Kane strode at the head of the expedition, his intimidating, beetle-like [Wood Shell] armour absorbing the pale light of the Dark City. He walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Nephis, Effie, and Caster, maintaining a focused silence that belied the turmoil of his thoughts.
Effie, never one for silence, nudged his armoured arm. "So... How are you doing, Monto-Maniac?"
Kane turned his head slightly toward her, his black visor giving him the look of a predatory insect. "Good," he replied tersely. "Tell me, how did you meet her—Nephis? The circumstances of your alliance are still hazy to me."
Effie's robust laughter echoed slightly in the oppressive silence of the ruins. She winked, though Kane couldn't see it through her helmet. "Don't worry, Monto-Maniac. Your little scholar-lover is cute. Very dedicated." She then glanced back toward where Cassie was walking. "Still, I expected big things from you two, you know. Like three..."
Kane glanced at her, his voice low and dangerous. "Three what? Effie, finish your thought."
Effie giggled, a booming, unapologetic sound. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing, my fierce beetle. A lady's thoughts are her own business."
'It's her dirty thoughts, seriously. What is her brain made of? Pure, unadulterated primal impulse?' Kane thought, disgusted but unsurprised. He quickly moved to walk in the middle of the formation, placing himself beside Kai. He hadn't exchanged more than ten words with the archer, and he still couldn't comprehend why a seemingly rational, cautious Dreamer would suddenly throw his lot in with Nephis's dangerously reckless quest.
Missy, his resident Echo, immediately seized the opportunity to comment inside his mind. 'You know, Master.'
'No kidding,' Kane mentally shot back.
He forced himself into a profound, oppressive silence. He needed to focus. His current priorities were non-negotiable and ordered by increasing difficulty: 1) Secure the unique Memory from the Shard. 2) Retrieve the Dawn Shard to save Linia. 3) Survive the inevitable confrontation with Nephis. 4) Escape this hell realm. 5) And most critically, he had to minimize the catastrophic casualties mentioned in his ominous vision.
The unnerving silence was suddenly shattered by a low, almost panicked whisper from the rear.
"...Something is following us," Cassie warned, her voice tight with absolute certainty.
Sunny instantly reacted, his whole body tensing as if struck by lightning. He glanced at the back of Cassie's head, his shadow-woven armour shifting slightly.
"Did your shadow notice an enemy?" the huntress, Effie, inquired, her voice immediately dropping to the low, predatory growl of a veteran pathfinder. Sunny's Shadow, currently a few hundred meters ahead, was scouting their route, an invisible vanguard.
He shook his head, the movement slight. "Cassie felt it. A psychic dread, an unseen presence behind us. I'm going to recall the shadow and send it back to take a look. Stay vigilant, Effie."
Effie nodded, her gaze already fixed on the skeletal ruins surrounding them, her vigilance a permanent state of being. Sunny's warning simply told her to adjust her pathfinding strategy for an unseen stalker.
Sunny commanded the shadow to retreat from the front and dispatched it into the gloom behind them, his mind focused on that creeping feeling of being hunted. He fell back to the rear of the party and concentrated on the dense, pervasive shadows of the decaying city, desperately trying to sense any disruption in the darkness, any enemy that should not be seen.
But there was nothing. No sound, no scent, no thermal signature. Only the overwhelming sensation of being watched by something deeply malevolent.
Ahead of him, the rest of the cohort silently prepared for the worst. No one summoned weapons yet, preferring not to let the unknown pursuer know they were ready to engage. They simply walked, their bodies coiled springs, their every step measured.
'Do I engage the threat yet, Master?' Missy's voice resonated in Kane's mind, eager for the fight.
'Wait. Let's assess the threat. If it's just a random Nightmare Creature, we proceed. If it's something planned, we run,' Kane commanded mentally.
Sunny finally walked forward and glanced at Nephis, the cold fear making his voice raspy.
"It's that… that damn Harus. He's following us."
A sudden, visceral tension permeated the air, thick and suffocating. It was not the tension of preparing for battle, but the tension of absolute, existential dread. Harus. The name was a curse.
Missy, inside Kane's head, asked, her curiosity overriding her bloodlust. 'Is he that dangerous dude?'
Kane replied, the grim reality heavy in his thoughts. 'Well, he is still the ultimate Mystery. And a Mystery is always the most dangerous opponent.'
