Things kept getting worse.

  The fire had spread. Oil coated the floor in too many places to contain. Sparks leapt from the ceiling conduit in random patterns. The chance to smother it had come and gone. Heat soaked the stone. Smoke swirled thick enough to obscure movement in the room. Kade feared that breathing was going to become an issue quickly.

  And then it happened.

  The flames finally reached the Oozing Lantern. It wasn’t a glancing blow or a stray ember. It was full contact, rolling across its tar-slick body like a match dropped into a spill. The moment the fire touched it, the boss began to change.

  The Oozing Lantern lost its shape.

  One moment it was humanoid in silhouette, limbs slung low and dripping with tar. The next, it came apart in a tidal collapse. Tendrils whipped outward in every direction. Its mass sagged into a boneless sprawl. Fire raced across its surface like blood in a tide pool. The heat surged in a wave. Smoke bit the lungs. A low roar echoed off the walls, not from a mouth but from the thing’s entire body vibrating with rage.

  The Oozing Lantern has become enraged!

  [Analyze] The Oozing Lantern | Level: 15 Boss | Status: Enraged | Class: Abomination

  Kade felt the shift instantly. The tempo snapped. Discipline bled out of the formation, and what was left wasn’t a squad. It was a brawl as the abomination went berserk.

  "Milo, left!" she shouted.

  The warning wasn't needed as Mile was already moving. His shield caught a flaming tarball midair, the impact driving him back two steps as fire spidered across the metal.

  Another tendril slammed low across the floor. Lance braced and took it clean on the guard, but part of it curled around and clipped Briggs in the ribs. The marine staggered and grunted.

  "Stone!" Kade barked.

  The cleric’s palm flared as a burst of pale light snapped into Briggs’ side. He exhaled hard and rolled his shoulders with a wince. Stone didn’t wait for thanks. She was halfway across the room, standing just in front of Levi’s still-smoldering body. Kade hadn’t seen her cast the spell, but Levi looked as if he was breathing again.

  If Levi died here, Kade was sure there'd be hell to pay for it later.

  A wet shluck echoed to the right. Myers had reappeared like a coin trick, a blade flashing from somewhere beneath his coat. He hurled it underhand, straight into the writhing core of the boss. The knife vanished into fire and sludge. The creature recoiled, then responded.

  Flaming globs of tar erupted from its body and arced outward in a random, lethal geometry. One ball slapped the far wall, splattering flame like a thrown oil drum. Another hit close, driving Mercer behind a rusted support beam. Robin snapped off a shot mid-motion, the revolver barking like an angry dog.

  The slug punched through the flame and slammed into the boss's side. That was all it took to grab its attention as it turned toward her.

  "No! Robin, back off!" Kade shouted.

  The boss surged toward Robin. The thing was on fire, all of it, and where it passed, it left a slick trail of burning fuel behind. The heat bloomed again, turning the entire chamber into a furnace. There wasn’t a safe position anymore, just less-lethal ones.

  Kade’s brain ran three moves ahead and came up short. They weren’t going to win this if it kept feeding from the fires. Every hit, every second, only made it worse.

  She spun. On the wall just behind her, a red cylinder, bolted at shoulder height. A faded label. One of the extinguishers Mercer had called out earlier.

  "Fall back!" Kade shouted. "Everyone stop attacking!"

  The order cracked through the room like a whip. Confused glances followed. A beat of hesitation. There was no time for debate. Kade drew her pistol and stepped forward and pulled the trigger. A single shot. Center mass.

  The boss shifted and tracked the impact with a type of hunger you didn’t associate with instinct. Just direction. It read her like a compass.

  "Come on!" Kade taunted.

  It surged. Straight across the room, tearing over the stone like a burning flood. Flaming tendrils slammed into the ground behind it, hurling more tar across the walls. Kade dodged a chunk that splattered half a foot to her right. Another missed her shoulder by inches. The fire snapped and roared, chasing the beast like its own shadow.

  She waited until it was almost on top of her.

  Then, with one clean strike, she drove her cutlass into the base of the extinguisher.

