Enrico opened his eyes and realized that he was in a place that looked like a basement. The walls were narrow and poorly lit, and none of the other students were nearby.
'Strange... so this is the first change compared to the original story. Before, everyone appeared in the same place. System...'
A warning screen appeared before him.
[Sorry, but I won't be able to remain with you during this arc for now. I'll only be able to talk to you again once you accept the pact.]
Enrico let out a sigh.
'I understand... so this is how it's going to be.'
[Yes, but it's only temporary.]
He began walking through the area, observing every corner while searching for anything that could be useful. In dungeons, it was possible to find hidden items capable of increasing the user's magic, granting a unique ability, providing magical techniques, or even enchanted weapons. They were extremely rare, but there was still a chance of finding them.
The true rewards, however, were the monsters' cores. According to what was originally supposed to happen, all the monsters in that dungeon would only be Level One Zaras. However, with the increase in difficulty, there was a possibility that at least one Level Two Zara had appeared.
'If that happened... it'll be a disaster.'
"I'll need to find the others as quickly as possible while also searching for an item."
As soon as he finished speaking, a zombie appeared in front of him.
Enrico raised his hand and launched a fireball directly at the creature. The attack struck the monster's body and made it stagger, but something immediately caught his attention.
"Wait... the blood was supposed to be black. So why does this zombie have blue blood?"
Before he could think about it any further, the creature's body disappeared before his eyes.
The next instant, it appeared behind him.
He turned instinctively and raised his arms to block the claw, but the impact was so strong that the ground beneath his feet shattered.
Enrico's arms began to tremble.
'That speed... and that strength...'
The zombie disappeared again.
Enrico barely had time to react before he noticed the creature appearing behind him once more, its claw pointed directly at his head.
He spun his body and enveloped his fist in flames.
"Flaming Fist!"
His fist collided with the zombie's claw, and the impact sent the creature several meters backward. Without wasting time, he raised both hands and created two fireballs.
"Let's see you dodge this!"
The two balls were fired at the same time and split apart in the air, forming six projectiles each.
Twelve fireballs advanced from different directions, but the zombie disappeared just like before.
"Damn it!"
Enrico immediately crouched down and brought both hands behind his body while concentrating mana in each one.
'It's repeating the same pattern... so...'
With his hands behind him, two fireballs were launched the instant the zombie reappeared behind him.
'It's too obvious.'
The impact struck the creature head-on and sent it flying away.
Enrico immediately stood up and advanced to continue the attack, but the zombie stopped in the middle of its movement. For a few seconds, it simply stared at Enrico.
When the Flaming Fist was about to reach it, the creature simply disappeared again.
Enrico stopped his own advance and jumped to the side, keeping his guard up while waiting for the next attack.
Nothing happened.
With some confusion, he looked around the area.
"Wait... did it run away?"
There was no sign of the zombie. Suspiciously, Enrico narrowed his eyes.
'Damn it... did the zombies become intelligent, or is this one just different?'
In another part of the dungeon, several zombie corpses were scattered across the floor. The creatures' black blood formed small pools around their bodies while Caelan and Elian remained standing, breathing heavily after the battle.
Elian looked at the bodies scattered across the floor, still trying to catch his breath. Something about the situation didn't make sense.
"Caelan, doesn't this seem strange? As far as I know, zombies are the third weakest type of Nartheis. So why are they so strong?"
Caelan also observed the corpses for a few seconds before nodding with a tired sigh.
"Yeah, I thought it was strange too. We'd better find the others as quickly as possible."
Before they could continue, they heard a voice coming from the corridor behind them.
"Hey, are you two lost too, just like me?"
The two turned around and found Cris standing a few meters behind them with a smile on his face. Upon recognizing him, both let out a sigh of relief.
"You're the guy who was with Enrico, right?"
Cris placed a hand on his chin and remained silent for a few seconds, as if thinking about the question.
"I don't trust you two very much, but yes. And I think you should look behind you."
Elian and Caelan immediately turned around.
A massive zombie approximately two meters tall stood behind them. The creature raised both arms and slammed them against the ground with all its strength.
