Under the Shadow of the Monstrous Bird

Grrrk!

A colossal variant zombie blocked the path leading down toward the underground parking lot.

It was built like a troll from Bennett's homeland, yet far more grotesque in form. In place of eyes, a nose, or a mouth, a single monstrous eyeball was nestled directly into the center of its skull, its massive pupil unfocused and slack. For now, it appeared to be resting, idly guarding its post.

"Can we... even kill something like that?"

Bennett looked down at the Shooting Star resting in his hands. No matter how formidable the dwarven repeating crossbow was, there was no telling if ordinary bolts would deal meaningful damage to a creature of that sheer mass and scale.

Had he possessed enchanted quarrel tips, the story might have been different, but his quiver held none today. He turned toward Erika, the party's sole mage.

"Erika."

"Yes?"

"Can you take it down?"

Erika peered up at the variant zombie, swallowing hard against her rising tension before nodding with quiet resolve.

"I'll try."

"Good."

Gauging the distance to the looming abomination, Erika took careful, measured strides forward. Just as bows and crossbows had strict effective ranges, magic was bound by its own limits, governed by the reach of mana and the caster's focused willpower.

Slipping past the ground-floor lobby of the Closed Police Headquarters, she squeezed through an ajar set of shattered glass doors and descended the exterior stairs. She took up position behind a massive chunk of scrap metal abandoned near the steps.

Roughly a hundred meters separated her from the variant zombie now—a distance a creature of that size could close in the blink of an eye if it broke into a dead sprint.

Behind Erika as she primed her strike, Bennett glanced up into the open sky. With no ceiling or overhang above them, they were completely exposed to the blue light. Yet there was no alternative. They could only pray that Erika eliminated the behemoth before the Blue Moon cast its baleful glow across the sky.

"...Fire Lance."

Erika's voice resonated in a hushed cadence, and sparks flared at the tip of her staff. A spear of blazing fire condensed in midair, radiating an intense presence as pure, compressed mana set the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surrounding air vibrating with heat. Pouring everything she had into the spell, she launched the spear straight toward the towering zombie.

At that exact fraction of a second, the slumbering eyeball stirred. The giant pupil snapped upward, locking directly onto the incoming Fire Lance.

Whoosh—!

The spear, trailing searing waves of heat, vanished into thin air without a trace. It ceased to exist so abruptly that it seemed as though it had never been cast at all.

"What...?!"

While Erika stood paralyzed in bewilderment, Bennett reacted instantly, grabbing her arm and hauling her back toward the police headquarters. The very moment they crossed back into the lobby, a sickening blue light cascaded down from the heavens. The eerie, hypnotic Blue Moon hung suspended above for several agonizing minutes before fading into the murky gloom once more.

"W-Why didn't the spell...?"

"That doesn't matter right now."

True to her nature as an academic mage, Erika wanted to analyze the anomaly and figure out what had gone wrong, but Bennett tapped her shoulder, snapping her back to reality. This was a dungeon. Here, survival and escape took absolute precedence over intellectual curiosity.

"It appears to possess a magic nullification ability," Bennett said calmly. "And with the weapons we carry, inflicting sufficient physical trauma seems just as unlikely."

Though Bennett possessed his otherworldly Psionic Energy, he had no way of knowing whether it would penetrate that defense either.

"We slip past it."

"Will that work?"

Bennett shifted his gaze back toward the courtyard outside. The giant zombie, which had briefly hauled itself upright in response to Erika's magic, had already slumped back down, staring blankly at the asphalt. For reasons unknown, it seemed content to rest. If they didn't provoke it, there was a fair chance it would remain dormant until they reached the entrance to the underground parking garage.

"We'll use those iron husks as cover."

Kyle, Edgar, and Erika looked in the direction he indicated. Scattered haphazardly along the road leading to the underground entrance were hulking lumps of metal. Some were relatively intact, while others were charred black as though caught in an inferno. In the dungeon world, these machines were called 'automobiles,' though neither Bennett nor his companions had any concept of such things. Regardless of their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠origins, the metallic hulks were large enough to conceal a grown man. If they advanced from one to the next with utmost care, slipping underground without drawing notice seemed plausible.

