The cheap glowstone cast a dull green light across the alcove.

Kaelen sat perfectly still on the cold rock. Outside their tiny cave, the dungeon’s black water dripped endlessly. The sound echoed in the dark.

He pulled up his system interface. Violet text materialized in the empty air.

[Host Level: 40.]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 25.]

[Command recognized. Allocating points: +15 Strength, +10 Agility.]

Intense heat flared in Kaelen’s chest. It spread rapidly through his limbs. He gritted his teeth. His muscle fibers physically thickened. His nervous system rewired itself for faster reactions.

It was a brutal, fleeting pain. Completely different from the torture of his old life. The Church’s collars brought only weakness. This pain brought absolute growth.

Kaelen exhaled slowly. He opened his eyes. The green light seemed sharper. His senses were perfectly tuned.

Seraphina watched him from across the small cave. She sat with her knees pulled to her chest.

The borrowed chainmail shifted quietly with her breathing. Even in the ugly light of the Chasm, her beauty was flawless. The golden eyes of the Abyssal Saintess tracked his every movement.

"You look different," she observed softly. "Your shoulders more broader. Your mana feels really denser than an hour ago."

"I just allocated my stats," Kaelen explained. He casually rolled his neck, makes his bones cracked satisfyingly. "I’m adjusting to my new weight."

"Most adventurers take months to safely integrate five stat points," she murmured. She shook her head in disbelief. "Your class devours progression."

"It has to," Kaelen said. He stood up. He moved with a predatory grace. His boots made no sound against the stone. "Level 40 isn’t enough for the tenth floor. The Primordial Core won’t surrender to a weakling."

"No, it won’t," she agreed. She rose to her feet. She picked up her heavy broadsword. The stolen weapon looked small in her hands. "The Crying Caverns await."

They stepped out of the alcove. The sprawling, lightless tunnels of the fourth floor stretched before them.

The environment had changed drastically. The dry obsidian on the upper levels vanished, replaced by smooth, porous rock.

A thick liquid seeped from the ceiling, dripping onto the floor with a maddening, relentless rhythm. The air was incredibly humid. It smelled of rotting vegetation and deadly venom.

Kaelen radiated his Abyssal Aura. The dark violet magic wrapped around them like a cloak. It pushed back the dark. It instantly burned away the poisonous mist.

"Stay close," Kaelen commanded.

"Always," Seraphina replied. She stepped right beside his shoulder. Her arm brushed against his. It was a silent affirmation of her presence. She belonged to him now.

They walked for twenty minutes, navigating a dank maze of dripping corridors. The paths twisted endlessly. The Primordial Grimoire on Kaelen’s back, acting as a mental compass. It pointed directly down the fifth-floor.

Suddenly, the dripping stopped.

The silence felt very unnatural. The heavy dungeon air became completely silent.

"Driders," Seraphina whispered. Her grip tightened on her sword hilt. "They silence the ambient noise. They do it to confuse their prey."

A thick, sweet-smelling fog rolled down the corridor. It mixed with the dark miasma and the fog moved unnaturally fast.

The fog touched Kaelen’s aura and his vision became blurred. The smooth cavern walls twisted, then the path split into four identical tunnels.

They all looked perfectly real. A low, mocking laughter echoed from all direction. The sound scraped against his mind.

"Illusions," Seraphina warned. She closed her eyes. She decided to rely on her other senses, her experience as a knight helping her decide what to do in this situation. "Don’t believe what you see, Master. They want to separate us. They want us to run."

"They picked the wrong target," Kaelen sneered.

He kept his eyes open. After opening his eyes, Kaelen pushed more mana into his core. He commanded the void energy to expand and he did not fear the dark. He owned it.

[Passive Resistance check... Success. Abyssal alignment overrides standard illusion magic.]

The fake tunnels shattered into pieces like glass. The sweet fog dissolved instantly. The true cavern reappeared.