  Steel split metal as her cutlass pierced the tube. The pressure seal ruptured with a bang. Cold foam exploded outward in a burst of white and gray, engulfing the boss mid-charge. Fire hissed and died in an instant. The creature’s body twitched, twitched again, then collapsed into itself like wet cement.

  The Oozing Lantern is no longer enraged and stunned for five seconds!

  [Analyze] The Oozing Lantern | Level: 15 Boss | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  The room didn’t go quiet, but the pressure dropped. Time appeared to slow as the team processed the events of what had just happened. The boss wasn’t charging anymore. Just slumped in the center, fire dying in scattered patches. Its body had shrunk. What once filled the room now barely stood at head height.

  Robin’s voice rang from across the skirmish line.

  "Hit it with the other extinguisher. We’ve got to light it up again first."

  Kade stared across the room at her and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Just for a moment.

  "Helpful," Kade muttered under her breath, "like a snake giving directions."

  Milo was already in motion, shield dragging behind him as he moved toward the nearest active fire. His boots splashed through oil but didn’t stop.

  "I’ll light it," he called. "Mercer, get the other suppressor ready."

  "Copy that," Mercer replied. She was already repositioning near the far extinguisher, Briggs behind her with axe in hand.

  The boss recovered, its body shifting as it re-formed back into a humanoid shape. Still tracking Kade until Milo raised his shield on the far side of a burning oil pool and slammed his sword against it in two sharp beats.

  Kade recognized the ability. Classic aggro pull ability Milo had used several times in the dungeon already.

  The boss turned. It didn’t hesitate as it surged straight through the fire to reach him. It wanted the flame. Its body caught again like oil finding a second wick, and the entire mass burst into renewed fire.

  The Oozing Lantern has become enraged!

  [Analyze] The Oozing Lantern | Level: 15 Boss | Status: Enraged | Class: Abomination

  Mercer didn’t miss a beat. One crossbow bolt snapped from her position, catching the boss just beneath what passed for a neck. The impact changed its trajectory.

  The boss shifted again, drawing a trail of fire behind it as it rushed toward Mercer’s position.

  "Now!" she shouted.

  As the creature closed the gap, Briggs swung his axe in a hard arc and smashed it against the extinguisher tube. It buckled, then burst. Foam jetted out in a wide spray, catching the boss full-body. The flames died in an instant.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The creature hit the ground, splashing what little mass it had left across the floor.

  The Oozing Lantern is no longer enraged and stunned for five seconds!

  [Analyze] The Oozing Lantern | Level: 15 Boss | Status: Hostile | Class: Abomination

  It didn’t rise again to its full height. The thing barely stood waist-high now. Its movements were unsteady. Still a threat, but for the first time since the fight started, they had the upper hand.

  "Marines, push it!" Kade ordered. "Hard and fast!"

  There was no formation or plan beyond kicking the monster's ass. Just tired bodies and drawn weapons. The team moved together, fire snapping behind them and slick stone underfoot. The boss didn’t surge this time.

  It tried to lash out once, but Kade caught the blow on her cutlass and drove it low as the attack triggered Riposte of the Kraken. Briggs landed a crushing axe strike that caved in half of its structure. Milo kicked it toward Mercer’s firing line, and her second bolt landed point-blank into the core.

  Then came Myers with one last blade slipping into the weakened heart of the thing.

  The creature twitched, shuddered, and then fell apart. Tar splashed outward, dark and inert.

  Kade lowered her weapon as she tried to catch her breath. The only sounds were the slow hiss of flame dying in the corners of the room, the still-running generator, and the churn of adrenaline with nowhere left to go.

  The chamber stank of ozone and burnt oil. Smoke curled upward in lazy strands, caught in the vents overhead until the worst of it thinned into the dark. The silence that followed was not victory, only aftermath. Kade let the cutlass hang loose in her grip for a breath before sheathing it, her eyes scanning the squad.

  They didn’t celebrate the win. No one had energy left for that.

  Stone was already moving. Her compact frame disappeared in the shifting smoke as she crossed from Briggs to Levi, pale light flickering at her fingertips with every touch. Briggs had taken the worst of it on his ribs but stood steady now, jaw set, axe resting against his shoulder. Levi sat propped against the wall, one side of his shirt scorched and blackened where the conduit had lit him up. He winced at every twitch, but he was breathing.

