The moment his shoes passed the outer ring of the runes, the floor beneath Shane erupted with light.

  Shane walked toward the middle of the curse circle, his hands buried deep in his pockets. His posture was relaxed, as if he was strolling to a convenience store. If it weren’t for the bloody coat swaying against his knees, he wouldn’t have looked out of place on a city street.

  “Oh god,” Josh breathed.

  The obisidian tiles began to vibrate with a low hum that rattled his teeth.

  “Idiot! Get out of there!” His voice cracked as the vibration intensified.

  The trap was reacting much more violently than before. When his party member had stumbled onto the hidden runes earlier, they had merely glowed, before locking her in the curse circle.

  But this time, the mana density was spiking exponentially, as if it needed stronger chains to bind Shane.

  The light expanded, hitting the walls and climbing the pillars before illuminating the ceiling above. Josh shielded his eyes, squinting through the glare.

  He didn’t want to admit it, but for a horrifying second, he found himself thinking it was beautiful. The outer rings of light spun rapidly, the runes bleeding off the obsidian and rising into the air. They formed sharp, translucent teeth that rotated like the gears of a meat grinder.

  With the speed of a striking viper, chains of radiance shot up from the ground to bind Shane’s limbs as the grinders approached.

  Josh flinched, but there was nothing he could do.

  To help, he’d have to touch the circle himself, which would lead to just adding another victim to the pile. He waited for the inevitable sight of the strange hunter to succumb to the [Nightmare Shackle]’s malice.

  But as the mandala approached, Shane waved his hand in a single motion like he was swatting away an annoying fly.

  Ping.

  A sound, crisp and delicate, like a silver spoon tapping against a wine glass, resounded from the contact.

  Josh realized that the chains that should’ve bound Shane had already shattered the moment they had touched the hem of Shane’s coat, which was why he could freely move his hand.

  What was going on? The spinning rings of light stuttered, their rotation grinding to a halt against an invisible force.

  Josh’s [Appraisal] skill sent an automatic message.

  [WARNING]

  [The Nightmare Shackle has reached a critical breaking point.]

  Shit, that wasn’t good.

  “Cover your eyes!” Josh yelled, pushing a nearby tank’s head down as he buried his own face in the crook of his elbow.

  The world turned white.

  The flash bleached the room of color, stripping away even the shadows. A thunderclap slammed against his eardrums, right before a shockwave of pure force almost knocked him off his feet.

  And, just as suddenly as it started, everything went quiet.

  The only thing he could hear was the high-pitched ringing in his ears—a siren warning of what had happened.

  Feeling the glow weaken through his closed eyelids, Josh opened his eyes. The blinding white gave way to a thick, rolling haze of dissipated mana that drifted across the chamber like morning fog on a battlefield.

  Coughing, he scrambled to his feet and blinked away the spots from his vision, trying to focus on the center of the room. He couldn’t see Shane nor the swordswoman, Elodie, that had been caught in the curse.

  “Hunter Miller... are they...?”

  Instead of answering, Josh reached into his core to activate his [Appraisal] eye—but before he could see through the smoke, the floor shook.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Thoom.

  Josh froze. Was the temple collapsing? Had the explosion damaged the structure of the dungeon somehow?

  Thoom.

  But, no, this wasn’t an aftershock. It was too rhythmic.

  It was a footstep.

  Josh slowly turned around. He and his party had been positioned near the rear of the chamber, their backs to the massive double doors, which they had presumed was the entrance to the Boss Room.

  The doors were now standing wide open.

  Darkness spilled out, thicker than the shadows in the hall. And within it, a giant coalesced, reaching all the way to the ceiling.

  As it materialized into a solid form in the lingering haze, Josh felt his blood turn into ice water.

  Even bigger than the A-rank Giant Stone Golem, the monster scraped its shoulders against the lower architectural arches near the walls.

  It was a ragged amalgamation of ancient granite, so dark it resembled the obsidian of the floor, with clumps of moss and grave dirt clinging like epaulettes. Its head was a featureless, rectangular boulder, save for a single vertical slit down the center that glowed with red light.

  The impossible mass of the creature made the vast hall feel claustrophobic.

  [WARNING]

  [A catastrophic threat is rapidly closing in on your location.]

  [The Dungeon Boss has abandoned its throne to engage intruders!]

  A crimson text popped up.

