******~Somewhere in an underground cavern~******

 

It was pitch black, the sound of dripping water the only identifiable noise in the empty cave.

 

In one corner of the cave, the darkness had receded from the flame of a flickering light.

 

“You’ll pay house Monad and the royals too! All of them...will die.” A husky feminine voice echoed throughout the cavern, it was full of bitterness and hatred.

 

Beside the flickering torch was a woman.

 

Not entirely human as she had shiny porcelain white horns that curved from the side of her head to her brow like a crown.

 

Her eyes that adorned her peerlessly beautiful face were lavender violet with a narrow line for the pupils, like a snake.

 

The long waist length hair that covered her face messily was blood red.

 

She wore black plate armor, though it was covered in dry blood.

 

Reaching into a pouch on her waist, she pulled out an obsidian black crystal that seemed to absorb all light.

 

Holding it tightly, the woman began chanting in an unknown language.

 

It was old and had an ancient power to it which caused the crystal to glow.

 

Reaching an apex of her chant, the woman took a vial of blood from her pouch and poured it on the black crystal.

 

Suddenly a red light burst forth from the crystal blowing the woman away like a ragdoll, she hit the wall of the cave and fell down with a thud.

 

The crystal however floated silently in the air while a black portal opened up behind it.

 

Inside the portal was a dim grey light, fog slowly pouring out from it.

 

The woman, dazed, shook her head and stood up shakily.

 

She walked towards the portal and said in a subdued voice. “Spirit from the beyond.. I beseech you, come forth into our world!”

 

After she said that, the woman anxiously waited for a response.

 

Seconds passed and as she began to become nervous, a voice responded from the portal.

 

It was foreign, speaking in a language she could not understand normally yet it was speaking to her soul so she comprehended it perfectly.

 

“Child, you have denied me my journey to the eternal silence....why?”

 

Remembering the ancient words from a scroll she read not long ago, the woman began to entice the spirit.

 

“Come forth spirit and you’ll be able to become a god, to enter this material world and enjoy it’s sights and pleasures. All I ask in return is vengeance.”

 

“Oh? Is this true?” The spirit responded, a hint of interest in it’s voice.

 

Seeing as she had caught it’s attention, the woman nodded fervently. “I speak the truth!”

 

The spirit said. “Alright child, I can come...but..”

 

The woman’s heartbeat sped up as she asked urgently. “But what?”

 

“Can you pay the price? The price for vengeance?” The spirit asked.

 

A resolute look flashed in the woman’s crimson eyes as she said. “Yes! Anything, even my life!”

 

The spirit chuckled ominously. “The price is far greater than your life child, so great that you’ll be known as a sinner for as long as there are still people to remember...can you bear such a burden?”

 

As she was about to respond, the spirit added. “I won’t tell you the price...at least not until you accept.”

 

The woman began to hesitate. She knew what she was bringing into the world and how dangerous it was, yet the vengeance in her heart burned brighter than any star. Her doubts were immediately vanquished in the wind.

 

“I agree.” The woman sighed.

 

“....no regrets.” The spirit said in mirth.

 

The black portal shuddered as a spec of light flew out of it and entered the black crystal.

 

As the portal dissipated, the black crystal began grow larger.

 

First came a torso shape, then arms and legs. Lastly a head appeared.

 

The crystal finally formed into the shape of a naked man with black flowing hair, an aura of cold and darkness emitting from his pale skin.

 

The features of the man’s face were sharp and prominent, handsome and sinister. His eyes were blacker than the void of space, like a bottomless abyssal pit.

 

In the middle of his forehead, there was the familiar black crystal, though it was smaller and now etched into the man’s skull.

 

The man slowly hovered to the ground, a curious expression on his face.

 

“How fascinating... “ The man mumbled in a raspy voice as he looked at his arms and hands with interest, wriggling his fingers as if he hadn’t felt the sensation in a long time.

 

“So I’m a dungeon now.” He remarked with a cheerless tone.

 

As soon as he entered the crystal, bursts of information had filled his mind, the various concepts of dungeons, their operations and intricacies.

 

These dungeons, no creatures more like it, were truly eldritch like beings in his mind and he had become one...this intrigued the man for a moment.

 

The woman hesitantly stepped closer and said. “No, you’re more than those primitive constructs that spawn from the mana....you’re a dungeon lord.”

 

“A dungeon lord?” The man looked at the woman in confusion.

 

As soon as the woman saw his eyes, she shuddered instinctively and looked away, his gaze gave her a feeling of trepidation.

 

“Y-yes, unlike the dungeons that appear due to mana concentrations and geological anomalies, dungeons that are born from a spirit from the beyond are special.”

 

“How so?” The man smiled creepily, as if knowing the answer.

 

“D-dungeons that are created with a spirit from the beyond bring new concepts and laws to the world, new...unfathomable powers...it is why the process and materials for creating such dungeons was lost eons ago, they were just too dangerous and thus all traces were destroyed.” The woman said with an expression of contemplation.

 

“And yet you summoned me and created such a dungeon...tsk tsk, the lengths we go to for vengeance.” The man clicked his tongue.

 

The woman merely nodded her head with clenched fists.

