The sound came first — a deep, pulsing tremor that rattled through the stone floor.
Then the walls split.
Dozens of creatures spilled out from the cracks, their forms half-melted by mana distortion — wolves with glassy eyes, serpents made of bone and ash, crawling things that carried too many faces. Their shrieks drowned the air.
"Contact!" Kael barked, lightning flashing at his gauntlets.
Mira's rings ignited at once. "Crimson Deluge!"
A torrent of fire and water twisted together, flooding the chamber in burning steam. The monsters melted into smoke and shards.
Kael drove his blade down, lightning cracking across the stone. "Ground Shock!" The tremor swallowed the stragglers, leaving scorched ruin.
Elira lifted her sword, the wind gathering around her like breath before a storm.
"Breeze Edge!"
Her slash cut through the mist, scattering what remained into silence.
And yet — the silence that followed felt wrong.
The mana hadn't faded. It had only gathered.
From the far side of the hall, where the broken throne waited, the black-haired girl finally moved.
She stepped down the shattered dais as if walking through rain.
Her crimson eyes glimmered faintly, reflecting their exhaustion.
"I didn't call for them," she said softly. "They simply answer my boredom."
Her tone was not apology but amusement.
Mira tightened her grip. "You control the dungeon's spawn."
"I don't control anything." The girl tilted her head. "They're drawn to me — like the dead to a whisper."
Kael took a step forward. "Then this ends here."
The girl smiled. "How many times have I heard that?"
Before he could blink, her shadow blurred.
The air cracked.
In the instant Mira raised her rings, she was hit — a blur of force that sent her crashing into the wall. Kael's lightning surged but vanished as a kick slammed into his chest, crushing the spell before it formed.
Elira barely saw her coming. One heartbeat she was there, the next she was everywhere.
Steel met darkness with a blinding clang.
The impact hurled Elira backward, the wind barrier breaking apart like glass.
Pain roared through her arms. She fell to one knee, sword digging into the floor.
The girl stood over her, black hair falling like a curtain between them.
"Still standing," she murmured. "Better than I expected from children of light, thunder, and flame."
Elira's eyes widened. "What did you say?"
The girl's smile was slow, deliberate. "You carry their scent. All three of you."
Her gaze softened for a fraction of a second, almost nostalgic. "I fought beside them once. Against them twice. Your parents burned so brightly, I thought the stars themselves would shatter."
Elira's pulse thundered. "Don't talk like you knew them!"
"Ah." The girl's eyes gleamed. "Then no one told you the truth."
Mira struggled to her feet, bleeding at the lip. Kael braced his gauntlets against the floor, sparks flickering weakly.
But the girl didn't strike again. She simply looked at Elira — not with hostility, but with a kind of quiet curiosity, as though she saw something Elira couldn't.
Then she said it.
"The light inside you… it isn't pure. You'll understand when the other half wakes."
Before Elira could speak, darkness folded around the girl.
The air shimmered once, and she was gone — not fleeing, not fading, but erased, as though the world had blinked and forgotten her.
Only the scent of ash and roses remained.
Elira stayed frozen for a long moment, breathing hard.
Her sword trembled in her grip. Behind her, Mira's healing circle flickered faintly, Kael dragging himself upright.
"She… she knew our parents," Mira whispered.
Elira didn't answer. Her eyes were still fixed on the empty throne, where the air pulsed faintly with lingering shadow.
Whatever Nakea was — demon, remnant, or something far older — one thing was certain.
She wasn't finished with them.