~~~
Stone exploded outward in a shower of debris as they plunged through eight feet of solid rock, dropping toward their target with weapons drawn and fury blazing in their hearts. The cavern below rushed up to meet them—and Jin had exactly two seconds to take in the nightmare they were falling into.
Holy shit! How the hell is there such a big space down here?
The chamber stretched out in all directions, easily the size of a football field. Ancient bones carpeted the floor in drifts that reached knee-deep in places, some still wearing tattered scraps of armor and cloth that spoke of battles fought centuries ago. Massive obsidian pillars supported the ceiling, each one carved with runes that pulsed with sickly red light like infected wounds. The air tasted of copper and old death, making Jin's throat clench with each breath.
And there, in the center of it all, stood their target.
The necromancer looked exactly like Jin had imagined from every dark fantasy novel he'd ever read—tall and gaunt, with bark-like skin stretched over a frame that seemed too thin to support life. Dark robes absorbed light rather than reflecting it, creating an aura of shadow that made the figure seem to flicker in and out of existence. But what Jin hadn't expected was the raw power that radiated from this creature like heat from a blast furnace.
Oh fuck. We're about to land on a real threat. This thing is way beyond what we've faced.
But there was no time for second thoughts. They were committed now, gravity dragging them toward destiny whether they were ready or not.
"Foul creature, your time ends now!" Rudy roared, his body exploding with crimson aura as he channeled everything into his greatsword. The weapon blazed like a falling star as he spun in the air, using their momentum to build devastating rotational force for his downward slash.
What the hell is he on? Total cringelord... Focus, Jin!
Jin's mind shifted into overdrive, time seeming to slow as he activated the skill and flared his essence, drawing up the massive mastery bonus to push his perception to its limits. The world crystallized around him with perfect clarity.
« "O gentle winds that cradle leaf and bird—grant me passage soft and swift!" »
The featherfall effect took hold immediately, and Jin pushed away from Rudy's trajectory, using his Zephyr Boots' air-step ability to glide toward a flanking position while his friend continued his meteoric descent toward the necromancer.
With overdrive active and his astral sight blazing, Jin's enhanced perception mapped the entire cavern in a split second. Every detail burned itself into his consciousness: the chamber's geology, structural weak points, potential cover positions, and—most importantly—immediate threats.
Three black skeletons positioned around the necromancer. There... at the far end, something else. Shit, it's got stealth abilities. Probably an assassin variant. No other immediate threats visible, but this bastard's had centuries to prepare.
His eyes locked onto the necromancer, and primal dread crept up his spine like ice water. The figure's face was now hidden beneath a deep hood, but Jin could feel ancient, malevolent intelligence studying them with the patience of a predator that had outlived empires.
This thing is old. Really old.
Jin forced himself to focus as the featherfall sorcery carried him smoothly down. He twisted in mid-air to face the necromancer while drawing Iron Howl, breathing essence into the armor-piercing rounds until they hummed with lethal energy. Everything moved in slow motion, his enhanced abilities working in perfect synchronization.
Below him, Rudy's crimson aura flared brilliantly as his massive attack connected with a translucent shield the necromancer had conjured just in time. The impact was devastating—shockwaves burst outward from the collision, blowing away the three black skeletons like leaves in a hurricane and sending bone fragments flying in all directions. The sound was like thunder contained in a bottle, echoing off the obsidian pillars with enough force to make Jin's ears ring.
But the shield held.
Shit. That should have been enough against a normal enemy... shit shit!
Jin reached out with his harvest concept—not to drain the necromancer directly, but to harvest the wisp of divine blessing aura still surrounding him from the scroll they'd used earlier. It was an experiment born of desperation, but in his overdrive state, it succeeded flawlessly.
Yes! Holy attribute.
He aimed Iron Howl not at the necromancer, but at the stealth-cloaked assassin lurking at the chamber's edge. The bullet shot past Rudy by a hair's breadth and struck the hidden undead in a beam of golden light.
The creature shrieked as the armor-piercing bullet, enhanced by Jin's essence and holy attribute, tore through its concealment and reduced it to dust permanently. The golden light spread outward from the impact point, and Jin felt a surge of satisfaction as his tactical gambit paid off.
Damn, that felt good!
The necromancer's head whipped toward Jin with a snarl of fury that revealed teeth like blackened ivory, but another thunderous impact from Rudy's greatsword demanded its attention.
Rudy had used the momentum from his previous strike to spin around and hammer the shield again, and this time the magical barrier shattered like glass, sending fragments of crystallized magic scattering across the bone-littered floor.
"Got you now, you corpse freak!" Rudy yelled, flames wreathing his entire body as he pressed his advantage with relentless aggression.
But the necromancer was far from helpless. As Rudy's blade came down for what should have been a fatal blow, the dark mage twisted with inhuman speed and drove a kick into Rudy's ribs. The impact sent Jin's friend flying backward through the air, but Rudy managed to roll with it, coming up in a battle stance despite the obvious pain.
