Heat shot through him so fast he couldn't tell if he was overheating from the dungeon or from Selene.

  Lira spun around, eyes wide with outrage.

  "Do you really think this is the time to seduce him?" she snapped, voice sharp enough to cut stone. "This is not appropriate behavior for an heir to a major faction."

  Selene dipped into a half-bow, all elegance and sarcasm, as if she'd been politely corrected in a ballroom rather than scolded in the middle of a hellish corridor.

  "My apologies, my lady," Selene said smoothly. "I must have forgotten that such lewd acts are far beneath someone of your stature."

  She placed a hand over her chest dramatically. "You desire men to line up at the doors of your estate, begging for the privilege to court thee."

  The smirk never left her face.

  Lira's cheeks went bright red, not from the heat this time but from sheer embarrassment. "That is absolutely not true—nor anything I desire!"

  "Oh?" Selene gasped theatrically, lifting a hand to her mouth like she'd just heard a scandalous secret. "Rumor has it that last year, the line of suitors stretched from the Renn estate all the way to the city gate."

  Austin's eyebrows shot up despite himself.

  Damn, he thought. That's a long line of thirsty men.

  "And I entertained none of them," Lira fired back, lifting her chin so high it almost looked painful. "I had no intention of choosing a suitor until after my studies at the academy."

  Selene's eyes sparkled like she'd been handed the perfect opening.

  "Well that is perfect for both of us then," she declared brightly—and then, without hesitation, she grabbed Austin's arm again with triumphant confidence, hooking herself to him like a claim.

  "More for me," Selene said, tone sweet but possessive, like she'd just won a prize at a fair.

  Lira's expression tightened.

  The polite noble composure cracked, just enough for Austin to see the edge of something sharper underneath. Her eyes narrowed at Selene's grip like she was staring at an insult.

  "You know," Lira said with a cool smile that didn't match her eyes, "using such harlot behavior to gain a man's attention is hardly respectable."

  Austin felt the air tighten again.

  Here we go again, he thought, already exhausted.

  "Do you not agree, Austin?" Lira asked, and her voice turned sweet—too sweet.

  She stepped closer.

  And then she wrapped her hand around Austin's other arm.

  Not delicately.

  Firmly.

  And her chest pressed against him in a very intentional way that sent his brain into a slow, helpless meltdown. It wasn't vulgar. It was subtle. Controlled. But the intention was unmistakable.

  Her smug little glance toward Selene said everything.

  Selene huffed, blue eyes flashing. She tightened her grip on Austin's arm like she was trying to fuse herself to him through sheer willpower.

  Austin stood between them like a living tug-of-war rope.

  The jealousy between these two is insane, he thought. I have only known them for a few weeks. How did it get to this point?

  He glanced at the glowing cracks in the walls.

  Must be something in this new world fantasy air.

  "Hey… uh…" Austin raised his voice, desperate to shove the conversation back into survival mode. "Where are the lizard people we're supposed to fight? We've been walking for a bit. I figured we would've seen something by now."

  That, at least, forced a pause.

  Both girls blinked, as if they'd been yanked out of a duel mid-swing. Slowly, they looked away from each other and finally scanned the corridor around them.

  Selene's brows knit. "I am… not sure," she admitted, and the uncertainty bothered her. "We should have definitely come across at least one lizardfen by now."

  Lira's gaze swept the passage, sharp and practiced. "We also have not passed many adventurers," she noted quietly. "Usually we see at least a few while traveling through each floor."

  Austin nodded, unease settling into his stomach like a cold stone.

  She was right.

  The first floor was big enough that people could spread out. But floors two through four? Those main routes always had movement—adventurers going up, going down, hauling loot, comparing drops, complaining about injuries.

  Here?

  Nothing.

  No footsteps echoing ahead.

  No distant chatter.

  No monster noises.

  Just the hiss of steam and the oppressive, wet heat.

  The combination of no monsters or adventurers is very sus, Austin thought, eyes scanning the shadows between the glowing cracks.

  Then, finally, movement.

  A figure appeared far down the corridor. It turned a corner and stepped into view.

  "Perfect," Austin said, relief slipping into his voice. He shrugged both girls off gently—just enough to free his arms so he could get a better look. "Is that the lizardfen?"

  "Um," Selene said, squinting. "I can't see it properly. But it is definitely taller than I expected."

  Confusion flickered across her face, and that alone made Austin's pulse pick up.

  Lira didn't speak.

  She simply stared.

  The figure approached with slow, deliberate steps—too controlled, too confident. Not skittering like a spider. Not charging like a wolf.

  Walking.

  As it came closer, Austin felt his excitement drain away, replaced by a tightening silence that crawled up his spine.

  The creature was tall. Well over six feet.

  Its skin was pale gray—smooth and stretched tight over its frame like it didn't quite fit. It wore black armor with streaks of red running down the plates, and Austin couldn't tell if the red was paint or dried blood.

  Either seemed possible.

  When the creature turned its head toward them, its lips pulled back into a wide smile.

  Sharp, needle-like teeth glinted in the dim red glow of the cracks.

  A shiver ran down Austin's spine.

  It had no nose.

