Chapter 1 The Betrayal Beneath The Abyss

Vaelith’s POV

The Crimson Abyss Dungeon was alive.

I could feel it breathing around me.

Every wall pulsed with crimson mana, glowing faintly while the air carried the scent of blood and decay.

The deeper we descended underground, the heavier the atmosphere became.

Most of the raid party failed to notice.

Amateurs.

Their armored boots scraped loudly against the stone floor behind me, echoing endlessly through the tunnels.

“Why did we stop?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Gareth, the knight’s impatient voice already grating on my nerves.

“Because you’re loud enough to wake everything in this dungeon,” I replied flatly.

Gareth scoffed. “We’ve slaughtered every monster we’ve seen so far.”

“No,” I corrected calmly, tightening my grip around my sword. “You slaughtered the weak ones.”

Silence followed immediately.

Even after years of fighting beside me, they still hated hearing truths they didn’t like.

The mage walking near the back swallowed nervously. “This place feels wrong…”

Because it was. I’d noticed it almost an hour ago. The missing corpses. The unnatural silence.

The lack of random monster attacks.

Dungeons didn’t behave like this. Especially not the Crimson Abyss.

A distant screech suddenly echoed through the tunnels.

Several adventurers flinched.

Gareth cursed under his breath. “What the hell was that?”

“I was wondering the same thing,” I murmured.

Which meant whatever made that sound was intelligent enough to stay hidden.

That was never good.

We continued moving carefully through the tunnel until the path finally opened into a massive underground chamber.

The moment I stepped inside, my instincts screamed at me.

Crimson crystals covered the walls, casting blood-red light across the cavern, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.

It was the gate.

A colossal stone gate towered at the center of the chamber, covered in ancient symbols nearly erased by time.

My heartbeat slowed.

No… Impossible.

I walked toward the gate before anyone could stop me.

“Vaelith?” the mage called cautiously.

I ignored her. Because I recognized the language carved into the stone.

Ancient.

Erased from every historical archive within the Holy Dominion. My fingers brushed against the dusty surface.

The symbols glowed faintly beneath my touch. And then I understood.

“…This dungeon wasn’t built to imprison monsters.”

“What?” Gareth barked.

The others stared at me. I kept reading silently, piecing together fragmented sentences from the ancient script.

Warnings. Records. History.

A cold feeling settled in my chest.

“This place…” I whispered slowly. “It used to be a kingdom.”

The chamber fell silent. The mage frowned. “A kingdom beneath a dungeon?”

“Yes.” My gaze darkened. “And according to these writings…”

I paused briefly.

“…humans destroyed it.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Gareth snapped immediately.

I looked at him coldly.

“Is it?”

His jaw tightened.

“History is written by the victors,” I continued quietly.

Another screech echoed through the chamber. Closer this time.

The raid party immediately drew their weapons.

“We should leave,” one adventurer muttered nervously.

For once, I agreed. Everything about this place felt wrong. But Gareth stepped toward the gate instead.

“Open it.”

I turned sharply. “That’s a mistake.”

“And since when do you give orders here?”

Before I could answer, another voice interrupted.

“Enough.”

Commander Seredin stepped forward, silver armor gleaming beneath the crimson light.

The entire raid party immediately lowered their heads respectfully. Even Gareth shut his mouth.

Seredin’s gaze settled on me calmly. “Can you open the gate?”

Every instinct I had screamed no. But refusing a direct order from a paladin commander of the Holy Dominion was practically suicide.

“…Yes,” I answered finally.

I placed both hands against the ancient stone. The moment mana flowed into the gate, the symbols ignited violently.

The entire chamber trembled.

BOOOOOOM!

Dust exploded into the air as the massive gate slowly opened. Then we saw it.

An underground city stretched endlessly beneath the dungeon.

Broken towers. Ancient streets. Crumbling statues. Ruins buried beneath centuries of darkness.

The entire raid party stood frozen.

“My gods…” someone whispered behind me.

But I wasn’t staring at the city itself. I was staring at what it lacked. There were no signs of battle. No destruction. No skeletons. Nothing. It looked abandoned.

Not conquered.

Cold realization crept down my spine.

“Commander,” I said quietly.

Seredin stepped beside me. “What is it?”

“This place wasn’t destroyed.”

His brow furrowed slightly.

“What do you mean?”

I stared at the silent city below.

“I think these people were erased.”

CLICK.

My eyes widened instantly. A mechanism.

“MOVE!”

BOOOOOOOOM!!

The ground exploded beneath us. Screams filled the chamber as several adventurers disappeared into darkness.

Spikes erupted from the stone floor.

Blood splattered across the crimson crystals. Chaos exploded instantly.

“IT’S A TRAP!”

“DEFEND THE MAGES!”

“GET BACK!”

Then the screeches came again. Every direction. Dozens of shadows emerged from the underground ruins below.

My grip tightened around my sword.

Creatures climbed over broken buildings with unnatural speed, their crimson eyes glowing hungrily in the darkness.

One of them lunged forward and tore through an adventurer’s armor like paper.

The man didn’t even finish screaming before his throat disappeared.

“Formation!” I shouted immediately.

Years of battlefield instinct took over. The surviving adventurers regrouped around me while panic spread through the chamber.

Too many enemies. Unknown terrain.

This wasn’t a raid anymore.

It was a slaughter.

“We retreat NOW!” I ordered.

But nobody moved. Something felt wrong.

I turned toward Seredin and froze.

He was smiling.

A cold chill crawled down my spine.

“…Commander?”

Seredin slowly looked at me.

“You truly are brilliant, Vaelith.”

My eyes narrowed.

“What?”

Gareth suddenly laughed behind me.

Several adventurers stepped away from me nervously. Not from the monsters. From me.

The realization hit instantly. My chest tightened. No…

“You were never supposed to leave this dungeon alive,” Seredin said calmly.

Silence rang louder than the screams around us.

The mage’s face turned pale.

“Commander…?”

He ignored her completely.

“The nobles feared you,” he continued, removing his helmet slowly. “And the Holy Dominion feared you even more.”

I looked around carefully.

One by one… The adventurers raised their weapons toward me.

Not the monsters.

“You planned this,” I said quietly.

Gareth smirked. “Congratulations. You finally figured it out.”

Rage flickered through my chest, but my face remained calm.

“Why?” I asked.

Seredin’s expression darkened slightly.

“Because intelligent men eventually become dangerous.”

The creatures surrounding the underground city screeched louder.

Closing in. They brought me here to die.

Seredin stepped backward slowly.

“Kill him.”

The adventurers hesitated. I almost laughed. After everything I’d done for them… After every battle I led them through alive… This was how it ended.

Not by monsters. Not by war. But by human greed.

A bitter smile tugged at my

lips.

“You know…” I said softly.

Dark mana suddenly pulsed violently through the underground city beneath us.

“I always wondered what would kill me first.”

My silver eyes met Seredin’s cold gaze.

“Monsters…”

The dungeon trembled.

“…or humans.”

Then something deep beneath the ruins opened its eyes.