  [King Golem (S)]

  A relic from the Age of Twilight. Originally created to guard the Hallowed Halls, this construct has fused with the grave soil and the resentment of the thousands of warriors it has buried.

  “No,” Josh whispered, taking a step back. “No, no, no. Shit, shit!”

  Why was a boss leaving its designated domain?

  They weren’t supposed to just walk out. Had the curse circle been some sort of a seal, and Shane’s effort of interfering with it broke the lock that kept this thing contained?

  The red eye swept across the room, the light cutting through the fog like a laser. As it moved, a momentary trail of crimson hung in the air before fading into the haze.

  Josh held his breath.

  The explosion had filled the chamber with a soup of thick dust. He prayed it could act as a veil and signaled his party members with his eyes to slip into the corridor. If they could make it out unnoticed—

  But the streak of red light halted, looking directly at the group of tiny humans.

  “Run!”

  Josh spun toward the shout. Henry, a B-rank tank, was already moving, positioning himself between the party and the approaching titan.

  “Henry, wait!”

  It was too late. The idiot was fully committed.

  Space warped in his grip as he sprinted, dragging a massive warhammer from his inventory into reality.

  A golden aura erupted from him.

  “[Blessed Shield]!”

  The air around Josh and the others wavered as a translucent cube encased them.

  Dual activation.

  The B-ranker had cast a shield skill on his team while simultaneously channeling mana into his combat skill—a feat that was usually impossible for someone of his rank.

  “I’ll slow it down! Go!”

  The brave fool charged the S-rank monster, an ant flying straight into the face of a storm.

  His giant hammer began to glow with a blinding gold light, the [Divine Hammer] skill charging to its peak. He used his momentum to pivot and swing with everything he had—aiming for the Golem’s knee joint, the one place where the iron plating seemed thinnest.

  The screech of tortured metal rang through the room. Sparks showered from the point of impact as it lit up the gloomy lower half of the Golem.

  But he didn’t even leave a dent. Instead, the giant’s passive skill seemed to have activated. Josh’s [Appraisal] skill alerted him immediately.

  [Skill: Iron Mirror (S)]

  No insect may dare to touch the King. A barrier of absolute authority is created over the user’s skin. Any physical or magical strike of A-rank or below will be rejected and returned to the attacker’s body.

  The collision sent the hammer bouncing back with force, dragging Henry with it. The tank flew like a ragdoll before slamming into his own [Blessed Shield] that was protecting his party. He slid down the golden barrier, unconscious.

  With the caster out cold, the shield instantly dissolved, leaving the party exposed.

  The monster hadn’t even paused its stride, continuing to walk as if nothing had happened.

  “Henry!” One of the hunters screamed.

  The colossus towered over them and raised a foot that looked like a massive block of stone before bringing it crashing down right on top of Henry.

  The party’s archer nocked three arrows, while Josh dove forward, grabbed the tank under the armpit, and hauled him out of the way just as the foot pulverized the floor.

  Three arrows struck the Golem’s face. Tink. Tink. Tink. They bounced off like toothpicks.

  The Golem didn’t even seem to register the attack.

  When Josh got the kid’s arm over his shoulder, a shadow fell over him.

  He looked up.

  The King Golem was bringing down its fist the size of a truck. The air around the hand distorted as gravity itself seemed to bend under the crushing weight of the stone.

  It was too fast.

  As if it had been feigning sluggishness, only to crush them when they underestimated its speed.

  A searing crackle tore past, and Josh flinched as something streaked over his head. He almost missed it, but a lance of condensed flame smote the Golem’s chest and exploded.

  Sudden, dry heat blasted through, sucking the moisture out of his sweaty skin.

  The shockwave threw him backward, and he tumbled across the obsidian floor, his C-rank elbows grinding against the stone to slow down, but his grip on Henry held firm.

  He scrambled upright, blinking away the spots dancing in his vision.

  “What the—” he wheezed, looking up.

  Smoke poured from a crater in the massive tyrant’s chest as it began to tilt. The momentum of the fall was slow and surreal, like watching a mountain start to crumble before him.

  Josh looked at the direction the exploding skill had been launched. Through the haze, a silhouette appeared where the curse circle had originally been.

  It was Shane.

  And his expression, as he looked down at Josh, was still as bored as ever.

  Thunder erupted as the King Golem fell to the floor.