The halo on my back shifted, its energy stirring as I braced myself to charge. But then I caught something in Mel’s eyes. Not panic. Not fear.

  Realization.

  Vareshi’s smirk faltered. For the first time, something flickered in his expression uncertainty.

  Mel smiled.

  Then, she phased. Not away. Not in retreat. She passed through his grip as if it had never been there, shifting seamlessly through the spectral force that had once restrained her. Vareshi’s eyes widened, his confidence twisting into something sharper, more rigid. He whirled to meet her, but too late.

  A crack of electricity split the air.

  Leo’s lightning zigzagged through the battlefield, a streak of raw energy that struck Vareshi’s chest with a furious sizzle. His body jerked, bones locking up as arcs of power crackled across his armor.

  That was my opening.

  I charged at full speed, a blur of motion before my shield crashed into his back. The impact was thunderous, bone splintering beneath the force as Vareshi stumbled forward.

  And then, Max appeared.

  Twin daggers like fractured starlight flashed in his hands, blades as dark as the void, their edges glinting with shifting constellations. He moved fast.

  One dagger plunged into Vareshi’s back, sinking deep between the plates of fused bone and corroded armor. The other followed in a vicious arc, cutting into his ribs. Where they struck, the wounds darkened, pulling inward, consumed by the abyssal energy within.

  Vareshi let out a horrid, choked sound.

  Mel didn’t hesitate. She turned her greatsword, still embedded in his armor, and drove it deeper. The blade sank through layers of bone, the eerie glow pulsing from Vareshi’s core flickering violently.

  Trish struck next.

  Her chakrams flashed through the air, twin streaks of celestial light carving across his exposed limbs. Each slice severed bone and shadow alike, their edges leaving behind ripples of energy, making it impossible for Vareshi to recover.

  Vareshi reared back, unleashing a scream of pure hatred as a pulse of raw energy blasted outward. The force sent all of us hurtling back, my boots skidding across the stone before I rolled into a crouch. The others weren’t as lucky, Leo, Max, Trish, and Mel were thrown hard, hitting the ground with heavy thuds.

  I forced myself upright, breath ragged, just in time to see Vareshi’s form begin to unravel. His entire being shuddered and fractured, bone-plated armor falling away in pieces, scrap metal and rusted shields clattering to the ground. His laughter twisted into something warped, unnatural, stretching across the night like a cruel echo.

  And then, he splintered.

  What remained of him collapsed inward, condensing into a swirling mass of dark energy that pulsed violently before shooting toward the keep.

  I tensed, watching as the orb of his essence vanished into the crumbling ruins, slipping through the cracks of the rotted stone like a serpent retreating into its den.

  A sharp prickle crawled down my spine.

  I didn’t like this.

  “Brace yourselves,” I warned, adjusting my stance.

  The words had barely left my lips before his essence came streaking back out, but this time, he wasn’t alone.

  Two more orbs flanked his, each burning with a different, eerie glow, their presence crackling with raw power.

  Leo barely had time to mutter, “Ah, come on…”

  A crushing force slammed into us, cutting him off. The others hit the ground instantly, pinned under the weight of the energy pressing down. My armor groaned under the strain, my legs locked in place as I resisted, but the force only increased, grinding down like an unseen hand determined to flatten me.

  I gritted my teeth, digging my boots into the stone, but it was useless. My knee buckled, slamming into the dirt.

  A cold presence materialized before me, shifting into a slender, ethereal form. A woman, her figure draped in flowing shadow, her features elegant yet twisted in something unnatural. Faint, shimmering embers burned within her hollow, black eyes.

  A satisfied hum left her lips as she crouched before me, her fingers, neither solid nor intangible, but something in between, curling under my chin, tilting my face up to meet hers.

  “You were right, Vareshi,” she murmured, amusement thick in her sultry tone. “This will be fun.”

  The moment her touch met my skin, a searing heat tore through my mind, sharp and furious.

  Virellia.

  A raw, celestial rage erupted inside me, not just my own, but hers. A force beyond words, beyond restraint.

  A deep, guttural roar built in my chest and tore free, and with it, a surge of golden-white energy burst outward, flooding the space around me in radiant light. The spirits hissed and recoiled, the oppressive force snapping apart as their hold on the others shattered.

