Seeing the opportunity, Elian didn't hesitate.
Maybe it was greed. Maybe it was desperation. But right now, the only thing on his mind was to gain as much as he could while still inside the Grave Realm. Before the sky shifted again, he must go back to the Citadel.
When he returned, he wouldn't just be another survivor. He will return with more than one Relic which would give him strength. He would return as a changed man.
Moving in silence, Elian began creeping toward the towering armored monster. Its back turned and its steps heavy and dragging. The broken sword it carried scraped against the ground, leaving faint trails in the ash behind.
His heart thumped loudly in his chest. He tried to ignore it.
What he couldn't ignore was the tension in his shoulders. He kept glancing left and right, half-expecting something else to jump out of the shadows.
But nothing came.
There were no other creatures nearby, just that one monster moving ahead of him.
Elian realized then that maybe the other monster avoided it because they feared it. So they stayed far from its presence.
He kept stalking it.
Eventually, the monster entered a half-collapsed structure that looked like it might have once been a mansion. It made of grey stone with wide entry. There were a cracked arch above the broken doors.
More than half the building was gone. Only jagged walls and a few twisted support beams remained.
Elian paused, crouching near the door. Something about this felt weird.
Why was it going inside? Did monsters like this have a home they returned to?
He waited, then slowly peeked through the crumbled doorway. Then he widened his eyes.
The room beyond was filled with bones and corpses.
Dozens of human remains littered the cracked floor. Some were reduced to pale-white piles already, long since picked clean by time.
Others were newer. Still wearing scraps of clothing like Elian. Some were missing limbs and the other missing heads.
Among them, Elian recognized the faces of the children. The ones who had stepped into the Grave Realm with him.
His stomach turned. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to keep watching.
The towering monster moved to the center of the room.
Then it sat on the floor. It's back to Elian and it was sitting cross-legged like it was resting. The massive sword lay on the floor beside it.
Elian's eyes narrowed. "This is it. This is my fucking chance!"
He gripped the Mirror Fang in one hand, the other close to his side. His breath was shallow and his muscles tensed at what he would do.
That thing had killed the boy, killed countless others, then sat in a room of corpses like it meant something.
It was not moving now so it looks vulnerable.
Elian's grip tightened on the Mirror Fang and he started creeping closer.
After several tense seconds of creeping forward, Elian finally reached the monster's back.
It hadn't noticed him.
Its massive body still sat motionless and cross-legged in front of the mound of the dead.
He raised the Mirror Fang, his fingers tightening around the hilt until his knuckles went white. Then, without hesitation he willed the Aether to surge.
He didn't know how he knew that. The knowledge just existed like a spark lit in the back of his mind the moment he awakened.
The flow of Aether moved naturally, as if his body had done it before.
Power surged into the dagger.
Mirror Fang responded instantly. Its edge shimmered faintly with a ghostly dark gleam and Elian layered his intent into it.
He focused again and called on the second ability he had, the Flame Brand. A dull warmth bloomed across his arms and surged into the dagger.
He attack.
With gritted teeth Elian drove the dagger forward, straight into the exposed joint between the monster's rusted armor plates at the back of the neck.
The blade pierced deep. There was no resistance at all.
The Mirror Fang sank into the thick flesh beneath the armor like a hot needle through cloth. The soul-burn effect ignited the monster from the inside and a dull crimson spark crackling beneath its skin.
The monster jerked violently. A deep and full of rage roar ripped through the air.
Elian didn't wait. He yanked the blade free and roll to the side as the monster's massive hand grabbed its weapon.
It lifted the rusted greatsword with a burst of move and swung it at him.
The blade tore through the air where Elian had been, but he had already dropped low and rolled backward.
CLANG!
Sparks burst as the blade struck stone.
The monster stood up.
Ash and black ichor poured from the gash in its neck. One side of its body twitched unnaturally. But it was still standing.
Elian gritted his teeth as he scrambled back to his feet.
Its armor wasn't enough to stop the stab but the thing was not dead. Elian wasn't sure how close it was to it.
Elian concentrated again.
Something in his mind clicked into place. The fear and noise faded into the background. His focus sharpened. It was sharper, colder, and clearer than before.
With a quick move, he shifted the Mirror Fang into his left hand and drew his regular sword with his right hand.
The rusted greatsword swung toward him again.
Elian darted forward, slipping under the wide arc of the blade. The wind from its swing scraped across his skin, but he was already inside the monster's reach.
The creature tried to twist away, but it was too slow.
Elian slashed.
His sword bit into the monster's exposed left side, the place where that strange flesh-maw had bitten through earlier. Armor no longer covered the wound. Only soft torn black flesh remained.
A streak of red lit up as Elian's blade cleaved through it. The Flame Brand ability surged.
The moment the blade connected a searing crimson burn spread into the monster's body. Soul-fire licking through its core.
The monster howled. Its entire body convulsed. It swung its weapon wildly, but Elian had already jumped back, retreating to safety.
Then it suddenly stopped.
The towering knight froze for a moment with its sword half-raised. Its limbs trembled as if something was breaking inside them.
Cracks appeared across its body. A low groan escaped from its throat from agony it felt.
Then its chest split.
From inside the monster's plated armor, thin threads of golden-yellow fire leaked out like glowing veins. The fire danced through the cracks in its limbs, across its shoulders, and down its legs.
The monster let out one final choking sound, staggered once then collapsed to the ground with a heavy crash.
Its entire body twitched. Then ignited.
A quiet burst of flame consumed it from the inside out. But it was not a normal fire. It did not burn the ruins or the stone. It only consumed the monster's flesh and armor, reducing it into ash and melted bone in mere seconds.
Elian stepped back with eyes wide.
Then it appeared.
A flicker of red light bloomed in front of him. The same writing as before.
[You have slain a Whispering Knight.]
[Classification: Rank 3 – Dreadform.]
[Essence Absorbed: Strength, Aether.]
[Soul Burn Successful.]
[Flame Brand Efficiency Increased.]
Elian exhaled slowly. His shoulders slumped slightly.
He had done it.
He had taken down a strong Grave Realm monster. A Whispering Knight, was it?
And now… he can feel that he was stronger. His very body had changed. He could feel the added essence in his body, and the flow of Aether moving more freely in his veins.
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