Harus was an anomaly, a terrifying legend whispered in the dark corners of the settlements. Unlike the others, whose Aspect Abilities, Flaws, and classes were known, Harus was a complete cipher. No one knew his Aspect Ability, let alone the vulnerability of his Flaw. All that was known about this chilling man was that he was ridiculously powerful and utterly silent. More importantly: not a single victim of his had ever survived.
Nephis, her face etched with profound caution, frowned. "Is he alone?"
Sunny nodded. "Yeah. The shadow confirms only one presence, keeping a terrifying distance."
To Sunny's right, Caster quietly scoffed, arrogance battling fear. "What is Gunlaug thinking, sending one man against us six? Is this a taunt?"
Nephis did not share Caster's disdain. She turned to Effie, a grim expression on her face. "What do you think? Pathfinding strategy?"
The huntress hesitated for a few agonizing moments, her eyes scanning the crumbling walls as if seeking an invisible escape route. Then, looking down from her considerable height, she simply said:
"I think we need to run. Immediately."
Caster's scowl deepened into outright fury. "Run? Why? Surely, no matter how strong Harus is, we can take him down. None of us are weak, either. Even if we can't defeat him one on one—we are six, armed, and ready."
Effie shook her head, the movement sharp and decisive. "You don't get it, do you? We can't fight Harus. No one can. Many, many people have tried, and they're all dead now. His power isn't about strength; it's about absolute finality."
She gritted her teeth, the memory of Harus's victims likely scarring her mind. "He is a monster in human flesh, Caster. He is insanely powerful, but that's not even the problem. The problem is that no one knows his Aspect. All we know is that once Harus comes for you, you die. It is as though fate itself simply abandons you when he fixes his gaze upon you."
She sighed, the sound heavy with resignation. "I've seen strong people try to resist once they caught wind that Gunlaug was going to send Harus to get rid of them. Some tried to fight him alone; others recruited fearsome allies. Come the next morning, all of them were dead. No matter how powerful they were or how many of them gathered to give him a fight, no one ever survived. All that was left was blood and corpses, mutilated in ways that suggested a force that broke physics itself."
"The weirdest part is, no one has even seen him come and go. Every time Harus was sent into the outer settlement, we only learned that people were dead in the morning. Doors, locks, and barricades can't seem to stop him, either. It's as if he exists outside of time and space once he's ordered to kill you."
Caster's scowl finally crumbled into pure dread. "So are you telling us that we stand no chance? That we are already walking to our own slaughter?"
The huntress shook her head, offering a sliver of hope amidst the darkness. "**I'm saying that fighting him right now would be suicidal. Not unless we learn how he is able to seemingly turn his victims—no matter how many of them there are—completely powerless before he kills them."
With that, she glanced at Nephis, who lingered for a moment and then shook her head. "Our friend in the castle doesn't know either. Seishan is formidable, but even she has blind spots."
'Seishan doesn't know, huh? That makes things extremely problematic,' Kane thought, confirming his own fear. 'Fighting unknown forces is a recipe for catastrophic casualty. We run, now.'
Effie grinned, a grim acknowledgment of Seishan's limits. "Ah, so that mysterious friend of yours is not omniscient after all. Well, in that case, my advice stands. We should run."
At that moment, Sunny finally spoke up, voicing the inevitable, terrifying question. "But, Effie… can we even run away from something that acts as an agent of inevitable destiny?"
The smile disappeared from her face. Suddenly grim, she hesitated for a while. "I know of a way. But… it's going to be dangerous. Very dangerous. However, I don't know how else to shake him off our trail. So you decide, princess."
Nephis was silent for a bit, weighing the risk of running into the unknown against the certainty of death at Harus's hand. Then, she simply nodded. "We will face Harus some other day. Right now, reaching the resting place of the first cohort is the absolute priority."
The unruly huntress exhaled, almost as if relieved that the burden of decision was lifted. "Then follow me. And prepare yourself for a descent into utter filth."
After that disturbing discussion, Effie changed their course slightly. Instead of moving straight south, they were now traversing the ancient city, heading directly for its eastern border, away from the core structures.
Soon, they were nearing the vast, desolate expanse of the city wall. Not too far away, the remnant of a giant tower lay broken on its side, stretching far away into the distance like a fallen monument. The buildings that the colossal tower had fallen on thousands of years ago were shattered and turned into dust, the ground pulverized.
