The Monster Monarch System-Chapter 233: The Mutated Dungeon

The air around the dungeon gate crackled with an eerie energy, black lightning arcing across its surface like veins of corruption spreading through the void.

The once-familiar blue glow of a C-rank dungeon had been swallowed whole by something far worse — something unnatural.

Rem narrowed his eyes as he approached, feeling the energy pressing against his skin, making the very air feel heavier.

It wasn’t just the dungeon’s energy seeping out — it was twisting the very fabric of the world around it.

The grass beneath his feet had withered to a dull gray, and the trees closest to the gate were blackened husks, stripped of all life.

Something was deeply, deeply wrong here.

His fingers flexed, his muscles coiled. He had cleared dungeons before, but this? This was different.

Then, as if pulled by an unseen force, his legs tensed — and in a single motion, he launched himself forward.

His body blurred through the air, and before he could second-guess himself, he was inside the gate.

The world around him shifted instantly.

—

A wave of oppressive darkness crashed over him, and for a moment, he felt as though he had stepped into a completely different realm.

The sky — if it could even be called that — was an endless void of swirling black and crimson, flickering like dying embers.

The very air was thick with an energy that crawled across his skin, a sickening sensation that made his instincts scream at him to run.

But he didn’t.

Because the moment he landed, something else demanded his attention.

A massive thud echoed through the dungeon as something heavy slammed into the ground before him, sending a tremor through the earth.

Rem’s gaze snapped up.

Towering over him was a statue — no, it was not a mere statue, it was a guardian.

A being forged of dark stone, its body etched with glowing crimson runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. In its massive hands, it clutched a trident, the weapon crackling with the same black lightning that had surrounded the dungeon gate.

It looked strange but the energy that radiated off it, it was powerful, there was no doubt about it.

Its head turned toward him, the empty eye sockets burning with eerie red light. Then, the System chimed.

[System Alert: You have entered a Mutated Dungeon.]

A mutated dungeon?

Rem barely had time to process the information before the guardian moved.

With a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for something its size, it lunged, the trident whistling through the air in a deadly arc.

Rem moved.

He twisted his body, narrowly dodging as the trident crashed into the ground beside him, the force of the impact sending cracks spiderwebbing through the stone floor. His eyes glowed, soul energy streaming out of them.

"Tch." His feet slid across the uneven terrain as he steadied himself.

This wasn’t an ordinary dungeon guardian.

And he wasn’t about to hold back. Holding back wasn’t even an option at this point, if he even tried to hold back a bit, the only person that would end up being killed here was... him.

—

The guardian attacked again.

Its movements were calculated, precise — this wasn’t just some mindless dungeon monster. It had skill. It knew how to fight.

The trident struck with brutal efficiency, each thrust aimed to kill, forcing Rem to weave between the strikes with razor-thin margins.

But he was faster.

With a burst of soul energy, he launched himself forward, closing the distance between them in an instant.

His fist, glowing with raw power, slammed into the guardian’s chest —

Crack!

A dent formed in the stone, but it didn’t shatter. The chestplate was strong, that much he could feel.

Instead, the guardian retaliated, twisting its body unnaturally as it swung the trident sideways.

Rem barely managed to duck, feeling the wind from the swing brush the top of his head.

He clicked his tongue. "Stubborn thing, aren’t you?"

He dashed back, reassessing. If pure strength wouldn’t break it, he needed to switch tactics.

His eyes flickered to the glowing runes on its body.

Right.

That should be it’s weak point...

’Now...’ His eyes glowed, emanating pure crimson, it made him look like he wasn’t human, he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his entire body, ’To take advantage of this opportunity,’

—

The guardian moved to strike again, but this time, Rem was already ahead of it.

The moment the trident came down, he sidestepped, his body twisting as he surged past the weapon. His hand shot out, gripping one of the glowing runes on its shoulder.

"Got you." His voice sounded every bit as monstrous as it’s tone.

With a sharp breath, he poured his soul energy into it.

The effect was immediate.

The runes flared violently, reacting to his energy — and then, with a deafening crack, the guardian’s arm shattered, breaking apart in a cascade of fractured stone. It fell to the ground with a huge thud, kicking up dust and debris.

The creature let out a hollow, distorted roar, staggering back as its balance faltered.

Rem didn’t let it recover.

He surged forward, his movements a blur, striking every rune in rapid succession — each hit sending another violent pulse through the guardian’s body until —

Boom.

The final blow landed.

The guardian’s entire form shattered like glass, fragments of stone scattering across the dungeon floor.

A heavy silence followed.

Then, the System chimed again.

[Mutated Guardian defeated.]

[Proceed]

Rem exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as he looked at the remains. His heart was still pounding, the thrill of the fight still buzzing through his veins.

That had been... fun.

But something about it still didn’t sit right.

If the dungeon was mutated, then there had to be a cause. Dungeons didn’t just change on their own.

His eyes narrowed as he stepped forward.

This wasn’t over yet.

With a flick of his wrist, he cracked his knuckles.

"Let’s see what’s waiting deeper inside."

He walked forward, letting himself calm down – There wasn’t supposed to be anything too powerful further ahead.

Was there?