As time passed, Zane finally managed to calm down. He looked at Serene and asked,

"Why hasn’t the trial ended, even after the final wave was completed?"

Serene shook her head, as she didn’t know the reason either. They both turned their eyes to Alen, expecting him to know something. They had both seen him act like a brilliant schemer in every situation so far. He always managed to figure things out, even when there were no obvious clues.

Alen, who was idly tossing a small rock into the air and catching it, suddenly noticed their hopeful gazes.

He looked at them in bewilderment. He was completely unaware of why the trial hadn’t ended; he was just as clueless as they were. He hadn’t even thought about the reason yet, as he was already tired of thinking.

’Sigh... What a pain. Why am I even staying with these useless people who can’t even think for themselves?’

Alen shook his head in disappointment and answered.

"I don’t know the exact reason... but it’s highly possible that we haven’t actually passed the trial yet."

"What do you mean?" Zane asked.

"The original quest was to ’Conquer the Dungeon of Chaos’... Judging by the bizarre situations and the psychological trials we’ve faced... I think the one behind all of these problems is the Dungeon Master himself. He has been playing with us."

Alen tossed the rock again.

"That must be the exact entity who tried to possess the naive lady’s body earlier."

"And if we think about it carefully, that being might also be the reason we entered this specific place together," Alen added, tapping his chin thoughtfully.

"If an entity is strong enough to possess her body right behind our backs, it is entirely possible that he could easily sense your Shadow Detectives earlier. If those shadows led us here... then maybe it was the Dungeon Master’s plan to bring us to this room all along."

As Alen spoke, both of their eyes widened. They had already suspected that something was definitely wrong, but hearing Alen lay it out made them realize that their entire journey had been controlled by someone else pulling the strings.

If this entity could hide from them without making a sound, it was no normal monster. They had already felt the crushing soul pressure emitted by it earlier; if just its passive pressure could bring them to their knees, fighting it would be a nightmare.

If what Alen said was true, the only way to conquer the dungeon was by defeating the Master.

"If what you’re saying is true, then we have to find that entity as soon as possible!" Serene declared, standing up. "Only four hours remain until the trial ends!"

She squeeze her fist, fully prepared to face the enemy. She was not going to be defeated now. She had already solidified her path; she would reach the end of the Ascension Realm and end this cycle of tragedy at all costs. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Alen remained seated, looking up at them calmly.

"Aren’t you being a bit too overconfident? You think you can defeat a being whose mere pressure brought you to your knees?"

Zane answered firmly.

"It’s not ’overconfidence.’ It’s my belief that I can defeat anyone if I give it my absolute best. I’m not saying this just because I’m arrogant, but because I know my own limits. So don’t worry about me."

Zane scanned the empty cavern.

"So, do you know where we might find this ’Dungeon Master’?"

Alen remained perfectly calm, lightly tossing a pebble against another rock.

"It’s easy. The Dungeon Master is already in the room with us."

Zane looked surprised. He frantically searched the massive space, but there was no sign of a dungeon boss anywhere.

"W-What are you saying? Where is he? There is no one here... right?"

Zane looked at Serene for confirmation, but she also shook her head in confusion.

Zane turned his eyes back to Alen.

"Tell me! Where is he?"

Alen remained seated, continuing to play with the pebble. After a few agonizing seconds, he finally opened his mouth.

"Maybe... he is hidden in the space around us. Maybe he is right behind your back... Maybe he is sitting right next to us... Or maybe..."

Alen flicked the pebble. It shot through the air and hit a seemingly empty spot a few meters away.

*Clack!*

The pebble hit something invisible and bounced off, falling to the stone floor.

"...he’s right there."

Zane and Serene snapped their heads toward the spot where the pebble had bounced.

Suddenly, the air blurred. Violent purple lightning started to dance and arc across the empty space. As the chaotic energy swirled, it slowly formed into the shape of a humanoid figure.

As the lightning settled, the entity’s body fully materialized.

The figure wore a tattered, pitch-black hood and held a dark grimoire in one hand. Its face was completely hidden within the shadows of the hood, and dense, suffocating purple mana constantly leaked from its body.

An invisible, crushing pressure radiated from the entity. The sheer force of it threw Alen, Zane, and Serene several feet backward, sending them flying toward the far wall of the field.

But before they could crash into the stone, all three of them channeled raw mana into their feet, sliding across the ground to completely negate the impact.

"So, you’re the bastard who was hiding behind our backs..."

Alen said, looking at the terrifying figure with a cold smile.

"What a pain. You caused us far more trouble than we expected. Hehe..."

Slowly, from inside the dark hood, a distorted, booming voice echoed through the cavern.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW I WAS THERE, BOY? IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE FOR MERE CHILDREN LIKE YOU TO SENSE ME."

"Tch. I’m not a child..." Alen scoffed. "Besides, you’re such a scumbag that you were hiding inside the blonde guy’s shadow this entire time."

Zane’s eyes widened in horror.

"If he hadn’t fallen unconscious earlier, I might have thought it was impossible to find you," Alen continued smoothly. "But alas... I can easily track you when you have no shadow to hide in. You were sucking so much of the ambient mana from the surroundings that the fluctuations in the air gave away your exact position. You stinky parasite, you’re quite a treacherous being."

Alen smirked. He had sensed the minute mana fluctuations earlier when the entity had to escape from Zane’s shadow after Zane passed out. Because Serene was distracted by taking care of Zane, she hadn’t noticed it. But Alen, who didn’t care about Zane’s wellbeing, had his senses on high alert.

Even before that, Alen had been suspicious sinse his fight with Zane, his protective shadows had reacted sluggishly and slow—as if something heavy was pulling them back. Alen had noticed it then, but he had ignored it because he wasn’t completely sure and didn’t want to terrify his teammates prematurely.

If he had told them that the actual boss was hiding inside Zane’s shadow, the entity might have instantly killed Zane before he could defend himself. Even if Alen didn’t particularly care for these two, he wasn’t emotionless enough to let them be killed for no reason. Alen would never let his comrades die because of his own mistake.

"HAH... YOU ARE QUITE A SCHEMING BOY...."

The Dungeon Master laughed, his voice shaking the cavern.

"YOU KNEW I WAS THERE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, YET YOU PLAYED ALONG NICELY AND LET ME ESCAPE BEFORE CONFRONTING ME."

The purple lightning flared violently.

"I WILL GIVE YOU CREDIT FOR THAT... BUT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO WIN AGAINST ME."

The pressure intensified tenfold. The ground began to split open, sending debris flying into the air as the entire dungeon quaked under the master’s power.

As the trio stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of an entity far stronger than anything they had faced before, the final battle was about to begin. It would decide whether they conquered the dungeon, or perished within it!

-To be Continued...