The boss room loomed ahead.
The place where they had been wiped out before.
The moment they stepped inside, the air rippled.
A familiar, towering nightmare of steel and void stood in the center of the chamber, its armor shifting unnaturally, like reality itself couldn’t decide what shape it should take. Its jagged greatsword pulsed with a sickly crimson glow.
It tilted its head, as if remembering them.
Then, without warning—
It vanished.
James barely had time to shout before the boss reappeared behind them, blade already descending.
CLANG!
Garrick just managed to block, but the force of the impact sent him skidding backward.
It teleported again.
This time, it appeared at the room’s edge, already mid-swing as it targeted Lillian.
She rolled just in time, an arrow nocked as she spun to fire—
But it was gone again.
The boss reappeared behind James, blade coming down fast.
James had no choice—he raised his sword to block.
For a brief moment, the cursed blade hummed, absorbing the force of the impact. A strange pull surged through him, the same dark connection as before.
The boss staggered, its weapon’s glow flickering.
Riona didn’t hesitate.
She lunged forward, her spear thrusting for its chest—but the boss blinked away at the last second.
“Fucking—stay still!” she snarled.
James grit his teeth. It wasn’t just attacking. It was toying with them.
They had to force it to stay in one place.
He glanced at Lyra. “Got anything that can slow it down?”
She smirked. “You’ll owe me.”
With a blur of movement, she darted forward, daggers flashing as she baited an attack. The boss took the bait, blade carving the air where she had been—
But she was already gone.
Before it could teleport away again, she flung something at its feet—small, glass-like spheres.
They shattered on impact.
A thick, sticky substance spread out, crackling with energy.
James’s UI flickered.
Boss movement slowed.
Lyra flipped back. “That won’t hold long!”
It was enough.
James lunged, his sword connecting as the curse surged through him. The boss shuddered, the void energy inside it flickering erratically.
Lillian fired a rapid volley—each arrow hitting weak spots in the armor.
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Garrick charged, his axe crashing into its side.
Riona drove her spear deep into the exposed joint in its chest.
The boss roared, its body flickering—trying to teleport—
But the energy collapsed inward instead.
James saw his moment.
He drove his sword deep into the void core in its chest, letting the cursed energy consume it.
A horrible, mechanical screech filled the chamber.
The boss twitched, struggling—
Then—
It imploded.
Void energy tore through the room, vanishing into nothing. The boss crumbled, its armor dissolving into dust.
Silence.
Then—
THUD.
The last remnants of its form hit the ground.
They had won.
James exhaled, heart still hammering. His sword, still buried in the dust of the boss’s remains, pulsed faintly before settling into silence.
Riona slumped against the nearest stone pillar. “That felt way better than last time.”
Lillian let out a breathless laugh, wiping sweat from her brow. “And it only took us, what, four deaths?”
Garrick grunted. “We’ll call it ‘experience.’”
Lyra wiped blood from her cheek and kicked at a stray piece of void-tainted metal, her daggers still in hand. “Yeah, well, let’s not get cocky. That thing almost killed us again.”.
James sheathed his sword, staring at the faint, unnatural scorch marks left behind from the fight. The room still felt off—like the void hadn’t fully let go yet.
Then, a familiar chime rang in his head.
Then, a familiar chime rang in his head.
[BOSS DEFEATED]XP Gained: +5,700 XPLoot Available
James’s UI flickered, a faint glow appearing in the air near the boss’s remains.
“Loot’s here,” he announced, stepping toward it.
A dark chest had materialized where the boss had died, its surface rippling unnaturally, like it wasn’t fully part of this world.
“Alright,” Riona stretched. “Moment of truth.”
James reached forward and opened it.
The rewards were immediately split into separate slots—each of them getting their own individual loot.
James’s eyes locked onto his prize.
A void-warped gauntlet, sleek and unnaturally dark, sat in his inventory.
[Shadowgrasp Gauntlet]
Type: Magic
GearEffect: Enhances void-based abilities.
Slight chance to resist teleport-based attacks.
His stomach twisted.
Void-based abilities?
Was that… related to his sword?
Lillian whistled. “Well, whatever you got, it looks important.”
Riona grinned, holding up her own loot—a thin, jagged dagger with an eerie purple sheen. “Damn. This thing just feels deadly.”
Garrick inspected a heavy shoulder plate, testing its weight. “Void-forged. Sturdy.”
Lyra tilted her head at her own reward—a thin black chain that coiled unnaturally. “This thing’s weird. But I like it.”
James flexed his hand, feeling the gauntlet settle against his skin.
Something about this dungeon wasn’t just traps and monsters.
It was giving them pieces of itself.
He glanced around. The boss room wasn’t just a battlefield—it was an old, ruined chamber, the walls lined with strange engravings, almost entirely eroded by time.
Lillian knelt, running a hand along the symbols. “These markings… they’re even older than the ones in the rest of the dungeon.”
Garrick crossed his arms. “Think they tell us what this place actually is?”
James frowned. “Or was.”
The void energy hadn’t disappeared completely—it lingered, faint wisps curling near the walls.
This dungeon had been more than just a death trap.
It had history.
And whatever had been here before… wasn’t gone yet.
Lyra sighed. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather think about creepy dungeon lore when we’re not exhausted and half-dead.”
Riona stretched. “Agreed. Let’s find a place to rest.”
James glanced at the exit—another passage leading deeper.
They had won that fight, But the dungeon wasn’t over yet.