  Leo gasped, his hands pressing into the dirt as he pushed himself upright. Max shifted back into the shadows, twin daggers already in his grip. Mel and Trish rose next, their eyes locked onto the figures before us.

  I wiped my chin with the back of my hand and slowly stood, my grip tightening around Virellia’s hilt.

  The air burned with residual energy, the pulse of celestial light still lingering in the aftermath of Virellia’s defiance. The spirits had recoiled, their forms flickering, but the moment was fleeting. As the golden glow dissipated, they reasserted themselves, their auras shifting like ink spilled in water.

  The woman straightened slowly, amusement still curling her lips. Her eyes, dark voids laced with embers, studied me with predatory interest. She flexed her fingers, that same flickering state between ethereal and corporeal giving her an unsettling presence.

  She chuckled, tilting her head as she glanced toward Vareshi, who stood beside her, bone armor reforming piece by piece, the jagged plates locking into place as if drawn back by unseen hands.

  Vareshi growled, rolling his shoulders, the sheer force of his movement cracking the ground beneath him. "This just got better."

  The rogue-like specter let out a slow hum. “You always did favor brute force, Vareshi. It’s terribly dull.” Her ember-lit eyes found mine again, gleaming as she placed a hand over her chest in mock politeness. “Since we’re doing this proper… You may call me Selvaris.” Her lips curled further, her grin sharp. “You’ll be whispering it in terror soon enough.”

  Before I could respond, the final figure made himself known.

  The temperature in the air dropped. The faint golden glow of Virellia dimmed, the light struggling against something deeper, something ancient.

  The last Forsworn strode forward with measured grace, his tattered robes sweeping over the shattered remains of the battlefield. The cracked halo above his hooded head pulsed, dim and wrong, like an echo of a faith long abandoned. He carried no visible weapon, only the blackened staff in his skeletal grip, its twisted form lined with unholy scripture carved into bone.

  When he finally spoke, his voice was layered, as though countless tongues murmured his words in unison.

  “And I,” he intoned, each syllable vibrating through the very air, “am Revai, the Hollow Prophet. The last voice of devotion before the fall.”

  He turned his head slightly, the movement eerily smooth, like a puppet’s head adjusting on its strings. "And I will be the last voice you ever hear.”

  I steadied my breath, feeling my grip tighten on my weapons.

  Vareshi wasted no time. His club, reforged with jagged bone and rusted steel, came crashing down toward me, splitting the air with a deafening roar. I barely raised my shield in time, the force of impact shaking every fiber of my being. My boots carved deep grooves into the stone as I skidded back, muscles screaming against the sheer weight of the attack.

  "Hold the line!" I barked through gritted teeth.

  Leo didn’t need the command. A surge of elemental energy erupted outward, flames and crackling lightning intertwining to form a protective barrier just in time to intercept Revai’s outstretched hand. A pulse of void magic crashed against it, the impact sending embers and static dancing through the air. The moment the barrier wavered, Revai’s staff slammed against the ground, and the very earth beneath us twisted, reality warping as eerie green sigils flared to life.

  Reality twisted. The battlefield shifted.

  Circles of eerie green light flickered to life across the courtyard, glowing sigils marking the ground.

  "Don't step into them!" Max shouted, already vanishing into the darkness.

  I barely managed to avoid one as I sidestepped, but Trish, mid-flight, didn’t see one forming beneath her.

  Her wing clipped the edge of a sigil, and she froze in place.

  A shudder ran through her body as if time itself had fractured. Her wings faltered, her momentum breaking apart as her movements reversed, then repeated, then reversed again, an endless loop of forced repetition.

  "Shit!" Leo hissed.

  Revai merely tilted his head, his unholy halo pulsing as he muttered an incantation under his breath.

  "You will re-live your mistakes forever," he whispered.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Trish struggled against the unnatural force, her body jerking as she fought the time-lock.

  And then Selvaris was suddenly behind her.

  A cruel smile, a flicker of movement.

  Twin daggers, black as the abyss, plunged toward Trish’s back.

  Before the daggers could land, Max appeared from the shadows, his own blades intercepting hers in a sharp clash.

  For the first time, Selvaris’s smirk faltered.

  "Tch. Clever."

