the real Silbon

The destruction of the Law object set off a domino effect no one could have anticipated. Not only did the guardians go mad in that specific chamber, but the entire dungeon began to tremble violently.

The walls creaked, cracks spread across the ceiling, and a deafening roar echoed through every corridor and cell. It was as if the very structure of the place were collapsing.

But the most alarming part was what was happening to the monsters.

In every corner of the dungeon, all the creatures El Silbón had left as guardians began to convulse the same way the chamber guardians had. Their forms twisted, their movements became erratic and feral, and their aggressiveness multiplied exponentially.

Meanwhile, in the prison blocks, many—young and old—began to hear it.

Guttural screams. Blows against metal. Heavy footsteps, closer and closer.

It was not the normal silence of the prisons. It was something worse…

Then the prisoners understood that staying still was no longer an option.

With fear gripping their throats, they poured out in a mass—staggering, shoving, colliding with one another, feeling for an exit in the dark—with a single certainty hammered into their minds: if they stayed inside, they would die.

The monsters radiated a savage, uncontrollable madness. They charged straight at the civilians.

The attacks began immediately. The creatures threw themselves at the prisoners with unrestrained ferocity. Screams of terror filled the corridors as people ran in every direction, desperately searching for a way out.

Chia and Sue emerged from the chamber just as the chaos reached its peak. What they saw froze them for a moment.

Dozens of people running, stumbling, falling. Monsters chasing them from every side. The floor was littered with debris from the constant quaking. It was a nightmare made real.

—We have to do something!

Sue shouted, their voice barely audible over the bedlam.

Chia nodded, expression hardening with determination.

—Everyone! To us!

Chia yelled with all the strength in their lungs.

—We can protect you!

Some prisoners heard the call and started moving in their direction. Chia immediately extended their hands, and barriers of dark energy began to materialize.

They were not the small, focused barriers Chia normally used. This time, with their connection to the Night strengthened, Chia could create something far larger.

The barriers spread in a wide arc, forming a protective perimeter that covered a considerable area. It was large enough to shelter groups of people, creating a temporary refuge in the middle of the chaos.

—Get in! Hurry!

The nearest prisoners ran inside the barriers—some carrying small children, others helping the wounded. The barriers pulsed with dark energy, solid and resilient.

The monsters that tried to attack the refugees slammed into the barriers with force, but they could not get through. Chia held their focus, sweat forming on their forehead from the strain of maintaining barriers that large.

Sue did not waste time. While Chia protected the civilians, Sue went on the offensive.

With hands blazing with golden fire, Sue prepared to strike.

Sue spread their arms and spears of golden fire burst from their palms, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle. Each spear that touched a monster incinerated it instantly, reducing it to ash before it could even scream.

“—Keep coming!”

Sue shouted, hurling spear after spear.

“—I won’t let you hurt anyone else!”

A group of monsters approached from the left flank, trying to circle around the barriers. Sue pivoted and conjured a curtain of golden fire that stretched like a living wall, blocking their advance. The monsters that tried to push through were consumed at once.

More prisoners kept arriving, drawn to the safe zone Chia and Sue had created. Among them were several who were clearly not ordinary civilians.

They were gifted.

A tall person with scars along their arms extended their hands, and bolts of electricity leapt from their fingers, electrocuting a cluster of monsters that came too close. A young woman formed ice projectiles that flew like arrows, piercing the creatures’ skulls.

But among all the gifted who began to fight back, one stood out above the rest.

Arcadio.

Sue recognized Arcadio immediately when they saw Arcadio emerge from one of the side corridors, surrounded by a group of civilians Arcadio had clearly been protecting.

—Arcadio!

Sue yelled.

Arcadio saw Sue and nodded with a serene expression, without a trace of worry. Without losing a second, Arcadio raised both hands toward the ceiling.

What happened next was incredible.

The air itself seemed to come alive. Currents of wind began to swirl around Arcadio—soft at first, then stronger and stronger. Arcadio’s hair and clothes whipped violently as power flowed through them.

With a wide sweep of both arms, Arcadio released the gathered wind.

A massive blast erupted from Arcadio’s position, so strong that even the rubble on the ground went flying. The current slammed into an entire group of monsters advancing from the main corridor, hurling them into the walls with brutal force. The creatures’ bodies struck with wet, sickening sounds, some disintegrating completely from the impact.

