Chapter 111: [SS-CLASS]

The words sank into Eli’s bones like ice.

His breath shattered in his throat. “You’re… joking. Please tell me you’re joking.”

Before thought could catch him, his body reacted. His hands shoved hard against Kairo’s shoulder, forcing himself free.

The world tilted.

He dropped fast, crashing into the freezing black water with a violent splash that echoed through the cavern.

The cold bit into his skin instantly, like knives slicing across his flesh. His boots scraped against slick stone as he staggered upright, the shock rattling through every nerve.

“Mio!” Eli’s voice cracked, too high, too raw, carrying more panic than strength. “Please—tell me—tell me you’re joking—!”

But Mio wasn’t answering.

Instead—

There was a sound.

Not his voice, but bodies. Zaira and Mel sliding limp from his grip, splashing down gracelessly into the water like discarded dolls.

The sound was merciless, sharp against the cave walls, brutal in its finality.

“Mio!” Kairo’s voice thundered, a scolding lash for letting them fall.

“Stay with them!” Mio barked hoarsely. His own voice cracked as he lurched forward, sprinting to the arch. His fist slammed into the stone frame once—

BANG.

Twice—

BANG.

A third time, harder, flesh and bone smacking against unyielding rock. BANG.

“Come on, COME ON! FUCK!”

The sound rattled the cavern, but the gate didn’t answer.

No glow. No pulse. No swirl of light. No ripple of magic to welcome them home.

Only jagged, empty stone.

“No, no, no… fuck!” Eli’s stomach plummeted. His lungs locked, his body trembling so violently the water beneath him rippled in waves.

He staggered forward, arm outstretched, his fingers clutching nothing but empty air as his chest collapsed inward.

’The gate’s gone. Just like before. When the A-Class mutated. No one could get in… and now—now we can’t get out.’

His throat scraped raw as his voice slipped free, strangled, shaking. “This dungeon… D-Did it… mutate?”

The silence that followed was suffocating, heavier than stone, pressing into every corner of the cavern. His words clung like poison, impossible to take back.

His breath came ragged, sharp, chest burning. His heart pounded faster, louder, until each beat felt like it would tear him apart.

If this dungeon had already been S-Class—

And if it had mutated again—

Wouldn’t that mean…

“SS-Class…” The whisper cracked from Eli’s lips, his wide eyes reflecting the hollow arch of stone. “This… this would be the first SS-Class dungeon…”

The words spilled into a broken laugh, high-pitched, horrified, trembling through his chest. “We’re… we’re in the first SS-Class…”

The thought alone made his entire body quake, panic spiraling tighter until his breath turned shallow, ragged. His fingers curled into fists, nails biting deep into his palms as his vision blurred.

He didn’t even realize his knees had buckled, water splashing as he sank lower, drowning in the terror clawing through him.

Until—

A hand gripped the back of his jacket.

Iron-strong.

One pull, and Eli was yanked upright, hauled out of the water like he weighed nothing at all. Cold droplets streamed down his face as he gasped, blinking through the blur of panic and fear.

Kairo.

The man’s broad frame loomed steady, immovable, his black eyes glinting sharp in the red drone light. Cold. Commanding. Unflinching.

Eli’s chest heaved, his heart slamming wild, but Kairo’s grip didn’t falter.

Then—another movement.

Kairo’s other hand came up, gripping Eli’s face firmly, forcing his wide, frantic eyes to meet his own.

“Eli! Calm down!” His voice cracked through the cave like a blade, cutting clean into Eli’s spiraling panic.

Eli’s breath hitched, his lips trembling. “Kairo… we’re… we’re in a… we’re—”

“Eli!” Kairo’s voice thundered again, sharp and absolute.

Kairo’s grip stayed firm on Eli’s face, fingers braced against his jaw, holding him steady as if refusing to let him sink again.

His black eyes were unblinking, drilling into him until every frantic thought scattered like shards of glass.

“Stand.”

The word was low, steady, immovable.

A command, not a request. His hand guided Eli upward, dragging him out of his spiral as surely as he had dragged him from the water. The weight of his palm pressed steady to the side of Eli’s jaw, grounding him.

“Breathe. Deep. Do it now.”

’Breathe… breathe…’

Eli’s chest heaved, every gasp tearing jagged out of his lungs. Panic clung stubbornly, refusing to let go—but with Kairo’s hand anchoring him, with that relentless voice hammering through the tremor in his chest, he forced it.

Inhale. His ribs ached with the effort.

Exhale. The burn spread through his lungs.

Again.

The trembling didn’t stop, but the choking knot in his chest loosened. His knees threatened to give out, yet somehow, he stood.

“O-Okay… I think I’m okay…” The words left him in a whisper, thin but real.

“There we go.” Kairo’s tone dipped lower, almost like approval. “Good job.”

His hand finally fell away, though his gaze never broke. Sharp, unrelenting, as if pinning Eli in place by will alone.

“You’re not useless, Eli. You’re here. So help me.”

Eli froze. His throat bobbed, heart kicking hard against his ribs.

