Han Kakta followed Cheon Areum's line of sight, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to make sense of what had caught his attention. From where he stood, there was nothing—only the quiet stretch of rolling sand dunes under the muted, sunless daylight.
"What do you mean, the boss?"
He spoke up, asking for clarification because, unlike Cheon Areum, he couldn't perceive whatever lay beyond the visible. The only notable object in the distance was the floating box they had flown out of earlier, hovering steadily in the air. It marked the point where the gate could reopen at any moment. Since dungeon gates were notorious for reappearing in the exact location they had first manifested, staying within reach of that box was crucial. There was always the risk that the gate might collapse or vanish entirely before everyone managed to escape. Losing track of it—even briefly—could mean being trapped inside the dungeon indefinitely.
"It seems like the boss is coming to us. It's an S+ Class boss too."
Cheon Areum clicked his tongue, wiping at the corner of his still-reddened eyes. The others were occupied on their respective paths, dealing with the monsters assigned to each side, and he could sense the steady fluctuations of their energy from afar. If he moved ahead and engaged the boss now, his focus would be split. He wouldn't be able to keep track of them all at once—and in a dungeon like this, that kind of lapse could be fatal. The thought sat poorly with him.
"You mean the boss isn't triggered by the end of the lower class monsters? This is an S+ Class dungeon, so it wasn't totally unexpected, but... what do you want to do? Should we retreat?"
"There's no knowing if it will follow me and wreak havoc in that box, so it's actually better to stay and fight."
Maybe it was being attracted to Cheon Areum's energy just as he was attracted to the negative energy of the same class as him. Moving underground, considering the size of this boss, it would be advantageous to fight in the open air instead of a cramped space.
"Can you freeze it like you did with that monster? I can get to the core and eat it. That will be the easiest way to kill it."
"You want to eat the core of an S+ Class boss?"
He confirmed it with Han Kakta, who calmly replied to him, suggesting it wouldn't be difficult for him to do so.
"Yep."
It wouldn't be impossible for him to keep it still—he could restrain its movements directly with his energy rather than corrupting it into paralysis. But even that option came at a cost. To bind something on the level of an S+ Class boss, even momentarily, he'd have to pour an enormous amount of energy into it, all for that single opening.
"Stay here. I will go and see the boss first."
"Don't take too long—you need a recharge in another minute or so."
With a slow, powerful flutter of his wings, Cheon Areum lifted himself into the air, rising far above the ground and the floating box that marked their exit point. From this height, he spread his senses outward, trying to read the dungeon's layout, to glimpse even a hint of structure in the terrain.
There was nothing.
Endless sand stretched in every direction, rolling dunes repeating themselves no matter where he looked. Even toward the boss's direction, the landscape refused to change—no landmarks, no distortion, no sign of proximity. Just sand swallowing the horizon whole. Going any farther alone was out of the question. This dungeon punished separation, and he knew better than to test it recklessly. With the map offering no guidance and his options narrowing, Cheon Areum exhaled slowly. Given all the conditions stacked against him, there was really only one thing he could do.
But if even one of them died, the blame would fall squarely on Cheon Areum. He had been the one to split them into pairs—his decision alone—and that responsibility weighed heavily on him. That was why he'd been so careful. Despite the immense drain on his reserves, he had kept his awareness stretched thin, monitoring their every movement, every fluctuation of energy, even the steady rhythm of their heartbeats, alert for the slightest anomaly... he would have to cut it off now.
His energy was dipping too fast. The strain had reached its limit. With a sharp breath, Cheon Areum severed the connections all at once, cutting them off cleanly before they could sap him further. He withdrew his energy from the floating box as well. Then, wings beating harder than before, he turned and flew back toward Han Kakta.
"Recharge."
Cheon Areum landed lightly on his feet and slapped Han Kakta's hand in a high-five. The moment their palms met, another surge of energy flooded into him.
Almost immediately, he felt it.
The boss was coming—fast.
The sand was beginning to churn unnaturally, rippling in wide, violent waves as something massive moved beneath it. The ground bulged and split in places, grains spraying into the air as the creature advanced. Its silhouette revealed itself through motion alone: long, impossibly huge, its body slithering underground like a colossal worm carving its way toward them with terrifying speed.
"Left. The boss is a worm-like creature but way bigger. It doesn't seem too complicated—you should be able to get the core easily."
Cheon Areum spoke while staring at the sand beneath his feet. He shifted his stance and redirected his focus, splitting his energy and firing it underground like barbed arrows. They twisted sharply away the moment they were released, burrowing through the sand with purpose. Opening his perception wider, he checked the map again, tilting his head. Another signal flared—coming from a different direction. Then another. And another.
"There are four of them. Four S+ Class bosses…"
Cheon Areum frowned deeply, confusion flickering across his face as he turned to Han Kakta and delivered the report.
"The closest one is on the left. The others are still far for now—front, back, and right."
"We should retreat."
Han Kakta's voice dropped into something hard and uncompromising as he grabbed Cheon Areum by the arm, all trace of humor gone. It didn't seem like a suggestion—it was more of a call made from experience. But Cheon Areum didn't move. His posture remained relaxed, wings barely shifting. Retreat wasn't in his plans.
"As I have said before, I don't want to endanger the others who are already fighting off monsters. I already had to lose them because of the search for the boss."