  Just smooth flesh where one should have been.

  The absence made its face look more human—and somehow more wrong at the same time.

  Its eyes were a bright burning red. Not reflective. Not animal.

  Burning.

  Like embers staring out from a skull.

  Austin's throat tightened.

  "Hey…" he said, voice wavering just a little despite his attempt to sound casual. "Soo… is that a lizardfen?"

  He didn't look away from the creature as he asked.

  "It is a lot more menacing than I expected."

  Neither girl answered.

  When Austin glanced at the two women on his arms, his stomach dropped.

  Lira and Selene weren't bickering anymore.

  They weren't teasing.

  They weren't even breathing normally.

  Both of them stood frozen, eyes locked on the approaching creature with the kind of fear that didn't come from nerves—it came from recognition. Like their minds were scrambling to fit what they were seeing into the rules they'd grown up believing were absolute.

  Selene's grip on Austin's arm had gone rigid, fingers digging through his tunic and into the muscle beneath. Lira's lips were parted slightly, as if she'd tried to inhale and forgot how.

  Austin felt his own pulse thud louder in his ears.

  What… is that thing? he thought, and for the first time since entering the dungeon, the thrill of "new monsters" tasted bitter.

  Before he could say anything else, the creature spoke.

  "Hey."

  Its voice rumbled low—gravel grinding under pressure. It vibrated in the hot air like a distant earthquake.

  "Looks like we got some more fresh meat."

  Austin's blood ran cold.

  The hair on the back of his neck rose so fast it felt like a warning flare from his body.

  That voice… yeah. That voice definitely belongs to something that kills people for fun.

  The creature's head tilted, the smile stretching wider, showing those needle teeth again. Then it turned slightly and raised its voice toward the corridor behind it.

  "You done over there?" it called. "Or you still playing with it?"

  A heavy scrape answered.

  Something dragged across stone.

  Another figure stepped into view—taller than a man, broad-shouldered, moving with lazy strength.

  And it was dragging a limp body by one ankle.

  Not a lizardfen.

  An adventurer.

  Austin recognized the gear instantly: battered leather armor, a cracked shoulder plate, boots worn thin by dungeon stone. The body bumped against the ground with each pull like it was nothing more than a sack of meat.

  A dead one.

  Austin's throat tightened.

  Yeah… these guys are definitely trouble.

  "That is a demon," Lira whispered, her voice so quiet it almost disappeared under the hiss of steam vents. Her hands lifted slightly, and magic began to swirl at her fingertips—heat gathering in small spirals of orange light. "A hostile one. They are found on the lower floors. I do not know why they are here."

  Selene's voice came next, sharp with urgency. "We definitely need to leave, master." She tugged hard on Austin's arm, no teasing in her touch now—only fear. "There is no way we can defeat a demon at our level."

  "A demon?" Austin repeated, staring at the gray-skinned thing as if the word might change what he was seeing.

  But it fit.

  The too-long limbs. The wrongness of the face. The smile that didn't belong on anything human. The red eyes that looked less like eyes and more like embers set into flesh.

  If demons exist… does that mean angels exist too? Celestial beings? he wondered, and the thought flicked through his mind like lightning. Probably. The thing that sent me here was a god after all.

  The demons snickered as they stepped closer, the sound dry and amused, like they'd stumbled upon entertainment.

  The second demon finally let go of the corpse.

  It hit the ground with a wet thud.

  The casual disrespect of it made Austin's stomach churn.

  Then the first demon—still smiling—spread its arms slightly as if announcing itself to an audience.

  "Demonvex has returned," it growled, voice swelling with grandiose hatred. "And there is not enough room for your kind while we inhabit this planet."

  Austin blinked.

  What the heck is this guy even going on about?

  Lira didn't waste time trying to interpret the speech.

  She reacted.

  Her hands snapped forward, and a blazing fireball erupted from her palms—a dense sphere of roaring flame that lit the entire corridor in orange and gold. The heat of it washed across Austin's face and for a heartbeat, it felt like hope.

  A noble heir's magic.

  Something powerful.

  Something that could end this quickly.

  The fireball screamed toward the demon on the right.

  And the demon… simply raised one hand.

  It swatted the fireball aside.

  Like it was a fly.

  The flames shattered against the wall behind it, bursting into splashes of fire that licked across stone before fading into smoke. The demon laughed—a deep, ugly sound.

  Austin's mouth went dry.

  The other demon, grinning wider, reached behind its back and pulled free a massive black sword. The blade shimmered with a dark, oily aura that seemed to drink in the red light from the cracks in the walls. Austin felt his stomach tighten just looking at it—like the weapon carried its own gravity.

  That is a nice demon blade, his mind supplied stupidly, even as fear clawed at him. Like a gamer noticing loot right before dying.

  "We must retreat!" Lira snapped, and there was no pride in her voice now—only survival. She grabbed Austin's left hand hard enough to hurt. "Make haste, Austin!"

  Selene yanked him from the other side.

  Both girls were ready to run.

  And from the way the demons advanced—slow, confident, savoring the moment—

  Running suddenly felt like the smartest decision Austin had ever made.

  They turned and sprinted.

