"They’re coming!" Myers shouted.

  Kade didn’t need the warning. She had already heard the drowned.

  The wet rasping echoed up the tunnels. Human in the loosest possible sense, twisted through salt and dark magic. Milo and Lance slammed into motion at the front of the line. Milo pivoted right, shield raised as a shape clawed up the incline of a collapsed alcove. Lance swung left, blocking the hallway as limbs clawed through shattered stone.

  Robin peeled off, rapier drawn, toward Milo’s side.

  Kade moved with Lance, her cutlass clearing the scabbard in one fluid motion. Steel rang against steel as the drowned surged upward.

  [Analyze] Drowned Smuggler | Level: 9 | Status: Hostile | Class: Rogue

  [Analyze] Drowned Smuggler | Level: 10 | Status: Hostile | Class: Rogue

  [Analyze] Drowned Enforcer | Level: 9 | Status: Hostile | Class: Fighter

  Three of them on her side, maybe more behind. Rusted cutlasses and shattered pistols hung from rotted belts. Their coats bore smugglers’ logos, now barely visible under moss and decay. One had a shattered jaw, still clacking like it could scream orders. Another dragged a boarding axe behind it, metal edge notched and stained.

  "Center line, hold it!" Kade snapped over her shoulder.

  Stone and Mercer dropped into formation without hesitation. Stone began a quiet incantation, holy glyphs flaring briefly in her palm, while Mercer raised her crossbow and swept the sightline between both flanks. She'd have one clean shot before the hallway turned into a meat grinder.

  "Briggs, rear guard. Myers, assist or cover the front if there's no opening!" Kade barked.

  "Aye," came Briggs' voice from behind.

  "Got it!" Myers said.

  Colt didn’t move. Neither did Levi. Kade shot them a sideways glance. Both stuck at the rear, glaring at each other like they’d rather fight each other than help. Fine. Dead weight stayed in the back.

  The drowned with the axe lunged for her. Kade stepped in to meet it.

  Steel met steel with a jarring clash. Her cutlass caught the axe’s hooked blade mid-swing, metal screaming as the weapons locked. The drowned leaned into the bind, breath stinking of rot, with eyes like empty sinkholes.

  It pressed forward, stronger than it should’ve been. This one moved with intent, not like the half-aware husks they'd fought topside. Kade shifted her footing, readying to break the tie...

  A flash of silver flicked past her.

  Myers’ knife struck the drowned square in the shoulder. The impact didn’t drop it, but it rocked backward just enough.

  Kade’s boot snapped up and drove into the creature’s sternum with a push kick. The blow wasn’t elegant. Bone crunched as the creature's chest caved, and the drowned fell back down the incline it had clawed up from. Its axe clattered against stone before disappearing into the dark.

  "Nice kick," Myers said, slipping another knife free.

  "Keep them off the center," Kade answered, already turning.

  Lance had stepped too far forward, clearing his left flank just as another drowned surged up from the edge and latched onto his knees. It didn’t swing. It pulled, trying to drag him back into the dark. The sudden weight shift yanked Lance off-balance, and he hit the stone with a crash of armor and an involuntary bark of pain.

  Before Kade could move, Myers was already there as one hand hooked the drowned’s elbow, yanked it up, and the other sheared through bone with his sword. The arm detached at the shoulder, and the thing collapsed.

  "Move!" Kade barked, dropping beside Lance to cover him.

  She drove the handle of her cutlass into the gut of another drowned rising from the slope, folding it just long enough for Lance to roll clear and get back to one knee.

  "Thanks," he said, shield rising again.

  "Don’t thank me yet."

  With the opening clear, Myers dropped low beside the edge of the hole. From under his coat, he pulled one of the old pirate bombs they’d salvaged on Block Island. It had an iron shell, a short fuse, and a painted skull fading on the side.

  "Fire in the hole!" he shouted.

  Lance ducked behind his shield. Kade dropped into a squat and tucked her head.

  The blast hit a second later as the corridor jumped. Dust and smoke shot upward, filling the hall with choking gray. A rain of grit pattered off their armor. Kade rose first, blinking through the haze.

  One last drowned staggered upward, half-crawling, its skin seared, one arm gone. It didn’t make it three steps before Mercer’s crossbow snapped. The bolt punched into its chest, dead-center. The thing dropped like a puppet with the strings cut and slid back down the ramp.

  Kade turned to the other side of the hall.

  Robin stood beside Milo, the last of the drowned on their side twitching at her feet. Her rapier dripped black-green fluid. Her stance was steady, mouth set, gaze already scanning for more.