  The rogue twisted, vanishing again, only to reappear behind Max.

  But he was ready.

  A trap glyph beneath her feet.

  Her form blurred as she attempted to shadow-step, but the instant she tried, the magic in the glyph anchored her to reality. A rare moment of vulnerability.

  Max lunged, his daggers like windows into the depths of space, the cosmic void glinting within them as he struck.

  Selvaris barely twisted away, one blade nicking her side. She hissed, her body flickering unnaturally.

  "You’re starting to annoy me, shadow walker."

  Vareshi, relentless, pressed forward. His attacks weren’t elegant, but they didn’t need to be. Each swing of his club shook the battlefield, sending splinters of stone and bone flying in all directions.

  I barely held my ground, my shield arm growing numb from the relentless impacts, but I refused to give an inch. Vareshi’s attacks came heavier, faster, his monstrous form looming over me with unrelenting force.

  Then, out of the corner of my eye, Mel moved.

  She shifted into her ethereal form mid-strike, attempting to slip through his attack. But something changed. Vareshi’s movements faltered, his attack slowed, his monstrous frame flickering strangely as though struggling to react.

  Mel’s form shimmered as she reappeared behind him, and in that moment, something clicked.

  She didn’t hesitate. Vareshi lunged again, his massive club carving through the air in a deadly arc, only for Mel to vanish just as it reached her. She phased straight through his attack, untouched, her form slipping through the decayed mass of his body like mist through fingers.

  And then she struck.

  In the heartbeat she was inside him, her greatsword pulsed with raw force. With a two-handed grip, she tore the blade upward, carving through his essence in a devastating arc.

  Vareshi let out a bone-rattling howl as his body convulsed, his armor splitting apart, the cursed runes within his bones dimming. His towering frame staggered, his dominance slipping as the ethereal energy surged through him.

  Selvaris, still locked in a deadly dance with Max, twisted into the darkness, her form flickering like a phantom as she sought to retreat. Her laughter was a whisper in the shadows, her presence vanishing like smoke.

  But then, a hum of power, a crackling surge.

  Trish was free.

  With a fierce shout, she spun midair, her chakrams igniting with raw celestial energy. The rings of glowing metal whirled around her in a blazing arc, their edges charged with divine wrath. Selvaris, still shifting between shadow and form, barely had time to react before the spinning blades ripped through her essence.

  A strangled scream of rage tore through the battlefield, her body distorting, flickering between the darkness and the light. Her form twisted unnaturally, unable to phase, unable to flee.

  Trish’s chakrams converged, slashing through her with a final, slicing strike.

  Selvaris unraveled.

  The rogue’s form dissipated in a spiraling wail, darkness pouring from her like ink bleeding into the void before she faded entirely, leaving nothing but the lingering echoes of her bitter disbelief.

  One Forsworn had fallen.

  Revai, witnessing the death of his sister-in-curse, let out a guttural growl, his skeletal fingers clutching his staff as his voice rose into a fevered chant. The ground beneath us trembled as the very air bent and warped to his will. Runes of unnatural origin ignited in a furious blaze, burning symbols into the earth as he poured everything into his final stand. The pressure thickened, suffocating, as reality itself began to fracture around him.

  He would not go down quietly.

  Leo, breathing hard, wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. His gaze sharpened, focused, not with desperation, but with finality. His hands ignited, pulsing with the shifting hues of Auroralis power, energy bending to his command.

  "Not this time," he growled.

  Revai’s chant reached its peak, his form swelling with abyssal energy, the final incantation spilling from his decayed lips.

  Leo thrust both hands forward.

  A column of pure elemental rage detonated from his palms, ripping through the Forsworn mage with unrelenting force. Revai's scream fractured into a thousand voices as his twisted magic was undone, consumed by the raw power of a force greater than his corruption.

  His staff shattered.

  His form convulsed, his robes disintegrating into nothingness as the last of his power was stripped away, the runes on his bones burning out one by one.

  The Hollow Prophet’s final words were swallowed by the light.

  And then he was gone.

  The ground trembled as Vareshi, the last of the Forsworn, stood alone, his form barely holding together, his skeletal frame cracked and splintered. His burning sockets darted between us, hatred radiating from his battered essence.

  He let out a broken, rattling snarl, but we were already moving.

