The stairwell ended in silence.
Not the forgiving hush of empty space, but the kind that smothered sound, pressing against the ears as though even the air refused to breathe. Noctis descended into a vast, cathedral-like chamber—its blackened marble cracked and stained with iron hues of old blood. The skeletal frames of pews lay scattered like broken bones. At the far end, before a ruined altar, a knight sat slumped upon a throne of splintered wood.
His armor was corroded black, edges glowing faintly with sick crimson veins. A greatsword leaned against his shoulder, etched with runes once radiant, now dripping ichor with every slow beat like a wound that never healed. Behind him hung a tattered banner—what had once been a blazing sun, now scarred with a slash of red.
The knight stirred. The scrape of steel echoed like chains dragged across stone. His helm tilted, exposing a faint glow behind the visor—one eye burning gold, the other crimson. His voice slithered out, guttural and warped.
"By vow I stood eternal… by blood I was undone. Who dares tread my chapel?"
[System Notice]Dungeon Mini-Boss: Crimson OathbreakerClass: Corrupted Paladin of the SunHP: 4,500Armor: Heavy Plate (50% Physical Resist, 30% Blood Resist, -25% Weak to Shadow & Sanctified Damage)Abilities: Blasphemous Greatsword, Vowbreaker Pulse, Martyr's Heart, Faithbound Resilience
Noctis's eyes narrowed, his grip firm upon his blade. "The fallen. A knight once sworn. Now chained to the curse."
The Oathbreaker rose, dragging his sword across marble with sparks spitting from the gouged floor.
"Name me the Crimson Oathbreaker. Betrayer to gods. Devourer of faith. For what am I, if not an echo of sin? Come, inheritor of blood. Show me whether you are salvation… or kin."
The chamber veins flared crimson. The knight charged.
Phase One: Clash of Vows (HP 4,500 → 3,600)
The greatsword came down.
Noctis barely met the strike, sparks exploding as his blade shrieked under the weight. The shock rattled his bones, driving him back three steps. The knight's second swing cut horizontally, howling with crimson light.
Noctis bled into shadow—Shadowmeld triggered.
[Skill Activated: Shadowmeld]Cost: -30 Blood, -8 FaithRemaining: Blood 264 | Faith 0
His form flattened into black ripples along the ground, slipping beneath the strike. He burst upward behind the knight, hand igniting with runes.
Crimson Grasp II. Tendrils lashed out, searing into the knight's arm.
[Skill Activated: Crimson Grasp II]Cost: -40 Blood, -10 Faith (Insufficient Faith → Auto-Overdraw from Blood = -15)Damage: -180 HPEnemy HP: 4,320
The Oathbreaker snarled. With brute force he ripped the tendrils apart. He spun—gauntlet smashing into Noctis's chest.
[Damage Taken] -250 HPNoctis HP: 1,050 → 800
Noctis coughed crimson, teeth grit. The knight stalked forward, sword dragging like a funeral bell.
Noctis's veins flared white-blue. Ghost Vein II. His body fractured into afterimages, moving faster than the knight's eye could follow.
[Skill Activated: Ghost Vein II]Cost: -55 Blood, -15 Faith (Faith insufficient, -15 converted from Blood)Remaining: Blood 194 | Faith 0
He slashed from multiple angles—only to find the Oathbreaker meeting each phantom, predicting, countering. Sparks screamed, the clash filling the chapel.
The knight slammed his sword into marble.
[Enemy Ability: Vowbreaker Pulse]AoE Crimson Faith ShockwaveDamage Taken: -120 HPNoctis HP: 800 → 680
Noctis skidded, shielding with his forearm. Pain gnawed through nerves, but he lunged back in.
His blade ignited—Eucharist Blade II. Crimson and ivory light entwined, sanctified hunger lancing through the knight's guard.
[Skill Activated: Eucharist Blade II]Cost: -70 Blood, -20 Faith (Faith insufficient, -20 converted from Blood)Damage: -720 HP (Shadow Weakness applied)Enemy HP: 4,320 → 3,600
The Oathbreaker staggered. Then—laughed.
"Yes… YES. Show me your damnation!"
Phase Two: The Heart of Corruption (HP 3,600 → 1,500)
The knight tore off his helm. His face was ruin—one eye gold, one crimson, veins crawling across charred skin. His chestplate cracked, exposing a pulsing, second heart glowing with corrupted faith.
