The entrance to the bunker yawned open like the throat of some ancient beast, breathing out waves of stale air that smelled of metal, ozone, and death.
Alya stepped forward first, the glow of her glaive casting blue rings across the cracked walls. Raiden followed, his senses stretched razor-thin — the world here felt wrong, every sound slightly delayed, like the air itself was hesitating.
The corridor sloped downward in a long spiral, lit by dying emergency lights that blinked like heart monitors. Graffiti still lingered on the concrete — faded symbols of the Black Halo, a serpent devouring its own tail painted in obsidian black.
At the end of the hall, a door pulsed faintly with digital veins.
> [System Alert: Corruption Density — Critical]
[Environmental Stability — 27% and falling]
[Objective Updated: Investigate central chamber]
Raiden exhaled slowly, resting a hand against the hilt of Sungraze.
"Stay close. If the corruption gets worse, don't try to fight it—just get out."
Alya's reply was immediate, quiet but firm. "Not happening."
They stepped through the final doorway, and the world changed.
The central chamber stretched wide and circular, walls lined with data conduits that crawled like veins toward a single containment pillar in the center. Inside the pillar floated a crystal sphere the size of a heart — pulsing black and red, dripping dark light that dissolved before touching the ground.
Around it, corruption bled into the metal floor in thick tendrils.
And standing before it — a man in a tattered long coat, his face hidden behind a silver mask engraved with the Black Halo emblem. His voice was calm, collected, but cold enough to cut stone.
"So… you're the one who cleans up our experiments."
Raiden's hand tightened on his sword. "Black Halo."
The man tilted his head slightly. "I suppose that's what they still call us out here. I prefer The Architects. It sounds… cleaner."
Alya took a sharp step forward, anger flickering across her eyes. "You're behind the forest corruption. You used my father's research!"
"Used?" the masked man mused. "No, no, my dear. We perfected it."
Raiden moved before he finished speaking. Lightning flashed — one step, two — his sword already mid-swing. The man lifted a hand lazily, and the air around him bent. Raiden's blade slammed into an invisible barrier with the force of thunder, sparks cascading in all directions.
The man didn't flinch.
> [Enemy Identified — Human Variant: Black Halo Lieutenant 'Gravemind']
[Level 12 | Tier: Ascended]
Raiden's eyes widened. Ascended tier?
He barely had time to think before Gravemind's counterattack came — a wave of telekinetic force exploded outward, flinging Raiden and Alya backward like leaves caught in a storm. Raiden rolled midair, landing hard on one knee.
> [-70 HP]
"Not bad," Gravemind said, voice almost amused. "But raw strength without purpose is just noise."
Raiden spat blood, wiped his mouth, and dashed again — Flow Step × 2! Lightning streaked through the chamber, his form blurring as he closed in. Gravemind lifted both hands this time, twisting the air. The floor itself warped, metal bending like liquid.
Raiden's slash cut through it, lightning crackling, and this time the blade grazed flesh — the faintest spark of blood drew from the edge of the mask.
Gravemind paused, touched the wound, and chuckled. "Interesting."
Then he vanished.
Raiden barely registered the movement — a pressure behind him, too late.
Boom!
A wave of energy struck his back like a sledgehammer, sending him sprawling.
> [-120 HP]
[HP: 370 / 620]
Alya lunged from the side, glaive sweeping low. Gravemind caught it mid-swing with a gesture, freezing it — and her — in midair. Her eyes widened as the weapon refused to move.
"Beautiful construct," he murmured. "Your father's design, wasn't it? I recognize the power signature."
Alya's voice cracked with fury. "You — killed — him!"
Raiden's eyes flashed with static. He surged up, slammed his palm into the ground, and Lightning Slash exploded in a sweeping arc — the discharge tore through the psychic grip, freeing Alya as Gravemind staggered back, cloak burning along the edges.
The corrupted crystal pulsed violently behind him, feeding the chamber's chaos.