  No more came. Kade stood tense as the stretched, forcing herself to listen for any hint of movement beneath. Nothing. She wiped the cutlass blade across her coat, eyes darting to the center. Stone was crouched low, healing glyphs already fading from her hand. Mercer’s crossbow was half-lowered, her jaw locked. Both looked ready for another wave.

  At the rear, Levi hadn’t moved.

  Colt leaned against the wall, jaw tight, warhammer untouched. His eyes weren’t on the battle. They were on Kade.

  Briggs passed between them without comment, his shoulder driving into Levi as he moved him out of the way with weapon still drawn, boots crunching on rubble as he rejoined the formation.

  "Briggs, need two volunteers to clear those tunnels," Kade said, peering down the collapsed ramp.

  "Myers, ever done tunnel rat work before?" Briggs called.

  "South America," Myers called back. "Cartel tunnels near Barranquilla. Lots of bats, not a lot of friendly fire discipline."

  "I've got tunnel experience as well, Sarge," Mercer added.

  Kade stood back as Myers and Mercer slid down the sloped collapse to sweep the wreckage. She kept her eyes on them until they disappeared into the angled dark, then turned and motioned Briggs forward.

  "Watch the ridge. If we get anything else crawling up out of there, I want eyes on it before it grabs another leg." She said to no one specific.

  Briggs gave a tight nod, then shifted back to cover the approach. Colt stayed where he was, leaning against the far wall, arms folded like he expected a medal for doing nothing.

  Kade waited in silence, watching the others reshuffle. Stone sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, murmuring quietly over a slowly recharging mana pool. Lance tested his weight on his left leg, armor still streaked with half-dried gore. Levi stood apart, arms crossed, eyes flitting from face to face like he was still waiting for someone to tell him he was in charge.

  Ten minutes passed.

  Mercer was the first to reappear, boots crunching on loose debris. She paused near the edge of the slope and scanned the corridor before calling up.

  "All clear. Both entrances are one tunnel that loops around and dead-ends about fifty feet in. Looks like it was just an access shaft, maybe a dump route. No exits or threats."

  Myers followed close behind, a compact satchel hanging from one shoulder. He set it down and flipped the flap open to reveal a single coin, heavy and dark, stamped with the same seal they’d already seen several times before.

  "Found this tucked under a pile of rubble," he said.

  Kade took the coin and slid it into her satchel without comment. The question of them was starting to build. She didn’t know if they were keys, markers, or just another breadcrumb trail, but the Dungeon kept putting them in front of her. Sooner or later, that meant something.

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  There wasn’t much discussion after that. The fight was over. The path ahead was clear, and nobody felt like lingering.

  The corridor narrowed again ahead, then opened sharply into a high-vaulted span built entirely of timber.

  Rope anchors ran to iron hooks overhead, some still slick with salt. The bridge stretched forward in a long arc, sagging slightly in the middle. Boards were missing in places. Others looked like they’d lost the battle with time, or mold, or both. The bottom, if you could call it that, sat forty feet below, a vast hollow pit filled with sluggish pools of thick black liquid.

  The pools didn’t just sit. They moved.

  Kade narrowed her eyes as she studied the pools below.

  "Hold up."

  The squad paused at the threshold. Mercer stepped up beside her and tilted her head downward.

  "Those things moving?"

  "Yeah," Kade said. "Could just be a trick of the light, but I think so."

  "Any idea what they are?" Lance asked from behind.

  Before Kade could answer, movement pulled her attention. Colt had already stepped away from the group. He reached up, plucked a torch from the wall bracket, and tossed it over the edge.

  "No, don’t…" Kade started.

  The torch spun through the air, dropped like a falling star, and struck one of the black pools directly. Flame met surface with a soft whoomph. For a moment, nothing happened.

  Then something roared. Not in pain but in anger.

  A tar shape convulsed below, now flickering with unnatural fire. The surface sloshed as it flailed, setting nearby pools into motion. The flames spread. One scream became many.

  The smell hit next. Burning rubber and corrupted oil, sharp enough to sting eyes and throat. Smoke curled upward, dark and oily.

  [Analyze] Tar Horror | Level: 11 Elite | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  [Analyze] Tar Horror | Level: 12 Elite | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  [Analyze] Tar Horror | Level: 12 Elite | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  [Analyze] Tar Horror | Level: 13 Elite | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  [Analyze] Enraged Flaming Tar Horror | Level: 12 Elite | Status: Enraged | Class: Abomination

  The initial analysis wasn’t good, and it only got worse as the fire spread. The one Colt had hit now read as 'Enraged Flaming Tar Horror,' and the others were already picking up the same label.

