The chamber groaned like a wounded beast. Dust rained from above as deep cracks spiderwebbed across the walls.
Lucas yanked his sword free from the sphere's husk. "It's over—"
The floor lurched violently, throwing him to one knee. From somewhere deep below, an inhuman roar shook the air.
Seris staggered, coughing through the choking dust. "No, it's not over. The tower's dying—"
A thunderous crack interrupted her, and part of the ceiling caved in, sending massive stone slabs crashing to the ground. One missed her by inches.
Martha's eyes widened. "If we don't get out now, we'll be buried here forever!"
---
The walls were already folding inward, the once-massive chamber shrinking like it was being crushed by invisible hands.
Lucas pointed toward the twisted archway they'd entered through. "Go! I'll hold them off—"
"Them?" Seris asked, but then she saw it.
From the collapsing shadows, dozens of half-formed guardians crawled into existence. Some had missing limbs. Others were nothing but skeletal frames with glowing cores. The sphere's death hadn't stopped them — it had driven them into a frenzy.
---
They swarmed.
Lucas met the first wave head-on, cutting through brittle armor and scattering shards across the floor. But for every one he felled, two more emerged.
Seris fired rapidly, her bolts striking true, but the guardians were no longer relying on their bodies — some dragged themselves forward on nothing but tendrils of living shadow.
Martha slammed her staff down, conjuring a barrier of golden light. "Move!" she shouted. "This won't hold long!"
---
The trio pushed through the broken archway, racing down the warped corridor. The floor twisted underfoot like a living thing, trying to hurl them into the chasms opening below.
A guardian leapt from the wall, tackling Lucas mid-run. They crashed through a cracked section of floor, dangling over the void.
"Lucas!" Seris screamed, dropping to her knees. She fired a bolt into the guardian's head, knocking it loose. Lucas hauled himself back up, breath ragged.
"Go!" he barked, shoving her forward.
---
The tower groaned again, and entire sections of wall crumbled, revealing jagged views of the sky outside. The higher they climbed, the more unstable it became.
At one point, the floor ahead simply… ended. A gap at least fifteen feet wide yawned before them.
Seris looked at Lucas. "You're not going to like this."
Before he could ask, she sprinted forward and jumped, barely catching the opposite ledge. She landed in a roll, groaning. "Your turn!"
---
Lucas grabbed Martha's arm. "You first."
"I can't—"
"Yes, you can." He lifted her and threw. Martha shrieked but landed in Seris's arms.
Then Lucas stepped back, took a running start, and leapt. The floor behind him collapsed mid-air, but he landed hard, boots skidding on loose debris.
---
They were close now — Lucas could see daylight spilling through the final doorway. But the last obstacle was the worst yet.
A massive guardian, twice the size of the others, blocked the exit. Its body was a patchwork of broken armor, molten light leaking from the cracks.
Seris cursed. "It's not letting us go."
Lucas's jaw tightened. "Then we make it."
---
The fight was brutal. The guardian's blade was as long as a spear, and every swing shattered chunks of the crumbling floor. Lucas parried desperately while Seris and Martha struck from the sides.
Finally, Lucas feinted left, then drove his sword through the guardian's core. It staggered, roared, and fell into the void as the floor beneath it gave way.
---
They burst through the exit into blinding sunlight. The instant they crossed the threshold, the entire tower let out a final, echoing groan — and collapsed behind them in a colossal cloud of dust and stone.
The ground trembled for several long seconds. Then… silence.
Lucas sheathed his blade, chest heaving. "It's done."
Seris gave a shaky smile. "For now."
Martha's gaze lingered on the ruins. "But the heart's gone… and so is its power. That should mean peace."
Lucas wasn't so sure. Somewhere deep inside, he felt it — a whisper, faint but still alive.
The tower's heart might be dead… but something else had survived.