***

  There were a multitude of guards and other people in the entrance hall of ETG. Just a few minutes ago, another team with the melter went in, and already they were preparing another.

  Over the course of years, they had gotten their manufacturing facilities working, allowing them to make melters at incredible speeds. There were teams continuously going in and out, bringing the melters to the furthest point of the labyrinth so they could continue to advance deeper into the dungeon.

  All this bustling stopped, as every head turned to the dungeon entrance. Everyone could hear screams and fighting, then all of a sudden, the sound was cut off. Some of the guards rushed in, yet anyone who entered didn’t return, and none of them could be reached with communication devices or skills.

  People arrived quickly, trying to calm others down, but then the diamond ranks who were doing that felt their own die in the dungeon. The diamond ranks who were protecting and guiding the melters were dying one by one. The entrance hall was emptied, and an emergency meeting was called. Almost everyone was there, even Vivian and her grandfathers. They were not looked upon favorably.

  This development was not expected. Everyone thought that the dungeon would try to do something about the melters as they were getting close to the core, but the absolute finality of what happened still shook them. The Pixies looked quite worried as well, but they were almost done training their breach squad, and the diamond dungeons were getting closer with their territory expansion.

  “Do you think the dungeon found out about what’s going on in other fronts?” someone breached the silence, trying to stay as vague as possible. Yet even before someone could answer and this emergency meeting could properly start, a few guards rushed in and immediately started to report on what was happening in the dungeon hall.

  “There are weird noises coming out from the dungeon, and from the sound of it, they’re getting closer. We’re already forming ranks, but what are our orders?”

  It only took a moment before almost everyone, including diamond ranks, rushed towards the dungeon entrance, looking for vengeance. When they got there, they saw what looked like a dead corpse slowly walking out of the dungeon entrance and into the dungeon hall.

  It moved unnaturally, like it had a broken body but someone was trying to control it as if it wasn’t broken. It didn’t stop but continued to slowly walk forward no matter what the guards yelled. Then a terrifying and broken voice came out of that walking corpse: “This siege has gone on long enough.”

  A diamond rank from the back threw his spear through the walking corpse’s head, silencing it. “I could feel the dungeon’s influence in it—it was controlling it. How could it still think we would leave it alone?” That diamond rank almost said it in a joking manner, yet he went silent as another walking corpse came out of the entrance.

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  Before anything else could be done, another diamond rank yelled as loud as she could: “Connor! Your strongest barrier shield—activate it now! Cut off the entrance hall entirely!”

  All of a sudden, the entrance hall was isolated from the rest of the world with a thick, transparent barrier that nothing could get through. The people still inside the entrance hall panicked as more corpses started to walk out.

  They started to kill them easily, but many were still hitting the barrier, trying to get out. Even the yells could be heard, but no one outside did anything. However, everyone looked at the woman who screamed and commanded that the barrier be put up.

  She didn’t keep them in suspense. “I could feel some power emanating from that corpse. That power was infecting the people close to it,” she said, swallowing nervously. “I think the dungeon knows about small life.”

  That statement froze everyone who knew what it meant. There were no longer any corpses coming out, but there was a huge pile of them, nearly 300 that the forces inside the entrance hall had killed quite easily. In complete horror, the people outside watched as some of the people inside collapsed out of nowhere. They started to spasm. Healing magics were tried, but nothing happened. Then they died.

  Only about five seconds later, their bodies twitched again, and everyone, in complete horror, watched as those people stood up once again and started to move toward the living. They were, of course, killed once again, but the cycle continued, speeding up. In only five minutes, only walking corpses were left of the few hundred people there. Then one of the corpses started to move weirdly, like the first one they had seen.

  "You have 24 hours to leave my territory. Anyone left here afterward will die. Do not worry, I can see it in your faces. Your superiors would not allow you to leave without putting up a fight, but all of you need to know that you cannot win against this." The walking corpse jerked about, indicating the other walking corpses.

  "I believe a lot of you know what this is. You called them 'small life'; I call them 'small patterns,' but in the end, it doesn’t matter what it is called. You have some ways of fighting them, but be assured, I have fixed those issues. You also know that if I were to release this, in just a few hours they would be completely free and would start to do what small patterns always do: change and evolve into something even more dangerous."

  "I will not attack with this weapon. No, you will be flooded with monsters that will end this siege. But if anyone were to start a new siege or just attack me again or if any other dungeons’ territory were to get too close, know that I have sent thousands of my creatures hidden across every corner of this world.” There was a pause before ETG continued.

  “When I give the word, this small pattern will be released, and your world will die in months. You diamond ranks will most likely survive, but you would still be living in a dead world. And be assured, not even dungeons would be saved. This world would stagnate and forever be dead."

  "You lie! That would kill you just the same!" one of the diamond ranks yelled back. The walking corpse, controlled by ETG, simply started to laugh in the most horrific way possible.

  "Oh, I know I would need to protect against it as well, but I have my ways. I will survive, and everyone within me will as well. I hope this demonstration was enough, although I doubt it. Please don't make me use this weapon—I truly don’t want to, but I will if necessary." The last word was said with such conviction that no one dared to doubt it.

  "You have 24 hours." were the last words before, from the entrance, a flood of incredibly hot fire turned everything not made of stone to ash. The barrier still held, but when the fire subsided, there was nothing left inside the entrance hall. Quickly, a few of the diamond ranks confirmed that none of the small life remained—all of it was destroyed.

  A terrible weight and silence held everyone in place who had witnessed and heard the words of the dungeon. Many of the diamond ranks were shaken to their cores, while some others were already starting to deny what they had witnessed. The barrier disappeared, and everyone took an involuntary step back.

  The next moment, arguments started, and an emergency meeting was called—not just with everyone present, but with people around the world as well. It seemed that all of their worst nightmares had come to life, the reasons why they controlled dungeons now realized.

  All of them wanted to end this dungeon as quickly as they could, but wouldn’t that bring about the end of the world? Wouldn’t that just make their nightmares come to life? Was their only way forward to actually give up and let this monster of a dungeon continue to live?