The banners ignited. Statues bled.
He charged, swings heavier, each clash hammering shock through Noctis's arms. Noctis ducked, weaving through shadows, his wounds screaming. A cut ripped across his shoulder—blood spilled.
[Damage Taken] -200 HPNoctis HP: 680 → 480
Noctis's snarl deepened. Blood erupted from his wound—Exsanguinate II.
[Skill Activated: Exsanguinate II]Cost: -60 Blood, -15 Faith, -5 Iron (Faith insufficient → -15 Blood)Damage: -800 HP siphonedHeal: +400 HPEnemy HP: 3,600 → 2,800Noctis HP: 480 → 880
The Oathbreaker staggered, clutching at his chest. But the heart throbbed.
[Enemy Ability: Martyr's Heart]Explosion of Crimson FaithDamage Taken: -420 HPNoctis HP: 880 → 460
Noctis staggered, vision dimming. But blood swirled, knitting flesh—Sanguine Recovery II.
[Skill Activated: Sanguine Recovery II]Cost: -65 Blood, -18 Faith (Faith insufficient → -18 Blood)Heal: +600 HPNoctis HP: 460 → 1,060
The knight roared again, charging.
Phase Three: Soul Spire's Judgment (HP 1,500 → 0)
The chamber crumbled under their final clash. Noctis unleashed all—Ghost Vein II fracturing his body into blurs, Crimson Grasp II tethering, Exsanguinate II siphoning bursts of vitality, Eucharist Blade II carving through corrupted wards.
The Oathbreaker's swings shattered pews, each blow sundering marble, crimson arcs cutting through shadow.
At the peak, Noctis's essence erupted.
Soul Spire II.
[Skill Activated: Soul Spire II]Cost: -80 Blood, -22 Faith, -2 Soul (Faith insufficient → -22 Blood)Effect: Tower of Blood & Faith erupts, amplifying damage by 200% for 10s
His aura rose like a crimson tower, blood-wings fanning from his back. He thrust.
The Eucharist Blade pierced the knight's corrupted heart.
[Critical Strike]Damage: -1,200 HP (x2 multiplier from Soul Spire)Enemy HP: 1,500 → 0
System Aftermath
The explosion tore the chapel apart. Statues collapsed, banners incinerated, stained glass shattered into a storm of embers. The Oathbreaker fell to one knee, sword clattering. His gold eye flickered weakly.
"At last… my vow kept. No longer bound."
His body crumbled into ash.
Noctis staggered, chest heaving. His blade dimmed, blood-wings folding back into nothing. He looked at his trembling hands, then the ashes of the knight.
A warning. A mirror.
And barely survived.
He turned toward the next dark passage.
The ashes of the Oathbreaker scattered in silence.Noctis stood amid the ruined chapel, blade lowered, chest heaving, every vein in his body still thrumming with the echo of Soul Spire's tower. The wings of blood that had unfurled behind him were gone now, leaving only a faint shimmer across his shoulders.
He glanced at his trembling hands.The system had stripped him bare.
[Current Status]HP: 740 / 1,050Blood: 11 / 294Faith: 0 / 8Iron: 12 / 15Soul: 4 / 6Wraith Essence: 1 | Apex Essence: 1
One more strike of that magnitude and he would have collapsed beside the knight.
Noctis slid his blade back into a ready stance, steadying his breath. The chamber was broken, but not silent. Beyond the altar, where the marble floor cracked into a downward passage, a faint chant leaked through. Not sung by voices, but breathed by stone itself.
He moved forward.
The stairs opened into a hall unlike the others.Columns of black marble leaned, fractured and veined with glowing crimson. Reliquaries lined either wall—gilded cases of silver and bone, inside which relics of the faith were displayed. Some were chalices, some were broken swords, others shards of crystal crowns. Yet every single one dripped with blood that vanished before it touched the floor.
Whispers followed him. Words in languages he half-knew, fragments of hymns twisted into curses.
"Sanctity is sin… devotion is hunger… all vows bleed to ruin…"
He ignored them, walking steady, though his limbs dragged with fatigue.
[Passive Alert]Resource Drain accumulating: -1 Blood per 30s (Reliquary Corruption)Current Blood: 11 → 10
His jaw tightened. This chamber bled him even as he walked.
