Shen Hao stepped through the final stone door.
The temperature plummeted the moment he set foot inside. Ancient braziers flashed to life along the walls, emitting a cold, bluish flame that cast shifting shadows across the cavernous space. Towering obsidian pillars carved with ethereal runes reached high into darkness. In the center lay a circular arena, its floor cracked and etched with symbols of old.
This was no ordinary room.
This… was a colosseum.
Lingfeng whispered from his belt, "Boss fight level: maximum."
From the center of the arena, a deep rumble rose like thunder from the depths of the earth.
An enormous figure ascended.
Its body was sculpted from cracked obsidian, darker than night, studded with glowing fissures pulsing with molten light. Massive arms ended in stone-lined brute fists. Across its fractured brow floated a single, glowing fragment—the Shard of Nexus—enveloped in a subtle distortion that bent the light around it.
Two red orbs ignited as it spoke:
"None shall touch my master's treasure," it rumbled. "You who enter this domain… leave in ruin."
Shen Hao tightened his grip on Lingfeng.
"Good to know I still get insulted," Lingfeng muttered.
The golem guardian took a thundering step forward. The ground shivered.
Mo Han's voice resonated in Shen Hao's mind:
"That is one of the two personal guardians created by my disciple. It's bound to the Shard of Nexus—stay focused."
Shen Hao locked eyes on the shard, a flicker of purpose igniting in his core.
A momentary pause—then, the golem charged.
"Titan Cleave!" it roared, swinging a massive fist that shattered the ground beneath it.
Shen Hao darted aside. Wind whipped around Lingfeng in a tight coil.
He struck, dagger whistling through air — wind pressure tearing at the guardian's plated arm. Stones fractured, but the beast did not falter.
"Solid rock," Shen Hao muttered.
"It's a golem," Lingfeng replied, "solid is the point."
The golem responded with a stomp.
Wide cracks spiderwebbed across the floor. Shen Hao used them as stepping stones to launch into the air above the creature.
He slashed midair, aiming for the shard—but the guardian swiped the air with its forearm, gouging a massive trench in the arena floor instead.
Shen Hao landed off-balance, forced to evade again as another strike slashed the dust behind him.
Between strikes, Shen Hao glimpsed the distortion around the shard—and the real source of the guardian's strength.
"Mo Han," he thought, "it pulls power from that shard."
"Indeed," Mo Han replied. "Strike it, and its core falters."
Shen Hao's jaw tightened. He would have to break the shard.
Enraged, the golem roared, summoning molten chains from the floor.
"Obsidian Bind!" The chains wrapped around Shen Hao's legs. He sprang, coil of wind snapping them apart just before the shards shredded his clothing.
As Shen Hao broke free, the golem fractured the ground beneath him with a high-rising shockwave.
"Ground Shatter!"
Shen Hao flung himself across the arena, avoiding the chasm with inches to spare.
Lingfeng groaned, "You sure you're not taking sword school advice from a rock?"
Shen Hao flicked a look at him. "Focus."
He sprinted toward the beast. The golem roared and hurled chunks of molten rock.
"Magma Bomb!"
Shen Hao looped around a pillar, letting spilling lava fragments smear harmlessly behind him.
Six wraiths—spawned from cracked earth—emerged, each a molten-gray shadow.
"Backup dancers," Lingfeng muttered, drawing smiles onto Shen Hao's face even as he spun through them, slicing two, sliding past the rest in a burst of fiery wind.
The golem roared.
"Magma Cataclysm!" It unleashed a molten beam toward Shen Hao, who barely avoided it, piloting himself behind a fallen pillar.
Heavy breathing. Sweat dripped down Shen Hao's forehead. His arm throbbed.
But Lingfeng's voice cut in: "You're doing great, boss. That thing just tried to boil you."
Shen Hao managed a steady breath. "It hurt… but not enough."
His Qi fluctuated, his wind-coiled dagger shimmering. One more strike—his ultimate technique.
He looked up. The guardian raised its arms, molten veins flaring like twin suns.
"Obsidian Requiem!"
Shen Hao met it head on.
"Crimson Core Detonation—First Form: EMBER BLOOM!" he yelled.
The arena exploded in wind-wreathed flame, a crimson storm spiraling outward. Dust erupted. Pillars rattled. Runes lit with power.
The golem screamed as the shard cracked, its glow plunging in and out, momentarily dim.
In response, the creature executed its finishing move:
"Final Commandment—Magma Judgment!"
A molten beam met the Ember Bloom in a blinding overture—wind vs. magma, embers vs. stone.
The chamber trembled.
But…the ancient structure did not collapse. The pillars stood, the arches bent—but they held.
When the light cleared:
Shen Hao stumbled to his knees. His clothing was torn. His side bled. His breath shook.
The golem was on he knees, shattered but whole.
The golem's eye flickered—then closed.
Their eyes met one last time. They both understood.
Silence reclaimed the chamber.