But Arcadio did not stop there.

Arcadio compressed the wind around their hands, focusing it into a point so small and dense that the air itself became visible, glowing with a bluish sheen. Then Arcadio released it as projectiles.

The bullets of compressed wind tore through the monsters as if they were made of paper. There was no resistance. The projectiles punched through heads, torsos, limbs, bursting out the other side and continuing on to hit more creatures behind.

A monster tried to leap down on Arcadio from above. Arcadio did not even turn their head.

Arcadio lifted one hand, as if brushing away smoke, and a rising current of wind struck the creature mid‑jump, slamming it into the ceiling with such force that its body lodged in the stone.

Arcadio exhaled, calm, and for a second looked almost bored.

—Civilians, to the barriers

Arcadio said, with a calm that cut through the screams.

—Gifted who can fight: defensive perimeter. Hold the line

Arcadio did not need to raise their voice. Their voice traveled on the wind and reached everyone’s ears perfectly.

People organized instantly: the civilians ran toward the protection of Chia’s barriers, and the gifted with combat abilities took positions around the perimeter, trusting Arcadio would not lead them to their deaths.

Chia expanded the barriers even more, creating multiple layers of protection. Now there were dozens of people sheltered inside, including many children crying out for their parents.

—Hold formation!

Arcadio said, unleashing another gust of wind that cleared an entire corridor of monsters.

Sue kept throwing spears of golden fire, their power now synchronized with the collective effort. Every shot was precise; every spear found its target. The monsters fell one after another, their bodies burning with golden flames that left not even ash.

A gifted with earth powers raised stone walls to block certain corridors, funneling the monsters into kill zones where concentrated attacks could eliminate them more efficiently.

Another with metal‑manipulation abilities tore bars from the ruined cells and shaped them into sharpened projectiles that flew like spears, impaling multiple creatures at once.

The monsters kept coming, but had no chance to get close.

Arcadio formed a localized tornado that trapped a dozen creatures, whipping them violently through the air before slamming them into the stone walls with lethal force. Then Arcadio compressed the wind again and fired a focused burst that pierced five monsters in a straight line, punching through them as if they were butter.

—More are coming from the east wing!

Someone shouted.

—I see them!

Arcadio replied.

Arcadio raised both hands and the wind around them roared. This time, instead of attacking directly, Arcadio created an air barrier so dense that any monster trying to pass through was shredded by turbulent currents. It was like an invisible blender, grinding everything that entered its radius.

Sue seized the opening and launched a column of golden fire that stretched down the entire east‑wing corridor, incinerating any monster that managed to slip past Arcadio’s wind barrier.

—Good work!

Arcadio shouted to Sue.

Chia, meanwhile, not only maintained the barriers, but used them offensively as well. Chia combined ice and darkness to finish off the monsters. When groups of creatures came too close, Chia fired blasts of black ice that froze them instantly, and then shadows tore them apart from the inside. Some were trapped in prisons of dark ice, while others were skewered by spears of frozen shadow that rose from the ground.

The children inside the barriers had stopped crying, watching in amazement as the gifted protected them. Some adults began to help by organizing people, making sure the wounded received care and that no one was left exposed.

Arcadio unleashed another massive gust of wind, clearing the main corridor completely.

—That’s our way!

Arcadio shouted, pointing ahead.

—Chia, change the shape of the barrier! We’re going to make the biggest spearhead in the world!

Chia nodded, and with considerable effort began to reshape the barriers. The protective structure reorganized slowly, adopting a triangular shape with its point aimed forward. It was like a giant spear formation, with civilians protected in the center of the triangle and the gifted forming the edges of the defensive perimeter. The sharp point of the formation cut through the monster hordes, clearing a path as they advanced.

But just when it seemed they had found a rhythm, the ground shook harder than ever.

From the side corridors, from the shattered cells, from every crack and shadow in the dungeon, a new wave of monsters emerged. Not dozens. Not hundreds.

Thousands.

Like a twisted black tide, the mass of creatures surged toward the group from every angle. Their shrieks formed a deafening cacophony that made the air itself tremble. The floor quaked under the weight of their bodies as they ran, leapt, and crawled toward the spear formation.

—Another wave!

Someone yelled from the perimeter.