The ancient lighthouse might have been proud and magnificent once. Perhaps it had even served as a symbol of the defiant will of the people of the ancient city, burning as a shining beacon in the eternal darkness of the cursed night. But it had fallen a long time ago… just like the civilization that built it.
At least its ruin remained. The ancient inhabitants of the Dark City had just vanished, leaving behind no bones, no tools, nothing but the empty shells of their buildings.
Sunny sighed, his eyes fixed on the ruin. "Where to now?"
Effie gestured at the massive, toppled ruin, a monument to a long-dead failure. "Inside. We need to go below."
They were currently hiding in a collapsed building near the lighthouse ruin. This area was populated by an especially vile tribe of Nightmare Creatures, and attracting their attention would spell trouble for the entire cohort.
"Call your shadow back and keep it close, Sunny. When we enter the lighthouse, we will have to act quick and remain silent."
Staying low to the ground, the seven of them dashed from their hiding spot to the broken lighthouse. Without wasting any time, they found a massive breach in its wall—a hole created by the ancient impact—and climbed inside.
Effie immediately summoned her radiant Memory, a bright orb of pure, blinding light that pushed back the all-consuming gloom. Due to the fact that the tower was currently lying on its side, they found themselves in a massive, echoing, circular tunnel of rubble and shattered concrete. The air was cold, damp, and smelled strongly of decay, old dust, and sulfur.
Looking around, Effie found her bearings and led them deeper into the tunnel, extreme tension and desperation apparent in her every move. As they walked, she began to speak, her voice hollowly echoing off the curved walls.
"Listen to me very carefully and do exactly as I say. Once we're inside, don't separate from the group. Stay together and keep your weapons at hand. The place we're going to is full of Nightmare Creatures. They're not too strong, but they're… special. They are immune to a lot of conventional attacks."
She bit her lip, her expression fraught with worry. "Don't even try to kill them. Just defend yourself and keep moving. If you stop, you'll most probably be overwhelmed and torn apart by sheer numbers. Same thing if you slow down and get yourself surrounded. But if we can preserve our formation and run fast enough… we might survive. I sincerely hope."
Kane frowned, the tension in his own core tightening. 'What type of fresh Hell have I landed into now? Everything about this place is worse than the last.'
They reached their destination deep inside the tunnel. Right in front of them, the concrete floor was shattered, forming a narrow, irregular crevice. It was a gaping maw filled with absolute darkness, leading deep down into the ground… and then deeper still. No matter how hard Kane tried, he couldn't see what was at the bottom; the light vanished instantly into the void.
The huntress glanced at him, her eyes burning with urgency in the light of her Memory. "What are you waiting for? Jump!"
Kane immediately jumped, plunging into the black hole. As he fell, he summoned [Sleeper Killer], his sword-Memory snapping into existence—a gleaming, black jian that radiated lethal intent. He landed lightly on the dark, damp earth at the bottom.
As he checked his surroundings, he saw Cassie land gracefully beside him. She was wielding her own newly acquired Echo, a weapon shaped like a rapier—a thin, elegant needle of death. Kane noted its unnervingly polished shell, but the fact that it had only a dull, weak soul core inside confirmed it was a recently acquired Echo, a sign of her recent growth. He didn't bother with questions; they were descending into a pit of death.
Effie called out to Sunny from the crevice above. "Hey, Sunny. Now would be the perfect time to invite your shadow girlfriend to join us. We'll need every single blade down here."
Kane was briefly confused. 'Did Sunny manage to summon some imaginary girlfriend in the short time since I've been gone?'
Sunny's voice, strained and full of exasperation, came echoing back. "How many times do I have to tell you, she's not my girlfriend!"
Noticing the weird stares that the rest of the cohort were giving him, Sunny sighed. "Effie! Tell them the truth, you idiot!"
The huntress didn't even continue to tease him. The fact alone told Sunny how dire their situation really was.
"Sunny also has an Echo, and a powerful one at that! Go on, Sunny, summon her. She'll clear the way," Effie instructed.
Kane gave a cold smirk. He replied to Missy in his head. 'It seems, Missy, you will have a sister and a fellow sword to talk to.' Missy giggled, a disturbing, razor-sharp sound in his mind.
