"I don't understand. Revenge? Who could you possibly take revenge on?" He's a monster—an intelligent one—but still a monster.

  The yeti keeps looking straight into my eyes. He takes several seconds just observing me, and I don't change my expression at any moment; I simply sit there waiting. I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't curious. I'm actually very intrigued by his so-called revenge.

  "First, let me explain something." He shifts slightly, and I react by gripping my sword a bit tighter. "Don't worry, I only want to sit down. A king must keep his dignity until the very last moment of his life." Once he gets comfortable, I take out a cushion from my storage bracelet.

  I relax a little. He’s released some of his Imra and I can feel parts of his emotions. He's resigned and something worries him. I can't sense any desire to fight; his lack of will to live surprises me.

  "We. I'm not talking about you and me, but the monsters in this dungeon. All of us were taken from our natural habitats, we all lived in different places." I almost fall off my cushion in shock.

  "How is that possible? All of you come from somewhere else?" This is something I absolutely must tell Susan later.

  "Yes, we don’t know how it's possible. When they captured us, we were confined in what felt like a different rift, something like a created space. The humans hid themselves completely; they only ran tests to measure our intelligence. Back then I pretended to be dumber so I wouldn’t stand out." I stay silent, only listening to his explanation.

  "An electric feline-type monster also had the ability to speak. It established some kind of communication with the humans… I couldn't hear much because they took it to a separate place from us." The yeti takes a moment before continuing.

  His expression changes; I can feel clear hostility. "Later they made us fight like savage beasts, all of us. I was the winner of that fight. Some time after, they decided to put me in the same group as the monster that could think like me. That’s where I managed to hear some details about the dungeon."

  "Can you tell me everything you know?" I ask without showing much emotion. I'm not sure how the yeti would react.

  "I intended to do that from the start. Otherwise, I would’ve stayed silent." I don't respond and wait for him to continue.

  "The dungeon is part natural, part artificial. They never explained it, and even if they had, I probably wouldn't have understood. It's natural because it's formed from existing dungeons with monsters brought from other regions added in, and artificial because they manipulate something to bring it to the surface." I try to memorize all his words.

  "The dungeon adapted to us little by little. We were held captive in separate zones, and slowly the mana adjusted to our affinities. That’s how the eternal snow on this mountain began." How is that possible? The only person—or monster—capable of creating a dungeon so far is Sus. I don’t know of anyone else.

  The yeti stays quiet for a moment, probably giving me time to process everything. These new details clear up some doubts and open countless more.

  Now we know this was planned by an organization; it’s not entirely natural. That raises thousands of questions: What is their purpose? What conditions are required to recreate something like this? The questions are endless.

  "The humans who captured us couldn’t decide which monster should be the leader—the strongest or the smartest. In the end they decided to split the core in two. My death will alter the dungeon in some way, but the only way to destroy it completely is to kill the feline monster." So this isn’t the end. I must kill the other monster to finish this.

  At that moment I remember my group of friends; they must be fighting endless yetis while waiting for me.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Um… I know this is important, but so is the lives of my friends. They must be fighting your army right now. Could you stop them and let me go to them for a moment?" If something happens to them because I made this conversation longer, I’ll never forgive myself.

  "Five minutes." I look at him, confused. "You have five minutes to go and return. I’ll tell my group to stop fighting. If you take longer, it’ll be difficult for me to stay sane enough to answer your questions. I’m losing too much blood, and that death mana makes it worse." I stand from my seat and think for a moment about where to go.

  "Follow that path, you’ll find them in less than two minutes." The yeti points the direction. I shoot forward like a bullet.

  On the way I can only think: Why is he doing this? Am I being a bit stupid trusting a monster so easily? I can read his emotions, but is that enough?

  Maybe I don’t feel any threat from him, so I’m trusting his words? I feel a bit uncertain for a moment, but in the end I decide to trust him and report everything to Susan as what it is: the words of an intelligent monster. My instinct isn’t warning me, and that’s a good sign—I've survived this long by trusting that instinct.

  "Joaki!" I shout toward the group. They all turn the moment they hear my voice. As I reach them I can see their expressions—some relieved to see me, others clearly confused.

  "Maki… did you kill the leader? The yetis started dispersing a moment ago." Joaki looks puzzled.

  "No." My answer freezes them completely. "Don’t worry, he's in a dying state. He’s an intelligent monster. He’s waiting for me, and after that I’ll end his life." Saying it out loud makes me feel stupid; it sounds unreal.

  "Is it a trap? If they retreat they could be regrouping to defend their leader. We should all go together." Murill speaks up, his armor dented like a crushed can.

  "Don’t worry, I’ll go alone." I reject his suggestion—I don’t want to risk the monster refusing to talk if everyone comes with me.

  "It’s too dangerous, you can’t go alone. What if they ambush you and attack you all at once?" Yuly looks very worried; her clothes covered in dirt and blood make her look like a warrior.

  "If that happens, I’ll kill them all." Something inside me awakens as I picture that scenario. My voice sounds colder and deadlier than usual. Their faces make that very clear.

  "Do you trust me?" I ask. They all nod without hesitation. "Just return to where we camped last night. I’ll be back in at most two hours. I’ll bring the core of their leader and hopefully some answers." No one wants to respond or move. I look directly at Joaki; he quickly understands my mood and reluctantly leads his group away.

  "I'm back." I return at full speed; I didn’t sense a single hidden monster on the way.

  "There’s no one nearby. They’re all spending their last days together." He must have noticed how I looked toward areas my ability couldn’t reach.

  "It’s always good to be cautious." I scratch my head as I sit on my cushion.

  "That’s true." The monster nods. "The point is, to end this dungeon you must kill the feline and me. It’s the only way." I had already figured that out once he mentioned the split core.

  "Are all monsters of your kind intelligent?" The part where he mentioned his group spending their last days together still lingers in my mind.

  The yeti tells me about his species. They’re extremely smart monsters who live in groups far to the north. Most of them are intelligent and have their own language to communicate. Some are born with the ability to lead, like him, and the omnipresent voice grants them a kind of blessing to communicate with humans.

  His group lived peacefully for a long time. They were taken while exploring a remote area of their mountain. According to the yeti, they aren’t attacked because two grade-6 monsters protect that mountain. That detail sends chills down my spine.

  "I want revenge. I want to annihilate this stupid dungeon and destroy the plans of the humans who stole my freedom and imprisoned my companions." I can feel a burning fury rising.

  "Aren’t you angry at me?" I am his aggressor, he should feel at least some resentment.

  "Not at all. Even though we live peacefully, we are always ready to fight. If we die in a fair way, we accept it. We have a code of honor carved into our species." The yeti raises his head toward the ceiling.

  "This isn’t your fault either. You’re just following orders or defending your territory. All of this began with that damned group." I ask if he heard any names or descriptions, but unfortunately they always wore purple and black robes.

  "I’ll help you with your revenge. I’ll destroy the dungeon to end their plans." I feel some relief and calm in his Imra. "And I also promise to beat the crap out of them if I see any of them." I give him a wink, and for the first time I see something like a smile on his face.

  "Thank… you…" He goes silent for a moment.

  "Maki. Can I know your name?" I ask the monster in front of me.

  "Sider. In my mountain they knew me as Sider." He closes his eyes. I understand the situation and cut his throat. He was struggling too much to speak, and I could see his suffering. Ending it all with a single strike is better.