The two barely managed to jump to the sides.
The impact created a crater in the ground, scattering pieces of stone throughout the corridor. The zombie's eyes remained constantly covered by a stream of blood running down its face.
Elian stared at the creature for a few seconds before fixing his gaze on its blood-covered eyes.
"Damn... is that blood?"
"Now isn't the time for that!"
Before the two could attack, Cris had already advanced.
He disappeared from the two's field of vision for an instant and appeared beside the zombie, dodging a strike that passed within a few centimeters of his body. Taking advantage of the opening, Cris spun his body and concentrated all his strength into his fist, striking the creature directly in the face.
The blow violently knocked the zombie's head to the side and sent its body several meters backward. The creature smashed through part of the wall before disappearing among the rubble.
Caelan's eyes widened.
"He really is strong."
Elian nodded while watching the place where the zombie had fallen.
"Yeah. And no one fought against him before, so no one knows what his magic is."
Cris, however, didn't stay to observe the result. He immediately turned around, grabbed the two by the arms, and began dragging them down the corridor.
"We'd better run."
Caelan looked at him, completely confused.
"What are you talking about? Didn't you just defeat it?"
Cris glanced back for a moment and smiled.
"No. It's too strong for me."
Caelan's expression changed as soon as a loud crash echoed behind them.
The three continued running. A few seconds later, Elian and Caelan looked back, and their expressions immediately changed.
The zombie had gotten back up.
Its body seemed even larger than before, and there were no visible injuries remaining on its face. The creature advanced through the corridor with heavy steps, but was terrifyingly fast for its size.
"What?!"
The two immediately pulled away from Cris and ran forward, leaving him behind. Slightly surprised, Cris looked at the two while running.
"They're pretty fast when they're running away."
Even as he said that, Cris increased his own pace to keep up with them. For a few seconds, the three ran in silence until Cris looked back again.
The zombie had stopped.
For a few seconds, the creature simply watched the three of them. Then it slowly turned to the side and headed down another corridor, disappearing from their sight.
Cris slowed down and looked forward again.
Elian and Caelan continued running, completely focused on escaping.
Cris simply shrugged and sped up again to catch up with them, maintaining the same carefree expression on his face.
----
"Why won't this thing die?!"
Valença ran through the corridor while firing one fireball after another at the zombie chasing her. Brown blood flowed down the creature's body, but despite the numerous attacks it had already received, the wounds appeared superficial and did not reduce its speed.
'Calm down... I need to stay focused.'
She tightened her grip on the staff and spun her body, concentrating a greater amount of mana at the tip of the weapon. A huge fireball appeared in front of her and advanced toward the zombie, completely engulfing its body and sending it flying backward.
"Finally!"
Valença did not waste any time. She turned around again and pointed the staff at the fallen creature, preparing another attack of similar strength.
However, the instant she released the magic, the zombie raised one of its hands and managed to withstand the impact, remaining standing while flames spread around it.
"What the hell is this?!"
The creature advanced again, but before it could reach her, it was violently thrown against a wall.
"Plebeian?"
Valença turned around in surprise and found Serenya a few meters behind her, with one hand extended toward the zombie.
"Serenya?!"
For a few seconds, the creature remained pinned against the wall. However, Serenya's hand began to tremble and her expression grew increasingly tense. She was spending an enormous amount of mana to maintain control over the monster's body.
"Damn..."
She released the magic, causing the zombie to immediately break free from the wall and advance again.
Seeing that, Serenya breathed heavily, and Valença was also clearly exhausted.
"Plebeian, what kind of trouble did you get yourself into?"
Valença looked at the creature before answering.
"I was just passing by when this zombie appeared out of nowhere."
The two exchanged a quick glance.
There was no time to argue.
Without thinking about the rivalry between them, they both raised their weapons and attacked at the same time.
"Flaming Tornado!"
"Control Boost!"
The tornado of flames appeared in front of them and, with Serenya's magic, began to be compressed into a single point. The pressure increased until the attack struck the zombie head-on.
An explosion shook the corridor and sent the creature flying backward.
