Arman woke to screaming.
Not distant.
Not muffled.
Close.
Raw.
He was upright before his mind caught up. His heart pounded. The air
itself felt wrong.
Altair was already standing at the foot of his bed, silent and alert.
Eleos moved to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Pale morning
light spilled across her face. Her expression hardened.
"They surfaced."
No more hesitation.
They rushed outside.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rostam was no longer orderly.
It was chaos.
Carts overturned in the streets. Merchants dragged crying children
behind broken stalls. Guards formed shattered defensive lines that
collapsed as quickly as they assembled.
And everywhere—
Mutated rats.
Larger than normal. Muscles bloated. Eyes glowing faint green. Foam
dripped from jagged teeth.
They didn't scatter.
They hunted.
A guard was dragged down near the well, swallowed beneath a writhing
mass.
Arman reacted first.
[Mana Push]
Force burst outward from his palms. Three rats were thrown aside like
rag dolls.
Altair blurred forward.
[Shadow Cloak]
He moved through the swarm like smoke. Blade flashing once— Twice— Three
times.
Bodies fell.
Eleos raised her hand.
[Wither and Bloom]
A dark-green pulse expanded outward. Rats near her withered, movements
slowing. Minor wounds on nearby guards began closing.
Decay and restoration.
Perfect balance.
"Evacuate civilians!" Altair shouted.
They split instantly.
Arman cleared space with controlled bursts of force. Eleos stabilized
poisoned victims. Altair carved corridors through the swarm with
surgical precision.
Within minutes, civilians were escorted behind reinforced barricades.
Safe.
For now.
Then—
A metallic screech tore through the air.
High. Grating. Like iron being twisted apart.
All three turned.
The sewer gate at the lower district burst open.
Bent outward.
From the inside.
A wave of rats spilled into the street like black water.
And behind them—
Bodies.
Dead guards. Dead adventurers. Half-eaten.
Arman swallowed.
"They broke through."
Altair's voice was steady.
"We end it here."
They charged.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The swarm thickened.
More aggressive.
More organized.
Arman cast [Flame Bolt] in precise bursts to avoid friendly casualties.
Altair conjured twin shadow blades with [Weapon Form], cutting through
dense clusters. Eleos stepped forward and invoked [Bestow Curse],
suppressing vitality in tight groups.
But there were too many.
From rooftops. From alleyways. From sewer grates.
Teeth tore into armor. Poison seeped into cuts.
Arman reshaped force into a blade.
[Mage's Hand]
The translucent construct flickered as he swung at close range to
conserve mana.
Altair moved back-to-back with him. [Shadow Cloak] flickered, then
expanded into a thin veil around both of them, dampening incoming
strikes.
Eleos slammed her palm into the stone.
[Inflict Wounds]
Necrotic energy rippled outward. The immediate swarm recoiled.
Then—
Horn blasts.
Reinforcements.
Guards surged from the east. Guild adventurers from the west.
Steel clashed. Arrows rained. Fire flared.
After minutes that felt like hours, the immediate wave thinned.
Dead rats carpeted the street.
Altair wiped blood from his cheek.
"This isn't the full force."
Eleos nodded.
"The core is still below."
Heavy footsteps approached.
Two figures emerged through the thinning battlefield.
One carried a massive greatsword across broad shoulders. Armor
scratched, stance steady.
The other—an elf archer. Lean. Calm. Bow already strung.
"Which of you triggered this mess?" the swordsman asked.
"We scouted the sewer," Arman replied.
The man smirked faintly.
"Good. Saves us time."
He planted his blade into stone.
"Kael Draven."
The elf inclined her head.
"Lyra Windmere."
Lyra traced a faint sigil in the air.
[Hunter's Mark]
A green pulse flickered briefly.
"Boss-level concentration below," she said.
Altair glanced at Arman.
"Now we go."
Five descended into darkness.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sewer trembled faintly.
