The Villian Who Broke The Story

The swirling dungeon portal distorted the air around it.

Dark blue mana rotated endlessly inside the circular gateway like liquid space folding into itself. Even standing several meters away, the pressure leaking from it made weaker students visibly nervous.

Kael stood calmly before the portal alongside his teammates.

The boy with glasses looked pale.

Charlotte appeared composed externally, but Kael could sense tension in her mana flow.

Reasonable.

No matter how much training someone received, standing before a real dungeon for the first time always triggered fear.

Because everyone understood one simple truth.

Dungeons were places where people died.

Kael stared toward the portal again.

At least it’s only E-rank.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward first.

The world twisted instantly.

Mana pressure swallowed his senses momentarily before the environment changed completely.

Darkness surrounded them.

Cold damp air filled the cavern.

Narrow rocky pathways stretched endlessly into the distance while faint growling echoed somewhere deeper within the dungeon.

The smell of blood lingered faintly in the atmosphere.

Kael analyzed the environment immediately.

Cave-type dungeon.

Not ideal.

"Does anyone here have a light spell?" Kael asked calmly. "Or maybe fire magic?"

Silence.

That answered the question.

Kael sighed internally.

Of course they don’t.

Charlotte looked slightly embarrassed while the boy avoided eye contact entirely.

Kael reached into his bag before activating the industrial flashlight he had purchased earlier from the academy store.

Bright light flooded the cavern instantly.

The atmosphere became slightly less oppressive.

"Stay close," Kael said while walking forward. "Cave-type dungeons usually contain nocturnal monsters with enhanced vision."

Charlotte blinked in surprise.

"How do you know that?"

Kael ignored her question completely.

Most of his knowledge came directly from years of playing the game.

Dungeon structures.

Monster patterns.

Spawn mechanics.

Boss behavior.

Things ordinary students would need years of experience to learn felt instinctive to him now.

Unfortunately, there was no believable way to explain that.

Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Unlike the others, his own vision remained almost completely unaffected by the darkness.

Perhaps because of his darkness attribute.

Or perhaps because of the changes happening to his body after becoming a Demon King Candidate.

Either way—

Dark environments no longer bothered him much.

Something moved ahead.

Kael reacted instantly.

A wolf-like monster lunged from the darkness with glowing red eyes and exposed fangs.

Slash.

Its head separated cleanly before it even reached him.

The corpse collapsed heavily onto the cave floor.

The other students froze.

Kael didn’t.

A second wolf attacked from the side.

Slash.

Another clean kill.

Kael narrowed his eyes slightly.

Shadow Wolves.

Weak individually.

Fast in groups.

Pack hunters.

And almost immediately—

Multiple glowing eyes appeared deeper inside the darkness.

Low growls echoed across the cavern.

Charlotte’s expression paled slightly.

"There are too many..."

The wolves charged simultaneously.

Kael immediately sheathed his blade and drew his two daggers.(gotten from the assassin)

His posture changed instantly.

Lower stance.

Reduced presence.

Compressed killing intent.

The assassin template.

Shadow mana wrapped briefly around his feet.

"Shadow Step."

Kael vanished.

The wolves crashed into empty space.

A second later—

Blood exploded across the cavern.

Kael reappeared behind the entire pack.

Bodies collapsed one after another.

Throats severed.

Hearts pierced.

Limbs separated with terrifying precision.

Within seconds—

Over twenty wolves lay dead across the cave floor.

Silence filled the dungeon.

Kael exhaled slowly while exhaustion washed faintly through his muscles.

Using assassin mobility techniques continuously still consumed too much mana at his current level.

Behind him, Charlotte stared blankly.

"...How is someone ranked 1000 capable of this?"

Kael ignored the question.

Because honestly—

He was asking himself something similar these days.