Arcadio watched the oncoming mass, eyes assessing the situation in an instant. Then, with unshakable calm, Arcadio spoke:

—We don’t stop. We keep moving forward!

Sue intensified the assault, launching columns of golden fire that stretched like incandescent rivers, incinerating dozens of monsters at a time. Chia reinforced the barriers, making them denser, stronger, while continuing to strike with black‑ice spears that pierced creatures trying to break the formation.

The wave crashed into the spear tip with brutal force.

But the formation did not give.

Arcadio unleashed their power with renewed ferocity. Wind currents so strong they tore stones from the ground swept the flanks, throwing monsters into the walls like rag dolls. The gifted on the perimeter fought without pause, using their abilities in perfect coordination.

The group advanced.

Step by step, meter by meter, the spear formation carved a path through the endless tide of creatures. Monsters fell by the hundreds, their bodies piling into mountains of corpses the group left behind.

—Stay together!

Arcadio shouted.

—Don’t break away from the group!

The procession moved through the dungeon like an unstoppable force.

The formation kept advancing until, at last, through chaos and destruction, they saw something that gave them a flicker of hope: a set of stone stairs rising into the darkness.

—There!

Someone shouted, pointing ahead.

Sue and Chia recognized them instantly. Their eyes widened with a mix of relief and dread.

—It’s the entrance

Sue said, voice catching slightly.

—It’s where that… that false Silbón brought us when we first arrived

Chia nodded, face pale but resolute.

—If we go up there, we might get out of this hell.

—Then we go!

Arcadio ordered.

—Hold the formation! Don’t lower your guard until we’re out!

The group began to climb the stairs, the spear formation adapting to the new terrain. The monsters kept attacking from every angle, but the gifted held the perimeter, repelling each charge with brutal precision.

The steps trembled beneath their feet as they ascended. The darkness was nearly absolute, lit only by the flashes of powers constantly unleashed: golden fire, wind bursts, black‑ice spears, lightning, and more.

They were halfway up when it happened.

A roar.

It was nothing like the shrieks and growls of the monsters they had been fighting. This one was different. Deep. Guttural. So loud and so unnatural it resonated in the bones of everyone present, making the very air vibrate with its intensity.

Everyone stopped dead.

Gooseflesh spread along every arm. The children inside the barriers began to cry again. Even the most experienced gifted felt the hair rise on the back of their necks.

The roar came again, louder this time, and with it came an unnatural silence. The monsters that had been attacking without pause stopped. They stopped shrieking. They stopped moving. They stood still, like twisted statues, staring up the stairs.

—W-what… what was that?

Someone whispered, voice trembling.

Arcadio looked into the darkness above, eyes narrowed, expression grave.

—Something big

Arcadio murmured.

And then, out of the shadows, it appeared.

At first it was only a massive silhouette blocking the faint light from above. But as it drew closer, details became visible.

It was a five‑meter‑tall creature, its body completely covered in matted black fur that seemed to move on its own, as if it were alive. Its shape was vaguely humanoid, but distorted, with limbs too long and joints bending at impossible angles.

It had no visible face—only a dark mass where its head should have been—but from that darkness emanated a crushing presence, as if the creature were watching all of them at once.

And around it, like a nightmare court, were hundreds of monsters. They did not attack. They only waited, motionless, like soldiers awaiting orders from their commander.

Sue felt their breathing stop.

Chia clenched their teeth, hands trembling slightly while keeping the barriers in place.

And Arcadio… Arcadio simply watched the creature in silence for a long moment.

Then, with a cold, calm voice, Arcadio spoke:

—It’s him.

—Him?

Sue asked, unable to look away.

Arcadio nodded slowly.

—El Silbón. The real one.

The air grew heavier. The creature’s presence was so overwhelming that some of the gifted took an involuntary step back.

—The final boss of this dungeon

Arcadio continued, voice steady despite the tension.

The creature roared again, and this time the sound was so powerful that some of the steps cracked under the vibration. The monsters around it began to move again, but they did not attack. They simply positioned themselves around their leader, forming a living wall between the group and the exit.

Sue swallowed.

—What do we do?

Arcadio did not answer right away. Their eyes stayed fixed on El Silbón, evaluating, calculating.

Finally, Arcadio exhaled.

—What we’ve always done

Arcadio said, raising one hand as the wind began to swirl around them.

—We fight.