The fall had been sudden, like the dungeon itself had chosen to devour them. Reinhard landed hard on one knee, sword braced against the cracked stone floor, the sound of metal echoing into the abyss. Around him, armored knights groaned, adjusting their stances and checking for injuries. Dust and fragments of bone tumbled down with them, rattling against steel.
It wasn't pitch black here, not entirely. The air felt heavy, foul with corruption, but visibility wasn't impossible. A faint shimmer of light came from Yuki, who hovered a few feet off the ground, his small body glowing softly like a lantern against the dark.
[This place reeks.] Yuki's tone was flat, his boyish voice edged with irritation. [It's like walking through the breath of a corpse.]
Reinhard raised his head. "Small spirit, whatever light you can give—keep it steady. My knights need their eyes."
[Of course. You humans are blind in the dark, after all.] Yuki's glow brightened until the outlines of the walls sharpened into view. Slabs of blackened stone stretched upward like broken cathedral pillars. Between them, webs of corruption crawled across surfaces like veins, pulsing faintly as though alive.
Sylas, standing beside Yuki, crossed his arms, eyes pale blue and cold. Frost trailed faintly from his boots as he walked. [Disgusting. Corruption here clings harder than in the upper floors. But it's weak to cold. If it spreads toward us, I'll freeze it solid.]
"Good," Reinhard said, his voice low but steady. He lifted his greatsword, the blade glinting faintly in Yuki's light. "Form up. Our priority is to regroup with Lady Shellia. Stay close, watch the walls. Nothing about this dungeon is natural anymore."
The knights obeyed, shields raised, forming a semi-circle around the spirits. Their armor scraped lightly with each step, the sound unnervingly loud in the hollow silence.
They began to move.
---
The deeper they went, the more the corruption revealed its teeth. From the walls, faint shapes peeled free—things that had once been beasts but were now only brittle, bone-thin husks, stretched and twisted into mockeries of life. Their empty eye sockets glowed faint red, and their mouths gaped in silent hunger.
"They're coming," one knight muttered, lowering his spear.
Sylas didn't even flinch. He raised a hand, frost gathering in the air like mist on a winter morning. [Don't waste your nerves. These things are nothing more than leftovers.]
The husks rushed forward, brittle limbs snapping as they clawed over the stones. Reinhard gave the order instantly. "Hold the line!"
Shields locked together, spears braced. The husks crashed against them like brittle waves against a cliff.
Yuki darted forward, hovering just above the shield wall. His glow expanded into a pure white halo, searing away the corruption that clung to the husks' bodies. [Burn away.] His voice was small, almost childish, but the power that followed made the air vibrate. Light poured from his form, slicing through the red glows in the creatures' sockets. One by one, they collapsed, nothing but scorched bone falling to the ground.
The knights lowered their shields cautiously.
Sylas stepped past them, his pale eyes narrowing at the bones that remained. [Pathetic. They aren't even worthy of Shellia's flames.] He stomped lightly, and frost spidered out across the floor, encasing the bones in ice before they could twitch again.
Reinhard glanced at the two spirits, his jaw tightening. He had been a knight long enough to witness miracles of magic, but even so, there was something otherworldly about Shellia's companions. They weren't tools. They weren't summons. They were beings, with will, with arrogance, and with loyalty that seemed absolute.
And yet, they followed them.
---
The group pressed deeper.
Every corridor twisted unnaturally, spiraling downward into shapes that made no sense. Sometimes, the walls seemed to breathe, expanding and contracting like lungs. The knights muttered prayers under their breath, their nerves stretched taut.
[This place wants to consume us,] Yuki said, his glow dimming as if in thought. [But it's not complete. It's a half-born thing, stitched together by corruption.]
Reinhard kept his sword ready. "Meaning it can still be destroyed."
[Correct,] Sylas answered, his voice calm, cold. [But only if we find its heart. Otherwise, it will keep spawning these pathetic shadows forever.]
One knight shuddered. "And where is the heart?"
Yuki tilted his head. [Deeper. Always deeper. Dungeons like this… they're like knots. You cut toward the center, or you suffocate in the tangles.]
---
They reached a wide chamber, its floor littered with bones. Some were fresh, still wet with dark stains, others were ancient, brittle with age. Reinhard motioned for silence, his eyes scanning the expanse.
Something moved between the bones. Slow. Deliberate.
A massive corrupted beast emerged, its body stitched from dozens of skeletons fused together, each skull screaming silently from within its frame. It walked on too many limbs, dragging itself forward with a scraping shriek.
The knights faltered. One cursed under his breath.
Reinhard planted his sword tip against the floor, his expression unmoved. "Steady. This is no different from what we've faced before."
[No,] Sylas corrected, his icy aura flaring. [This one is a test. It's closer to the dungeon's will.]
The beast roared, a deep grinding sound that shook dust from the ceiling.
Reinhard raised his sword. "Form ranks! Yuki—light. Sylas—freeze its joints."
[Already moving.] Yuki's glow shot brighter, illuminating every grotesque detail of the beast. The knights' fear lessened under that steady light, their eyes focusing instead on their commander's steady back.
Sylas lifted both hands, frost coiling upward. With a gesture sharp as a blade, he hurled spears of ice at the creature's legs. Each strike slowed its crawl, freezing bone to bone, locking joints in place.
The knights surged forward, spears stabbing into the gaps Sylas created. Bone shattered, fragments scattering across the chamber.
The beast thrashed, swinging a massive limb. Reinhard intercepted, his greatsword cleaving through bone with raw strength, sparks of corrupted aura scattering like black embers. He pushed back, muscles straining, armor groaning, but his stance never broke.
[You fight well for a human,] Sylas remarked, almost casually, as he sealed another limb in ice.
Reinhard grunted, not sparing him a glance. "Save your compliments. Keep freezing."
Yuki shot higher, his glow intensifying until the beast recoiled. [It hates the light. Perfect. Burn, you ugly pile of scraps!] His glow condensed into beams, piercing through the skulls embedded in the creature's chest. Each one burst into fragments, shrieking as the corruption within was seared.
The knights roared together, driving their spears in a final charge.
The beast collapsed, bones breaking apart into useless heaps. The chamber fell silent again, save for the knights' heavy breathing.
Reinhard lowered his sword, exhaling. "Hold formation. No sloppiness. If this was only a fragment of the dungeon's will, worse awaits us deeper."
[Agreed,] Sylas said, his tone unchanging. Frost still clung to his shoulders like a mantle. [That thing was barely an appetizer.]
Yuki floated lower, landing lightly on Reinhard's pauldron, his small body glowing faintly like a resting star. [You fight like Shellia does. Steady. Serious. Kind of boring, though.]
Reinhard raised an eyebrow at the spirit perched on his armor. "…Boring?"
[Yes. Shellia makes it look dramatic. You're just… efficient.] Yuki kicked his small legs idly. [But I guess that works.]
One of the knights chuckled under his breath, tension breaking slightly.
Reinhard didn't smile, but his eyes softened for a moment. Then he turned toward the far corridor. The air beyond it pulsed with deeper shadows. Something vast moved within, unseen, its presence pressing against their skin.
"We continue," Reinhard ordered. His voice cut clean through the silence. "Shellia's team is still somewhere below. If we linger, this dungeon will consume us all."
The knights tightened formation again. Yuki's glow brightened once more. Sylas walked ahead, frost seeping from his every step like a promise of winter.
The ground trembled as if the dungeon laughed.
And in the distance, something massive exhaled.
---