Chapter 5: The Dance of Shadows
The air in the cavern didn't just turn cold; it turned predatory.
With the Dual Link active, Cian felt like a man being pulled in two directions by wild horses. To his left, the warm, golden tether of Elara was a steady heartbeat. To his right, the connection to Nyx was a freezing, jagged pulse of adrenaline and spite.
[Warning: Sync Imbalance!]
[Elara (Light) and Nyx (Shadow) are conflicting within the Hero's Core.]
[Mana Stability: 62% and dropping...]
"Get your hands off him, Shadow-Stalker!" Elara yelled, though she didn't stop her advance. She cleaved through a lingering Shadow-Wolf, her silver blade leave a trail of purifying light.
Nyx didn't even look back. She was a blur of obsidian and violet. "He's the first thing in this cave that hasn't tried to eat me, Princess. I think I'll keep him."
Nyx moved with [Phantom Step]. One moment she was kneeling by Cian; the next, she was a literal shadow sliding across the floor. She rose behind the lead Sentinel like a ghost manifesting from smoke.
Her daggers didn't just cut; they erased.
Each strike left behind a flickering void that ate into the Sentinel's armor. The monster roared, swinging its corrosive shield, but Nyx was already gone, reappearing on its shoulder. She drove both daggers into the base of its neck.
[Valkyrie Skill: Heart-Piercer (Rank 1) — Triggered!]
[Effect: 300% Critical Damage to Weak Points.]
The Sentinel collapsed into a heap of rusted iron and black sludge.
"One," Nyx purred, her eyes glowing with a manic intensity. She looked back at Cian, her tongue flicking over her lower lip. "Hey, Dross. Give me more. That 'Link' of yours... it tastes like starlight."
Cian groaned, his knees hitting the wet stone. "My name... is Cian. And I'm not... a battery..."
[System: Nyx Affinity Increased! 0 \rightarrow 15]
[Status: 'Dangerous Obsession' triggered.]
The remaining two Sentinels realized the threat. They backed away from Nyx, turning their focus toward the source of the power: Cian. They raised their rusted Greatswords, the blades dripping with Abyssal rot.
"Protect the Hero!" Elara shouted, leaping across the cavern. She slammed her shield into one Sentinel, but the second one bypassed her, its blade whistling toward Cian's head.
Cian closed his eyes, expecting the end.
Clang!
He opened his eyes to see Nyx and Elara standing side-by-side in front of him. Elara's silver sword blocked the top of the Greatsword, while Nyx's daggers were crossed, pinning the bottom of the blade.
The golden light of the Knight and the violet shadow of the Assassin mingled, creating a strange, swirling twilight around Cian.
"Don't get used to this, Shadow-Stalker," Elara hissed, her muscles straining against the Sentinel's weight.
"Believe me, I'm only doing it for the boy," Nyx retorted, her teeth bared in a grin. "He's too precious to let these tin-cans break him."
[System: Resonance Combo Available!]
[Skill: Twilight Execution (Level 1)]
[Requirements: Hero must synchronize the hearts of the Knight and the Assassin.]
"Do it!" Cian screamed, reaching out and grabbing a piece of both their outfits—Elara's silver cape and Nyx's leather strap.
He didn't try to control the mana this time. He just opened the floodgates.
The cavern exploded in a burst of grey energy—the perfect middle ground between light and dark. Elara and Nyx moved in a synchronized strike that shouldn't have been possible for two people who hated each other.
Elara delivered a massive overhead strike that shattered the Sentinel's guard, and in the exact microsecond the armor cracked, Nyx dived through the opening, her daggers spinning like a black whirlwind.
The two remaining Sentinels didn't just die; they were atomized.
[Battle Results:]
[3x Abyssal Sentinels Slain.]
[Level Up: 7 \rightarrow 12]
[New Skill Unlocked: Hero's Command (Allows short-range teleportation of Valkyries).]
As the dust settled, the silence returned, heavier than before. The Dual Link snapped shut, and Cian fell forward, his face inches from the damp floor.
Two pairs of boots entered his field of vision. One pair was polished silver; the other was scuffed, dark leather.
"He's mine to guard," Elara said, her voice dropping to a dangerous, low register. "He is a Squire of the Bastion."
"He's a Hero, you arrogant bird," Nyx countered, her voice right above Cian's ear as she knelt down. She ran a cold, sharp fingernail along the back of Cian's neck. "And the shadows don't care about your titles. He saved me. That makes him mine."
Cian looked up, seeing the two of them glaring at each other over his body. The System hovered between them, showing two glowing hearts with a thin, vibrating line connecting them all.
[Current Objective: Mediate the Conflict.]
[Warning: If Affinity drops too low, the Link will fracture.]
"I think..." Cian coughed, looking at the two beautiful, deadly women. "I think I'm going to need a bigger bed."