  Colt lay stretched out near the generator platform, chest wrapped in the heavy coat Kade had smothered him with. His skin was raw where the fire had caught him, angry red climbing across his shoulder and neck. Stone crouched beside him next, her voice quiet but steady as she let another wave of light pour across the burns. It wasn’t perfect. Nothing in this place ever was. But Colt would live. He’d just carry the scars to prove it.

  Kade crouched beside him and checked his eyes. He was lucid enough, pain pushing through, but not broken.

  "Still with us?" she asked.

  Colt’s tear-filled gaze cut to hers. His voice came out rough. "You pulled me out of that one. Didn’t think you would."

  "Didn’t think you’d light yourself on fire either," Kade said. The dryness came easier than the honesty. "I need my coat back though."

  He grunted something that could have been agreement or a curse. After a beat, he added, "Thanks."

  Kade gave a short nod and stood. She didn’t want to dwell on it. Instead, she took a moment to review her Simulation notifications.

  + 1 Sword Combat | Repeated application of edged steel against unstable matter has increased proficiency.

  +2 Pistol Combat | Aiming Improved. Tactical judgement questionable. Attacking a tar-based creature with a pistol, does that feel logical to you? Throwing rocks might have produced similar results.

  +2 Light Armor | Protective value diminished after you stripped off your coat to put out a screaming teammate. Effective fire blanket, ineffective armor strategy.

  +3 Leadership | Command presence acknowledged. Eventually realizing the boss mechanics also acknowledged. Next time, try leading with insight instead of hindsight.

  Kade almost laughed at the commentary. Almost. Whoever wrote the damn thing had a sense of humor, and it was always aimed straight at her ribs. The sting came from the accuracy. Shooting a pistol at a tar monster had been desperation, not tactics. Stripping her coat to smother Colt had left her exposed in a fight where every blow could have ended her. Leadership was worse. She did not need the message to tell her she had figured out the mechanics late. Her calls had saved the squad, but only after luck had bought them enough time to find the right move.

  She pushed the thoughts down. She would take the hit to her pride if it meant the others lived. That truth never dulled the sting. The problem was not that the messages mocked her. The problem was that they were right.

  Name: Sarah Kade

  Class: Corsair

  Level: 10

  Health: 360/360

  Mana: 220/220

  Stats

  Strength: 10

  Dexterity: 7

  Intelligence: 11

  Constitution: 8

  Charisma: 9 (10)

  Abilities

  Against the Tide

  Battlefield Assessment

  Blade Whirl

  Command Presence

  Deck Fighter

  Riposte of the Kraken

  Stormwall Stance

  Skills

  Amphibious Combat: 2

  Amphibious Movement: 2

  Dirty Fighting: 16

  Grenadier: 2

  Leadership: 23 (28)

  Light Armor: 12

  Ocean Craft: 10

  Ocean Navigation: 8

  Pistol Combat: 13

  Sailing: 8

  Ship Combat: 9

  Stealth: 1

  Sword Combat: 24

  Tactical Negotiation: 2

  Movement near the generator pulled her attention away from her Simulation interface. Myers and Mercer had slipped around the back of the platform and now reappeared with grins plastered across smoke-streaked faces. Each carried the shape of a chest pried from the shadows.

  "Look what the tide washed in," Myers called. He dropped the first box with a heavy clunk. "Gold, because the Simulation still thinks pirates are funny."

  Mercer kicked open the second chest. Inside were neatly stacked bundles of material, the slick sheen of tar hardened into plates, and a core that pulsed faintly in its casing. Beside it sat two more Archive coins, stamped with the same seal as the door.

  "Crafting materials," Mercer said flatly. "And a book."

  She passed the tome to Myers, who flipped it once in his hands, then carried it to Kade with a mock flourish as if to indicate the book was worthless junk.

  "Boss, may want to keep this one on the down low," he whispered.

  Kade took it. The Simulation’s text flared across her vision.