There was no telling when the Blue Moon might rise again. Without wasting another breath, the party began to move.

A frigid wind howled across the pavement. Inhaling the acrid stench of scorched rubber and stale decay, the group crept out into the open courtyard.

Move.

Exchanging silent hand signals, the party advanced in single file: Edgar, Kyle, Erika, and Bennett bringing up the rear. They moved with ghostlike discretion, and their stealth seemed to pay off; the gargantuan zombie showed no sign of waking.

...At least, until Edgar made an unfortunate misstep.

Clang.

The heavy mace resting in Edgar's grip accidentally clipped the side panel of a pristine sedan.

HONK! HONK! HONK!

A deafening, shrill alarm blared across the open parking lot.

"W-What the hell?!"

Edgar froze in horror, and the others were equally shaken. None of them could have anticipated that tapping a dead slab of metal would cause it to howl with such ear-splitting frenzy.

Grrrk?

The slumped abomination jerked its head up, scanning the perimeter. Though the party scrambled behind the nearest car, the mutant's grotesquely enlarged eyeball immediately spotted their silhouettes cowering behind the frame. Seeing the colossus surge toward them, Bennett shoved his comrades forward with all his might.

CRASH!

The vehicle behind them took a colossal kick and went cartwheeling into the sky. Thanks to Bennett's decisive shove, Kyle, Edgar, and Erika were spared from the crushing blow and bolted headlong toward the garage ramp. The behemoth pivoted to give chase, but its momentum jerked to a sudden halt as a flurry of bolts peppered its side.

Bennett had stepped out from behind cover, firing the Shooting Star in rapid succession.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

To an ordinary human, each quarrel would have been a lethal puncture, but to this towering mass of necrotic meat, it was little more than the prick of a sewing needle. Even so, it was more than enough to hijack the beast's undivided attention.

Enraged, the variant zombie unleashed a guttural roar, locked onto Bennett, and charged.

KRAAAAH!

With a single gargantuan stride, it erased dozens of meters in a fraction of a second. Bennett didn't panic. Keeping his cool, he calculated the distance and shifted his footwork with practiced precision. Though his Flash Sprint had already been spent, his agility of nearly forty points allowed him to weave through the debris and stay just beyond the creature's grasping claws.

Irritated by the agile ranger darting around its feet, the zombie abandoned its outstretched hands, wrenched a rusted car straight off the asphalt, and hurled it.

WHOOSH!

Seeing several tons of iron hurtling toward him, Bennett kicked off the ground and dived. The deafening roar of metal disintegrating echoed behind him. Though he had cleared the direct trajectory, the explosive shrapnel from the pulverized vehicle pelted him hard across the back.

CLANG—!

The lightweight dwarven breastplate forged by Balduin turned aside the jagged steel shards, but the sheer blunt force sent Bennett staggering. He quickly planted a hand on the pavement to recover his footing, yet the distance between them had narrowed perilously. The variant zombie rolled its singular eye upward, lunging forward to crush him beneath its palms.

BOOOM!

A torrential gale descended from above as something dropped out of the sky like a thunderbolt. The impact jolted the earth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so violently that Bennett was tossed into the air, and even the hulking zombie stumbled off balance.

What is that...?

A monstrous, corrupted bird stood before them, its massive wings unfurled in terrifying majesty. Impressive as its sheer size was, what truly chilled Bennett's blood were its eyes—blazing with an ominous crimson radiance that pierced the gloom like twin beacons of pure malice.

Grrrk?

Instinctively sensing an existential predator, the giant zombie recoiled, letting out a bewildered, trembling croak. The corrupted monstrous bird merely looked down upon the undead freak with disdainful arrogance.

