I exhaled slowly, my breath coming out in a faint mist.


    Standing around wasn’t going to help me.


    If this really was some kind of underground dungeon, then I needed to find a way out before something—or someone—found me first.


    Keeping close to the cavern walls, I started moving, careful not to make too much noise. My footsteps echoed slightly against the stone, the eerie blue glow from the embedded crystals casting long, shifting shadows as I walked.


    The deeper I went, the more unsettling things became.


    My eyes landed on something—massive claw marks, gouged deep into the rock face.


    I stopped dead in my tracks.


    “…Nope. That’s not a good sign.”


    These weren’t just random scratches. They were deliberate—huge, jagged slashes that ran across the cavern walls like something had been trying to rip through solid stone. The sheer depth of the marks sent a chill through me.


    Whatever made these wasn’t just big. It was monstrous.


    I swallowed, shaking off the unease and pushing forward.


    As I moved deeper, I started noticing remnants of old camps.


    A rusted fire pit, surrounded by scattered bones. Torn and rotting backpacks, half-buried under rubble. Rusty weapons and shattered armor lay abandoned in the dirt, as if the owners had either fled… or never got the chance to.


    I crouched next to one of the decayed bedrolls, running a hand over the fabric. It crumbled at my touch, breaking apart like dried leaves.


    “…Some of these are ancient.”


    Whoever had come here before me—they didn’t make it out.


    A sharp crack echoed somewhere in the distance, like stone shifting under pressure.


    I froze, my body tensing.


    I wasn’t alone.


    ———————————


    A deep, guttural growl rolled through the cavern, vibrating through the stone walls.


    I stopped breathing.


    The sound was low, primal, and impossibly deep, like the earth itself was groaning in warning. My instincts screamed at me to hide.


    Slowly, carefully, I crouched low and peered around a massive boulder.


    And my breath caught in my throat.


    A colossal creature prowled through the cavern, its very presence distorting the air around it.


    It was the size of a building, its massive frame covered in obsidian-like scales, each one lined with veins of molten fire that pulsed with heat. Its body radiated power, the cavern floor beneath it glowing faintly from the sheer heat it emitted. Every step it took sent cracks through the stone, the air shimmering around its hulking form.


    My heart pounded as my vision suddenly flickered, and another blue screen materialized in front of me.


    [Monster Identified]


    [Name: Infernal Titan Behemoth]


    [Rank:] SS+


    [Level:] ???


    [Danger Level:] CERTAIN DEATH


    WHAT THE HELL—?!


    I barely held in a curse, my whole body going rigid.


    SS+?! CERTAIN DEATH?!


    I wasn’t even Level 2 yet! There wasn’t a single reality where I could fight something like that and live.


    As I was still processing my inevitable doom, the Infernal Titan Behemoth suddenly shifted its head slightly.


    The tiny movement alone sent a shockwave of pressure through the cavern.


    The sheer force crushed the air from my lungs, my ears ringing as an invisible weight pressed down on me. My knees buckled, my body instinctively trying to submit to the overwhelming presence of the monster.


    I need to get out of here.


    I didn’t think. I didn’t plan.


    I RAN.


    Spinning on my heel, I bolted down the cavern path, my boots slamming against the stone floor.


    I didn’t care where I was going—as long as it was far, far away from that thing.


    —————————


    I didn’t stop. I didn’t even dare look back.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    The Infernal Titan Behemoth didn’t immediately chase me, but that didn’t mean I was safe.


    The air still vibrated with its presence, waves of heat rolling off it like the breath of an active volcano. Staying anywhere near that thing was suicidal.


    I had to get out of here.


    My boots pounded against the uneven cavern floor as I sprinted deeper into the dungeon, weaving through jagged rock formations and towering ruins. My lungs burned, but fear kept my legs moving.


    Then I saw them.


    More monsters.


    Dozens. Hundreds.


    Abominations that looked like they belonged in nightmares.


    A hulking, six-eyed beast with obsidian claws tore through a pack of smaller creatures, its fanged jaws snapping through bone like wet paper. A serpentine creature, wrapped in jagged scales, hissed as it coiled around another monster, crushing it until blood sprayed across the cavern floor.


    Every single one of them radiated power—the kind of overwhelming aura that made my skin prickle and my instincts scream at me to turn around.


    I clenched my teeth.


    “This entire place is a damn death trap.”


    A sudden gust of wind roared past me.


    I barely managed to dodge-roll to the side as a massive wyvern swooped down, its razor-sharp talons scraping against the stone where I had just been standing.


    Too close. WAY too close.


    I kept running, weaving between the towering rock formations like a rat trying to escape a den full of starving wolves. I wasn’t even worth fighting to these monsters. If they noticed me, it would be instant death.


    Then, just as I was about to collapse from exhaustion, my eyes landed on something—


    A small opening in the rock.


    It was narrow—barely wide enough for me to crawl through—but right now? It was my best shot.


    I dove for it, throwing myself forward and scrambling inside, my arms and legs scraping against the rough stone. I barely managed to squeeze through, my breath ragged as I pulled myself into the tight passage.


    Darkness swallowed me.


    But at least, for now—


    I was alive.


    —————————


    I barely had time to catch my breath.


    The narrow crawlspace I had squeezed into felt like a temporary haven—a momentary escape from the nightmare of this dungeon.


    But that illusion shattered in an instant.


    A sudden gust of wind—no, a shockwave—slammed into me like a freight train, knocking me off my feet.


    “Gah—!”


    I hit the ground hard, my body skidding against the rough stone. Dust and debris scattered into the air, stinging my eyes as I struggled to push myself up.


    Then—


    The entire dungeon trembled.


    A deep, earth-shattering roar exploded through the cavern, a sound so immense, so overwhelming that I felt it in my very bones.


    It wasn’t just loud—it was primal. A voice that commanded everything beneath it.


    And it had come from above me.


    My breath caught in my throat as I forced myself to look up—


    And every thought in my head vanished.


    A colossal dragon, far beyond anything I could have ever imagined, slowly uncoiled itself from what I had stupidly mistaken for a mountain of obsidian-like scales.


    Towering. Majestic. Terrifying.


    Its wings, folded neatly at its sides, looked large enough to blot out the entire cavern ceiling if fully spread. Its body radiated heat, veins of liquid fire pulsing beneath its thick black scales, each one gleaming with an unnatural sheen.


    Then, its head lowered, and I found myself staring directly into its burning golden eyes—


    Ancient. Intelligent. Absolute.


    I couldn’t breathe.


    The sheer pressure it emitted was beyond anything I had ever felt. It wasn’t just power—it was authority.


    My legs nearly buckled on instinct.


    This wasn’t just some mindless beast.


    This was a king. A ruler. A god of monsters.


    And I was nothing but an insect in its domain.


    I needed to move.


    I needed to run.


    But before I could even react—