the sky, spat at Licht.

He reacted instantly. With a swift swing of his sword, Trouble, he dispelled the flames, the inferno vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. He barely had a moment to breathe before a column of fire descended toward him, forcing him to sidestep. The dark, ethereal shadow of his skill, Shadowstep, allowed him to withdraw in a fraction of a breath, shifting a dozen meters away from the fiery blast. The ground where he once stood was now charred, the very earth screeching under the intensity of the flames.

A screech echoed through the forest as one of the creatures, a wyvern, dived for him, jaws wide, aiming to tear him apart. Its speed was breathtaking, but Licht was faster. With precision, he adjusted his stance, sword ready to receive the beast. However, at that moment, a new sensation tugged at his mind. His Identification skill sensed something.

"Skill: Mirage Level 7 detected."

The winged reptilian creature adjusted its dive abruptly, targeting something else, not Licht. But despite the shift, Licht wasn’t about to lose his focus. To him the target had remained the same. With quick reflexes, he activated Enhanced Range, sending a phantomatic blade streaking through the air. The glowing blade severed one of the wyvern's wings, sending the beast plummeting to the ground below.

The wyvern thrashed and hissed, struggling to rise despite its crippled state. The creature's limbs clawed at the earth as it fought to regain balance. Yet, its strength wasn’t enough to overcome the loss of its wing. It had just managed to recover when Licht, with a single, decisive motion, swung his sword once more. He aimed for the neck, the most vulnerable point of any living creature.

With a clean cut, aided by his skill and class ability, he severed the wyvern's head from its body. The head rolled across the ground, while the massive body convulsed, spasming for a moment before going still. The air reeked of scorched flesh and ash, the wyvern’s final breath a silent wisp of smoke rising into the sky.

But Licht had no time to savor the victory. Notifications flashed in the corner of his vision:

Columns of fire erupted from the sky, engulfing the spot where he had just been standing. He dodged in the nick of time, his Evasion and Shadowstep kicking in instinctively. A voice, casual and unconcerned, reached his ears. "That was a close one," the voice said with a sigh.

Licht withdrew, a subtle irritation flickering in his eyes. His comrade stood just a few meters away, a faint smile on his face. "I thought you were a goner there."

Unlike Licht, who was dressed in his typical adventurer outfit—designed for agility and speed—his comrade looked entirely out of place. His clothing was far more suitable for a ballroom or perhaps a children’s tale about wandering magicians. He wore a waistcoat with intricate golden embroidery, a pristine shirt with lace at the cuffs, and a high-collared jacket that would befit a nobleman attending a grand affair. His black trousers were perfectly tailored, and polished shoes gleamed as if untouched by the dirt of the forest. The man’s gloves were white, his top hat tilted at a jaunty angle as if he were about to perform a sleight of hand trick rather than fight mythical beasts.

His name was Orion, and despite his appearance, he wasn’t just anybody. He was a Dungeon Master, just like Licht, though he looked entirely unsuited to this chaotic battlefield.

Licht stared at him, exasperated by his presence as usual. "I think I’d be more at ease if you disappeared. Could you… I hope you understand."

Orion smiled, as if the comment was the most reasonable request in the world. "Don't worry," he said. "I know what's expected of me. And I know what I’m good at."

With a snap of his fingers, Orion vanished.

In the blink of an eye, his presence was gone entirely, leaving Licht alone, surrounded by the corpses of wyverns he had already slain—and those that still hovered menacingly around him.

Licht sighed again, his frustration mounting. These wyverns weren’t dungeon spawns, as he had first assumed. The fact that their bodies hadn’t disintegrated into dust was evidence enough of that. They were real, living creatures.

"We’re on the right path," Orion had insisted. But Licht was starting to question that.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Taking a deep breath, Licht steeled himself. "Let’s finish this quickly," he muttered, gripping his sword tighter, preparing for the next wave.

***

After defeating the wyverns and continuing their journey, Licht and Orion traversed the dense forest without much more than routine obstacles—mostly wyverns or the occasional forest monster. Despite the quietness of their path, Licht couldn’t shake a lingering unease. Something was off. Throughout his time as an adventurer, he had learned that dungeons were known for spawning dungeon-born creatures outside the dungeon’s domain, yet their route had been void of such threats.

Adventurers had started calling these dungeon creatures “mobs,” and the absence of them gnawed at Licht’s instincts. He should have encountered some by now—or so his intuition told him. Still, his relief at not having to deal with the dungeon spawn was undeniable. He wasn't entirely confident that he could handle what awaited them in the dungeon they were heading toward.

Days passed uneventfully until they arrived at the base of a large mountain. The forest abruptly ended against the towering cliffs, the landscape itself unsettling in its finality. Licht immediately recognized the mountain as part of the range that separated the lands of men from the underworld of demons. And there, at the foot of the mountain, loomed the entrance to the infamously known Voidborne Catacombs.

