When we opened our eyes, we found ourselves not under the scorching desert sun, but in the midst of a strange and surreal realm.

The ground beneath our feet was a massive, circular landmass, suspended in the air. At its very center stood a colossal, pillar-like ancient building, shattered halfway as if struck by the wrath of a god, soaring toward the clouds.

For a moment, Fredrinn and I scanned our surroundings with curious eyes.

The outside world consisted of, in the truest sense of the word, a vast nothingness.

Beyond this floating island and the ruin upon it, there was no other land in our field of vision. Only a bottomless, infinite blue stretched out.

The sky was even stranger; in place of the familiar sun, a black sun shone, casting a pale, sickly light upon its surroundings.

I picked up a small stone from the ground and tossed it toward the void. The stone began to fall, obeying gravity. For seconds, this descent continued, until that small stone was lost to sight within the bottomless blue.

"What do you suppose lies beyond this place?" Fredrinn asked. He, like me, sensed the strangeness and unease of this situation. Was this our world, or a false, illusory dimension created by the ruin itself? We had no idea.

I could have descended and explored this whole terrain, but to be honest, I was afraid. I didn't know what awaited me in the depths of this bottomless void. I set my curiosity aside. The only thing we needed to focus on right now was that massive building before us.

I pointed to the wide stairs that ascended to the first floor of the ruin and began to walk. Fredrinn followed behind me, sword drawn, on high alert.

The moment we stepped through the building's arched entryway, a damp and musty air hit our faces. The walls were covered with complex hieroglyphs and golden decorations that, while now aged and chipped in places, spoke of a former grandeur.

We began to climb the stairs. As we ascended, my eyes were inevitably drawn to the images carved into the wall. "Just like the last ruin... another tragic story, then," I muttered. I could say I liked stories. With curious and slow steps, I began to observe the images on the wall.

The first images depicted a mighty man with a majestic crown on his head. Wielding a golden sword, he led the vast army behind him. He joined wars, slaughtered monsters, and emerged from every one with absolute victory.

In another image, this crowned man was depicted showing mercy to the people of the lands he conquered. His hand was seen extended reassuringly toward the defenseless people kneeling before him.

The images continued in this vein; the man fought wars, expanded his kingdom. It was clear in every aspect that he was a great and just king.

In another image, the king was depicted falling in love with a beautiful woman and marrying her.

He lived his life happily, raising his children. However, in the final image of the series, the queen's belly was abnormally large. She was pregnant, but depicted with an excessively large, almost supernatural stomach. And there were no more images.

I sighed. I could guess this part of the story. We climbed the last step and finally arrived on the first floor.

The moment we stepped into a wide, columned hall, we were greeted by ordinary, dog-faced, mummified guards.

Their bodies were wrapped in filthy rags, and they held double-sided, sickle-like curved swords.

As soon as they saw us, they charged at us with a barking, guttural sound coming from their throats. They weren't very strong; just ordinary monsters, at the First or Second Star level.

Fredrinn didn't even give them a chance. Effortlessly, he coated his sword in a dark purple aura and unleashed a flat, wide, devastating cut.

The wave of dark energy spread throughout the entire room. All the guards rushing us were bisected cleanly at the torso and fell lifelessly to the ground.

The sword's cut didn't just scythe through the monsters; it didn't stop, leaving a deep, vertical gash on the far wall of the ruin.

From within the lifeless mummies that fell to the ground, black, smoke-like life essences seeped out, abandoning the corpses.

The moment their life essences were drawn out, the bodies rapidly turned to dust, leaving only piles of dirty rags and dust on the floor.

The dark life essences rose toward the ceiling like smoke, trying to spread to the upper floors.

But I couldn't allow that. "Chaos Flames!"

The dark flames that burst from my hand caught those black life essences before they could reach the upper floor, turning them to nothingness amidst their screams.

Because I knew very well where those life essences were headed: to the dungeon boss. Every guard we killed meant a new power boost added to the boss, if those essences reached it. We couldn't let that happen.