  Mel stood beside me, gripping her greatsword, her ethereal presence pulsing with renewed strength. Virellia hummed in my grasp, searing with celestial fury.

  We didn’t need words.

  We charged.

  My shield slammed into Vareshi’s chest with bone-cracking force, shattering what remained of his defenses. His body lurched backward, his footing breaking beneath him.

  Mel’s greatsword followed, her blade carving through his core, phasing through the decayed remnants of his form, striking not just his body but his very essence.

  A final, deafening cry of defiance echoed from his ruined throat.

  Virellia burned in my hands, the flail pulsing with celestial judgment, the wrath of a star-bound soul.

  I brought it down.

  Like a meteor crashing from the heavens, the impact exploded outward, engulfing Vareshi in a storm of blinding radiance.

  The corrupted knight let out one final, anguished roar before his body fractured, his bones disintegrating into weightless dust, his cursed armor crumbling away into the wind.

  And then, silence.

  The battlefield was still, the remnants of our victory scattered across the courtyard. I scanned our surroundings, my grip still tight on Virellia, waiting for something… anything, to strike. The others did the same, their eyes sharp, breaths ragged.

  Nothing. No lingering threats. No last stand.

  Then, a soft chime echoed in my ears.

  CONGRATULATIONS! You have defeated your first dungeon!

  Bonus experience has been rewarded!

  You have 20 minutes to loot whatever you may find and reach the reward chest at the dungeon’s end.

  I exhaled, my shoulders sagging as the tension finally drained from my body. A slow smile crept onto my face.

  "Let's go get our loot," I said, my voice rough with exhaustion.

  Mel cracked her neck, rolling her shoulders. "Gladly."

  Trish grinned, though her wings twitched with lingering adrenaline. "I was starting to wonder if we'd even make it that far."

  Leo let out a tired chuckle, rubbing his hands together. "With a fight like that, the reward better be worth it."

  Max, still catching his breath, simply smirked. "If not, I’m taking the damn door off its hinges as compensation."

  Before heading into the keep, I took a moment to gather the scattered remains of Vareshi’s broken armor, scooping up the jagged plates and rusted weaponry. Just Duriron, but it could be smelted down and reforged into something useful later.

  With one last glance at the battlefield, at the crumbling remnants of the Forsworn. I turned toward the keep.

  "Come on," I said, stepping through the ruined entrance. "Let’s see what was worth nearly dying for."

  Stepping through the entrance of the keep, I felt the weight of history pressing down on me. The air was thick, stale, yet tinged with something ancient, an echo of grandeur long since decayed. The stone beneath my boots was cracked and uneven, the once-polished marble now dulled and fractured, littered with debris and dried remnants of long-forgotten battles.

  Faded banners hung from the walls, their fabric threadbare and barely clinging to their golden embroidery. What had once been a place of honor and power had become a husk of its former self. Massive pillars, once etched with intricate carvings of knights and celestial beings, now stood marred with deep gouges and splintered cracks, as if something had torn through them in a violent rage. The ceiling, or what remained of it, allowed thin beams of light to filter through, casting eerie shadows across the ruined hall.

  At its height, this place must have been breathtaking, a fortress of discipline and duty, a sanctuary of warriors sworn to a noble cause. Now, it was nothing more than a crypt, a burial ground for the Forsworn’s broken oaths and shattered ambitions.

  The silence was almost reverent as we moved forward, our steps careful, as if we were walking through the remnants of something sacred. Despite the destruction, there was beauty in the architecture, the towering archways still held their regal design, and the delicate etchings on the walls, though worn, whispered of a forgotten era of glory.

  At the far end of the hall, just before a raised platform where a throne of three seats loomed like a judge's bench, it sat.

  The chest.

  Unlike the ruined remains of the keep, it pulsed with an eerie, untouched power.

  It was massive, crafted entirely from bone, the interwoven remains fused together seamlessly into a horrifying yet mesmerizing design. The surface was smooth, polished to an unnatural gleam, as though the bones had been refined, perfected. Faint traces of ethereal magic pulsed through the crevices, glowing with a spectral blue light, snaking between the gaps like veins. Symbols, ones I couldn’t quite decipher, had been carved into the framework, glowing and shifting as if they were alive, whispering secrets in a language long lost.

