Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch
Chapter 3: The Hunter in the Dark

Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Hunter in the Dark

The stone corridor was dead quiet, save for the hum of the mana-stabilizers built into the dungeon walls.

Leon stopped cold, his leather-gloved hand lingering over the pommel of his broadsword. The air in the narrow tunnel had suddenly turned bitter cold, so frigid that his breath bloomed into white frost in front of his face.

"What’s wrong, Captain?" Jax, the party’s Tier-A Vanguard, wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead. "The Gate is destabilizing. We need to hit the surface before the portal collapses and locks us in."

"Quiet," Leon snapped, his sharp eyes scanning the pitch-black corridor behind them.

Nothing moved. Only the distant, muffled rumbling of collapsing rock deep within the boss room echoed through the stone.

"Did you hear that?" Leon whispered, his jaw tight. "Footsteps."

"You’re paranoid, Leon," laughed Vane, the high-tier elemental mage. He casually tossed the glowing purple Abyssal Core from hand to hand, a greasy grin spreading across his face. "The kid was crippled and trapped in a closed room with a Tier-S Arachnid. He’s probably been digested into green sludge by now. There’s no one behind us."

"He’s right," added the fourth member, a female scout holding a light crossbow. "The iron portcullis was sealed. Even if by some miracle he survived the boss, he couldn’t break through five inches of enchanted steel."

Leon loosened his grip on his sword, exhaling a long breath. "Right. My mind is playing tricks on me. Let’s move. The Guild Master is waiting at the surface with the press. We need to make sure our story aligns—Renan bravely volunteered to hold off the monster so we could secure the Core."

"A tragic hero," Vane chuckled, shoving the multi-million-dollar Core into his spatial pouch. "I almost feel bad for the poor trash."

TAP.

The sound was soft. Like a heavy leather boot stepping onto loose gravel.

It didn’t come from down the tunnel. It came from directly behind Vane.

Vane’s smile froze.

Before he could even register the sudden drop in air pressure, a hand—hard as cold iron and dripping with dark violet energy—reached out from the shadows of the stone wall and clamped firmly around his throat.

CRACK-LE!

The protective mana-shield surrounding Vane’s body shattered instantly like thin glass under the pressure of [Strength: 300+].

"A tragic hero?" a voice whispered directly into Vane’s ear. The tone was devoid of heat, hollow and rasping, like stone grinding on stone. "I think ’executioner’ fits better."

"VANE!" the female scout shrieked, raising her crossbow.

"What the—!" Jax lunged forward, drawing his massive tower shield.

Renan didn’t glance at them. He slammed Vane’s body face-first into the jagged stone floor with enough force to crack the bedrock. Vane’s nose flattened, blood spraying across the stone as his staff clattered uselessly into the dark.

Leon drew his broadsword in a flash, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as the dim green light of the dungeon illuminated the intruder’s face.

"R-Renan...?" Leon’s voice cracked, dropping an octave. "How... how are you alive?!"

Renan stood tall amidst the swirling black fog of his [Corrosive Aura]. His clothes were shredded and soaked in black monster gore and crimson blood, but his posture was straight. His legs—which Leon had personally crippled less than twenty minutes ago—showed no signs of injury.

Instead, a subtle metallic sheen coated his skin, and his eyes glowed with an eerie, murderous crimson.

"You left me to die, Leon," Renan said softly. He stepped forward, his boots crunching over the shards of Vane’s shattered mana-staff.

Jax charged, placing his massive body between Renan and Leon. He slammed his tower shield onto the ground, activating his ultimate defensive skill: [Iron Fortress]. A golden aura wrapped around Jax, boosting his physical defense tenfold.

"Stay back, you freak!" Jax roared, bracing his shoulder against the shield. "I’m a Rank-S Vanguard! You can’t break through my—"

Renan didn’t wait for him to finish. He didn’t even draw a weapon.

He threw a single, straight punch directly into the center of the golden tower shield.

