Chapter 01: Origination of a Clash

The sky was speckled with fluffy, light-black clouds that wandered leisurely in the air, threatening to rain anytime on this rather overcast day.

Since the majority of people had rushed indoors to avoid the incipient downpour, the roads were remarkably hushed and there was hardly any trace of humanity outdoors.

Spotted atop Raven City's tallest high-rise building on this eventful day, were two peculiar individuals, one male, and one female on their feet. Each of them wore a small, thumb-sized insignia bearing the letters 'S-rank.'

*Whoosh*

An abrupt surge of stiff breeze prompted the female figure to close her eyes for a bit.

"How come you brought me up here?" Opening her gorgeous green-emerald eyes, she questioned the male figure in front of her, her fists clenched firmly. One could with little to no effort discern the vast resentment and anger erupting from her eyes, burning fiercely. In the event that the stranger attempted to assault her, she'd her guard up and was ready to strike at any time.

She was a stunning beauty in her late teens, somewhere between 20 years to 21 years. She was dressed in a blue flannel shirt and skinny jeans, which suited her perfectly, bringing out her beauty.

"Ah, don't be so wary of me, darling. Relax."

"Anyway, you demanded some answers from me, so I brought you up here at your convenience; to an isolated place..." Turning his head toward her, he said with a striking yet mysterious smile. His midnight-black hair that cascaded down his back, pitch-black eyes which resembled two unfathomable abysses, and chiseled face gave him a 'near-perfect' appearance.

But it deeply disgusted her – his condescending gaze, flirty demeanor, and his all-knowing smile, as if he could see directly through all of her bullshit and lies in a matter of seconds. She appeared to be entirely naked before his very eyes.

"On April 27th, precisely from two months ago a group of 15 hunters comprised of 5 E-ranks, 4 D-ranks, 3 C-ranks, 2 B-ranks, and 1 A-rank entered [The Desolate Islands], an A+ Dungeon. However...only 3 of the hunters survived — or at least that was what everyone assumed — until you, Mr. Amon, came out of the dungeon as a re-awakened hunter, specifically speaking as an S-rank hunter," She breathed lightly, preparing to get straight to the point.

If the individual in front of her was indeed the hunters' killer, she would have to confront him shortly. Regardless of who or what it was, she sought to exact revenge for taking away her beloved. And, she was dead serious about it.

An unsettling silence ensued, only the 'whoosh' sound of the wind kept sounding.

She continued, breaking the silence, "For a long time thereafter, you along with the other 3 hunters were prime suspects in the murders of the 11 deceased hunters but given the lack of evidence, you four were not convicted of murder and whereas you became well-known as Area 20's 6th S-rank hunter, the rumors surrounding you also gradually dwindled because of that. As for their deaths, they were classified by NHO as 'death by monsters'. And that's how the case came to end but was...that really done by monsters, Mr. Amon Wyth?"

"Ho? I'm sure you already know the answer, darling."

She'd expected it since they'd started talking, but hearing it from 'his' mouth further reinforced her doubts. She was now entirely sure about it.

"It was you, right?" She said pointing her finger at him. In that brief instant, her eyes went cold and soulless, and her voice intensified.

"Marvelously done, darling. It was, indeed, I. I was the very one who murdered your beloved brother, the same sibling with whom you had an incestuous relationsh—"

But, even before he could conclude his words a long blade was sent hurtling toward him at a breakneck pace nearly tearing apart the ground beneath them, seeing the blade approaching, his lips curved into a psychotic smile almost as if he'd foreseen it way back.

He thrust his right hand forth, and a surge of energy gushed forward, halting the blade in its tracks just about immediately.

*Thud*

The blade landed next to Amon's right leg on the ground.

Meanwhile, she was perplexed as she watched him stop a mythical-grade weapon with just his hand, seemingly effortlessly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...lemme finish my sentence first. I would have seriously died from that sudden attack, don't you think so darling?"

