Part 1: The Throat of the Mountain
CRASH.
Titan slammed his Gorgon Shield into the fissure in the cliff face. The magnetic rock shattered, revealing a jagged, natural opening that breathed out cold, stale air.
It wasn't a hallway. It was a raw, geological throat—a winding cave system dripping with condensation and smelling of sulfur.
"Lights," Elian whispered.
Kael clicked a switch on his belt. A small magi-tech lantern flickered to life.
It lasted two seconds.
Zzzzt.
The light died, smothered by the heavy, oppressive mana density of the cave.
"Darkness it is," Kael grumbled, stowing the dead lamp.
"Roger?" Elian asked.
"Thermal is fuzzy," Roger reported, adjusting his scope. "The walls are radiating heat. It's like walking inside a lung. I can see five meters, max."
BOOM.
The entire cave shook. Dust rained down from the ceiling.
Outside, high above, Prince Thal'dor had slammed into the mountain again.
"Move between the tremors," Elian ordered, stepping into the black. "If the ceiling comes down, Titan holds it. Everyone else, eyes on the shadows."
They moved in. The ground was uneven, slick with black slime. The silence was absolute, broken only by the distant, muffled thuds of the Prince's war.
Part 2: The Silent Sting
They had walked for five minutes when the attack came.
There was no battle cry. No surge of killing intent.
Just a soft thwip.
"Urgh," Valen grunted.
The Paladin stumbled, dropping to one knee.
A small, black dart was buried in the gap of his armor, right between the pauldron and the neck guard.
"Contact!" Jax hissed, drawing his daggers.
Valen tried to stand, but his legs turned to jelly. His face went pale, the veins in his neck turning black instantly.
[Status: Neuro-Toxin (Grade A). Paralysis initiating in 5 seconds.]
"Healer!" Titan shouted instinctively, turning around.
But the space behind him was empty. Seraphina wasn't there.
Valen's eyes went wide with panic. "I... I can't breathe."
Elian reached for his satchel, but a cold hand grabbed his wrist.
Isara was there.
"Potions won't work," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "It's Lotus Nightshade. It binds to the blood. You drink a Health Potion now, you just pump the poison to his heart faster."
"Then what?" Elian demanded. Valen was gasping, clutching his throat, foam forming at his lips.
"We bleed it," Isara said.
She didn't wait for permission. She grabbed Valen's collar and yanked him forward.
With her other hand, she brought her dagger down.
SLASH.
"GAH!" Valen screamed.
Isara didn't just cut the skin; she carved a deep, vertical gash directly over the puncture wound in his shoulder, severing the surface vein.
Black, thick blood sprayed out, splattering onto the wet cave floor.
"Don't move," Isara ordered, pressing her thumb hard into a pressure point at the base of his neck. "Let it drain."
Valen shook violently, his face turning grey, watching his own lifeblood pool on the rocks.
After five agonizing seconds, the blood turned from black to bright red.
Isara released the pressure point.
"Stitch it," she commanded Elian.
Elian immediately uncorked the Green Vial (Stitch-Potion) and poured it onto the open wound.
The flesh hissed and knitted together, leaving an angry, puckered scar.
Valen collapsed against the wall, breathing in ragged, heaving gasps. He was alive, but he looked like a ghost.
[Status: Weakened. Strength -30%. Stamina Drained.]
"He can walk," Isara said, wiping her blade on her cloak. "But he can't tank. Not for a while."
Elian looked at Isara. It was the first time he had seen the Instructor in her, not just the Assassin.
"Defensive circle," Elian ordered, his voice grim. "Titan, you're solo front-line. Valen, stay in the middle. Don't die."
Part 3: The Hanging Gardens
"They're watching," Isara whispered, turning her gaze to the ceiling.
She stood perfectly still, her eyes closed, listening to the silence.
In the pitch black, clinging to the stalactites on the ceiling like bats, were figures wrapped in matte-black bodysuits.
The Lotus Stalkers. Viper's elite mob-clearing unit.
They didn't have heat signatures. They didn't breathe.
Swish. Swish.
Two razor-sharp nets flew from the darkness, aiming for Elian and Jax.
Elian dodged, his Agility saving him by a hair.
Jax wasn't so lucky. The weighted net wrapped around him, pinning his arms.
"Drag him!" a voice hissed from the dark.
A rope tightened, and Jax was yanked violently upward into the darkness of the cave ceiling.
"Get off me!" Jax yelled, slashing at the net, but he was dangling ten feet in the air, a piñata for the assassins.
"I can't get a shot!" Roger cursed, aiming his rifle blindly at the ceiling. "I'll hit Jax!"