Sunny complied, and a moment later, the Stone Saint stepped into the tunnel out of his shadow. The enormous, imposing figure of the monster-Echo was terrifying—her ruby eyes burning with crimson flames from behind the visor of the helmet. The taciturn monster briefly glanced at the people gathered, and then indifferently turned away to peer into the deeper darkness.
Kane observed the saint,It soul is filled with Black,more like the shadows,Kane thought,'It seems Sunny's Echo is different compared to the ordinary Echo.'
Just like that, their group of seven had swelled into a fighting force of nine—well, ten, if a moody, flying, sentient rapier and a sarcastic, barbed-mouth Echo could be counted as full members.
...Suddenly, a distant, chilling noise made everyone freeze. It sounded like scraping stone and dry, rattling chitin. With a dark expression, Effie looked in the direction it came from and sighed, the final vestige of her composure dissolving.
"Right. We've wasted enough time already. Follow me... and be ready for hell."
Kane stepped forward. "Not yet," he commanded, his voice ringing with authority. "We will not be outdone by a golem." He turned to the spot where Missy was currently hovering within the confines of his Soul Sea. "Come out, Missy. Now."
A dense, unsettling mist formed all of a sudden, swirling violently at Kane's side. From that mist coalesced the figure of Missy. She was a small, delicate lady in a shimmering white silk dress, but the horror was in the details: her face was covered by a curtain of long, black hair, and her mouth was grotesquely stitched shut with rusted iron wires.
Kane thought, the absurdity of the moment battling the fear: 'Now it is eleven, I suppose. Quite a bunch of killers.'
The rest of the cohort, were momentarily stunned. Effie was about to speak, her mouth open in a soundless shock, but Missy stopped her. Missy spoke
"Quiet, lady. We have a battle to fight. Let's speak later, you loud weirdo."
The sheer audacity and chilling rudeness of the new Echo completely stunned the entire cohort. Even Nephis, who never showed an emotion, displayed a flicker of shock in her eyes.
Kane sighed, accepting the chaos. "Let's fight, shall we?"
Effie, recovering first, shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Right. We've wasted enough time already. Follow me… and be ready."
She took the lead, heading deeper into the massive, echoing tunnel. Kane and Missy followed close by, their dark, silent forms a lethal contrast to the light Effie carried.
After a long while, something crunched under Kane's foot. He looked down and saw… a bone. A human bone. Then another. And another. The floor of the tunnel was gradually becoming layered with the ancient, shattered remnants of human skeletons.
"What is this place?" Sunny whispered from the rear, his voice laced with renewed horror.
The huntress glanced back, her face grim in the pale light. "The catacombs. They are the true, dead foundation of the city."
Kane frowned. "Since when are there catacombs beneath the Dark City? Why have I never heard you mention them?"
Effie hesitated, her eyes haunted. "The catacombs were always here. They span beneath the whole city, it's just that most of the tunnels had collapsed a long time ago, sealing the horrors within. As to why hunters don't like to mention them... it's because very few are crazy enough to explore what little remains of the catacombs, and even fewer return to tell the tale."
Then, she added, her voice dropping to a hopeful whisper. "No matter how powerful Harus is, a person can only survive here if they know their way around. And only a couple of us, outer settlement hunters, do. So we should be able to lose him in the labyrinth of the dead."
Meanwhile, Kane noticed more and more bones littering the ground. All of them looked like they had once belonged to humans, shattered by tremendous force or simply withered by time. He remembered considering exploring the Catacombs during his long isolation, but had always put it off. To think he would enter this subterranean graveyard now, running from an assassin.
Looking up, Sunny asked, his voice shaking slightly. "Can we get back to that thing you said about how very few people manage to escape from here alive? Why is that?"
The huntress grimaced, preparing to deliver the next dose of reality. "That's because—"
Before she could finish speaking, a soundless presence materialized out of the consuming darkness ahead, barring their way.
Kane's eyes widened.
Right there in front of them, a corpse stood on the absolute edge between the radiant light and the infinite darkness, staring at the six humans with the black chasms of its empty eye sockets.
...No, not truly a corpse. A skeleton, its ancient, brittle bones somehow held together and animated by an unseen, terrible force.
Kane immediately perceived the horrifying truth—a faint, ethereal mind thread connected the creature's empty skull linking somewhere far above and outside the light.
'It is a puppet,'
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