"Don't fucking call me darling!!" She yelled angrily, yet perplexed by the events unfolding in front of her.

"Have you ever felt guilty for killing your raid members?" She asked, clenching her teeth in rage, that the killer of those eleven deceased hunters...no, the killer of her beloved brother stood there in front of her unscathed.

"Hmm, why should I bother?" He replied calmly, "why should I feel guilty just because I killed someone who attempted to kill me? It was merely self-defense."

"You're lying. My brother would never do that!"

"It's up to you to believe, darling."

"Shut the fuck up!"

"System inventory," she called out as a small spatial crack emerged in the thin air. She reached into it with her hands and pulled something out of it.

A tall, majestic-looking white spear with peculiar runic markings inscribed on it came into view. It possessed a remarkably pointed spearhead that appeared capable of handily destroying even the sturdiest of buildings.

[You're now wielding the spear of the Divine Deity of Light.]

[Your stats have risen by 20%]

[Your understanding of spears has increased.]

Floating blue panels with messages emerged in front of her eyes. She grinned as she gripped the spear in both hands and pointed it at Amon.

'So, she's a spear user huh?' He thought inwardly.

"After all the sins you've committed thus far, it's time for you to die." She proclaimed out loud.

Amon, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned at all. He cast a sidelong glance at the spear. The spear amused him no matter how many times he gazed at it; there was something about it that drew him in.

"Wow, you're rather noisy."

"I could have spared you if you became my slave, but I guess that's not the case now," he said casually, utterly unlike his previous behavior.

"Me? Your slave? Are you kidding me?" She scoffed.

"Nope, I'm dead serious about it."

"Cut the nonsense! Just fucking die!" She cried angrily as she thrust her spear forward, creating a vortex of mana that was then discharged onto Amon, who remained unfazed by the impending attack.

The impact of the attack was theorized to destroy the roof in just a matter of seconds since the spear was at least a legendary-grade weapon. Besides, an S-rank's mana capacity and strength further contributed to the terror of the approaching attack.

Even for an S-rank, confronting that strike head-on was challenging.

That was necessarily not the case for Amon, though. Just as the attack was about to hit him, Amon muttered, flickering with his hands in the high air, "Instant Dungeon."

The world surrounding them abruptly shifted, and they were encircled by a strange and murky energy.

Aella was completely caught off guard.

Their senses were completely blocked and they momentarily couldn't feel their bodies anymore, as if they were being forcefully sucked by 'something'. It appeared as if they were being transferred from their original location to somewhere else.

The energy gradually diminished, and they could once again feel their bodies. They were able to view the location where they were transferred as the black energy faded away.

"Huh? What's going on?" She murmured, utterly taken aback.

'I was about to strike him...but how did it end up like this?'

What appeared to be within was a gory scene that stretched indefinitely into the horizon, accompanied by bloody rain that showed no signs of ceasing. Numerous dead bodies were seen strewn all over the ground, some with their head smashed awfully or their hands and legs amputated; some with their torsos ripped apart from their bodies, and... some with their eyes gouged out bitterly.

Long story short, it was nothing but a gruesomely dreadful sight to one's eyes.

"Blech!" She couldn't hold herself anymore as she directly vomited a mouthful on the ground.

Even though she'd been a hunter for a long time and witnessed innumerable deaths of monsters, as well as humans, she'd never seen anything quite like this. It was simply too inhumane for a human such as herself.

[You have entered Player@AmonWyth's instant dungeon.]

[The effects of the Dungeon are taking place.]

[All holy attacks are neutralized.]

[Your stats have decreased by 20%]

[You've been inflicted with 'fear'.]

[You've been cursed.]

[You can't leave the dungeon until you kill Player@AmonWyth.]

"What the hell?!" She couldn't help but mutter out. She'd never even for once heard of anyone in the world possessing the power to generate a dungeon out of nowhere but here was she, in a dungeon created by a person.