"You alone cannot take four of them—they're all S+ Class too. This would be a suicidal decision, Cheon Areum."
"But you are also here, Kakta. Stop being a scaredy-cat. As long as you can recharge my energy, you have nothing to worry about."
Not convinced—and perhaps just too stubborn to back down—Cheon Areum yanked Han Kakta's hand away and pivoted to the left. His sudden movement forced the boss waiting beneath the sand to react.
The ground trembled violently as the sand burst apart, scattering grains like bullets in every direction. From the opening emerged a deformed yet unnervingly smooth head, slick and glistening, its sheer size dwarfing everything around it.
Cheon Areum acted instantly. A shimmering shield of energy enveloped both him and Han Kakta, protecting them from flying debris and sand. Then, with a swift motion, he extended his energy outward, gripping the massive beige worm's entire body. The colossal creature was dragged fully onto the sand and immobilized before it could even register the threat. Its enormous length stretched across the dunes, rigid and trapped, giving it no chance to strike back.
"It won't move now. If you're not planning to abandon me, this is the part where you go and eat that core."
"..."
Han Kakta stared at Cheon Areum for a long, tense moment, letting out a heavy, frustrated huff. He seemed almost exasperated at Cheon Areum's recklessness, yet there was no arguing further. Finally, he placed a steady hand on Cheon Areum's shoulder. A soft pulse of energy flowed through him, replenishing what had just been spent. With that done, Han Kakta moved purposefully toward the worm's gaping mouth, motioning for Cheon Areum to follow closely by his side. Together, they approached the immobilized beast, ready to strike at its core.
"You will go inside its stomach, right?"
"Apparently, yeah."
Cheon Areum delivered a precise kick to the worm's gaping mouth, using his energy to pry it open wide. Thick, goopy strands of saliva dripped from its sharp, jagged teeth, clinging and stringing as if unwilling to let go. Despite the revolting, viscous mess, the path leading deeper into the creature's stomach looked surprisingly unobstructed. The interior stretched smoothly inward, the walls slick and undulating, offering a clear route straight to the core beyond the chaos of teeth and slime.
"In you go, Kakta. Make it quick, or you might end up digested too."
Cheon Areum held the worm's massive mouth open like a portal, urging Han Kakta forward. With a determined nod, Han Kakta rolled up his sleeves and stepped inside. The interior was slick and slippery, forcing him to move cautiously, his back slightly hunched to fit through the narrow space. Before disappearing into the stomach's foul, acidic stench, he glanced back at Cheon Areum, offering a final, fleeting look—words unspoken but understood—before plunging fully into the depths of the creature.
"If the situation gets worse, you retreat. I still have to face Yoon Seoyul after this—and I'd rather die than tell him you were harmed, okay?"
Han Kakta's voice echoed faintly from within the worm's body, distorted by layers of flesh and fluid, yet it carried clearly enough to reach Cheon Areum. Hearing that, Cheon Areum's lips curved into a small, genuine smile.
"I didn't know we were so close, Kakta—that you would be willing to trade deaths with me too. Get back safely. You're by far my favorite partner after Yoon Seoyul!"
Cheon Areum shouted into the gaping mouth, his voice echoing down the slick tunnel. Moments later, Han Kakta's figure vanished completely into the darkness within. Cheon Areum settled cross-legged in front of the mouth, keeping it forced open with his energy. He tapped his cheek absently with one finger, his foot bouncing restlessly against the sand as minutes dragged by with no sign of Han Kakta's return.
A knot of unease formed in his chest.
Frowning, Cheon Areum stood and sent a thread of his energy into the creature's mouth. The moment it passed the teeth, it dissolved—dispersing as if swallowed whole. He tried again, pushing more force into it.
It failed again.
His energy vanished just the same, erased the instant it crossed that threshold.
I knew I wasn't worrying for nothing.
Clicking his tongue at his own recklessness for sending Han Kakta in so easily, Cheon Areum's expression hardened. These past two months had made his senses dull how could he forget to check first before urging Kakta to venture inside?
He gripped the upper lip of the worm-like boss, his fingers pressing into the slick flesh. With a surge of energy, his arm transformed before his eyes, the skin and muscle melding into a living weapon. Five elongated, needle-sharp claws extended from his hand, gleaming with lethal precision.
With a powerful leap, he launched himself onto the creature's massive head.
Cheon Areum advanced a few steps along the worm's mouth, claws extended, and drove them down into the creature's tough, armor-like shell. But they didn't sink in. They got stuck. No matter how hard he pressed, the claws refused to pierce further or deal any meaningful damage. Glaring, he quickly deformed his energy back into its raw state and pulled his hand free. The shell wasn't just impervious to physical force—it even resisted his energy, completely blocking any attempts to cut or shred it. The dents his claws had made vanished instantly, smoothing out before his eyes as if they had never existed.
"...."
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Cheon Areum scanned the sand around him. The other three S+ Class bosses were moving fast, closing the distance with alarming speed, their massive bodies causing the dunes to ripple like waves.
"I know you don't like it, but I don't have many options here. Stay strong for me now."
With resolve, he opened his inventory and pulled out an energy booster. He immediately jabbed it into his arm.
[Mind Corruption has been activated.]
[You are currently using the skill: Mind Corruption. Your ability to corrupt negative energy will be enhanced during its activation.]