Hunting Ground
Zeon couldn't even bring himself to look at the old man.
Everything about him was terrifying.
It wasn't just his massive build or his savage glare.
A fearsome aura poured from the old man, the kind that instilled primal fear in anyone who felt it.
It was like standing naked before a colossal desert storm.
The old man embodied the overwhelming might of nature, showing just how insignificant a human could feel in its face.
Zeon trembled wordlessly, and the old man spoke again.
"What, cat got your tongue, you bitchin'? Tell me your name, or I'll turn you into a goddamn flame croc."
"Z-Zeon."
"Zeon? What a bitchin' name."
Even as the old man sneered, Zeon couldn't muster a single retort.
One wrong word, and that sword which had pulped the croc would come swinging his way.
The old man pressed on.
"Alright then, bitchin'! How the hell did a runt like you get into this dungeon? The entrance I used is sealed tight now."
"Well..."
"Stutter one more time, and I'll lop your fucking head off."
"Th-through the underground tunnel."
"Tunnel?"
"Yes! I was working the magistone mine when a collapsed wall revealed the dungeon entrance. It... sucked me in."
"Heh heh! Looks like the noose got you good."
"Noose?"
"Sometimes dungeons on the verge of mana overload create a secondary entrance to vent pressure and protect themselves. That's the noose. It snags any living thing dumb enough to wander close."
"No way..."
"Keh heh heh! Talk about shit luck. Normal folks never encounter one in a lifetime."
The old man openly mocked Zeon's rotten fortune.
Zeon had no comeback.
Just as the old man said, his luck was cursed beyond belief.
Gathering his courage, Zeon asked, "Who the hell are you? And where are we?"
"Name's Dayton."
"Dayton?"
"And this place? It's my hunting ground from here on out."
"Hunting ground?"
"Yeah. Hunting ground."
Zeon's body shuddered at Dayton's mad declaration.
It didn't feel like bluffing or bullshit.
Those feral eyes and the storm of insanity radiating from him screamed truth.
Then—
Pfshooo!
Monstrous crocs burst through the lava.
Flame crocs, they were called.
Maws gaping wide, they charged.
Even faced with that bone-chilling sight, Dayton just laughed.
"Heh heh heh! Clayon."
No sooner had he spoken than the massive sword impaled in the ground floated up into the air.
Dayton gripped the blade he'd named Clayon.
Whoooing!
A sword cry erupted from Clayon in an instant.
Ripples of sound waves spread, filling the entire dungeon.
Zeon's face twisted in agony.
His heart pounded wildly.
Not from excitement.
It was closer to revulsion.
The sword's wail scraped at his nerves like claws from the abyss.
Zeon wasn't the only one affected.
The flame crocs, hearts stirred by the cry, unleashed their fury.
Kroooar!
But the crocs weren't the only ones riled.
Kwaaa!
Monsters poured from every corner of the volcanic zone.
Flying swarms blacking out the sky, behemoths dwarfing the crocs—all hurtling toward Dayton.
Clayon's cry had provoked every monster in the dungeon.
Zeon gaped at the impossible spectacle.
"Fucking insane!"
The real madness came next.
Dayton plunged into the horde, Clayon leading the way.
Shiiiaak!
A flame croc's massive body split clean in two.
Its rubbery flesh tore like paper. Unreal.
Not just the crocs.
Unknown beasts fell in droves, butchered mercilessly.
Kwagagak!
Dayton was the storm.
Monsters scattered like debris in a gale.
Even the river of lava on the ground and the ash-choked air got swept away, spraying everywhere.
"What the fuck rank is this guy?"
Zeon couldn't believe his eyes.
No skills in sight.
Just raw human strength and that greatsword carving through everything.
Soon, corpses piled around Dayton like a mountain.
"Kyahaha!"
His maniacal laughter echoed through the dungeon.
Bathed in gore, swinging Clayon—he looked less man than monster wearing human skin.
Zeon was overwhelmed by Dayton's madness.
Couldn't twitch a finger. Couldn't even breathe deep.
Thud!
A rhino-like beast was the last.
No monsters stood on the land anymore.
Dayton had soloed an army.
And he wasn't even winded.
Gulp.
Zeon swallowed dryly without realizing.
Then—
Kroooaaar!
A roar exploded from the volcano's peak.