Hesitating for only a second, the giant zombie hoisted another battered chassis and hurled it with all its might. It was a desperate, all-out strike, yet the monstrous bird merely let out a mocking rasp.

SHRRRK—!

With a single flick of a talon, the flying vehicle was cleanly sliced in two. The giant zombie lunged forward, but the monstrous bird was already airborne, kicking up another violent vortex of wind. Circling just out of the mutant's reach, the bird swept its talons downward. Flesh and muscle were carved away like wet clay until the once-mighty behemoth was reduced to a shredded pile of butchered meat.

Bennett didn't waste a heartbeat of the distraction; he sprinted toward the underground garage entrance at top speed.

SQUELCH!

Driving its razor beak straight into the giant zombie's solitary eye, the bird burst it like an overripe fruit. The shredded carcass, which had stubbornly clung to unlife, went completely limp. Spitting out the foul vitreous fluid, the bird turned its crimson gaze toward Bennett.

The eerie crimson light streaming from its eyes sharpened into an oppressive psychic malice. Just inches from the parking ramp, Bennett's knees buckled, and he dropped hard onto the concrete.

—He is waiting for you.

Bennett didn't even have the luxury to read the system window. Battered by an overwhelming psychic wave, he clenched his jaw until his teeth groaned under the strain. His thoughts turned to mush, spinning wildly as though his consciousness were being dragged into an abyssal maw. He commanded his limbs to crawl toward the threshold, but his body refused to obey his will.

—Give up this futile resistance.

A mocking laughter seemed to echo inside his skull.

Hummmm.

It was at that desperate brink that the dormant Psionic Energy within his body flared to life. Flowing upward like cool spring water, the energy gently enveloped Bennett's mind.

The invasive telepathic intrusion shattered instantly, washed clean without leaving a trace. A faint screech of panic from the monstrous bird seemed to graze his senses. The murky haze clouding his vision evaporated, and strength surged back into his limp muscles.

Snapping back to full alertness, Bennett launched himself forward in a desperate dive toward the subterranean garage ramp. Kyle and Edgar, who had been waiting right past the threshold, caught him securely in their arms.

SLAM!

"Ugh, crazy bird bastard!"

"Hurry, deeper into the basement!"

The bird thrust its massive, scythe-like talons into the narrow entryway, ripping through concrete and steel, missing them by mere inches. Only after descending fully into Basement 1 did the party finally catch their breath.

Above, the ceiling rattled violently as the abomination tore at the entrance, but after a few moments, a gust of wind signaled that it had abandoned the hunt and taken back to the skies. As the party paused to steady their racing hearts, Edgar bowed his head in sheepish contrition.

"I'm sorry, Bennett-nim."

"Don't be."

Bennett shook his head. Given that they were inside a dungeon, such unpredictable accidents were an everyday hazard. Moreover, the monstrous bird's actions had clearly targeted him from the outset. Had it not been for the giant zombie acting as a buffer and his own Psionic Energy breaking the psychic hold, he likely would have been abducted right then and there.

What unsettled his nerves most, however, was the title etched into the system window.

The Corrupted Religious Ruler.

The phrasing was inextricably tied to the peculiar idol carried by the dark mage he had slain back in the Blockaded Prison. Fanatics seeking to retrieve that statue had pursued him in the home continent, and he had faced an ambush here in the dungeon world as well. Whether the entity behind that effigy hailed from modern Earth or had crossed over from his own realm remained a mystery. But one fact stood indisputable: it possessed influence across both worlds, and that influence was far too terrifying to ignore.

"Whew...!"

A sudden, overwhelming rush forced Bennett down to one knee once more.

"Bennett-nim?!"

Startled, the party rushed to his side, but Bennett couldn't process their anxious voices. Waves of exhilaration and vitality burst through every vessel in his body—an electrifying sensation more intense than any level-up he had experienced so far, making his chest throb with raw power.

The choice was obvious.