  "They’re not dying," Robin said flatly. "They’re just on fire and angry about it. Good job."

  "Great," Kade said. "So all we’ve done is set the bottom of the ravine on fire and made it worse."

  Milo coughed against the smoke now drifting up toward the bridge.

  "If we fall, we die screaming," he said. "That about sum it up?"

  "Don’t fall," Kade replied. "Single file, move slow, test every board."

  Briggs was already stepping out across the ropes, axe secured, weight shifted low and forward like he’d done this before. One board groaned under his weight but held. He made it halfway before glancing back and giving a short wave.

  "Bridge holds, but don’t get cocky. She’s soft in the middle."

  Lance stepped forward, shield angled across his back. About a third of the way across, a board gave with a snap. Wood splintered and dropped into the abyss, but Lance caught himself, weight shifting forward as he pushed across the gap.

  Everyone froze.

  "You good?" Kade called out.

  Lance nodded once and kept going.

  The smoke thickened. The bridge swayed. Black shapes below churned with fire, thrashing in rage. The sounds didn’t carry well, but the visuals were enough. Robin stepped ahead of Kade, pacing the planks with care. Halfway across, she mis-stepped.

  It wasn’t a full fall. Just a slip. But her boot caught on a loose board edge, and the smoke made the footing worse. Her balance broke, and Robin pitched forward into the void.

  Kade moved without thinking. Her hand caught Robin’s wrist just short of the edge. Weight jolted into her shoulder. She dropped to one knee, feet braced against the rope slats.

  Robin dangled over the edge, one arm stretched, fingers clawing for a hold.

  Briggs had already turned. He sprinted back from the far side as quickly as the rickety bridge would allow and dropped beside Kade, one hand wrapping around her arm to anchor them both.

  "Got her," Kade said through clenched teeth.

  Together, they hauled.

  Robin’s boots scrabbled against the wood, finally catching purchase. With a hard pull, she came over the lip and collapsed onto the planks.

  Robin sat up slowly, breathing heavily, face pale beneath the soot. Her voice was quiet.

  "Thanks."

  Kade looked at her. "You slip again, I’m letting you bounce." She said with a smirk.

  Robin managed a short breath of a laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

  Briggs stood and gave Robin a pat on the shoulder before turning back toward the far side.

  Kade helped Robin to her feet, then followed. One hand never left the guide rope as they crossed the last stretch.

  The last of them crossed, boots hitting solid stone with the caution earned through hard luck and close calls. The bridge swayed behind them, ropes groaning with leftover tension. Smoke curled from the pit below, thick and black, chasing their heels as if it might decide to climb the ropes and follow.

  Robin dropped to one knee just off the walkway, one hand braced on her thigh, the other still shaking faintly from the fall. Stone was already beside her, kneeling as she cast a healing spell over Robin's ribs. Briggs leaned near the tunnel wall, arms crossed, keeping half an eye on the passage ahead and the other on Colt, who had parked himself just far enough away from the group to pretend he wasn't avoiding judgment.

  Kade didn’t say anything to him but made a mental note. No more torches for Colt.

  Myers checked the satchel sling at his side. Mercer was replacing the bolt she’d spent. Milo adjusted the angle of his shield straps with slow, methodical tugs, as if he could still feel the vibration from the breaking plank beneath Lance’s foot. Levi stood at the edge of the group but didn’t speak. That alone made Kade’s skin itch more than anything he'd said so far.

  They pushed forward once Robin was able to catch her breath.

  The tunnel changed over the next few hours, twisting through filth and ruin as the group pushed through a gauntlet of minor threats.

  Wooden slats gave way to warped platforms that skirted the edge of a stagnant underground lake. Everything stank of rotted rope and fish that had died confused. Echoes drifted off the water’s surface as if something might still swim beneath.

  The path narrowed over uneven docks, forcing them into single file. Every so often, a cave cricket the size of a dog launched itself from the darkness, screeching like metal on wet stone. Myers dropped one mid-air with a flick of steel, blade snapping out in a blur that left the insect twitching on the planks.

  Then came the bats. Not large, but fast, dozens of them burst out of a side alcove like smoke. They didn’t bite, but their sonar screams caused Kade's ears to ring, aggravating her tinnitus. Kade pressed forward with her eyes half-lidded, trusting motion more than sight, and smacked a few out of the air when they got too bold.

  Levi triggered a pressure plate by accident. It was a classic floor tile rigged with poison darts. Stone had to drain mana into a low-power cure spell just to flush the toxin before it took hold. Kade didn’t say anything when Levi muttered an apology. Stone didn’t either. They were running low on patience, and he was supposed to be cargo.