I looked at Fredrinn. "That was a good sword strike, partner."

"Just a warm-up," he grumbled. "Come on, let's get to the next floor. I don't want to spend too much time in this ruin."

It was clear this damp and dark place wasn't having a good effect on Fredrinn.

We walked to the stairs leading to the second floor. As we climbed, I looked at the shapes on the wall again. The story continued. This time, the aforementioned ruler's child was finally born. But as a price for this, the child's mother had lost her life.

The child, as it appeared from the images... was not normal. It had a human body and a dog's head. An anomaly.

The cursed son of the great and magnificent, monster-slaying, perfect king... It was as if fate was mocking him, having dealt him this cruel injustice.

The child's ostracism by his family, his acceptance as a monster, was conveyed, albeit implicitly, in a painful way in the images. Since the day he was born, he had not once been treated as a human. Some images were covered in dried bloodstains, as if scratched in anger. Others were damaged with massive claw marks, the child's face rendered unrecognizable.

In the next image, the child, now grown, was in an abandoned temple. His hands were open, praying to a dark god. As if the god was answering him, black stains representing dark energy were depicted flowing toward him from an altar.

This was the end of the images on this floor. The continuation was most likely on the next. I don't know why, but deciphering these images in the ruins felt partly entertaining, partly sorrowful. Someone being abandoned, ostracized, just for being born different... I felt as if, for a moment, I saw myself in his place.

The architecture of the second floor was also nearly identical to the first. There was no difference.

This time, too, we were met by dozens of dog-faced guards, not much different from the last. The only difference was the addition of four large, orc-like, one-eyed giants standing in the corners of the room.

Fredrinn, as always, took a step forward. The ordinary guards tried to swarm us, thirsty for death, but this time they were met by the rain of Lightning Spears I had created. Electrically charged spears raining from the sky pierced them all through in seconds and scattered them to the ground.

Fredrinn, meanwhile, had already dived among the giants, moving skillfully with that massive sword of his. He caused one giant to collapse by cutting its leg at the heel. As the giant fell to the ground, roaring in pain, Fredrinn cut its neck and separated its head from its body.

He skillfully dodged another giant's massive fist by leaping backward. Just then, he severed the arm of another giant, which was swinging a large stone club at him, with a clean cut at the elbow.

The giant's arm, now held only by a piece of skin, exposed the marrow of its bones. The giant shrieked in pain. At that moment, a large Lightning Spear I had prepared impaled the giant's single eye, finishing its business instantly.

The other two giants were enveloped by the Chaos Chains I had summoned, their movements restricted.

Fredrinn seized this opportunity, beheading both giants at the same time with a single, powerful sword strike.

When the battle ended, the monsters again turned to dust, and those ominous black life essences once more tried to flow upward. But I was ready again. The Chaos Flames caught them and turned them to nothingness.

There were five more floors to conquer.

After a brief recovery, we continued to climb the stairs again. Fredrinn walked silently, lost in thought. I, too, was focused on the images on the wall again.

When the dog-headed child emerged from that dark temple, he looked the same, but it was clear something indescribable had changed in him.

With every step he took toward the palace, it was as if the dog-headed child was changing, transforming.

His body grew larger, his claws and teeth grew, his body taking on an abnormal, hunched form. Glowing, runed rags, like those wrapping a mummy, began to envelop his body.

Moment by moment, that ostracized child continued to change. Until nothing human remained of him. In the end, he had transformed completely into a monster.

He had set his path for the palace. He cut down everything that stood in his way with his massive size and the terrifying sickles that had appeared in his hands. Every living being he killed, soldiers, civilians... they all, just like him, turned into dog-faced mummies.

Children, women, the elderly... it didn't matter. Those people who had once cast looks of disgust at him, now died at his hands. As he advanced toward the palace, he left behind a great destruction and an undead army, his eyes fixed on the palace's massive, golden gate.

The moment I realized this was the last image, I quickened my steps. I was impatient to see the continuation of this tragic story.

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