BOOM!

The air in the corridor shattered with a thunderous sonic boom.

The Rank-S golden defense skill didn’t just fail—it disintegrated. The heavy steel tower shield caved inward, warping into a U-shape before exploding into a shower of razor-sharp metal shrapnel.

The force of the strike plowed through Jax’s heavy chest armor, breaking his collarbones and sending his 250-pound body flying backward like a ragdoll. Jax slammed into the tunnel wall thirty paces away, slumping unconscious into a pile of rubble.

One punch. A Rank-S Vanguard was neutralized in a split second.

The female scout dropped her crossbow, her hands trembling so violently she couldn’t load her bolt. "H-He’s not human... His stat density is off the charts..."

Renan ignored her, walking past Jax’s unconscious form without giving him a second glance. His crimson eyes remained locked on Leon.

Leon retreated two steps, his knuckles white around the hilt of his broadsword. Cold sweat dripped down his temple, stinging his eyes. The sheer aura radiating from Renan was suffocating—it felt like standing in front of an ancient dragon, not the weak Tier-F porter he had bullied for two years.

"Wait! Renan, listen to me!" Leon stuttered, holding his left hand out in a desperate truce gesture. "It was a business decision! The Guild Master pressured me! I can give you half the shares of the Abyssal Core! Millions of dollars! You can pay off your sister’s medical bills instantly!"

Renan stopped five paces away. He looked at Leon’s terrified face, then down at the spatial pouch hanging from Vane’s unconscious belt.

"Half?" Renan asked, his voice deadpan.

Leon thought he saw a sliver of hope. "Yes! Half! Or—or sixty percent! Just let us leave the Gate together! We can tell the press we fought off the boss as a team!"

Renan reached down, casually tearing the spatial pouch from Vane’s belt with one finger. He opened it, pulled out the glowing purple Abyssal Core, and tossed the empty pouch aside.

"You don’t get it, Leon," Renan said, his voice dropping into a dark, terrifying register.

He closed his fist around the multi-million-dollar Core.

CRUNCH!

Under the immense pressure of Renan’s grip, the Tier-S Abyssal Core—a jewel harder than industrial diamonds—shattered into a cloud of glowing purple dust.

Leon’s jaw dropped in absolute horror. "You... you crazy bastard! That was worth fifty million credits!"

"I don’t need your money," Renan stepped into Leon’s personal space, his shadow completely enveloping the panicked captain. "I just need your corpse."

Before Leon could swing his broadsword, Renan’s hand shot forward like a striking viper, grabbing Leon by the throat and lifting his entire body two feet off the ground.

Leon thrashed wildly, kicking his legs and desperately hacking at Renan’s arm with his broadsword.

CLANG! CLANG!

The enchanted steel blade struck Renan’s forearm, but it didn’t cut skin. It produced sparks, rebounding as if hitting solid titanium. Renan didn’t even flinch.

[Skill Activated: Hardened Carapace]

"You chopped my hamstrings and locked me in the dark," Renan whispered, his fingers slowly tightening around Leon’s windpipe. He could feel the cartilage in Leon’s neck beginning to buckle. "Did you really think a steel gate could keep me in?"

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

A sharp alarm blared from the communication orb pinned to Leon’s collar. A panicked voice cut through the static—it was the Guild Master of Apex Guild calling from the surface outside the Gate.

"Leon! What is happening down there?! The Gate energy is spiking out of control! Did you secure the Core? Report immediately!"

Renan reached up with his free hand, unpinning the communication orb from Leon’s collar. He brought it close to his mouth, his crimson eyes gleaming in the dark.

"Leon is indisposed, Guild Master," Renan said calmly into the transmitter. "Tell your guards at the exit to clear the way. I’m coming up."

Renan crushed the communication orb into dust, and with a brutal flick of his wrist, slammed Leon’s screaming body through the reinforced steel portcullis, shattering the exit gate into a million pieces.