36 Anthrax, Primeval Mind

Picking up the pace, Zane hurried to his target location—the control room. In a normal subway station, this was the place where all the installed security cameras could be seen and monitored. It was the central hub, the 'brain' of the facility.

But in this alter-Dungeon variant of a subway station… it was also the most likely place for a boss to be hidden.

Zane's hunch earlier had been correct—this place's layout was indeed completely identical to that of the real-world Yongen-Jaya subway station. The washroom that he'd teleported to? That had been there in the real subway station as well, at the same exact location. Following that logic, it was only natural that the control room would be in the same spot as the real world as well.

Normally, average citizens would not know the detailed layouts of a subway station like so. However, thankfully, there were various blueprint-esque maps along the walls at different parts of the facility, so finding the control room wasn't hard. Rather, it was actually getting to it that would be difficult—there were various locked doors that could only be passed through proper security clearance…

… For a normal person, anyway. To Zane, doors were nothing but a slight hindrance.

Using [Nihility], he easily phased straight through the metal door, unseen and untouched. On the other end were various broken electricity cables that hang dangerously out in the open, sparks still flying off their tips. Naturally, this didn't affect Zane—he was in a complete other dimension, after all.

Drifting through the charged hallway, he could feel his tether to the other dimension thinning. His mana was already low; if he used any more, he risked Mana Exhaustion, ME for short—a condition that resulted from overusing mana. If that happened, Zane would die here for sure, with his body falling into paralysis for several hours' worth of time.

He needed to end this quickly.

Shortly, the hallway came to a close, and Zane entered the control room. To his right, a wide terminal with dozens of screens neatly arranged above it lay against the wall, seemingly normal. The surveillance cameras displayed footage in black and white and glitched out from time to time, but that was natural given the finnicky electricity of this place.

What wasn't natural, however, was what lay on the other end of the room.

Turning to his left, Zane saw a marvelous yet dangerous creature, embedded within the wall itself. The bricks that were supposed to cover it were nowhere to be seen, and instead, in its place, was a geometrical construct of sorts. It was lined with energy, glowing white, and several ley lines of raw power intersecting at perpendicular angles hovered in the air around it.

At its very center, its nucleus, was a perfectly round circle. It glowed like a fluorescent light, beautiful and brilliant. Zane found himself unable to look away, inadvertently triggering the inspect effect of the System.

[Anthrax, Primeval Mind]

[Type: Hivemind]

[Level: 26]

[Class: Emperor]

Zane's mind went blank. His thoughts froze, and so did his body. The only thing he could do was continue to stare at that beautiful white light, as it shrouded his vision and began pulling him in…

"Ngh—!"

Suddenly, a flash of red streaked past his sight, and quickly, Zane was brought back to reality. Shaking his head, Zane broke the mind tether, and backed away a few steps instead.

"Bastard… almost had me there—almost."

That was close. If not for his [Eye of the Abyss] triggering and warning him of the threat, he could very well have fallen for that trap right then and there. But still… just what was this thing? It was an Emperor-class, meaning it was the final boss of this Dungeon—but what the hell was 'Hivemind'?

Out of all the Dungeon monster types Zane had seen before, this was the first time he'd come across something like this. Beasts, Undead, Taken, Ascended, Elemental, Cyborg—you name it. But Hivemind…?

'I guess it makes sense. A hivemind is a collective intelligence with one shared 'brain'. If that's the case, then those Wanderers coming at me mindlessly follows some degree of logic.'

But even so, he'd never even heard about an enemy type like this. Was it limited to the Secret Dungeons linked to his own, special System?

"… Another mystery I'll have to investigate," Zane muttered. "But for now… I should probably take care of you first."

Closing his left, unprotected eye, Zane dashed in towards the hive construct, daggers drawn. Since the Wanderers had required Abyssal energy to kill, he assumed this 'thing' was the same. As soon as he got close, however, a barrier suddenly erected from the being, blocking his attack and nullifying it completely. Zane, gritting his teeth, retreated, and wiped his mouth.

"Cheh… I should've known it wouldn't be that easy. Even Abyss energy can't penetrate that shield?"

Just as that thought crossed his mind, from behind him, several Wanderers appeared, making their way to the control room to cut Zane off from any escape.

'So… it was a lure all along, huh?'

No matter. If he couldn't forcibly break through the barrier, then he'd just have to bypass it some other way.

"You think a mere shield will stop me? Think again."

Readying his daggers, he dashed towards the Primeval Mind once more, but this time, instead of attacking the shield directly—he teleported straight through, and sank his daggers into the nucleus of the hivemind.

There was a splinter. Then, a fracture.

As the crack grew larger and larger, the circular light exploded in a brilliant radiance, and the Wanderers behind Zane crumbled to nothingness, returning to whatever realm they came from now that their tether to this world was broken. Zane, backing away slowly, let out a breath.

"… And that's that."

[Anthrax, Primeval Mind — Defeated!]

[+260 EXP]

'This thing gave me a lot of trouble at first, but after figuring out its tricks, taking it down was quite easy,' he thought in his head, dismissing the notification and glancing at the next one.

[Multiclass Hunter I — Quest Complete!]

[+10 SP, +50 Bloodrunes]

[You can now choose a new first-evolution class from the list below.]

At this, Zane's eyes widened slightly.

"Oh…? Interesting."

[Alchemist]

[Blacksmith]

[Priest]