  The corridor turned again.

  Lance took a spear trap to the shield, deflecting it with a grunt but no wound. Robin danced past a collapsing floor section that had been disguised with planks barely thick enough to fool someone in a hurry. Mercer spotted a second tripline just before Milo would’ve walked into it.

  Momentum didn’t stop, but it bled them. A little at a time, and underneath the fatigue, Kade felt it.

  Colt wasn’t sulking anymore. He moved with an angry purpose now, charging forward during ambushes, taking swings he didn’t need to. He nearly flattened Myers during one overzealous lunge against a pack of sludge-bitten scavengers that had clawed their way up from a drainage pipe. His hits landed, sure, but there was no control in them. Just raw muscle trying to make a point.

  Robin kept on Kade’s left flank. Close, but not clingy. There was a tension there that was part silent gratitude and calculation. She moved efficiently, contributing when needed, conserving ammo when not. Never out of position, never exposed longer than necessary. Kade caught her pocketing a bandage mid-fight without using it. Kade was positive that Robin was conserving her own supplies while at the same time forcing the crew of the Horizon Talon to burn theirs.

  Levi, on the other hand, had gone quiet.

  He hung near the rear now. Letting others take the hits while he observed. Kade had seen that kind of silence before when she had escorted prisoners of war during her last conflict deployment before the reboot. It wasn’t fear. It was preparation. The kind that came just before someone made their move, waiting for an opening while pretending not to watch.

  Kade slowed her pace for half a dozen steps, letting Mercer drift closer.

  "They’re all prepping for their endgame," she said under her breath.

  Mercer didn’t look at her. Just muttered, "Colt’s swinging like he thinks he’s still got something to prove."

  "He does. So does Robin. So does Levi."

  Mercer smirked, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "And none of it’s about the dungeon."

  "No. It’s about who gets to drop the mic when we walk out."

  Kade glanced back, saw Levi take a long look at Stone’s spell book mid-cast, and file something away in that accounting brain of his.

  Robin caught Levi watching and frowned just slightly. Just enough for Kade to catch. Even now, the factions were circling like sharks in opposite directions.

  They weren’t allies. They were obstacles. And every single one of them was planning for what came after.

  The next turn led into a broken chamber, mostly collapsed, but still showing fragments of use. Crates long since turned to mush leaned against the far wall. Above them, someone had scrawled symbols into the stone, deep gouges that looped and spiraled around a central circle.

  Robin paused near it, and Kade joined her.

  "It’s French, maybe?" Robin said. "Not fluent, but I recognize it."

  Kade didn’t answer right away. She leaned in, tracing the edges of one jagged symbol.

  "It talks about a gatekeeper," she said.

  Robin arched an eyebrow. "You read it?"

  "A little."

  The others had gathered behind them now, half-curious, half-bracing for another fight. Levi didn’t speak, but his eyes flicked over the carving like it might give him a vote if he stared hard enough.

  Briggs stepped forward, scuffing one boot against the edge of the chamber.

  "We close?"

  Kade nodded as they moved on.

  One last time, the corridor widened. The air thickened with the smell of oil and soot clung to the walls like resin. The light dimmed, not from lack of torches, but from something in the air itself. A haze that dulled the edges of the world.

  A door blocked their path. It was massive, circular, and set deep into the far wall. Iron layered with shipwreck timbers bolted into the frame. Barnacles clustered around the hinges. Moss dripped from rusted seams.

  In the center, a circular recess. Just the right size for the archive coins.

  Kade didn’t hesitate. She pulled one from her satchel, turned it once in her fingers, then pressed it into the slot.

  The mechanism clicked, and the door groaned. It didn’t open all the way, just enough to part the seam and let a gust of cold air spill out across the group. The smell hit her in layers. First came the bite of ozone, sharp and metallic, cut with the stink of burned oil. Beneath it all, something worse lingered. A burnt electrical scent that clung to places wired wrong and left running too long in the dark.

  Beyond the crack, dim shapes shifted in the gloom. One of them moved.

  [Analyze] The Oozing Lantern | Level: 15 Boss | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  The door hadn’t finished opening. And the thing inside hadn’t moved far, but she could see it in the center of the room. A Tar Horror larger than any they'd seen back in the chasm. Its body pulsed slowly, like a thing half-asleep. Its surface wasn’t just black, but patterned, as if it had absorbed everything in the room and hadn't decided yet whether it was full.

  Kade didn’t know which would try to kill her first. The thing behind the door, or the three observers waiting behind her. But at least the boss was honest about it.