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Adam stood in the center of the dungeon, a lone figure caught between two converging tides of power. The wand in his hand felt suddenly insignificant, a twig against a hurricane, as the suffocating weight of the two figures pressed on his chest like a physical mountain, making each breath a struggle. The Guardian, Achillis, loomed like a mass of living, breathing shadow, its form seeming to drink the light from his Lumos spell. Its ember eyes, two pits of burning hatred, bored into Adam's very soul, promising a pain that went beyond the physical. Across from this monstrosity, Igris sat in stoic silence, his armored hands resting on the pommel of his greatsword as if he were a monument waiting for a verdict, a judgment yet to be passed.
A wild, reckless energy surged through Adam's veins, burning away the fear, replacing it with a sharp, focused adrenaline. His lips curled into a fierce, defiant grin, a flash of white in the grim darkness.
"Okayā¦ let's finish this. I'm already late. No more wasting time."
The air around him snappedāa tangible, electric shift in pressureāas the System's command boomed in the silence.
[Trial: Commence]
The Guardian struck first, a blur of predatory instinct. Its massive, shadow-formed arm swung not like a limb, but like a storm front, crashing into the ground where Adam had been standing half a second before. The ancient stone floor shattered, erupting outward in a deadly shower of shrapnel. Adam threw himself into a desperate roll, the sharp fragments grazing his arms and back, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs. Before he could even find his feet, Igris movedāan explosion of silent, crimson fire and polished steel, his sword cleaving through the oppressive darkness with terrifying, impersonal precision. Adam barely had time to gasp the words, his voice cracking with strainā
"Protego!"
The shimmering magical barrier materialized just as the flaming sword connected. The shield didn't just crack; it screamed under the impact, a web of fractures spreading instantly across its surface before it dissolved in a burst of spent magic and exploding sparks. The concussive force threw Adam back like a ragdoll. He hit the rough stone floor hard, rolling several times before coming to a jarring stop against a rusted iron bar, his ribs screaming in protest, the wind knocked from his lungs.
"Fuckā¦ They're faster than I thought."
He pushed himself up, every muscle protesting.
They came at him relentlessly, a perfectly synchronized dance of destruction. Achillis' shadowy limbs lashed out like barbed whips, each strike distorting the very air of the dungeon, leaving trails of freezing cold and psychic dread in their wake. Igris was a study in brutal efficiency, his burning sword tracing arcs of infernal heat through the darkness, each slash meant to bisect, to maim, to end. Adam became a creature of pure motion, a symphony of dodges, blocks, and parries. He twisted under a shadowy tendril, only to have to desperately deflect a horizontal sweep of the greatsword with a hastily conjured kinetic barrier that shattered on contact, the recoil vibrating up his wand arm and into his shoulder with a painful jolt.
He was losing ground with every second. Bruises blossomed across his skin beneath his robes, a map of his failures. His lungs burned with each ragged gasp of the dank, charged air. His arms ached from the constant, punishing recoil of his defensive spells. Each second stretched into an eternity, each one feeling like death itself was waiting, jaws wide open, to swallow him whole.
But through the pain, through the mounting desperation, Adam's fierce grin never left his face. His mind, honed by survival, burned faster than his fear could spread.
They're strong. Too strong. But they're big. Heavy. Predictable. Together, they're overwhelming, a perfect wall of force. But if I split themā¦ if I can drag one away, isolate themā¦ I might just stand a chance. The system gave me this trial; it must have given me the tools. I just have to be smart enough to use them.
Dodging another devastating strike from Achillis that carved a deep furrow in the stone where his head had been, Adam's eyes lost focus for a split second, his consciousness diving inward. He flicked open the System Store mid-motion, the familiar blue interface overlaying his vision even as his body moved on instinct. The list of available items blurred past his mind's eye until one, glowing with a soft, enticing light, snapped into focus:
[Item: Shackled Dagger of Volaris] Type:Consumable Weapon Effect:Creates spectral chains upon piercing target, slowing them for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour. Price:300 SP
A plan, cold and sharp, crystallized in his mind. Adam smirked through his bloodied lips, a trickle of crimson tracing a line down his chin.
"Perfect."
