The Temple walls were ancient black stone, slick with years of neglect and now weeping the thick, oily residue of the corruption ritual. Kael pressed himself against the cold rock, the faint, sickly glow of the corrupted vines casting dancing, grotesque shadows that made his peripheral vision useless. He had to trust the System's warnings and his own sharpened senses.
Conventional entry through the main gate was impossible. Two figures, easily identifiable as High-Grade Creatures—taller, eerily silent, and encased in armor that seemed to be formed from crystallized darkness—stood motionless at the entrance. He recalled the ledger's warning: Immunity to physical damage. His Rending Flow was utterly useless against them. He had to bypass them or find their true weakness.
Using the faint light of the corrupted Temple, Kael studied the structure. The High-Grade Creatures were focused entirely on the gate, their posture rigid, almost ceremonial. They were guards, not patrols. That meant the ritual was internal, and disruption was the highest priority. He noticed a narrow, crumbling drainage shaft running beneath the foundation, barely wide enough for a man. It was choked with refuse and filth, but it was unguarded.
Kael slipped silently into the shaft. The smell of decay was overwhelming, but the noise of his entry—a wet thud—was swallowed instantly by the strange, rhythmic chanting emanating from deep within the Temple. He was inside the walls.
The crawl was agonizingly slow. Every inch scraped against his already weary body. He felt the cold proximity of death, sensing the spiritual energy of the monsters thrumming just meters above his head. He used the time to analyze the Apex Cultivation System, trying to mentally prepare for the Tier II skill. If it didn't grant him a spiritual attack, he was already dead.
He emerged into a dark, echoing corridor littered with fallen masonry and pools of viscous fluid. The air here was hotter, heavy with incense and the sound of the chanting, which was now louder, more insistent. The corridor opened into the main chamber—the Grand Hall of the Temple, now desecrated into a sacrificial pit.
The sight was horrific. At the center, atop a massive, pulsing altar, was a figure cloaked in black vines—the Ritual Master. Surrounding him were dozens of Low- and Mid-Grade Creatures, arranged in perfect, concentric circles. In front of the altar, guarding the steps, was a single, immense High-Grade Creature, standing motionless, its form crackling with dark energy. It was the monster detailed in the ledger: The Vengeful Core.
Kael froze in the shadows, his heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The Vengeful Core. Immunity to physical damage. His sword, his primary weapon, was worthless. He had to reach the Ritual Master, but the Core was the final, impenetrable shield.
He checked his System. [Quest: Disrupt the Gathering - Objective: Eliminate the Ritual Master]
He had to engage. There was no other way.
Kael chose his target: the Ritual Master. A High-Grade Creature was merely a guard; the Master was the engine. He burst from the shadows, his unexpected appearance ripping a hole in the concentration of the chanting creatures.
Chaos erupted. The Mid-Grade creatures immediately lunged toward him. But before they could even cover half the distance, the Vengeful Core at the altar moved. It didn't charge. It simply emitted a wave of crushing, dark energy that slammed into Kael, throwing him backward against the stone wall.
Kael gasped, staggering back onto his feet. The blow hadn't been physical; it was spiritual, a pure assault on his soul. He felt the Apex System flare violently in response, pulling his depleted spiritual core tight, preventing him from dissolving entirely.
The Core took one deliberate step, blocking the path. Its voice was a grinding echo that shook the stones. "The scent of the Guard. A fool, wearing a dead man's pride."
Kael ignored the Mid-Grade Creatures closing in around him. His focus was entirely on the Core. He had to trigger the reward. He had to kill something significant.
He didn't waste time on Rending Flow. He did the only thing he could think of: he threw himself into the swarm of Mid-Grade Creatures, knowing his only path to survival was to overload the System with XP. He was a blur of frantic motion, slashing, pivoting, and kicking, using his sword to find the weak joints in the Mid-Grade armor, earning quick, desperate kills.
The Core watched, unmoving. The Ritual Master's chanting intensified, causing the pulsing black vines on the altar to contract painfully.
[XP Gained: 10!] [XP Gained: 10!] [XP Gained: 10!] The chimes were frantic, overlapping the sounds of battle.
Kael took a devastating blow to the chest from a brute, sending him skidding across the floor. He used the momentum, rolling to his feet, ignoring the pain. He was near the limit.
XP Total: 98/100.
Only one more kill. He spotted the last uncommitted Mid-Grade creature and channeled every ounce of his remaining stamina into one final, perfect Rending Flow. The blade sliced through the monster's neck, and the creature dissolved.
The System exploded. The blue light intensified, overwhelming the sinister glow of the Temple.
[Mortal Foundation Level UP! Level 3 Reached!]
[Urgent Quest: Disrupt the Gathering COMPLETE! Reward: Apex Cultivation Tier II UNLOCKED!]
The immediate surge of power was immense, flooding his body with revitalized spiritual energy. Kael ignored the immediate stat boost. He dove straight into the Skill menu.
[Apex Form II: Sun Cutter]
Description: Infuses the blade with concentrated spiritual energy, allowing for temporary damage against higher-tier creatures.
Cost: 20 Stamina per activation. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
It was his answer. Kael looked up at the Vengeful Core, which finally appeared concerned, pausing its spiritual assault. The Ritual Master's chanting wavered.
Kael raised his plain sword. Its rusted steel didn't matter anymore. He channeled the full force of the newly unlocked Tier II skill, and the blade burst into a brilliant, temporary corona of white, pure energy—the opposite of the Temple's sickening black glow. It was a fragment of the Sun's strength, capable of scarring the darkness.
"The Sentinel has returned," Kael announced, his voice steady for the first time since the Guard fell. "And your immunity just expired."
He launched himself toward the Vengeful Core, the glowing blade held high, ready to prove that the Apex System was superior to the Shadow Lord's corrupted magic.