Three giant Venomous Driders clung to the ceiling above them. Their lower halves were heavily armored spiders. Their upper bodies were pale humanoid corpses with multiple, jagged arms. Their jaws clicked furiously. Because of Kaelen’s, their ambush had failed.

"Above us!" Kaelen shouted.

The driders dropped.

Seraphina moved with blinding speed. She lacked her holy magic, but her Level 85 physical stats were monstrous.

A drider spewed a stream of green, sizzling venom., but Seraphina dodged it easily, causing the acid melt the stone floor. She pivoted on her heel and swung her broadsword in a brutal upward arc.

The steel cleaved cleanly through the drider’s abdomen. Acidic blood spilled heavily across the floor. The beast screamed.

The second beast lunged at Kaelen. It thrust two bone-white spears directly at his chest.

Kaelen didn’t dodge. He stepped directly into the attack.

[Activating Skill: Vanguard Swordsmanship.]

He parried the first spear with his hunting knife. His dark aura extended the blade’s reach, forming a sword of pure void.

He used his new agility to spin past the creature’s guard. He drove his aura-infused blade deep into the monster’s humanoid body. He twisted the weapon ruthlessly.

The beast shrieked. It thrashed wildly, trying to bite him.

"Die quietly," Kaelen growled.

He channeled pure void energy through the knife. It blasted directly into the monster’s heart. The drider turned ashen gray instantly. The abyssal magic devoured its life force, and the drider’s collapsed into a lifeless shell on the wet stone.

Kaelen pulled his blade free. He searched for the third monster.

He found it pinned to the cavern wall. Seraphina had driven her broadsword completely through its chest. The steel was embedded deep in the solid rock. The beast twitched twice before Its glowing eyes dimmed. It died.

[System Alert. High-Threat Entities Eliminated.] [Experience gained.]

Seraphina pulled her sword from the wall, causing the rock crumbled around the blade. She wiped the acidic blood away using the monster’s own thick webbing. She wasn’t even breathing heavily. The combat was effortless for her.

"Sloppy," Seraphina frowned at the blade. "The balance of this sword is terrible. A proper Vanguard strike would have severed the body completely. I left it intact."

"It seems quite effective," Kaelen said. He dismissed his dark aura. The purple blade vanished.

"Effectiveness isn’t perfection, Master," she replied seriously. She walked back to his side, then she looked at him with unwavering loyalty. "If I am your shield, I cannot afford to be careless."

"You’re far from careless, Seraphina." Kaelen smiled. He was genuinely impressed by her lethality. "You just need a weapon forged for your true strength. When we claim this dungeon, proper gear is our first priority."

"I look forward to it."

They continued their journey through the Crying Caverns. The ambush from drider was repelled. The remaining monsters, sensing their overwhelming power, remained hidden. The shadows offered no threats.

The winding tunnels gradually widened. The ceiling stretched dozens of feet into the darkness. The air grew colder. The humidity, which had been so strong, faded completely.

Eventually, the corridor opened into a massive precipice.

Kaelen stopped at the edge.

A sprawling, ancient staircase lay before them. It was carved directly into a bottomless underground cliff. The massive steps were not designed for human feet. They belonged to giants.

The darkness below was absolute. It was a swirling vortex of dense, pure purple miasma. It looked like a churning, toxic ocean.

"The stairs to the fifth floor," Seraphina whispered. She stood beside him. She looked down into the void. An ancient fear flashed in her golden eyes. "This is where the Vanguard stops, and the world knows that this is the end."

"Good," Kaelen said.

The grimoire pulsed heavily against his back. The void magic in his veins roared, it wanted to plunge into the primordial soup below. It hungered for the depths.

"Everything below this line belongs to us," Kaelen declared. He looked at the fallen Saintess who was abandoned by The Church. He had saved her. "Are you ready to leave the light permanently?"

Seraphina met his gaze. The fear in her eyes vanished, replaced by her absolute devotion. She lived for him now.

"I already have, Master," she answered smoothly.

Kaelen nodded. Then he began to descend using the massive stone stair, dropping into the true abyss.