“So, we really didn’t encounter any mobs, huh?” Licht muttered.

“Why do you sound almost... disappointed?” Orion raised an eyebrow, eyeing him curiously.

Licht paused, considering the remark. “Maybe I am.” He allowed himself a wry smile. “The thing is, I’ve heard so many horror stories about this dungeon that I was expecting more. Maybe I’m just surprised we’ve made it this far without a fight.”

Orion gave a casual shrug. “Didn’t Dungeon Master 07 already tell you this journey would be safe? No mobs to worry about?”

“He did... but this is the place every adventurer has been warned to avoid. It’s just strange being able to stand here without consequence.”

“Well, we are Dungeon Masters,” Orion remarked, though Licht wasn’t entirely sure what point he was trying to make. He simply nodded, accepting it as they took their first steps toward the yawning entrance of the Voidborne Catacombs—an ancient and deadly dungeon, easily the most dangerous in all the lands of men, if not of the world entirely.

Yet, as they crossed the threshold, Licht was taken aback by what greeted them. Despite the ominous name, the domain inside was strangely inviting. The atmosphere resembled the very forest they had just left behind—lush greenery, a damp chill in the air, and towering trees swaying under a canopy of mist. The only difference was an eerie feeling that this forest was not as it seemed.

He glanced around. Expansive didn’t even begin to describe it. There were no visible walls, no signs they were enclosed at all. Birds flitted through the mist in the distance, and the sound of distant life was distinctly audible—a stark contrast to the lifeless dungeon domains he was more accustomed to. Had he not been conscious of stepping through the dungeon’s entrance, Licht might have believed they were still outside.

“Where do we head now?” Licht asked, his eyes scanning the misty expanse.

Orion shrugged. “Frankly, at this point I—”

But before he could finish, something shifted—a flicker, shorter than a breath. The entire world around them changed in an instant. The forest was gone, replaced by something else entirely.

***

The once wet, humid forest was now a distant memory. The vibrant greens had vanished, replaced by the deep hues of brick, stone, and shadows. The atmosphere had shifted too—what once held life and freshness now felt like an ancient tomb, drenched in cold stillness, echoing only with the distant drip of moisture. The duo exchanged a quick glance, both surprised yet not alarmed. If anything, they were thrilled. This was the unique nature of this dungeon—a labyrinth that bent reality, capable of shifting its domains in an instant, teleporting intruders to any place it desired. And now, it had brought them to what seemed to be the guardian's chamber.

The room they found themselves in was massive and grand. Tall, imposing columns lined the walls, wrapped in heavy chains that hung from the ceiling like shackles from some bygone age. Candles flickered faintly in sconces, casting long, dancing shadows across the stone floor. At the heart of the room stood an enormous, dark monument, its triangular frame glowing faintly with an otherworldly green light, draped in thick ropes as though it had been restrained by forces beyond mortal comprehension. The air was cold, carrying the scent of dust and forgotten things.

Licht and Orion now stood at the base of a grand staircase, one not of carved elegance but raw stone, each step worn and cracked from ages past. They began to climb, their boots echoing in the chamber's silence as they ascended toward the summit. Upon reaching the top, their eyes fell upon a woman seated at the foot of the strange, glowing monolith. She wore a regal gown of deep red, embroidered with delicate patterns that shimmered in the low light. Her raven-black hair fell in smooth waves over her shoulders. In her lap lay an infant, peacefully asleep, as she gently played with the child’s fine, barely-there hair.

Slowly, the woman raised her gaze to meet theirs. Her eyes—completely black irised, like an endless void—captured their attention immediately. At the sight of the two Dungeon Masters before her, she smiled faintly. "Took you long enough," she said, her voice soft but filled with a quiet authority.

Licht couldn’t claim to know her personally, but as an adventurer, he knew enough. She was the queen whose stories spanned from Ironhaven to Eastbourne, a ruler who had once commanded vast territories. Despite her royal status, she had always been a wanderer, traversing the wild lands atop her giant red wyvern, far removed from the pomp and circumstance of the court. Her reputation as a conqueror, a slayer of kings and kin alike, was well-known. Yet that was only the surface.

As a Dungeon Master, Licht knew her by a different name.

She wasn’t just a legend to adventurers, but also to the Dungeon Masters. She was the first to reincarnate in a female form and had survived from the early days of the Dungeon Masters reincarnated in Fiendfell, gaining incredible power and influence over time. Her strength was unmatched, which is why Dungeon Master 07 gave Dungeon Master 05 a mission: to find the only Dungeon Master capable of recovering the authority lost to the elves of Quel’Thalas—her.

To the world, she was a queen, a conqueror, a force of nature. To Licht the adventurer, she was Arianna. But to him, as a fellow Dungeon Master, she was something more—Dungeon Master 08, the oldest and strongest reincarnated Dungeon Master.