Dungeon Break Protocol began with paperwork.
Naturally. The route loved familiar cruelty.
The floor had split. Black bells were ringing under Astral Zenith. Obsidian students were being dragged through service stairs while roots held the ceiling together. An entity from a sealed, unmapped Catacomb gate had learned my name, Nihil's hunger had bitten through a correction construct, and the academy's emergency board had just announced me as the primary liability candidate.
In response, three senior administrators produced a trial dais.
That was civilization, apparently.
A floating platform unfolded above the lower hall, all polished white stone and gold-edged sigils. Four judgment crystals rotated around it, recording every scream with institutional elegance. A title burned across the air in clean blue text.
EMERGENCY LIABILITY REVIEW — PRELIMINARY.
I stared at it.