 

“Would you like to know the price now?” The man asked.

 

“No.. at least not until my vengeance has been fulfilled.” The woman replied firmly.

 

“Hehe, I feel that you want to avoid the answer...well, all in due time then.” The man smiled.

 

The man turned his gaze away from the woman to his hand, with a thought, something fleshy grew from his palm.

 

The woman’s eyes were drawn to the sight as she whispered. “The dungeon manager...”

 

The flesh that had sprouted from his hand had grown into a skin covered book.

 

It was a grotesque sight as it looked like some mesh of animal and book. It had an eye on the front cover that spun from side to side as if inspecting it’s surroundings.

 

The skin of the book pulsed with blood and veins, like a living being.

 

The man opened the book and a look of surprise appeared on his face. He chuckled. “It truly is so, indeed.”

 

“What?” The woman asked cautiously.

 

“Tell me child, has this world of yours ever had the concept of undeath?” The man’s black eyes focused on the woman once again.

 

The woman’s body shook in shock as she stuttered. “N-no! There is no s-such thing!”

 

A low laughter resounded from the man that echoed in the cavern.

 

“Well there is now...you have brought death unto the world.”

 

A black light exploded forth from the man, putting out the flaming torch beside the woman’s foot.

 

Feeling the black light cover her body the woman cradled herself and hugged her knees.

 

Around her the cavern began shaking with a thunderous roar, stalagmites freed themselves from the cavern roof and fell to the floor like spears.

 

After a minute of intense shaking, the cavern regained it’s previous serenity, though something was different.

 

The woman stood once again, her hands shaking, either from fear or fright.

 

Feeling the changes to her body, one thought crossed her mind. "This.. this is the dungeon’s domain..."

 

Reaching out and navigating the ground with her hand, she found the torch.

 

With a snap of her fingers, a small ball of fire appeared and relit the torch.

 

With the surroundings illuminated once again, she found the man with her violet eyes.

 

He had a thoughtful look. Raising his hand, a small blob of red liquid appeared.

 

With a wave, the blob flew to the ground and expanded into a puddle.

 

The woman’s ears twitched as she heard a groaning sound.

 

Looking intensely at the puddle of fluid, two hands suddenly reached out from it.

 

The two hands gripped the edge of the puddle and pulled itself out.

 

The woman covered her nose in disgust as the stench of decay filled the surroundings.

 

What appeared was a tall man in a torn villager outfit. His skin was pallid and grey, there was a gaping hole in his torso in which his intestines leaked out.

 

Another pair of hands appeared from the puddle, more slender in appearance.

 

This time, a woman pulled herself out. She like the man before, wore a villager outfit. Her eyes had been gouged out and her top had been torn revealing her bare breast. There was blood staining her groin.

 

The villagers let out rumbling groans as they stumbled toward the woman.

 

“Impossible!!” The woman shouted as she backed away, caution painting her violet eyes..

 

“Halt!” A domineering voice commanded.

 

As if hearing something, the two villagers stopped. They stood still, their body’s occasionally swaying.

 

“Troublesome...they were quite expensive.” The man remarked as he turned his gaze towards the woman. “Child, inform me about your revenge..”

 

The woman regaining her self composure said sternly. “Call me Charlotte as I’m no child.”

 

The man chuckled. “Forgive me Charlotte, past habits.”

 

“What should I call you?” Charlotte asked.

 

“....You can call me Nero..”

 

                                         ******~Several hundred meters from the cavern~******

 

The moon hung high in the sky as the trees rustled in the night wind.

 

Three men were huddled around a fire. Wearing leather armors and black hoods, they looked to be a trio of bandits.

 

“Grog, why don’t we take the artifact for ourselves?” One of the bandits asked in a sharp voice.

 

“Yeah yeah! I don’t see why we should take it to that stingy bitch Reaver.” Another bandit agreed.

 

“Shut it! Bull, Hob are you two stupid? How do you think Reaver knew where the artifact was?” Grog asked scornfully.

 

“How Grog?” Hob asked.

 

“He has the other piece. It’s an incomplete artifact.”

 

“Oh shit...that means he can track this piece.” Bull cursed.

 

“Yeah stupid that's obvious, now get some sleep. We move at dawn.” Grog said as he laid back and closed his eyes.

 

“Ahh I wish I had a woman to play with...” Hob sighed.

 

“You already had one earlier when we stole the artifact.” Bull snickered.

 

“We could have had her much longer if you didn’t fucking gouge her eyes out.” Hob snapped back in anger.

 

“Hehe... I couldn’t help it.” Bull said unapologetically.

 

“You two shut u-” Grog was interrupted mid speech as the ground shook, like an earth quake.

 

It lasted a mere moment before a loud boom echoed from a northern direction.

 

“What the fuck was that?” Grog stood up with an alert look in his eyes, unsheathing his sword from his waist.

 

Hob grabbed his bow and pointed in the direction from which the loud boom came from. “I heard it coming from over there.”

 

Bull’s bulky figure stood up, gripping his long hammer tightly he said. “Grog, what should we do?”

 

Grog frowned before saying. “We’ll check it out.”