Zeon's mind reeled at the sound.
He barely clung to sanity, eyes locking on the colossal monster erupting from the summit.
It evoked dragons from myth. Zeon froze in its majesty.
Dayton grinned at it.
"There you are. Crimson Drake!"
Its body wrapped in deep blood-red scales.
Head to tail: over thirty meters. Wingspan even greater.
That's no dragon?
Zeon shivered at the drake's first-time presence.
Its aura dizzied him; legs buckled.
Heroic he didn't collapse.
Oddly, a blue aura cloaked the lava-born Crimson Drake.
B-rank+ monsters had traits like humans.
Red meant martial type. Blue meant magic type—capable of spells, despite being a beast.
This Crimson Drake was B-rank+ magic type.
Dayton tightened his grip on Clayon.
"That's the final boss of this dungeon."
No fear on his face, even facing the ultimate guardian.
Just a mad, eager grin.
Zeon couldn't comprehend him.
Did high-rank Awakeners all go insane? Or only the insane reached those heights?
Guwooo!
The Crimson Drake beat its wings, soaring into the air.
Target: Dayton.
It dove at terrifying speed.
Even before arrival, gale-force winds whipped up.
Dayton bent his knees slightly.
"Bitchin'!"
"Huh?"
"Figure out how to survive on your own."
"But—"
Dayton kicked off the ground, rocketing skyward.
Boom!
Not just flight—a sonic boom shattered the air.
He'd broken the sound barrier, appearing before the drake in a blink.
Kwaaaang!
Colossal beast clashed with tiny human mid-air.
The shockwave rocked the entire dungeon.
Calm lava surged like a tsunami, splashing everywhere. The volcano belched thicker black smoke.
Corpses Dayton had slain melted into it—their barriers gone, no protection from the heat.
Lava rushed Zeon too.
"Shit!"
He dodged frantically. But it pursued.
At this rate, he'd melt like the rest, vanishing without trace.
Bang! Kwaaang!
Up above, Dayton and the drake battled fiercely.
Drake spewed breath; Dayton parried with Clayon.
Problem: a deflected blast hurtled toward Zeon.
Kuwaaang!
Explosion. Lava spray. Zeon took the full brunt.
"Urk!"
He bounced like a madman, everywhere and nowhere.
Lava churned wildly; panic blanked his mind—no thought of using his powers.
To live, he had to flee the fight.
Leaping lava rivers, he sprinted over black volcanic rock.
Suddenly, his foothold crumbled.
Glowing magma beneath.
Fall, and done.
"Tch!"
Instinct: he summoned surrounding sand.
Like evading the crocs—a sand platform.
Platform after platform, he bounded across.
Mana drained fast from constant creation. But he landed on solid volcanic rock before it ran dry.
"Hah! Hah!"
Zeon dropped to his knees, gasping raggedly.
Heart ready to burst; lungs reeked of blood.
Aftermath of total exertion in seconds.
Then—
Kururung!
The whole dungeon quaked violently.
Zeon turned. Dayton and drake's clash peaked.
"It's over."
Dayton's mad shout. Vast energy gathered in Clayon.
To Zeon, it looked several times larger.
Dayton hurled it at the drake.
Shiiiig!
Like a meteor, straight through the chest.
Kraaa!
Mournful screech. The drake plummeted.
Crash!
Thirty-meter bulk slammed into the lava plain.
Dayton landed atop the limp corpse.
The drake, not fully dead, gazed up with labored breaths.
Dayton loomed over it.
"Spent a year scouring the desert for you. To temper Clayon with your heart... So die pretty."
He raised Clayon high, then plunged it into the heart.
Splurch!
Kroooar!
Agony twisted the drake. But its final thrash was feeble.
Clayon in the heart glowed red. As final boss, immense fire mana pulsed within.
Clayon heated white-hot, near-melting.
At peak, it transformed.
Clank! Clank!
Parts disassembled, then reassembled.
Larger. Sharper.
"Heh heh!"
Dayton grinned in satisfaction.
Drained of mana, the heart dulled.
The corpse withered, barrier gone.
Then the dungeon crumbled.
The boss was its core.
Coreless, it collapsed.
A dark red portal appeared before the drake's body.
The exit.
Before stepping in, Dayton glanced back at Zeon.
"Not coming, bitchin'?"