But one weapon wasn't enough. He needed more control. He needed to create space, to break their rhythm. His mind raced, sorting through his limited arsenal, finding the key. He raised his wand, ignoring the protesting scream in his shoulder, the words leaving his lips not as a shout, but as a sharp, commanding whisper that cut through the dungeon's chaos like a blade:
"Tempus Lente!"
The air in front of him shimmered. A faint, visible distortion, like rippling heat haze, spread out from his wand tip, washing over the advancing form of Achillis. The effect was immediate. The Guardian's movements slowed, becoming thick and syrupy, its ember eyes burning with a rage that now seemed trapped in molasses. It was only seconds he had boughtāprecious, vital secondsābut in a fight like this, seconds were everything.
Adam dashed. His body screamed in protest, but he pushed it harder, layering a quick speed-amplifying charm on his legs that made them burn but carried him forward like a bolt of lightning. He didn't go for the slowed Achillis; he lunged instead at the greater, more immediate threat: Igris. He ducked under a flaming horizontal slash that passed so close the heat seared the tips of his hair, the smell of burnt strands filling his nostrils. In that same motion, as he came up inside the knight's guard, he drove the Shackled Dagger of Volaris into the seam between two plates of the knight's charred armor on his side.
The effect was instantaneous. Chains of pure, spectral light burst from the wound, not of metal but of solidified magic, wrapping around Igris with ethereal strength. They didn't try to hold him still; they dragged him, pulling the massive knight backward with irresistible force, hauling him through the air and into one of the empty, nightmare-forged prison cells. The cell door slammed shut with a resonant clang of finality. Igris's flames roared in silent, furious protest behind the bars, but the magical lock held fast.
Adam turned, chest heaving, a grim line of satisfaction on his face.
"For once, the system didn't screw me," he spat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his attention now fully on the still-slowed Achillis.
Freed from its temporal shackles, the Guardian of Shadows lunged with renewed fury. Its massive hand contorted, forming a long, sharp spear of condensed darkness that it thrust forward with lethal intent. Adam stood his ground, planting his feet, his wand moving in a complex, forceful patternā
"Incendio Maxima!"
A torrent of concentrated fire, far more intense than any ordinary flame-charm, erupted from his wand tip, a roaring river of orange and white heat. It met the spear of darkness head-on. The two forces collided in a deafening explosion of superheated smoke and extinguished shadow, the concussive blast hurling Adam backward off his feet. He landed hard, his robes smoldering where embers had caught. He slapped at the fabric frantically, putting out the small fires, his eyes never leaving his enemy. Scrambling up, he charged forward again.
He ducked under a wide, sweeping shadow-limb, rolled across the jagged stone floor coming to his feet inside the creature's reach, and slashed upward with the now-recharged dagger. The enchanted blade bit deep into the Guardian's chest. A spray of black, sizzling ichor shot out, burning acrid holes where it struck the stone. Achillis shrieked, a soundless cry that vibrated through the very stone and shook Adam's bones.
"Yeah, scream louder, you bastard!" Adam roared, his voice raw, striking again and again with wand and dagger in a unified assaultāblasts of fire, restraining chains, purifying light against the corrupting shadow.
The Guardian recoiled, its limbs writhing in agony, its form beginning to destabilize. Seeing his opening, Adam poured the last of his will into his wand, the final spell a culmination of his anger and resolve:
"Revelare Animaā¦ Perdere!"
A flash of pure, blinding silver light, the same that had banished the shadow from Cho but magnified tenfold, erupted from him. It tore into Achillis, and the Guardian's form didn't just retreat; it unraveled, scattering like smoke caught in a sudden, violent wind, its ember eyes winking out into nothingness.
[Enemy Eliminated: Achillis ā Guardian of the Dungeon]
Adam staggered, panting, leaning heavily on his knees. His chest heaved, each breath a ragged burn. His blood pounded a victorious, exhausted rhythm in his ears. Every instinct screamed at him to collapseābut then, a sound of screeching, overstressed metal echoed through the dungeon. The chains broke.
Igris stepped out of the demolished cell, the spectral chains dissolving into motes of light. His crimson flames flared brighter than ever, burning with a cold, silent fury. His furnace-like eyes found Adam, and the pressure in the room doubled.
Adam froze for half a second, the sheer magnitude of the knight's presence washing over him.