Elian prepared to jump, but Isara signaled him to stop.
"Don't chase," she whispered. "That's the bait."
She tilted her head, listening to the faint sound of dripping water... and the one drip that was slightly out of rhythm.
"Roger," she said clearly. "Two o'clock.
Elevation forty. The stalactite."
Part 4: The Blind Queen
Roger didn't question her. He trusted the Spider.
BANG.
The bullet shattered the rock formation.
A scream echoed. A body in black armor fell from the ceiling, crashing to the floor with a sniper hole in its chest.
"Elian," Isara commanded. "Nine o'clock. Ground level. Sweep the leg."
Elian blurred. He swung Winter's Eclipse low.
CLANG.
His blade connected with invisible metal.
Sparks flew, revealing a Stalker crouched in stealth, ready to hamstring Titan.
Elian followed up with a thrust, piercing the assassin's heart.
"They are using the Echo-Step," Isara explained, her eyes still closed. "They move when the water drips to mask their sound. But they forget..."
She tilted her head.
"...I wrote the manual."
"Jax," Isara said. "Cut the rope. Now."
Jax slashed the cord holding him. He fell.
"Titan, catch."
Titan raised his shield just as Jax landed on it, safe.
"Clear the room," Isara ordered. "Roger, rapid fire. Twelve, three, and six o'clock. High."
BANG-BANG-BANG.
Three shots. Three bodies dropped from the dark, thudding onto the wet stone like wet sacks of laundry.
The remaining Stalkers, realizing their stealth was broken, tried to flee.
Elian didn't let them.
He and Jax moved like wolves, hunting down the fleeing shadows. In seconds, the cave floor was littered with black-clad corpses.
Part 5: The Servant's Gate
They stepped over the bodies and pushed deeper.
The rough cave walls finally gave way to chiseled obsidian bricks. They had reached the foundation of the fortress.
Ahead of them stood a heavy iron door, marked with the ancient crest of Volcanis, now defaced with the Black Lotus symbol.
"This is it," Elian whispered. "The secret passage from the map. This leads directly to the inner sanctum."
Titan pushed the door open. It groaned, heavy with rust.
They stepped out into a grand, torch-lit hallway. The floor was polished marble, reflecting the flickering flames.
But the hallway wasn't empty.
"Welcome back," a familiar voice echoed.
Elian froze.
Leaning against a pillar at the end of the hall was Viper.
And next to him, another Viper.
And another.
Three identical figures in porcelain masks blocked the path to the Throne Room.
"You survive the poison. You survive the Stalkers," the center Viper clapped slowly. "You are harder to kill than cockroaches."
Isara stepped forward. She didn't hesitate this time.
She threw a single dagger.
It didn't aim for the chest. It aimed for the Viper on the far right.
CLANG.
The Viper on the right raised a dagger and deflected the throw with lazy precision.
The other two clones vanished instantly.
"Found you," Isara hissed. "That parry... your wrist angle was too wide. Viper keeps his elbow tucked."
The figure on the right chuckled. It was a dark, rich sound—very different from Viper's cold whisper.
He reached up and unclasped the porcelain mask.
It wasn't Viper.
Underneath was a handsome man with pale skin, a sharp goatee, and eyes that glowed with a mocking yellow light.
[Boss Encounter: Silas, The Vice Guild Master of Black Lotus]
[Level: 45]
Part 6: The Mimic
"Sharp eyes, Little Spider," Silas smirked, tossing the mask aside. "Viper always said you were his favorite pet."
"Where is he?" Elian demanded, pointing his sword. "Where is Viper?"
"The Guild Master?" Silas laughed, drawing two curved, serrated daggers that dripped with green mana. "He is sitting on the throne, holding the Heart of the Storm. He's busy becoming a God. He doesn't have time for rats."
Silas spun his blades, the air humming around them.
"And the rest of the guild? They're outside, keeping your noisy Prince busy. The Four Elites are guarding the Throne Room doors."
Silas took a step forward, his mana flaring. It was heavy—Level 45 heavy.
"So that leaves just me. And you."
He looked at the battered Eclipse team. Valen was pale and shaking. Titan was exhausted. Jax was bruised.
"I was there when Volcanis died," Silas bragged, his eyes narrowing. "I drove the dagger into his heart. Do you really think a half-dead tank and a reject assassin can stop me?"
"I don't need to be fully healed to kill a copycat," Valen spat, raising his shield, though his arms trembled.
"Copycat?" Silas's grin widened. "I taught Viper how to clone himself."
He snapped his fingers.
Twelve perfect copies of Silas appeared in the hallway, filling the space with yellow eyes and serrated blades.
"Let's see if you can find the real one before you bleed out."