  The Can-Do Toolkit

  Quality: Epic

  Enchantments: +5 Field Fortifications, +10 Jury-Rig, +10 Rifle Combat

  Description: A battered field guide with frayed corners, its pages stained with grease, and the logo of an angry bee holding several tools embossed on the cover. Inside are diagrams of improvised defenses, notes on emergency repairs under fire, and rifle drills marked with quick, decisive handwriting. Margins hold sketches of cable splices, bridge supports, and firing positions, all scrawled as if the author expected no second chance to get it right.

  This manual pays homage to the Seabees, the builders who fought under fire. They raised runways in swamps, carved fortifications from sand and steel, and stood the line with rifles when no one else could. Their motto was simple: Can Do.

  Those who study its pages inherit that same spirit, turning grit and ingenuity into weapons as surely as bullets or blades.

  She slid the book into her satchel without ceremony and hoped her face had given nothing away. The Seabees had been the kind of people who kept the SMC alive long before the cataclysm ever hit, the ones who built under fire so others could keep fighting. Kade had served beside them often enough to know what their legacy meant. Every ship afloat, every base that held under fire, had its fingerprints on it somewhere. Anything that carried their name, even in passing, deserved respect. That wasn’t something she planned on explaining to the three faction representatives.

  "So that’s the pattern," she muttered. "Dungeon’s half graveyard, half workshop. It’s built like a crafting hall once you scrape the tar off it."

  Briggs leaned on his axe and gave a brief grunt. "Crafting or killing, it doesn’t matter. Place tried to bury us all the same."

  A few of the Marines chuckled. Milo clapped Lance on the shoulder. "Next time you block one of those things, try not to drag half the room with you."

  Lance shot him a look, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward. Even Briggs allowed himself a dry smile. For a fleeting moment, the camaraderie cut through the stench of smoke and oil.

  It didn’t last.

  Levi had found his feet and leaned against the wall, still pale from the shock. His voice carried across the chamber, sharp despite the rasp. "Robin shoved me into that conduit."

  The humor drained.

  Robin didn’t flinch. She checked her revolver, spun the cylinder once, then snapped it shut. "You were in the way. If I had meant to put you down, you wouldn’t be standing there talking about it."

  Levi stiffened, lips parting for another retort.

  "Enough," Kade said. The single word landed harder than a shout. She stepped into the center of the chamber, cutlass point resting against the floor. "You three are the problem. Not the monsters. Not the Simulation. You. Each of you walks in here convinced your way is the only way, and you’d rather bleed the squad, my squad, than bend an inch. That arrogance burned every shred of trust before we even stepped through the first door."

  Levi’s mouth shut. Robin’s eyes flicked to the side. Colt looked away.

  Kade let the silence settle, then continued. "So here’s how this goes. We finish the dungeon. Then we go our separate ways. I don’t care about your politics or your factions. I care about walking out of here with my squad intact. That’s the only compromise you’ll get."

  Briggs cut in before the moment could drag. He rapped his knuckles against the generator housing. "Found something. Power switch for the generator."

  That got everyone’s attention.

  Mercer frowned. "We sure we want to flip that?"

  Levi spoke up, voice still brittle. "The lighthouse cut out when we were approaching the island. If this powers it, turning it off might make things worse. Or maybe it’s just for show."

  Stone’s voice came across the room. "There’s another panel here. Looks like a breaker." She pointed toward a rusted box mounted off to the side. Wires still hummed faintly around it.

  Inspection confirmed her guess. The breaker was tied into a secondary line, one that wasn’t sparking yet. Energy fed into it, waiting.

  Kade studied the setup. "I’d like to get the lights back on. The last thing this coast needs is another navigational hazard."

  Stone nodded once, then flipped the breaker.

  The hum shifted. The sparking cables went dark, and the new line lit with power.

  Power rerouted. Coastal lighthouse restored to operational status. Naval navigation in the surrounding waters has improved, reducing the risk of collision and grounding.

  Nobody cheered or spoke much at all. The outburst by the faction representatives yet again had pushed the Marines past the point of celebration.

  Kade turned toward the narrow door set beside the generator. More stairs dropped into the dark.

  "Let’s finish this misadventure," she said. "The sooner we’re back in Portland, the better."

  And one by one, they followed her down.