Valença took a deep breath and looked at the place where the zombie had fallen.
"Did we do it?"
Serenya immediately turned her face toward her.
"Don't say that."
"Why?"
"I don't know exactly... but Enrico said it's bad luck."
The two remained silent for a few seconds before turning their eyes forward again. The zombie was beginning to slowly stand up, while brown blood ran down its body covered in wounds. Even so, the creature raised its head and continued staring at the two of them.
Valença swallowed nervously.
"I think he was right."
Serenya did not answer. The two simply turned around and used their magic to bring down part of the ceiling, causing a large amount of rubble to collapse onto the corridor where the zombie was passing.
Without waiting to find out whether that would be enough, they ran away as quickly as they could.
Elsewhere, several zombies were being cut down rapidly while black blood flew in every direction. Kai breathed heavily after eliminating at least fifty creatures, but he had no time to rest. There were many more of them scattered throughout the corridors.
"There are so many..."
He began running again, keeping his sword in his hands as he advanced.
'They seem much stronger than Professor Sir Drenholm said yesterday. Was he wrong?'
Kai continued advancing through the corridors, searching for any sign of the other students.
'I need to find the others.'
After turning another corner, he stopped abruptly.
Five bodies were scattered across the floor in front of him. Judging by their clothes, they appeared to be students from his own class.
"What happened here?"
Kai approached cautiously and examined the corpses. Something immediately caught his attention.
"And their watches?"
He looked around.
"Where are they?"
Kai's expression became more serious. He then reached for his own mana watch.
"I'd better call the profe—"
Before he could finish, something violently struck him from behind. Kai was sent flying and rolled across the floor before managing to regain his balance.
"What the hell was that?!"
When he raised his eyes, he realized that it was not an ordinary zombie.
The creature moved on four legs, like a wild beast. It had no face, and its head had a shape similar to the images the teacher had compared to "Jupiter," a discovery made years ago by a Ninth Circle mage.
The most frightening thing, however, was the object it held between its claws.
Kai's watch.
Kai slowly drew his sword and assumed a combat stance, keeping his eyes fixed on the creature.
"Damn... everything is getting out of control."
Meanwhile, in another part of the dungeon, Tolen ran alongside six other students while more than two hundred zombies chased them through the corridors.
"Keep running!"
Ahead of them, a huge opening approximately eight meters wide stretched across the floor, separating the two sides of the path.
Everyone stopped before the abyss.
Tolen was the first to react. He extended his hand and helped one of the students jump to the other side, using a small explosion to propel him during the jump. He then repeated the process with the other students, making sure everyone managed to cross.
The zombies were getting closer and closer.
Tolen looked back and realized that he would not have time to cross in the same way.
"Damn..."
He concentrated mana in his feet and activated his explosive fire magic.
The explosion launched him to the other side just as the zombies reached the edge. The creatures tried to keep advancing but ended up falling into the abyss, disappearing into the seemingly endless darkness.
Tolen landed on the other side and realized that he had lost his shoes during the jump.
One of the students immediately helped him stand.
"Thank you for saving us."
"You don't need to thank me."
Tolen looked around.
That place was strange. There was a gigantic abyss in the middle of the dungeon, yet the environment remained suffocating, surrounded by tall walls and countless corridors that seemed to form a labyrinth.
"Did you manage to contact the teacher?"
One of the students shook his head.
"I tried, but it seems like nothing works in this area."
Tolen frowned.
"Why?"
"When I entered the dungeon, my watch was working normally. But as soon as we got close to the abyss, it simply stopped."
Tolen immediately checked his own watch.
The screen was completely turned off.
"Mine too..."
He remained silent for a few seconds before putting the watch away.
"Let's move away. Maybe it'll start working again once we're far from here."
"Okay."
The students began walking again without realizing that they were being watched.
A small fly silently flew through the air, following every movement of the group. Its eyes reflected images of the dungeon while transmitting everything to another location.
In a distant room, a skull sat upon a throne, watching the images through a kind of magical projection.
[Boss Rirus — Level Two Zara — Necromancer of the Lost City.]