Raiden steadied his breath. "You're feeding off the anomaly, aren't you?"
"Of course," Gravemind replied. "Dr. Voss's work was a masterpiece of energy manipulation. What better way to fuel power than with corruption itself?"
Raiden's knuckles whitened. "Then you die with it."
He charged again. This time, the fight became a storm.
Raiden's movements blurred, Flow Step chaining with instinctive precision; lightning clashed against gravity waves, each strike shaking the chamber. Alya moved in harmony with him, glaive slicing through dark projectiles and sending shockwaves of plasma that carved streaks across the floor.
> [Skill Combo Detected: Flow Step + Lightning Slash → Chain Attack Active]
[Damage Output × 1.5 for 6 sec]
Raiden's sword caught Gravemind across the arm — slash!
Another cut through the shoulder — crack!
But Gravemind countered with a violent telekinetic pulse that tore through the air like a scream.
> [-180 HP]
[HP: 190 / 620]
Raiden coughed, staggered, vision blurring. Blood dripped onto the metal floor, sizzling where it touched the corruption. His regeneration flared faintly, flickers of ember threading across his wounds.
> [Phoenix Vein Passive]
Phoenix Vein was working in the background trying to stabilise his health
Gravemind advanced, unhurried. "You should've stayed hidden, little spark. Your power doesn't belong in this world."
Raiden's grip tightened. "Maybe not… but it's mine."
He drew on everything — the static in the air, the hum of his sword, the fury in his veins. Lightning danced across his body like burning wings. The chamber filled with light.
He blurred again, faster than before — Flow Step + Dash — crossing the space in a blink. Gravemind raised his hand for another telekinetic blast, but Raiden was already inside the movement, spinning low and carving a vicious upward strike.
The blade split through the mask, shattering it.
For the first time, Raiden saw the man's face — eyes black as ink, veins glowing faintly red with corruption. Gravemind screamed — half pain, half rage — and unleashed a point-blank energy burst.
> [-200 HP]
[HP: 45 / 620]
[Critical Condition Detected]
Raiden's knees buckled, but he didn't fall. He caught the next blow with sheer instinct, turned his wrist, and slammed his sword straight into the man's chest.
> [Skill Triggered: Lightning Slash – Final Arc]
The explosion tore through the room — blue-white light flooding every crack and corner. The containment crystal shattered, shards dissolving into vapor. Gravemind convulsed, body splitting under the energy surge, then vanished in a burst of black ash and static.
Silence.
The only sound was Raiden's heavy breathing.
[+2,100 EXP]
[Level Up]
[Level 11 Achieved]
[All Stats +2]
[+5 Unassigned Points]
[Hidden Quest Completed: "Echoes of the Black Sun"]
[Rewards Granted:]
• Skill Upgrade — Phoenix Vein (Lv. 2)
• New Passive Skill — Static Guard (Reduces incoming elemental damage by 10%)
• Item Acquired — Corrupted Core Fragment (Black Halo Origin)
• System Note: Fragment carries residual data — anomaly classified for later integration.
Raiden's breath steadied as the glowing text flickered and faded from his vision. His muscles screamed, but beneath the pain was a pulse — stronger, steadier.
His aura had changed again; lightning hummed faintly through his veins, calmer now, as if syncing to something deeper.
He looked down at Gravemind's ashes, then at the containment pod where the unconscious girl lay. A grim satisfaction rippled through him, but the sight of her stopped it short — a reminder that victory here meant survival, not triumph.
> [Quest "Echoes of the Black Sun" — Complete]
Raiden's system faded into silence, but he caught one last flicker of text across his interface:
> [Main Questline Progression Unlocked]
[Next Objective Pending: Return to Citadel J]
He sheathed Sungraze, exhaled, and helped Alya lift the unconscious girl from the capsule.
By the time they stepped out of the collapsing structure, the corrupted air had cleared, and sunlight filtered faintly through t
he clouds — fractured but real.
---