Claw marks gouged the stone. Support beams were chewed nearly through.
Then they reached it.
A vast chamber.
Rotten air thick with decay.
And at its center—
The Rat King.
Massive. Twisted. Multiple tails intertwined like living cables. One
swollen eye glowing sickly green. Smaller rats clustered across its
flesh like armor.
It did not roar.
It screamed into their minds.
The swarm surged.
"Formation!" Kael roared.
He charged first.
[Great Cleave]
His greatsword carved through a wall of rats. Blood sprayed across
stone.
Lyra leapt to elevation.
[Volley]
Arrows rained with ruthless precision.
Altair vanished.
[Shadow Cloak]
He struck at the Rat King's flank.
The blade barely pierced.
"Thick," he muttered.
Eleos extended both hands.
[Wither and Bloom]
Decay pulsed outward. Regeneration slowed.
Arman inhaled.
Control.
[Mana Push]
He thrust both hands forward.
The force hit the Rat King.
It did not move.
Not even slightly.
It stared at him.
Altair glanced sideways mid-dodge.
"…Did you just try to push a building?"
"Testing," Arman snapped.
He tried again.
[Mana Push]
The blast scattered smaller rats.
The Rat King remained immovable.
Altair sighed.
"You are aware it weighs more than a carriage."
"I'm experimenting!"
"This is not the time."
The Rat King slammed its tail.
Kael blocked—and was sent skidding backward.
"HEAVY!" Kael barked.
Lyra summoned [Spirit Bow].
A luminous arrow shot toward the glowing eye.
The Rat King jerked.
Missed.
Altair muttered, "You've wounded the sewer."
Lyra shot him a glare.
Then—
The Rat King convulsed.
Collapsed.
Silence.
Then its corpse twitched.
Bones cracked back into place.
Green veins flared.
It rose again.
Berserk.
Foam and blood spilled from its jaws.
"Residual necrotic surge," Eleos said calmly.
"It was dead," Arman protested.
"It was. Now it's angry."
The Rat King charged wildly.
Claws tore into Kael's armor. Lyra fired at near point-blank range.
Altair pierced tendons with shadowed steel.
Arman abandoned force bursts.
[Mage's Hand]
He reshaped it into a sharper blade and cut exposed ligaments.
The Rat King's tail smashed into his side.
He hit stone hard.
Altair appeared beside him.
"You're doing wonderfully."
"Shut up."
Kael drove his blade deep into its shoulder.
"NOW!"
Lyra marked the exposed core.
[Hunter's Mark]
Eleos stepped forward through blood and invoked [Inflict Wounds].
Necrotic energy blackened the glowing core.
Arman forced himself upright.
Refinement. Heat. Compression. Stability.
Release.
[Flame Bolt]
The spell burrowed into the necrotically weakened core.
Altair sprinted up its back with [Agility Boost] and drove a shadow
blade into the base of its skull.
Kael followed with a devastating overhead strike.
Lyra's final Spirit-infused arrow pierced the glowing center.
The Rat King shrieked—
And collapsed.
This time—
It did not rise.
Silence.
Dripping water.
Heavy breathing.
Kael dropped to one knee. Lyra leaned against stone, bleeding. Altair
exhaled slowly. Arman clutched his ribs.
Eleos moved between them.
[Cure Wounds]
Soft pulses of restoration stabilized the team.
Kael laughed hoarsely.
"That thing hit harder than it looked."
Altair glanced at Arman.
"Next time, push something smaller."
Arman winced.
"Next time, I'll push you."
Lyra smirked faintly.
"I'd pay to see that."
Despite blood.
Despite exhaustion.
A brief laugh echoed in the chamber.
They were alive.
Barely.
But alive.
Arman stared at the massive corpse.
This wasn't just a monster.
It adapted.
It resurrected.
It evolved mid-fight.
If something like this could form beneath Rostam—
Then this world was far more dangerous than he had imagined.