The moment he selected Enhanced Auditory Perception, a sensation like a pair of clogged ears popping struck Bennett. Immediately, every faint scuffle, drip of moisture, and distant tremor in the dungeon amplified into crystal clarity.

"Bennett-nim, are you hurt? We have healing potions here—"

"No, I'm fine."

Recovering his composure, Bennett waved a dismissive hand.

"Are you truly all right?"

"Yes."

Seeing his calm, unshakeable demeanor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠return, the companions breathed a collective sigh of relief and let their racing pulses settle.

"Anyone injured?"

"All intact, sir."

"Then let's keep moving."

Taking a brief respite to chew on strips of dried jerked meat, Bennett and his party formally began their descent. Unlike the police headquarters above, which had at least been illuminated by flickering emergency strips, the subterranean parking facility was swallowed in pitch-black gloom. With the exception of Bennett, whose Night Vision pierced the shadows, the rest of the party was effectively blind. Only after Erika conjured floating orbs of magical light did they secure an adequate field of vision.

Basement 1 was virtually abandoned. Thick concrete pillars supporting the ceiling stood in regimented rows, yet the spaces where vehicles should have parked were completely barren.

Near the access ramp leading down to Basement 2, an unusual barricade had been erected. The wide driveway was partitioned into several narrow pedestrian corridors, cordoned off by woven stanchion belts designed to force people into orderly lines. Bennett checked a makeshift folding table standing beside the checkpoint, but found nothing of value—only stacks of waterlogged, moldy paperwork.

Stepping toward the descent, Bennett gestured forward.

"This way."

The ramp curving down into Basement 2 was gentle, its concrete floor scored with deliberate grooves of unknown purpose. Aside from the physical construction, directional arrows and unfamiliar Dungeon Language were stamped upon the walls. Though the party couldn't read the script, the arrows made the intent unmistakable: Proceed this way.

Unlike the desolate upper level, Basement 2 was packed with equipment and furniture. Rows of cot-style camp beds and head-height privacy partitions were arranged at regular intervals, clearly organized to house a large civilian population.

"Doesn't seem to be any zombies around," Kyle observed softly.

Bennett's eyes confirmed the same. Perhaps because the monstrous variant had been guarding the perimeter above, no other threats lurked in the immediate vicinity. Though skeletons draped in rotted fabric were slumped here and there, the dead remained dead, posing no danger.

"Fan out and search."

"Understood!"

Erika conjured several luminous spheres and affixed them against the high ceiling, bathing the cavernous shelter in bright, pale light.

"I'll take that sector," Bennett said, pointing toward a dense cluster of partitions.

"Are you certain, Bennett-nim? That looks like the most congested area."

"Which is precisely why I should take it. If something goes wrong, I can slip out easiest."

"Understood."

The sector Bennett had chosen was crowded with temporary living quarters. He wove through the narrow aisles, checking lockers and overturned storage bins for scavengeable supplies. Unfortunately, the pickings were meager. Very little remained intact, and the few knickknacks left behind were shattered or decayed beyond utility.

Bennett clicked his tongue in quiet disappointment, then suddenly froze.

Hm?

A strange sensation brushed against his toes—a peculiar, elastic resistance, like wading through a cushion of dense, invisible silk. Turning his head, Bennett saw that the pathway he had just walked through was now sealed by an opaque, shimmering barrier.

He recognized this magic instantly; he had even used similar scrolls himself in the past. It was a containment barrier deployed to isolate a designated area from the outside world. It completely suppressed all sound leakage, and unless granted permission by the caster, no outsider could breach its perimeter.

It was a premeditated trap.

Soft, stealthy footfalls approached from the shadows. The interloper had taken great pains to mask their stride, but to Bennett's newly enhanced hearing, every whisper of cloth was glaringly obvious.

"Show yourself."

A familiar trace of perfume drifted through the stale air.

"Hello there, stranger."

"...Sasha."

Emerging slowly from between the partitions came Sasha—the sharp, seductive mercenary with an androgynous wolf cut framing her mocking smile.