If this information became public, only God knew how much chaos would ensue.

A familiar voice rang into her ears from above her head at that very instant. She jerked her head up.

"Look at yourself now. See how much pathetic you're. Where did all of your so-called heroism go, Aella Storm?" Amon said while floating in the high air as his dark eyes turned blood-red, and two giant wings appeared from his back along with two massive horns that materialized themselves from his head.

[Partial-Demonification has been activated]

[All stats have risen by 20℅]

[Due to the instant dungeon, your stats have been further boosted by 20%]

[You can now access the skills, 'Weakness Detection' and 'Recollection Summoning']

Amon's eyes were filled with superiority and contempt towards Aella, it was as though he was looking at an insignificant existence, to begin with. Those eyes were enough to scare the shit out of a normal person but, Aella wasn't just going down with that.

'As long as I kill that moron, everything will be back to normal,' she reasoned to herself as she turned her head here and there in search of her lost spear.

Earlier, when she was about to attack him with her spear, due to the abrupt emergence of the black energy she had to halt her attack which resulted in her losing her spear.

She finally found her spear after roughly a second or a two of searching.

'Just wait, you bastard! I'll definitely kill you today!' She thought inwardly and rushed hurriedly toward the spear.

But in just little over a moment, that hope was soon destroyed into nothing but broken fragments.

She. Couldn't. Lift. The. Spear.

[The effects of the curse are taking place.]

['Fear' is being amplified.]

[Your stats have decreased by 30%]

[The additional effects of the curse are activating.]

[You've been inflicted with 'despair'.]

[You've become incapable of using weapons for the next 20 minutes.]

[You've lost all of your healing skills temporarily for the next 1 hour.]

Looking at all the blue messages in front of her, she slowly but surely lost all of her energy from her legs and collapsed to the ground.

'Why?'

Her mind was in a mess, after all, the sole weapon she was adept at couldn't be lifted by her, no matter how much power she expended. Inchmeal, despair filled her mind.

Aella's original intention was to kill Amon; even if he said that he didn't kill her brother, she would still kill him because she'd come after meticulously examining everything and it was a given fact that all of the evidence led toward Amon.

But, looking at Amon right now, that notion had long since vanished. She felt an incomprehensible fear, which was perhaps due to her intuition or to the dungeon effects that she was experiencing right now.

'I-I need to escape.'

"N-no...it can't be..." She mumbled, her eyes filled with disbelief. She'd given up most of her hope in defeating Amon, and it was a foregone conclusion that she'd be killed shortly.

It wasn't that she didn't have any combat skills right now, it was just that she didn't have much of an ounce of hope to fight against Amon and it was all due to 'Fear' and 'Despair'.

Though both of those skills were relatively common in an average A-rank Dungeon and were easily resistible even for a measly C-rank but that was only the case for a resilient or invulnerable person.

As long as the target was someone vulnerable, both of the skills would continuously affect the target until they lost their mind.

There were even some rare cases where a person overcame those effects through sheer determination even in the middle of losing their mind.

That however was unfortunately not going to happen to Aella.

She was so heartbroken at the loss of her brother that she remained alone inside her room for days weeping, without speaking. She'd still be in the same situation if her Guild Master hadn't come forward to inform her that her brother was murdered, he was not killed by monsters, and offered her assistance in locating her brother's murderer.

But, that didn't mean that she overcame the Vicarious Trauma of losing her lover. It still haunted her.

The vision of her brother's body being carried out of the dungeon, wrapped in white clothing, had lingered within her to this day.

And, that reason was enough to make her venerable to the effects.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Truly wonderful!"

The entire area was soon filled with a garish Mephistophelian cackle. Amon, who was clearly enjoying himself, was of course the owner of this voice.

"It feels so damn satisfying..." He muttered under his breath. His lips curled into a smile as he continued, "Now then, should I spice things up a bit?"