’Why… why is he saying this so sudden?’

But the words struck deep, cutting against the guilt like a blade. His lips parted, voice trembling. “How can I help?”

Kairo’s tone sharpened instantly, a blade wrapped in calm. “Check on Zaira and Mel. Make sure they don’t have more leeches. Make sure they’re still breathing. Can you do that?”

Eli’s lips trembled, but he nodded, jerky and quick. “…Y-Yeah. I can.”

“Then go.”

The order snapped him forward.

“Zaira… Mel…” Eli’s voice cracked, his throat raw as he dropped to his knees. Water sloshed around him, soaking into his gloves as his hands hovered, trembling, above their shoulders.

He pressed down lightly, shaking them just enough—desperate for any twitch, any flicker of life.

Behind him—movement. A shift in the air.

“Mio.”

Kairo’s tone had changed—lower, rougher, carrying warning like a blade drawn partway from its sheath.

“Mio, you have to calm down,” Eli heard him say, the sound measured, commanding.

“I know, I know!” Mio’s voice tore through the cavern, ragged and frantic, echoing off the stone. His breath hitched with every word, like it hurt to breathe. “But Captain, there’s no way out! There’s no fucking way out, you saw it—the gate’s gone, it’s just stone!”

Eli’s chest tightened. His pulse raced, choking him as the words scraped deeper than any wound.

Kairo’s reply cut through, harsher this time.

The heavy drag of fabric, the thud of boots shifting hard against stone—then the sharp sound of cloth straining as Kairo’s fist gripped Mio by the front.

“Calm. Down.”

The words rumbled like thunder, steady but heavy, a command that demanded obedience.

“No! You don’t get it!” Mio’s voice broke, rising high, raw with terror. His whole body trembled, veins standing out in his neck. “If the gate’s gone, then this dungeon—it’s mutated again. That means—”

“I know what it means.”

Kairo cut him clean off. His voice was low but crushing, each syllable slamming like iron shackles. “But losing our heads now is what kills us faster. You want Zaira and Mel to wake up? Then stop shouting… and breathe.”

The silence that followed was sharp, almost violent, broken only by the endless drip-drip of water from the cavern walls.

Eli dared to glance back.

Mio was stiff in Kairo’s grip, chest heaving, sweat plastering his hair to his forehead.

But under that suffocating stare—those cold, unblinking black eyes—he froze. His trembling didn’t vanish, but he stilled enough to breathe.

Kairo released him, his tone dropping, final and absolute. “We don’t panic. Not here. Not now. Not until they’re safe. And if what happened last time is the same as now, then you already know—the only way to get out of here is—”

“Fuck!”

Mio’s snarl cracked through, sharp and broken.

Eli flinched, snapping his eyes back to Zaira and Mel, his hands scrambling over their still forms. Their skin was pale, water dripping from their hair, but his fingers pressed lightly against their necks, desperate for something.

A beat—then a pulse.

Breath, faint but steady.

No leeches clung to their skin.

’They’re still breathing. No leeches.’ Eli let out a shaky sigh, relief spilling into his chest, if only briefly. ’That’s good. That’s something.’

Behind him, Mio’s voice cracked again, hoarse, panicked. “That means we still have to defeat the boss. But… are you serious, Captain? Please—please tell me you’re not serious. If this is an SS-Class dungeon, then that’s an SS-Class boss!”

The water churned softly underfoot, drones buzzing overhead, the silence crushing as Kairo answered, voice calm but sharp as a blade.

“I know. And what choice do we have? What does yelling and panicking do?”

Mio was silent for a long, heavy moment. His ragged breathing echoed faintly, but no words followed. The only sound was the endless drip of water, the faint hum of drones above, and the muted ripple of the cavern’s black pool.

Eli’s flashlight beam shook in his trembling hand. He glanced at them again—at Kairo, who stood unflinching, and at Mio, who looked like he was about to snap.

’Kairo… is right. But it’s still so terrifying…’

His throat tightened. An SS-Class boss. Just the thought of it made his blood run cold. An S-Class boss alone was already a nightmare. He’d seen the destruction they could cause—cities shattered, guilds wiped out.

But a Double S-Class?

That wasn’t a fight. That was extinction.

Eli shuddered violently, dread clawing up his spine. His lungs felt tight, his mind racing.

Then his thoughts sharpened—his eyes widening as realization hit like a hammer.

’That would mean…’

A wide, horrifying realization spread across his chest, suffocating.

’That means the monsters around here would be at least A-Class… maybe even S-Class. Everywhere. All around us—’

The thought never finished.

Because Eli froze.

His breath caught, his pulse exploding in his ears.

From the black water, just beyond the wavering cone of his flashlight—

Two pinpricks of light.

Glowing. Unmoving. Staring straight at him.

Eyes.

A pair of luminous eyes reflected in the darkness, too low, too wide apart, gleaming faintly red like embers smoldering under the surface.

The water rippled softly around them, disturbed by something massive just beneath.

“What the hell…?” Eli’s voice cracked, thin, barely more than a whisper.

And suddenly…

“Danger!”

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