The sun rose behind us, painting the trees in molten gold. Morning dew clung to the Eluvian Wilds like the forest itself didn't want to wake up. But we were wide awake.
Trihexa walked ahead, her steps soundless despite the weight of her nine tails. Candy trudged beside me, a fresh scar across her cheek, though her grin was back. Elira, as always, walked silently at the rear, her sword slung but her senses sharp.
{Daily Quest: Don't die. Reward: Continued existence.}
"Thanks really needed the moral," I muttered.
"Did you say something?" Candy asked.
"Nope. Just talking to my imaginary friend."
The forest thinned out as we neared the outskirts of the mountains. Peaks clawed the sky like the fingers of a buried god, black stone veins glowing with demonic energy. Nestled beneath them was the town of Mir'Dahn. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys, a strange contrast to the red glow that clung to the nearby cliffs like a warning.
"That's it?" Elira asked.
Trihexa nodded. "Mir'Dahn. Last checkpoint before hell."
{New Objective: Investigate Mir'Dahn. Side note: You might want to bring a healer. Or ten.}
We reached a ridge that overlooked the town. It looked… normal. People moved about. Merchants peddled wares. Children ran through the streets. But my instincts screamed.
"It's too quiet," I muttered.
"You mean aside from the screaming children?" Candy asked.
"No. That kind of noise is fine. It's the other kind I miss. The crows. The wind. This place is playing innocent."
Trihexa sniffed the air. "The magic is layered. Thick. Like a trap that knows it doesn't need to spring yet."
Sixth sense.
We descended from the ridge. As we approached the gates, two guards stepped forward. Their armor was polished, their spears sharp.
"Halt. What is your business in Mir'Dahn?"
I stepped forward. "Just passing through."
One of them narrowed his eyes. "You look familiar."
{Warning: Lying to guards in a cursed town is usually a bad idea. Just saying.}
"I get that a lot," I said with a smile. "Generic face."
◆ ◆ ◆
Inside, the illusion cracked just a bit. The villagers' eyes followed us too intently. Some smiled a bit too wide. A man selling apples offered me a fruit that reeked of mana corruption. I took it and pocketed it.
"They're not real," Trihexa whispered.
"Illusions?"
"No. Cursed puppets. Flesh and soul twisted into obedience."
{Welcome to Mir'Dahn! Population: 512 cursed souls, 3 idiots walking into obvious danger.}
We reached the town square. A large statue stood at the center: a knight wielding a broken blade. At its feet lay offerings—flowers, food, trinkets—but they were all rotting.
Elira knelt, placing a hand on the stone.
"It feels... sad. Like someone crying so hard their tears became stone."
A scream cut the air.
We turned.
One of the villagers—a girl no older than ten—stood, face blank, body trembling. Then she exploded into shadow.
From the alleys, rooftops, and windows, others followed. Shadow-born beasts erupted from human shells, twisted and howling.
{Boss Encounter (???) triggered early. Good luck.}
"Get ready." I said.
Trihexa was already mid-transformation, her hands became paws with silver fur and her fangs grew.
Elira drew her blade, light magic radiating.
Candy slammed her hands together. "Ice Bloom: Scatter Variant!"
Explosions of frost burst around us, buying seconds. I activated King Crimson and erased a ten-second. I disappeared and appeared behind twenty shadow beasts with them all bursting into hundreds of pieces.
It reappeared, its head already jumped out by my blade and started attacking the other shadow beasts.
Trihexa leapt, ripping into three creatures before landing beside me. "They're not endless. They're being transformed from a source."
"Where?"
She pointed toward the church at the far end of town.
"There."
[New Objective: Cleanse the source. Reward:???]
We sprinted as the wolves covered for us.
◆ ◆ ◆
The church door didn't resist.
Inside, dozens of villagers sat silently in pews. All dead. All smiling.
And at the altar stood a priest. Tall. Cloaked in black fire. He turned as we entered, revealing a half-rotted face and eyes that bled shadow.
"So the hero comes. Late. As always. My king warned me you'd come…"
"And you're what? Discount necromancer?"
He raised a staff. The room twisted.
Candy encased villagers in ice prisons. Elira parried shadow tendrils. Trihexa took a full blast of magic to shield us.
The priest chanted something in a lost tongue. The pews burst into crawling shadow-things with bone-like jaws. They swarmed us.
I lunged into them, Excalibur flaring. One swing, and five were ash.
Trihexa howled, releasing a lunar pulse. The shadows recoiled, shrieking.
Elira shot forward, her blade glowing white, slicing through a summoned wraith mid-incantation. She spun, dodged a claw, and threw her sword at the priest.
The priest screamed, raising walls of cursed flame blocking the sword. Candy dropped to one knee and looked to be hesitating about something then asked.
"Dan, can you channel mana into me?"
I channeled mana into her.
She stood, eyes glowing. "Frost Crown: Shatterpoint!".
EXCULIBER.
One swing. Blue fire consumed him and due to the force of the swing the air behind wall behind the priest and some of the village behind fell victim to its destructive power. The remnants of the mirage flickered, revealing skeletal faces staring at the rubble.
[Event Cleared: Shadow of Mir'Dahn! Reward: 500,000exp and 1 free roll.]
The town faded.
Literally.
As we stood outside again, we realized the town had been built over ruins—mirages placed over ancient battlegrounds.
Elira fell to her knees. "They never lived here... did they?"
"They did," Trihexa said softly. "A long time ago. But they were never freed."
Ahead, through smoke and mist, we saw them—the gates of Mir'Dahn. Real this time.
Massive. Iron. Shut.
And behind them, rising like death given stone... the Demon King's first fortress.
[Main Objective Updated: Breach Mir'Dahn Fortress. Warning: You have 0 idea what's inside. Estimated chance of success of this not ending in smoke: 0]
"We made it," I said.
"Almost," Candy corrected.
Elira touched the gate. "Feels like the end of something."
"Or the beginning," Trihexa said.
I raised my hand, ready to push the gate.
But it pulsed. A heartbeat thundered through the iron
Red.
Alive.
It wasn't a door.
It was a guardian.
"This is going to be fun." I said with a smirk, but first.
'Roll.'
[Shinsō's Hypnosis: If your question is answered, you can completely control the actions of the one who answered.]
I smirked again. "Now it's fun."