Chapter 54: Throne Room
Hana walked near the back, her pace steady, eyes scanning everything. Her mind, however, was focused elsewhere. Not on the unnerving murals or the silence, but on the small tracker concealed in her palm. It vibrated faintly, a steady pulse confirming its target was close.
Ahead.
Her mission wasn’t just about clearing this dungeon or mapping the anomaly. Valerius City hadn’t sent an A-rank team leader solely for reconnaissance. They lost something here. A weapon artifact retrieved from another high-rank dungeon, irreplaceable, potent. The last team assigned to test it vanished in this very sector.
The directive was clear: retrieve the weapon. No matter the cost. The team, the dungeon clear—secondary.
Her tracker had remained silent until they passed through Arachne’s portal. Now, it pointed directly toward the heart of this castle. Toward the Queen. Toward whatever lay beyond the doors they were inevitably approaching.
Fin was a complication. His power was undeniable, perhaps even necessary to reach the objective. But it was unstable, growing at an alarming rate. He was a threat to control, a threat to the mission’s secrecy if he survived. He already subdued Arachne, defied Hana directly. If he stood between her and the weapon... well, the cost was irrelevant.
She tucked the tracker away as the hallway finally ended, opening into a slightly wider space dominated by a pair of colossal doors. They were carved from the same dark stone as the castle walls, featureless except for intricate, web-like patterns etched deep into their surface. No handles, no visible hinges. Just sheer, imposing scale.
The air here felt heavy, charged. The silence pressed in, thicker than anywhere else.
Everyone stopped. Weapons remained ready, but nobody made a move toward the doors.