Jin was already moving, lining up another shot with holy-enhanced ammunition. The round blazed through the air toward the necromancer's skull like a miniature comet—
Take that! Three-second clear time. Yeah—wait, what's that?
The cheer died in his throat as he felt a massive essence spike along with the sound of reality itself seeming to crack like broken glass.
What the fuck!
The necromancer vanished from his position just as Jin's bullet would have blown his head apart, reappearing twenty meters away in a swirl of shadow and malice that made the air itself seem to recoil. Those burning red eyes locked onto Jin with focused hatred that made his blood freeze.
I don't like this. I really, really don't like this.
When the necromancer spoke, his voice carried harmonics that made the bones scattered across the floor rattle in sympathetic resonance: "Clever little insects. You dare bring holy light into my domain?"
Fuck, it talks. That's never good.
"Rudy!" Jin called out, not taking his eyes off their opponent while his mind raced through tactical options. "You good over there?"
"Few bruised ribs. Bastard kicks hard for someone with such a skinny frame," Rudy replied, standing with his weapon ready but favoring his left side slightly.
"This feels like an Order III entity, Rudy," Jin said grimly, his enhanced perception picking up the complex layers of power radiating from their opponent.
"Great. Always wanted to punch above my weight class." Despite the dire circumstances, Rudy's grin was sharp and eager, the Asura path making him more dangerous when facing superior opponents.
"That's not a joking matter, man. If this thing is a fully-fledged Order III, then we are fucked... quite thoroughly."
"Dude, have some faith! We fought that golem, didn't we? It was Order III too."
No, you idiot, that was suppressed down. This thing is intelligent, experienced, and it's
been preparing for this fight since before we were born.
Jin was about to respond when the necromancer raised both hands, and he felt the temperature in the chamber drop twenty degrees in an instant. Dark energy began to coalesce around the ancient mage's fingers like liquid shadow, and the scattered bones throughout the cavern started to twitch and rattle ominously.
Oh shit. He's about to raise the entire floor.
"Fuck! Rudy," Jin shouted, his voice echoing off the obsidian pillars. "He's about to turn this whole room into an undead army!"
But even as Jin spoke, he could see the cold calculation in those burning red eyes. The necromancer wasn't just powerful—he was intelligent and tactical. The teleportation had put distance between him and Rudy while positioning himself with a clear line of sight to Jin. And now, with hundreds of skeletons about to rise from the bone-carpeted floor...
This is going to get so much worse before it gets better.
The necromancer's lips curved into what might have been a smile, though it was hard to tell with that bark-like face stretched over inhuman features. When he spoke again, his voice carried the confidence of something that had killed heroes before: "You have brought interesting toys, little death-bringer. Let us see how long they keep you breathing in my realm of eternal rest."
The necromancer opened his mouth and screeched in an alien dialect that made Jin's bones ache just hearing it. Right on cue, dozens of skeletal hands tore through the ground as ancient warriors began clawing their way up from their resting places, weapons materializing in their bony grips as dark magic gave them purpose.
"Jin!" Rudy's voice cut through the grinding sound of ancient remains assembling themselves, and there was something in his tone that made Jin's heart skip a beat. "Remember that conversation we had about trust?"
Jin's heart hammered against his ribs as skeletal warriors pulled themselves up from the floor around them, but something in Rudy's voice made him glance at his friend despite the immediate danger.
Oh, fuck no!
Rudy's eyes blazed with an inner fire Jin had never seen before—not just the usual confidence, but something deeper and more primal. The Mantle of the Colossus was responding to the overwhelming challenge, and the Asura path was beginning to manifest in ways that made Jin's skin crawl.
"Rudy, no!"
"Trust me on this one," Rudy said, raising his greatsword high. Power coursed along the blade's edge like liquid fire, and Jin could see the battle-fury building in his friend's stance.
Oh shit. He's going full berserker mode.
"God damn it... Please tell me you're at least peak Order II," Jin said urgently, raising Iron Howl as the first wave of skeletons shambled toward them with rust-stained weapons raised.
But Rudy was already moving. With a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the chamber, he charged directly toward the necromancer, his greatsword trailing flames and his aura blazing like a bonfire.
Please be peak Order II, please be peak Order II and not a full Order III...
The necromancer watched Rudy's charge with something that might have been amusement, then spoke a single word in that alien tongue. The pressure in the chamber increased tenfold, pressing down on both teenagers like the weight of an ocean.
"How touching. Die together, then."
The necromancer's laugh echoed through the chamber like breaking glass, and as those burning red eyes locked onto them, an oppressive presence descended that made it even harder for Jin to breathe. He flared his own essence in desperate response, but it felt like trying to hold back a tsunami with a beach umbrella.
Not enough! Not nearly enough!
Around them, a small army of undead warriors was rising from the bone-littered floor, their empty eye sockets beginning to glow with the same malevolent red light as their master. And somewhere in the growing chaos, Jin realized they had walked into a trap centuries in the making.
~~~