Audi wiped the grease from his lips with the back of his hand, his gaze locked on the massive beast before them. The Big Bad Wolf prowled in slow, deliberate circles, its yellow eyes glowing like twin nterns in the dark. The air was thick with tension, the st of blood fresh from the fallen recruits.

  "Before we die, I gotta ask," Audi said, keeping his voice steady despite the looming threat. "Why'd you sign up for this? Being an adventurer, I mean."

  Dodge g him, her crimson eyes gleaming uhe dim torchlight. She exhaled, rolling her shoulders as if preparing for the iable fight ahead. "Because I o get to the vampire vilge," she said, voice ced with quiet determination. "It's on the fortieth floor of the Tower. My father... he's there. I want to know why he left us. Why he abandoned my family."

  There was ation in her words, no attempt to mask the emotions buried beh them. Audi studied her for a moment, then gave a small nod. "You tellihis 'cause you think we're not getting out of here?"

  Dodge let out a short, humorless chuckle. "Something like that."

  Audi sighed. "Well, if we do survive this, what job are you gonna take? 'Cause holy, I have no clue what mine is yet."

  Dodge smirked. Without a word, she reached behind her bad pulled out a on that gleamed uhe flickering dungeon lights—a double-barreled shotgun. She flipped it open, revealing two loaded shells, then s shut with a satisfying click.

  "Gunner," she said, leveling the on at the beast before them.

  The Big Bad Wolf let out a low growl, its muscles tensing as it prepared to lunge.

  Audi cracked his knuckles, a grin f on his lips. "Well then, Gunner, let's make it outta here so you see that vilge."

  With a deafening roar, the beast charged.

  **The Battle Begins**

  Audi remembered his sister's words—*Imagihe hit in your hand.* g his fist tightly, he focused. A chilliion coursed through his arm, and when he opened his hand, his fist was encased in frozen energy, a thin veil of smoke rising from its surface.

  As Audi ched his fist, frost crackled over his knuckles, spreading in jagged patterns across his skin. The sensation wasn't just was familiar. A memory, buried deep within his fractured past, surged to the surface.

  This isn't the first time I've wielded ice…

  Fshes of another life flickered in his mind.

  He wasn't just some noob Zombie fumbling with magic.

  He was a Lich.

  No—The General of Magic.

  The title came with weight, power, and responsibility. Asding to a General Lich had required a trial of blood—defeating a Legendary Hero in bat. He had do. He had stood at the peak of neantic magianding the dead, twistiy with sorcery beyond mortal prehension.

  A, somehow, he had fallen.

  Not to a grand army. Not to anend.

  But to a party of noob adventurers.

  Because his power—his very essence as a Lich—had been stripped away. The Global Silent Skill of a certain Legendary General Hero had sealed him, leaving him vulnerable, and weakened. A godlike being reduced to nothing.

  Until now.

  As frost pulsed through his fingers, he smirked.

  "Looks like I'm getting a piece of it back."

  But before they could celebrate, the beast roared again.

  Without warning, the Big Bad Wolf lunged forward and ss jaws shut—this time, around the heads of fallen recruits. With siing ches, their bodies went limp, blood poolih them.

  "ROOOOAAARR!"

  The wolf's bellow shook the dungeon as two smaller wolves emerged from the darkness—one bck, one white. Their eyes glowed with eerie malice.

  Dodge wasted no time. She fired at the approag wolves, but they were too fast, dodging the bullets with agile movements.

  "Tch—damn things are quick," she muttered, reloading in a fsh.

  Audi lunged forward, his icy fist swinging at the wolves, but they weaved through his attacks like shadows. His mind raced. *We 't keep this up. Need a pn…*

  Then, aruck him.

  As the Bd White Wolves leaped at him, Audi didn't dodge. Instead, he let frost spread over his shoulders a, hardening into an icy armor.

  The wolves cmped their fangs onto his frozen limbs.

  "Audi!" Dodge shouted in arm.

  But Audi didn't flinch. He focused, eling his power into the frost-covered areas. Ice pulsed outward, creeping over the wolves like a living curse. Their movements slowed, then stopped entirely—frozen solid.

  Dodge's eyes widened. "rick."

  Without hesitation, she leveled her shotgun at the immobilized wolves.

  BOOM! BOOM!

  Two deafening bsts echoed through the dungeon. The wolves shattered uhe force of the shells, their frozen forms breaking apart like brittle ice.

  Audi flexed his arm, shaking off the frost. "Guess that firms it. I freeze things on tact…" He smirked. "Maybe I am a mage after all."

  Before they could celebrate, a low growl made their blood run cold.

  The Big Bad Wolf stood a few feet away, its yellow eyes burning with fury.

  And it was very pissed.

  **The Real Battle Begins**

  The beast lunged—not at Audi, but at Dodge.

  She twisted to evade, but it was too fast. Its massive jaws cmped down on her left arm, tearing straight through flesh. A sharp cry of pain tore from her throat as blood sprayed onto the dungeon floor.

  "Agh—damn it!" Dodge gritted her teeth, staggering back as she clutched her mangled arm. The wound was deep, muscle and skin torn apart.

  Without hesitation, she reached for a Blood vial at her belt. Popping the cork with her teeth, she dowhe crimson liquid in one gulp.

  The effect was immediate.

  Her body pulsed with energy as the wound began to knit itself back together. Within seds, the flesh restored itself. Dodge flexed her fingers, rolling her shoulder. "Tch… damn thing bites hard."

  But before she could ready her shotgun again—

  "AWOOOO!"

  The Big Bad Wolf let out another pierg roar. The dungeon floor trembled beh them.

  And then—impossibly—the shattered remains of the Bd White Wolves stirred. The ice melted away as if time had reversed itself. The two wolves rose once more, unharmed.

  Audi's eyes widened. "What the hell?! We just killed those things!"

  Dodge cursed. "Looks like they're not staying dead…"

  The three wolves—Bck, White, and the Boss—charged at Audi all at once.

  He barely had time to brace himself before—

  SLASH!

  A streak of light cut through the air.

  In the blink of ahe Bd White Wolves were cleaved apart mid-attack, their bodies hitting the ground with heavy thuds. The Big Bad Wolf reeled back, a deep gash across its chest.

  A new figure stepped between them and the monster.

  A man, his bde dripping with blood, stood tall iorchlight. His silver hair gleamed, his presenanding.

  Huhe Examiner.

  He turned his sharp gaze toward Audi and Dodge. "I 't hahis boss alone." He pointed his bde at the snarli. "Help me. Let's party up for this one."

  Audi ched his fists, nodding. "So the boss is the real problem, huh?"

  Hundred gave a curt nod. "The Big Bad Wolf's ability is *Summoning*. Its minions will keep ing back as long as it's alive." He gripped his sword tighter. "If we want to end this… we have to kill the boss first."

  Dodge smirked, loading fresh shells into her shotgun. "Sounds like a pn."

  Audi cracked his knuckles, frost spreading over his fists. "The's take this thing down."

  Audi asked, "How did you know? Gd you came."

  Hundred exhaled. "It was uild Adventurer Chairman, Uno. On his tenth expedition to the fiftieth floor, he entered something unheard of—a Boss Dragon. Legendary heroes said such creatures could only be found on the sixtieth floor, but it suddenly appeared. His entire party of Sed-Css adventurers was wiped out. Only Uno survived. That's why he ordered all examio check the adveakers."

  The final fight had begun.