Opening – The Steps That Follow
The stairwell spiraled down into darkness. The scraping grew louder — deliberate, unhurried.
Rain drew his Ether Vein Dagger, its faint glow painting the steel walls in ghostly blue.The System's scan flickered:
[Entity Detected: Class Unknown – Vital Threat Level: Moderate][Behavioral Pattern: Stalking]
The thing in the dark was pacing itself, forcing him to burn precious minutes.
First Contact
From below, a metallic arm shot up the stairs — jointed like an insect's, but ending in five hooked claws. Rain barely twisted aside before the claws punched through the wall where his head had been.
Sparks rained down. Then the body emerged — a towering figure of grafted flesh and machinery, its face a mess of overlapping masks, each with different eyes stitched in.
It exhaled steam, and the voices of those eyes whispered in unison:
"Give… us… the shard."
Combat – Borrowed Time
Rain lunged forward, slashing at the exposed tubing along its side. His dagger bit deep, releasing a spray of glowing fluid — but the creature didn't flinch.
Instead, its arm morphed mid-swing, forming a serrated blade.
The System screamed:
[Warning: Adrenal Surge Detected – Incoming Damage Multiplied]
Rain ducked under the blade, rolled, and planted his palm against the creature's leg. Ether surged into the strike — Purification Palm.
The machine-flesh hissed where he struck, but the vitality cost stabbed into his gut like a knife.
The Clock Doesn't Stop
He glanced at his timer: 01:50:22.Even fighting for his life, the shard's deadline ticked on.
The creature's next swing caved in a section of the staircase. Metal groaned and fell away into a seemingly endless drop.
Rain used the gap to his advantage — baiting it to overreach, then slicing through one of its arm cables. Sparks burst, the arm went limp, and the thing let out a shriek that echoed through the Spire.
Escape
Instead of finishing it, Rain bolted upward, taking three steps at a time. He didn't have the stamina for a prolonged fight — and worse, the shard's signal pulsed above, not below.
From behind, the creature roared, the sound vibrating the walls.Something told him it would follow.
Cliffhanger – A Door That Shouldn't Exist
At the next landing, Rain froze.A single wooden door stood embedded in the steel wall, untouched by rust or time.
A notification blinked:
[Spatial Anomaly: Non-Dungeon Architecture Detected]Warning – entering may void current objective.
Behind him, the predator's claws scraped closer.Ahead, the door's handle turned by itself.