The further James pushed into the wastelands of New Chicago, the more his instincts whispered: something was beneath this city—something deeper than broken steel and concrete.
His kills had slowed. Not because the monsters were gone, but because they were changing. Fewer patrols. Less mindless aggression. They moved with purpose now—like they were being pulled somewhere. Drawn.
James followed them.
His interface lit up unexpectedly:
UNKNOWN SIGNAL DETECTED Location: Sublevel Coordinates Acquired Classification: DUNGEON (Unmapped) Estimated Threat Level: B - A Rewards: High-Tier XP / Evolution Resources / ???
A chill crept up James's spine. The word "dungeon" hadn't appeared before in the interface. This wasn't a standard anomaly. This was something new.
He moved quickly, traveling by rooftop when he could, avoiding roaming packs of Skulkers. His cybernetic eye highlighted the collapsed structure on 81st Street where the signal had originated.
Whatever this was, it had been buried.
The building had once been a corporate R&D facility. Now it resembled a tomb.
James descended through broken floors, steel support beams twisted like bones. Eventually, he reached a locked elevator shaft with a blinking red panel.
Manual override. Hand-form extended.
He plunged his fingers into the console. Sparks. Wires twisted. The system gave in.
The elevator wheezed open with a screech of metal. A wind pushed upward from the dark below—wet, fetid, and old.
He descended.
Below was a vault. Reinforced walls. Floodlights long dead. A message etched in red paint across the walls:
PROJECT: IRON ABYSS - BIO-SINGULARITY CHAMBER
His interface pinged.
Dungeon Entered: Unstable Core Zone Objective: Secure the Core / Survive
James unsheathed his blade-form. Time to see what "survive" meant.
The first floor was silent.
James passed bodies—former Class users. Some dismembered. Others petrified in expressions of terror. Each wore government-issued gear. He picked a few items from their packs: EMP darts, nanoweave patches, rations.
Then the walls groaned.
From vents and cracks, the dungeon began to breathe.
His interface updated again:
MONSTER RANK: B+ [Type: Core Spawn - Adaptive] BEHAVIOR: Hive Coordination Detected WARNING: Ambush Imminent
"Let them try," James muttered.
They came fast. Insectoid beasts with chitinous plating, razor limbs, and one glowing eye embedded deep in their foreheads.
He activated Overdrive Burst (Cooldown: 5 minutes).
His perception expanded. Every twitch, every step, registered like a ripple on water.
Gun-form snapped out. Precision shots shattered armor joints. He spun into blade-form, carving a path through five Spawn before the burst expired.
More followed.
Too many.
James fell back, luring them into a server chamber. There, he triggered EMP darts, disrupting their coordination briefly. Blade-form and gun-form worked in seamless tandem—an elegant dance of death.
[MONSTERS KILLED: 18] [XP GAINED: 600] [LEVEL UP: 6 → 7]
His breathing was ragged. Cooling systems in his arm whined.
But the corridor ahead opened.
He stepped inside a spherical chamber. At its center, a floating metallic crystal pulsed with light.
OBJECTIVE REACHED: Dungeon Core Located WARNING: Core Defender Online
From the shadows, a massive shape emerged. Quadrupedal. Covered in layered alloy plating. A single blue eye gleamed in its center—a synthetic Warden-class monster.
James checked his interface.
CORE GUARDIAN: SIGMA RANK: A SPECIALIZATION: Adaptive Shielding / Graviton Pressure Fields
He gritted his teeth.
Blade-form snapped into place.
And the battle began.
It hit like a tank.
James was thrown across the chamber by a gravity pulse. He crashed into the wall, hard.
Systems rebooted. Pain shot through his ribs.
He grunted and surged forward again.
Blade slashed—but Sigma's adaptive shields reflected the strike.
Gun-form. Charged shots. The Warden deflected two, but the third impacted its leg, staggering it.
James flipped to hand-form, grabbed a loose pipe from the wreckage, and vaulted upward, landing on the Core Guardian's back.
Overdrive Burst re-engaged.
Time slowed.
He jammed a blade into the Guardian's neck seam, pried the shield plate loose, and shoved an EMP dart inside.
With a flicker of blue light, the Guardian froze.
He jumped off.
Gun-form again.
Three blasts.
Headshot.
[CORE GUARDIAN TERMINATED] [XP GAINED: 900] [LEVEL UP: 7 → 8] [LOOT ACQUIRED: Evolution Catalyst Fragment / Unknown Data Chip / Graviton Coil]
James staggered to the Core.
His interface pulsed.
Use Catalyst Fragment? [YES] [NO]
He selected YES.
The crystal cracked—and poured light into him.
His interface exploded with new data.
EVOLUTION NODE AVAILABLE: TITAN FUSION PATH CORE MODULE UNLOCKED: Graviton Hammer ARM UPGRADE COMPLETE: Triple-Form Reinforced Structure
His right arm pulsed. Plates shifted. From his forearm, a glowing hammer module folded out. Denser than steel. The air shimmered around it.
He tested it.
One swing shattered the ground.
Another demolished the chamber wall.
James stared at his arm, breathing hard.
He wasn't just surviving anymore.
He was becoming something else.
Something untouchable.
And the world had no idea what was coming.