nights in The Undercroft are often quiet, but beneath Solara Magna, the night was just heating up as the hunters finally found their prey's lair.
Thorek Ironhide slammed the newly repaired helm onto the workbench with a loud clang. His eyes still widened in disbelief at the miracle he had just witnessed. However, his instincts, honed over centuries underground, suddenly screamed.
He stopped, his head lifting like a bloodhound on the trail. "We have company," he growled, his hand instinctively gripping the handle of his massive war hammer. "And they're not city patrol."
In the corner of the room, Nihil immediately became alert. The system in his mind flared with an emergency warning.
[Warning: Several individuals with hunting intent are rapidly approaching from TWO different directions!]
Two directions. His mistake in using his power earlier was more fatal than he had imagined.
BRAKK!
The main entrance to the cave from the sewer tunnel was shattered to pieces. Tarek Mornhall leaped in, flanked by Umbra Venari hunters.
"There he is! Surround him!" Tarek roared, his eyes locked on the cloaked figure of Nihil with hatred.
The archers behind him immediately unleashed a volley of arrows. Not ordinary arrows, but net arrows designed to entangle. At the same time, their mages began chanting, causing the stone floor around Nihil to soften like mud to slow him down.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Thorek's voice thundered. His rage exploded, not to defend Nihil, but because his sacred forge had been invaded. "USELESS WORMS!"
He swung his war hammer in a mighty arc. The hammer's strike on the floor sent out a shockwave, dispelling the Mud Earth spells and knocking back the knights in front.
Nihil used the chaos to move. He dodged the incoming nets and locked his gaze on one of the mages. Suppressive Gaze! The mage's spell dissolved.
[Capacity: 18/18 -> 15/18]
At that moment, three more figures emerged from a smaller, hidden side tunnel. They were not armed with swords or bows. Their clothing was sleek and functional, and they held strange devices made of crystal and metal. Elara Moonveil's team.
"Activate the 'Stasis Field' around the perimeter," Elara said calmly from behind, her sharp eyes analyzing every movement. "Our goal is observation. Do not engage directly."
One of her agents threw a metal disk that landed between Umbra Venari and Nihil's group. The disk emitted a transparent blue energy field, attempting to isolate the battleground.
The situation instantly became a chaotic three-way standoff. Umbra Venari attacking. Thorek raging. Elara's team trying to scientifically control the situation.
Nihil was right in the eye of the storm.
Tarek, seeing his weapons ineffective against the Dwarf, decided to charge. He leaped over Thorek's hammer swing, his sword drawn, aiming straight for Nihil's neck.
At the same time, a device in Elara's agent's hand fired a blue beam designed to incapacitate.
Both—the cold steel of the sword and the silent energy beam—shot toward Nihil from two different directions.
Time seemed to slow for Heze. Sword on the right, beam on the left. No way to dodge. He couldn't negate both.
His logic worked in a split second. The beam might not be lethal. But the sword definitely was.
He ignored the blue beam and focused everything on the threat in front of him.
As Tarek's sword was about to touch his skin, Nihil didn't just reach out. He pushed forward, pouring every ounce of desperation and will to survive into it.
[WARNING: VOID SYNC SPIKES!]
[Power Output Unstable! Exceeding Safe Limits!]
A sphere of utter darkness exploded silently from his palm.
He didn't just erase Tarek's sword. He erased the hand holding it. He erased the lower arm.
Tarek was thrown backward, his eyes wide with horror at his right arm, now ending neatly at the elbow. No blood. No torn flesh. Just... nothingness.
"ARRGGGHHH!"
The scream of pain and shock was the only sound in the cave.
At the same time, Elara's team's blue stasis beam struck Nihil's body. But instead of incapacitating him, the energy was sucked into the thin black aura now surrounding Nihil. The energy vanished, as if swallowed.
[Absorbing Foreign Dimensional Energy. Capacity partially restored: 10/18]
[Analyzing new energy data...]
Complete silence enveloped the forge, broken only by Tarek's gasps.
The Umbra Venari hunters froze. Their undefeated leader had been crippled in an instant. Fear overcame their loyalty. Two of them quickly grabbed Tarek and pulled him back, fleeing into the sewer tunnel. The hunt had ended in disaster.
On the other side, Elara Moonveil watched the scene, her eyes glowing with scientific ecstasy. "Amazing," she whispered. "He's not just repelling energy... he's consuming it. The Void assimilation theory is correct!" She signaled her team to stay quiet but keep recording. This data was more valuable than a capture.
Thorek lowered his war hammer, regarding Nihil with a strange mix of terror and awe.
Nihil himself knelt, panting. The power surge had left him dizzy and nauseous. [Void Sync: 4.5%]. He knew he had to leave. This place was no longer safe.
He looked at Thorek, offering a brief but meaningful nod of thanks. The Dwarf returned it with a grim one of his own.
Nihil rose shakily and walked toward the darkest tunnel, moving away from all the chaos. Before disappearing completely, he glanced back. His crimson eyes met Elara's sharp, curious gaze. There was no hostility in their exchange, only a silent acknowledgment between two anomalies who had just met.
Then, he vanished.
In the now-silent cave, Elara smiled triumphantly. "Begin phase two," she said to her team. "Track his energy trail, but maintain a safe distance. Now... let's see where a young dragon goes to build its first nest."