At the far end, a cracked reliquary case lay open. Inside, slumped against the glass, were zealot husks. Their robes once white, now shriveled and blackened, their faces peeled back to skulls fused with waxen flesh. At the scent of living blood, they stirred.
One hissed. Another convulsed. Then all six staggered forward, claws dragging along the marble.
Fodder Encounter: Zealot Husks (x6)
HP: 220 each
Abilities: Claw Swipe (25 dmg), Blood Leech (heals self for 30)
Resistances: Light (minor), Weak to fire/holy
Noctis sighed through clenched teeth. His resources were near zero. This wasn't a battle—it was punishment.
The first husk lunged, claws extended. Noctis's blade flickered, catching the attack at the wrist, severing its hand. His counter slash cleaved across its torso.
[Damage Dealt] -140 HPEnemy HP: 220 → 80
The husk collapsed in two motions, writhing before falling silent.
The second came low. Noctis pivoted, but fatigue slowed him. Claws raked his side, tearing into armor.
[Damage Taken] -45 HPNoctis HP: 740 → 695
He grimaced, grabbing the husk's throat with one hand. He had no Blood left to spare—but instinct surged. He crushed the throat, slammed it down, and drove his blade through its skull.
[Damage Dealt] -220 HP (Overkill)Enemy slain.
The remaining four closed. Their movements were jerky, but the chamber amplified them, each hiss echoing like a hundred voices.
Noctis braced, then moved. He ducked one swipe, slashed across two husks in a single arc, then spun low to sever a third's legs. Blood mist hissed from their bodies.
[Damage Dealt]-130 HP (Enemy 3: 220 → 90)-140 HP (Enemy 4: 220 → 80)-120 HP (Enemy 5: 220 → 100)
The sixth clawed at his back. He twisted too late.
[Damage Taken] -50 HPNoctis HP: 695 → 645
Snarling, he stabbed backward, impaling it through the chest.
[Damage Dealt] -240 HP (Critical)Enemy 6 slain.
The fight dragged on another thirty seconds, Noctis cutting them down methodically, each strike economical, conserving what little remained. By the time the last husk fell, his breath was ragged, his body shaking—not from injury, but from how close his essence ran to empty.
[Encounter Cleared]Zealot Husks defeated.Loot: Fragmented Relic Dust x3EXP: +1,200
[Current Status]HP: 610 / 1,050Blood: 9 / 294Faith: 0 / 8Iron: 12 / 15Soul: 4 / 6
The chamber quieted. The whispers dulled—but did not vanish.
At the end of the reliquary hall stood a grand case, larger than the rest. Its glass was fractured from within. Inside, relics—chalices, swords, bones, cloth—were fused together into a grotesque knot of matter, as though faith itself had melted and reformed in agony.
And it moved.
The relics pulsed, fusing tighter, sprouting sinews of blood that lashed against the glass. The chamber shuddered.
[System Warning]Dungeon Boss Approaching: The Living ReliquaryForming…
The glass cracked, bleeding light across the hall.
Noctis tightened his grip on his blade, his eyes glowing faintly in the dark. He whispered to himself, voice low and steady.
"Almost at the heart of it."
The reliquary screamed.
And the chamber's doors sealed shut.
The glass case split open with a sound like bone fracturing.
Noctis raised his blade, every nerve taut. The reliquary's contents spilled outward—not as relics, not as sacred remains, but as a writhing mass of blood and faith fused into mockery. Chalices bent into skull-like faces. Swords melted into rib-like protrusions. Shards of crowns fused into jagged antlers, all bound by veins of pulsing crimson light.
The abomination heaved itself upright, a towering bulk of fused relics wrapped around a core of molten faith. From its chest, a choir of whispering voices leaked—prayers reversed into curses.
[System Alert]Dungeon Boss Encounter Initiated: The Living ReliquaryHP: 12,000Armor: Relic Fusion (35% Resist Physical, 40% Resist Blood, 50% Weak to Shadow & Sanctified)Phase Abilities:– Reliquary Choir (Psychic AoE: drains Faith, deals psychic dmg)– Crown Antlers (Piercing thrusts, armor-shredding)– Blood Chalice Drain (AoE siphon, heals boss for portion)– Reliquary Collapse (Arena phase change at 50%)
Noctis exhaled slowly. He glanced at his own state.