  The energy radiating from it was cold, not in temperature, but in presence, it demanded attention, commanded reverence.

  The throne behind it was just as foreboding. Three grand chairs carved from obsidian sat upon a raised dais, their once-pristine frames now fractured and worn. Yet, even in their ruined state, their presence loomed over the room, casting long shadows against the walls. This had been the seat of judgment, of command, the very place where the Forsworn had once ruled before their fall.

  I stopped, the others falling into place beside me, all of us staring at the chest in silent awe.

  Max let out a low whistle. “Now that… that’s one hell of a loot box.”

  Leo chuckled, though it was a bit strained. “Why does it look like it’s staring at us?”

  Mel took a step forward, gripping her weapon tightly. “Because it probably is.”

  Trish exhaled, shaking her head. “Anyone else getting the feeling that opening this might not be as simple as it looks?”

  I tightened my grip on Virellia, feeling her pulse in my hands, as if even she was wary.

  "Only one way to find out," I muttered, gesturing for Mel to be the one to open it.

  As the words left my mouth, Mel hesitated. Her fingers flexed, gripping the hilt of her greatsword as she stared at the chest. The air around it felt heavier than the rest of the ruined keep, charged with something ancient, something waiting. The runes that flickered across its bone-carved surface pulsed like a heartbeat, slow and deliberate, as if it knew we were standing before it.

  She took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  The moment she placed her hands on the lid, the entire chest shuddered violently. A deep, guttural groan echoed from within, like the exhale of a slumbering giant stirring awake after centuries of confinement. Then, with a sudden, deafening crack, the chest split open.

  A surge of ethereal energy exploded outward.

  A thousand wailing voices burst free, spectral forms twisting and writhing as they shot into the air. Wisps of translucent figures, barely recognizable as what they once were, scattered like a whirlwind of tormented souls finally released from their prison. They spiraled upward, vanishing through the broken ceiling, their cries fading into the void.

  The magic within the chest surged, bathing the keep in an eerie glow, illuminating the ruined walls with its unearthly radiance. The very air seemed to ripple, as though reality itself had been disturbed by whatever had been sealed away.

  Then, just as quickly as it had begun, the energy collapsed inward. The unnatural glow faded, the walls returned to their shadowed ruin, and the chest sat open, empty save for a single item.

  A ring.

  It sat at the bottom of the chest, resting in the center of an intricate engraving, still pulsing with the faintest traces of lingering energy. It was carved from what looked like polished bone, but the moment Mel reached for it, the surface shimmered, shifting between solid form and something not quite there, as if it existed in two planes at once.

  She hesitated again, staring at it. Then, swallowing hard, she reached down and lifted it.

  The moment her fingers closed around it, the ring pulsed, then tightened.

  Mel inhaled sharply as the band shrank to fit perfectly around her finger, the energy inside it coiling around her like a living thing. A cold mist spread outward from the ring, swirling up her arm, wrapping around her shoulders and chest.

  For a brief moment, translucent armor formed across her body, bones, spectral and shifting, reinforcing her already formidable frame. Ethereal ribs wrapped around her torso like a second layer of protection, jagged pauldrons of spectral remains materialized over her shoulders, and faintly glowing skeletal gauntlets flickered into existence before fading into dormancy.

  Mel flexed her fingers, testing the feeling, her eyes widening slightly as the spectral plating receded, responding to her will.

  A slow grin spread across her face. “Additional bone armor… cool.”

  I exhaled, shaking my head with a chuckle. “That’s one way to describe it.”

  Leo whistled, crossing his arms. “That looked more like ‘horrifyingly overpowered’ than ‘cool.’”

  Mel shrugged. “Same thing.”

  I barely had time to glance at my interface before a sudden rush of power flooded through me.

  An enormous wave of experience hit, my entire body tingling as my stats surged. The others gasped, visibly reacting to the same surge.

  Max grinned, shaking out his hands as the power settled within him. “Now that’s the kind of reward I like.”

  Trish laughed, stretching her wings. “Not bad for our first dungeon, huh?”

  I took a steady breath, feeling the weight of my newfound strength settle over me. Then, I turned toward the others and smirked.

  “Let’s see just how high we leveled.”