  Austin's boots slapped the stone as the three of them tore back down the corridor, bodies moving on instinct, lungs burning almost immediately in the furnace-like air. Behind them, demonic laughter echoed through the cavern like a hunting call.

  "Fast ones, huh," one demon growled, voice carrying effortlessly.

  "Guess they want to live," the other replied with a laugh, the sound bouncing off stone and steam like it was chasing them too.

  "They should put up more of a fight than those lousy lizardfen."

  Great… they're enjoying this.

  Austin's chest burned, not just from heat but from panic. They had traveled deep into the fifth floor before the demons appeared, and now every tunnel looked the same.

  Steam vents.

  Red-glowing cracks.

  Stone walls slick with heat.

  A maze of identical corridors.

  This doesn't feel like the way we came, Austin thought, breath rasping. The three of them were choosing turns at random now—left, right, right again—praying one would lead back to the entrance.

  "These demons are fast!" Selene shouted, her voice sharp with strain.

  A shadow surged behind them.

  Austin risked one glance over his shoulder and saw the demons closing the distance with terrifying ease. Their strides were long and unhurried, like they were jogging while Austin felt like his lungs were being wrung out.

  He turned forward—

  —and slammed his shoulder into a glowing crack in the wall.

  Pain flashed white-hot.

  His armor hissed and scorched instantly, the smell of burning leather punching him in the nose.

  "Ouch!" he cried, clutching the strap instinctively as he stumbled but kept running.

  Man, I feel like I'm dragging them back right now. If I live past today, I seriously need to increase my Speed stat.

  They rounded another corner—

  —and came to a complete stop.

  A dead end.

  Stone wall. No passage. No hidden doorway. Just heat and glowing cracks and the sound of approaching footsteps that shook the floor.

  "Well this is no good," Austin wheezed, turning around as the demonic laughter grew louder.

  Lira's face twisted with frustration and fear. "I knew we should have gone left earlier," she snapped, voice cracking just a little.

  Selene fired back instantly. "Well I didn't hear any suggestions while we were running."

  Austin raised both hands as if he could physically hold their argument back. "Hey—ladies," he said, backing up until the dead-end wall pressed hot against his shoulders, "probably not the best time to be fighting."

  The shadows hit the corridor first.

  Long, warped silhouettes stretching toward them.

  Then the demons stepped into view.

  Up close, Austin could see the difference between them.

  One was bulkier—towering, shoulders wide, armor thick, its grin carved into a deep snarl that made its face look permanently angry. The other was slightly shorter, leaner, but carried itself with sharp confidence, its red eyes bright with amusement.

  The bulky one rolled its neck with a crack. "You take the man," it ordered the other. "I will personally handle the two women."

  The smaller demon's mouth twisted. "Better idea," it sneered. "How about you take the man and I personally handle the women."

  The bigger demon's red eyes narrowed. It took a step forward, and the ground seemed to vibrate with it. "Even better idea," it growled. "Do what I say or I will kill you too."

  The smaller demon barked out a laugh, loud and mocking. "Ha. As if you could fight me and live to tell anyone about it after."

  Austin blinked.

  They're… arguing?

  Right now?

  In front of their prey?

  He glanced at Lira and Selene. Both were tense, prepared to fight, but even they looked momentarily thrown by the demons' bickering.

  Seems like the demons and the girls are in an argumentative mood today…

  The demons kept snapping at each other, trading threats like they'd forgotten Austin and the two heirs were even there.

  Austin's hand slowly slid toward his sword hilt.

  His heart hammered in his throat.

  If they're distracted…

  I should use this time to strike first…

  "Okay," Austin whispered, voice so low it barely carried over the hiss of steam and the demons' snarling argument. "Game time."

  He angled his head slightly toward Lira and Selene without fully turning—because the second he looked away from the demons, he felt like he'd invite death. The dead-end wall at his back radiated heat like a stove, and the corridor ahead felt like the only sliver of space left in the world.

  The demons were still bickering—two predators fighting over how to carve up their prey—so focused on their ego battle that they'd temporarily forgotten the prey could bite back.

  Austin leaned in just enough to speak to his team.

  "Lira," he murmured, "do you have any magic attacks that can distract our demon buddies?"

  Lira's eyes stayed locked on them. Her jaw was set now, noble calm strained tight over fear.

  "I possess a spell of Flashbrand," she answered quietly. "I can fire a condensed burst of radiant light at a single target. On hit, the target is Blinded for about twelve seconds." Her fingers flexed once, like she could already feel the magic gathering. "But it takes a few seconds to activate."

  Austin's heart kicked with relief.

  "That's perfect," he whispered. "Use it on the shorter demon. I'll focus on the bigger one. We have a better chance if we take them out one at a time." His voice hardened into pure intent. "Once I finish the big guy, we can collapse on the other."

  Selene leaned in from his right, lips pouting in a way that would've been comical if the situation wasn't lethal.

  "And what about me, Austin?" she whispered with exaggerated sulkiness. "Seeing you give orders gets me excited."

  Austin's brain tried to short out for half a second—because of course Selene would flirt during a life-or-death situation—but he shoved it down hard.