[Current Status]HP: 610 / 1,050Blood: 9 / 294Faith: 0 / 8Iron: 12 / 15Soul: 4 / 6
"…This will hurt."
The Living Reliquary screamed.
Phase One: The Choir's Wail (HP 12,000 → 9,800)
The abomination lunged forward, its jagged limbs gouging marble as it swung. Noctis ducked beneath one thrust—antler-crown shards stabbing through a column, pulverizing it. He countered with a slash at its side.
[Damage Dealt] -220 HP (Shadow Weakness bonus)Enemy HP: 12,000 → 11,780
The reliquary shrieked. The sound was not air—it was faith itself, prayers inverted into psychic agony. Noctis's skull throbbed.
[Enemy Ability: Reliquary Choir]Damage Taken: -90 HP (psychic)Faith drained: -0 (already empty)Noctis HP: 610 → 520
He grit his teeth, staggering but standing. Another limb whipped at him—he rolled, boots screeching across cracked stone, blade flashing upward.
His strike sheared through a cluster of fused relics. Blood hissed.
[Damage Dealt] -310 HPEnemy HP: 11,780 → 11,470
But the abomination's torso opened. A chalice-mouth vomited crimson mist across the hall.
[Enemy Ability: Blood Chalice Drain]AoE: 180 dmg | Heal: 200 HPNoctis HP: 520 → 340Enemy HP: 11,470 → 11,670
Noctis staggered, coughing blood. His reserves were gone—he had no Blood to counter-drain, no Faith to shield.
But he refused to fall here.
Scraping for Edge
He forced his body to move. His blade lashed out again and again, each strike carving shallow rents through relic-bone plating. The reliquary's size made it slower, but every hit it landed threatened to shatter him outright.
A limb slammed down. He Shadowmelded instinctively.
[Skill Activated: Shadowmeld]Cost: -30 Blood (Insufficient: system overdraws HP = -50)Remaining: Blood: -21 → adjusted to 0 | HP: 340 → 290
He blinked out of reality just as the strike obliterated marble where he had stood. Reappearing at its flank, he swung upward.
[Damage Dealt] -400 HP (Critical from Shadowmeld)Enemy HP: 11,670 → 11,270
But the strain was immense. His blood was gone. The System itself was cannibalizing his health for every activation.
And the reliquary only grew louder, its Choir drilling into his skull.
Desperation Strike (HP 11,270 → 9,800)
The abomination reared back, antlers glowing. Noctis braced. He couldn't withstand another blast.
He tightened his grip on his blade. His Soul burned in his veins.
[Skill Activated: Soul Spire II]Cost: -80 Blood, -22 Faith, -2 Soul (Faith/Blood insufficient → 100 HP penalty)Remaining: Soul 4 → 2 | HP: 290 → 190
A tower of crimson light erupted from him, his body outlined in blood-fire, wings flaring wide. His next strike carved downward, Eucharist Blade igniting with sanctified hunger.
[Skill Activated: Eucharist Blade II]Cost: -70 Blood, -20 Faith (insufficient → 120 HP penalty)Noctis HP: 190 → 70
He roared, driving the blade into the reliquary's chest. Light exploded outward.
[Critical Strike]Damage: -1,470 HP (x2 multiplier)Enemy HP: 11,270 → 9,800
The reliquary howled, staggering back. Its antler-crown shattered, fragments scattering across the hall.
Noctis dropped to one knee, gasping, his body trembling on the brink of collapse. His HUD flickered—red warning bars flashing.
[Status Critical]HP: 70 / 1,050Blood: 0Faith: 0Iron: 12Soul: 2
And the reliquary was only enraged.
Closing the Opening Phase
The abomination's torso convulsed, fissures splitting wider. From within, new limbs clawed their way free—silver, bone, scripture, all bleeding. The hall itself shook, columns splintering, reliquary cases bursting one by one as relics dissolved into its bulk.
It had only just begun.
Noctis dragged himself to his feet, blade shaking in his grip. His vision blurred. The whispers crawled across his mind, but he bared his fangs in defiance.
"This… isn't over."
The reliquary screamed, the sound splitting stone.
And Phase Two began.