Dazed, Ethan smells smoke and opens his heavy eyes to see fire crawling around him. He tries to stand, but his legs fail him. His breath comes in shallow, ragged gasps, and the heat presses down on him, scorching his skin. Panic seizes his chest, and the crackle of flames grows louder, filling his ears. He reaches out a trembling hand, but the ashes choke him with every breath. His vision blurs, consumed by the growing darkness.

The biting cold jolts Ethan back to full alertness. He gasps and breathes in, trying to cast away the dreamed suffocation. Remembering where he is, he closes his eyes to let go of the nightmare's emotions.

As Ethan scans the night sky, now void of clouds, it unveils a mesmerizing star-filled panorama unlike anything on Earth. The constellations are unfamiliar, arranged in patterns that do not align with anything he can remember.

But what truly captures his attention are the two moons hanging in the sky, each casting its own unique light on the scorched landscape. One moon is larger than the other, a luminous orb that bathes the surroundings in a pale, silvery glow. The smaller moon is a sharper, brighter beacon, seemingly closer and more radiant. Its intense white light starkly contrasts the nightly shadows.

Specter nine sits a few meters away, keeping watch of the massive doors.

"Anything happened while I was sleeping?" Ethan asks.

Kyle turns to him and summarizes, "I saw nothing, not even a bird or a rat. You were out for a good six hours."

"That long?" Ethan asks as he removes his low-cost bulletproof vest. He quickly swaps for his real gear, discarding his disguise. "You should at least use that one," Ethan says, pointing at the vest he just placed on the ground.

"How did all of this come out of your bag?" Kyle asks.

"That’s a haversack; anything I put in loses shape and mass. It's still limited; otherwise, I would have taken a Barrett M82A1 instead of the KS23," Ethan explains.

"Yeah, by the way, how did the big guy survive when I shot him? I'm fairly sure I dumped half a magazine in his body," Kyle recalls.

"I've recently met monsters and humans whose bodies are so tough that rifle bullets splatter on them. For humans, I guess it's either an ability or a high constitution," Ethan explains.

Kyle dons the bulletproof vest, gathering Ethan's remaining magazines for himself. He grumbles, "That system is really fucking us."

"I think it can be an opportunity. We became monsters in our own world through our hard work, and I'm convinced we can grind our way towards even greater heights," Ethan says as he stands up and walks toward the doors.

Specter nine laughs. "This is mighty optimistic for the image I had of you. I mean, you and Reaper one are legendarily inexpressive."

Ethan places a hand on each door, pushing as hard as he can. "One is on another level; I still have my moments," he jests.

As the massive doors groan open under Ethan's force, the interior of the keep reveals itself. The air inside is stale, heavy with the scent of decay and old stone. What little light filters in from the moons illuminates a scene both grand and grotesque.

Before them stretches a gigantic staircase, majestic in its design but haunting in its current state. The stairs are wide and rise slowly. However, it's not the architecture that arrests their attention, but the figures scattered upon the staircase. Dozens of dried corpses lie immobile, their bodies desiccated, their flesh long gone, leaving only leathery husks. Crimson crystals sprout from the corpses like mushrooms. These crystals vary in size; some are small and shard-like, while others jut out in jagged spikes that seem to consume the body from within.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

These crimson growths emit a faint glow, casting eerie, shifting shadows on the walls and ceiling of the keep. Ethan steps cautiously onto the first stair, his eyes scanning for any sign of danger. 'Heel,' he thinks, not wanting Russ to touch any of the corpses or crystals.

Kyle follows closely behind, his expression a mix of curiosity and disgust. "What the hell happened here?" he whispers, his voice barely carrying over the faint creaks of their footsteps.

As they reach the top, they find themselves facing another ornate door, its surface marked with strange symbols and inlaid with what could be gold and silver. As Ethan pushes the doors, they reveal a vast, decrepit open garden garnished with houses, forges, and other buildings.

Stepping in, they realize that their long ascension amounted to nothing more than traversing the outer wall. The vast garden is overrun with wild, twisted vegetation. A faint sound captures their attention – a subtle, shuffling movement that stirs the air. It's coming from several locations, both in the houses and from the shadows of narrow alleys between the buildings.

Ethan triggers predator's sight, hoping for it to be bearable. He sees humanoid corpses armored like knights rushing toward them. Their bodies are colonized by the same crimson crystals. "Down," he orders Russ. "Seventh, twelveth, third, and fourth, there are two dozen of them," Ethan informs Kyle.

Both raise their guns and shoot at the rushing targets; their bullets crater in their armors but shatter the flesh they touch. The creatures fall one after the other, and only a few reach them.

Ethan pulls out his sword and engages the first to arrive. His blade parries the assailant's attack and swiftly decapitates him. Two others approach, their blades raised high. Ethan deflects the first and kicks him to the side, giving Specter nine the occasion to headshot him.

Ethan dashes on the second and pummels his head, making him fall backward. With a slash, Ethan severs his legs and finishes him with a thrust to the throat.

The garden falls silent. "You leveled up. Kyle Bennett leveled up. Kyle Bennett leveled up," the voice announces.

Ethan opens his status to check for any kind of contamination.

Ethan Reed

Lv.7 (Harbinger) Human

Strength: 20 + Charisma: 12 +

Dexterity: 18 + Perception: 16 +

Constitution: 15 + Willpower: 19 +

Intelligence: 18 +

Available characteristic points: 3

Titles

Dungeon conqueror (F)

First dungeon conqueror (F)

First hunter

Goblin hunter

Slayer of the first incursion

Kin slayer

Kobold hunter

Skeleton hunter

Abilities

Anonymity (F)

Identification (F)

Piercing shot (F)

Predator's sight (E)

Silent steps (F)

Alteration

Demonic ether corruption (minor)

"I have been contaminated with demonic ether. I fear this is what turned them," Ethan informs.

Kyle checks his status and says, "I am corrupted too."

Ethan checks Russ status, and regrets coming here as he sees it there too. "I'll check their belongings; we're screwed anyway," Ethan says as he scans the corpses.

Abyss watcher plate armor

Armor worn by the knights of the Abyssal keep. It protects its user from the effects of demonic Ether exposure.

Abyss watcher long sword

Sword wielded by the knights of the Abyssal Keep. A servant of the god of light blessed its blade with an anti-demon enchantment.

Abyss watcher lantern

A lantern fueled by the fragments of a crystal of light Ether. Dissipates the surrounding demonic, death, and dark Ether.

'Too bad it's empty,' Ethan thinks. "I think our best option is to continue and find something like this lantern or something more powerful," Ethan says. "Those armors are barely holding on, and that's when they don't have serrated damages tearing into their flesh. We should at least each take one of those swords in case we meet demons."

"Demons?" Kyle puffs.

"Hey, I'm discovering this at the same pace as you. I'm just guessing," Ethan retorts.

Armed with their new blades, they cross the garden towards the most central, imposing building.