The fog gate closed behind Orion with a dull, final sound.
He took three steps forward and stopped.
He was faced with darkness—complete, utter darkness. Not the dim light of the Dungeon. Not shadowed stone corridors. Not an open area. His eyes saw only darkness.
'The hell?'
For a brief second, he thought he had walked into a sealed chamber. 'How am I supposed to fight anyone here?'
But then he felt it.
Wind.
Cold air brushing across his face. He looked up and saw there was no ceiling. In fact, that was only visible because faint light filtered down from the stars, which were mostly hidden by drifting clouds.
"…You've got to be kidding me. Who designed this level?!"
The ground beneath his boots was uneven earth and dead grass. He was standing in what felt like an open field.
But visibility was terrible. Beyond a few meters, everything dissolved into black. Though part of it was mostly because his eyes hadn't adjusted to the lighting yet, the darkness was still too much.
Marika was silent beside him. While recently she had mostly taken the liberty to roam freely around Orario, she still showed up—leaving everything—to stand at Orion's side if he entered the dungeon.
Perhaps because she didn't particularly believe in him not overdoing it without her constantly watching over him. Truly, she had to watch over him like a mother… sigh.
Upon entering the darkness, even her own golden glow was dimmed for some reason. This darkness wasn't natural.
[Tread carefully. There is aught unnatural woven into this place.]
Marika said this while drifting closer to Orion, her golden aura illuminating the route around him.
And as his eyes started to adjust, he saw more.
And that was when a whisper came. Thin, almost eerie and dragging.
Orion gulped. Even knowing dying was temporary didn't make his tense nerves relax. His mind knew things were okay—his poor heart didn't.
Like fabric tearing slowly in the wind, something drifted behind him.
Orion turned sharply.
Something floated in the darkness.
Tall and twisted.
"bhootvikashnikatnahiawemahaveerjabnaamsunawe…."
[Pardon?!]
"Nothing…" Orion grumbled.
Soon the shadow finally came into the light.
Its body was thin and stretched unnaturally long. Limbs trailed like torn cloth. Its face was pale and skull-like, eyes glowing faintly in the void.
It resembled Ghostfreak from Ben 10. Well, almost like Ghostfreak. But Orion's mind clicked somewhere else. He knew this wasn't Ghostfreak… instead, another monster came to his mind.
"…Night Wraith."
From The Witcher.
He had fought many before—in a game. One of his favorite games, period. And this was undoubtedly a Night Wraith from the Witcher games.
The creature let out a distorted shriek—and vanished.
"Shit?!"
A sudden pressure hit his side, and at the same time he recalled why these monsters were such a pain in the game…
The Wraith reappeared right beside him, its claws slicing through the air.
They were a pain because they freaking teleported…
Orion tried to react—too slow. Even with his sidestep, he was late.
The strike connected.
Cold exploded across his ribs.
But instead of tearing flesh—
The impact dispersed like mist against stone.
A faint golden shimmer flickered over his skin.
The Opaline Hardtear. He had mixed it into his Physick earlier before entering. A reward from the previous boss he fought.
The Mixed Physick is a feature from the game—it gives multiple status boosts and effects—and the Opaline Hardtear provides a one-hit shield that absorbs any kind of damage once after drinking the Mixed Physick.
The damage was negated.
"…Lucky."
He didn't wait.
He rolled away, scrambling to create distance.
The Wraith dissolved again into smoke.
Orion raised his staff, eyes trying to locate the ghost before it reacted.
"Glintstone Pebble!"
He didn't have to shout the name like that, but it helped him concentrate when his mind was in disarray. One thing needed to use sorcery from Elden Ring was focus.
Blue shards shot forward into the darkness.
They passed straight through the floating form.
No impact.
No resistance.
"…Of course." Orion gave an almost exaggerated eye roll, once again recalling why Wraiths were such a pain. They were freaking intangible.
Wraiths were spectral.
Intangible by default.
His magic struck nothing.
The Wraith materialized again, this time directly in front of him.
A claw swiped toward his throat.
He ducked barely in time, feeling icy air scrape across his skin.
His heart pounded hard as the sudden attack put him on edge.
He retreated again.
'Think.'
'Witcher monsters.'
'Wraiths require silver.'
'I don't have silver…'
Even if he had it—
It would pass through the Wraith like air.
And silver alone wasn't enough.
Witchers used Signs.
Yrden.
A magical trap that forced spirits into physical form.
He didn't have Yrden.
'Now I get why Geralt keeps saying, "Winds howling."'
The Wraith shrieked again, splitting into two afterimages before merging back together.
It darted around him, vanishing and reappearing unpredictably.
Another swipe—
He jumped back.
Another sudden teleport—
He rolled sideways blindly, barely seeing anything beyond shadows.
He felt like he was panic-rolling now. The urge was too strong.
His breathing grew sharper.
He fired more Glintstone Pebbles out of instinct.
Every one passed through harmlessly.
Out of desperation, he switched to Carian Slicer, which didn't help either.
The Wraith lunged again.
He threw himself to the side, landing hard against the ground.
Cold fingers grazed his shoulder this time.
[Do not be a fool, thou addled wretch. 'Tis an undead spirit—use a Golden Order incantation, I beg thee.]
Marika felt like slamming her head against a rock nearby if she could find one in this darkness.
Wasn't it the most natural thing for her Tarnished to default to holy powers to vanquish an evil undead? Why did she have to tell him personally?
Of course Orion had thought about it. He just wasn't getting time to actually pull off any Golden Order incantation with this ghost teleporting around him.
He had already put back his staff and taken out the Golden Order Seal to cast an incantation. The damn ghost just wasn't letting him.
Just as the specter came at him once again, Orion's mind snapped.
He recalled something.
Instead of hunting for a gap to chant the incantation, he dove deep into his inventory, and the next second, in his hand was a golden sword.
A weapon made out of pure grace of gold.
He swept the weapon and met the Wraith head-on.
The next second, a loud screech was heard as the ghost was driven back, a large gash opening up in its belly. Black blood evaporated as soon as it came out under the holy golden light of the Golden Order Greatsword.
Marika, who had been waiting earlier for Orion to start chanting an incantation, was left baffled when she saw that sword in his hand.
'What sword—?' Her eyes widened, surprise gracing that beautiful face for the first time. That was indeed her Golden Order's most sacred weapon.
Orion hadn't actually shown his reward from defeating Beldia to Marika. The skill update, sure—that was on the status—but not the tangible items inside his inventory.
[Ho—how do you have that?]
"Shush… not now. Can't you hear? The winds howling." Orion grinned, a maniacal smile on his face—like a predator who had finally found the best position to hunt his prey.
And he was now in hunter mode.
xXx
A/N: Ah, how many of you guys have fought those Wraiths in The Witcher 3? Let's be honest—they are a pain.
Hope you like the chapter. Will see you on the next one. Peace!