"ā¦Oh my fucking luck."
The knight raised his massive sword with both hands, the ground quaking under his heavy, deliberate steps. Adam tightened his sweat-slicked grip on the dagger, his wand raised high, every nerve alight.
The clash was thunder. Steel met spell in a shower of sparks and magical discharge that shook the very foundations of the dungeon walls. Adam ducked under a wide, flaming arc that would have decapitated him, the heat searing his skin even from inches away. He countered with a desperate, powerful freezing charm:
"Glacius!"
Icy blue spikes, sharp and brutal, shot from his wand tip, embedding deep into the joints of Igris's armor with a sound like shattering glass. The knight's movement slowed, the infernal flames around his limbs sputtering as they fought the encroaching cold. Seizing the moment, Adam lunged again with the dagger, driving it with all his strength into a narrow gap between the plates on the knight's thigh. Igris roared, a sound of grinding metal and fury, and flames burst outward from his body in a devastating shockwave that hurled Adam back through the air.
He crashed into a wall, the breath blasted from his lungs, seeing stars. Igris's next blow came instantly, the blackened greatsword descending like a meteor. Adam threw himself sideways. The sword missed his skull by a hair's breadth, instead crashing into the stone floor where he had lain, cracking it open in a web of fractures.
Gasping, Adam rolled to his feet, his body a single, screaming pain. He knew he had one chance left. He poured every ounce of his remaining magic, his will to survive, into his wand, the spell a raw expulsion of power:
"Expulso Maxima!"
The blast was not fire or ice, but pure concussive force. It erupted from his wand with the sound of a small bomb, striking Igris square in the chest plate. The knight stumbled, his balance lost for the first time, one gauntleted knee crashing to the stone with a resonant clang.
Adam didn't hesitate. He sprinted, the world narrowing to that single point. With a final, guttural cry, he plunged the dagger deep into the visor slit of the knight's helm.
There was a moment of absolute stillness. The crimson flames surrounding Igris sputteredā¦ flickered like a dying candleā¦ then extinguished completely, plunging the knight into darkness.
[Enemy Eliminated: Igris]
The dungeon fell into a silence so deep it was louder than the battle had been. The only light came from the few remaining torches, now burning low and casting long, dancing shadows. Adam collapsed to his hands and knees, his chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping from his face and lips onto the cold stone below. A wide, triumphant grin cracked across his battered face.
"Hahā¦ hahā¦ I fucking did itā¦"
The familiar blue System screen unfolded before his eyes, its text scrolling with a satisfying swiftness:
[Both enemies eliminated.]
[Punishment Judgment: Cleared.] [Rewards Unlocked.]
[Level Up +5]
[Level Up +6] [Level Up +7]
[Skill Upgraded: Tempus Lente ā Tempus Dominium] [Title Acquired: Dungeon Conqueror]
[Title Acquired: Fearless One]
The list kept scrolling, a cascade of hard-won prizes, but thenāit stopped on one final, pulsing line. Adam's smirk faltered, replaced by a look of pure, unadulterated shock.
"ā¦Wait. What?"
The system pulsed with a deeper, darker light than he had ever seen it use.
[New Title Acquired: Shadow Monarch]
Adam's heart thudded against his bruised ribs. His eyes narrowed, a flicker of profound wonder and dawning comprehension breaking through his usual cynicism. He read the description, each word sinking in like a stone dropped into still water.
[Title: Shadow Monarch] Description:You have defeated the Guardian and claimed dominion over darkness itself. The shadows now recognize you as their master. Dead or fallen beings can be resurrected as your soldiers. The deeper your fearlessness, the stronger your army. The throne of shadows has been carvedāonly you may sit upon it.]
"The Shadow Monarchā¦"
The words were a whisper on his lips, laden with a weight and a promise he could barely grasp. For the first time, the system had given him something that felt less like a punishment or a mere toolāand more like a destiny, vast and terrifying and utterly his.
The dungeon around him flickered, its form fading, its purpose served, as the chapter closed.
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[ END OF CHAPTER. ]
IF YOU WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT MY WORKS OR JUST TO SUPPORT ME THEN HERE IS MY PATREON:
š Patreon.com/Doflamingo4