There was no more discussion. There were no more doubts. The moment we committed to the insane, suicidal plan, a grim, silent understanding settled over our party. We were no longer five individuals. We were a single unit with a single, desperate purpose. We turned as one and began moving toward the oppressive presence that pulsed on the horizon, a beacon of our potential salvation and our most certain doom.
The journey was different now. Before, we had been wandering. Now, we were hunting, marching directly into the lair of an apex predator. The static hum in the air grew louder, a low, resonant thrum that I could feel in my teeth. The grey, corrupted landscape began to subtly shift. The random, glitching debris grew less frequent, the ground beneath our feet firmer. As Elara had predicted, the world here was more stable, more whole. It was also infinitely more menacing.
"The plan is simple," Silas said, his voice a low, sharp whisper that cut through the tension. He was all business now, the cynical scout replaced by a lethal field commander. "Erina, you're the frontline. Your job is to be loud, aggressive, and keep its attention locked on you. Don't try to win, just try not to die. Kael, you're ranged support. Stay mobile. Fire from cover. Your job isn't to do damage; it's to disrupt. Force it to dodge, to block. Make it waste time. I'll be on the flanks, looking for an opening, any opening, to harass it. We are the shield. We are the distraction."
He then looked at the other two. "Elara, Miyuri. The moment the fight starts, you break off. You ignore everything else. Your only job is to find the epicenter, the most stable data-point in this zone, and prepare that beacon. You are the win condition. We're just buying you the time to achieve it. Understood?"
Everyone nodded, a silent, grim consensus.
We crested a low, crumbling ridge, and the world fell away before us. We had arrived.
Below us was a wide, circular basin, a near-perfect circle of flat, unbroken obsidian-like ground. In the center of this basin, a figure stood, its back to us. It was humanoid, tall and broad-shouldered, clad in what looked like ancient, ornate plate armor that shimmered with a soft, internal silver light. It wasn't a monster. It was a knight. A hero. In its hand, it held a massive greatsword, the blade a sliver of pure, white light that seemed to cut the very air around it.
It turned slowly, as if it had been waiting for us all along. Its face was a featureless, smooth plate of silver light, but I felt its gaze lock onto us, an ancient, weary, and profoundly powerful consciousness. This was the Fallen Founder.
"Now," Silas hissed.
The world exploded into motion.
"Kael, with me!" Erina yelled, already charging down the ridge, her own blade drawn and blazing with a fiery red aura.
Silas melted into the shadows of the crumbling rocks to our left, vanishing from sight.
At the same time, Elara and Miyuri broke right, running along the edge of the basin. "We're starting the scan!" Miyuri shouted, her fingers a blur across her crystalline slate. "Just hold it off!"
The Founder raised its greatsword, not in aggression, but in a calm, measured salute. It was a gesture of a warrior acknowledging its opponents before a duel. Then, it moved. It didn't charge. It simply glided across the obsidian ground, closing the distance with a supernatural speed that made my blood run cold.
"Enchant: Lightning!" I roared, my maguns already sparking. I unleashed a volley of crackling energy bolts, aiming for its center of mass.
The Founder didn't even try to dodge. With a series of fluid, almost lazy movements of its light-blade, it parried every single one of my shots. The bolts of lightning were deflected harmlessly into the ground, fizzling out against the stable earth. It was like throwing pebbles at a master swordsman.
Erina met it head-on with a powerful, two-handed downward slash, her fiery blade leaving a searing arc in the air. The Founder met her strike with its own. The clash of a physical sword and a blade of pure data created a deafening CRACK, and a shockwave of force erupted from the point of impact, kicking up dust and grit. Erina was thrown back, skidding several feet, her arms trembling from the sheer, overwhelming power of the block.
"Its strength is insane!" she gritted out, planting her feet for another charge.
From the shadows, a trio of crossbow bolts tipped with dark energy hissed through the air, aimed at the Founder's un-helmeted neck. Without turning its head, the Founder's free hand shot up, catching all three bolts out of the air. It clenched its fist, and they disintegrated into black dust.
My turn. I kept my distance, firing relentlessly. I wasn't aiming to hit anymore; I was aiming to annoy. I fired at its feet, forcing it to adjust its stance. I fired at its sword hand, trying to disrupt its perfect parries. For every shot I fired, it had an answer, a block, a parry, a subtle sidestep. It was defending against three opponents at once and making it look effortless.
This wasn't a fight. It was a masterclass, and we were the failing students.
The Founder decided it was done defending. It went on the offensive. It lunged at Erina, its light-blade a blur. It didn't use wide, powerful swings like the golem. It used precise, intelligent thrusts and slashes, aiming for the gaps in her armor, forcing her into a desperate, defensive frenzy. Every block she made sent shudders up her arms. She was being pushed back, step by agonizing step.
"I need a distraction!" she yelled, barely parrying a thrust that would have skewered her.
I switched tactics. "Mana Shot!" I yelled, focusing my energy into a single, larger blast. It wasn't my most powerful, but it was fast. The blue orb of energy screamed toward the Founder's side.
It didn't even look. In the middle of its fluid combo against Erina, its free hand simply swung back, open-palmed, and batted my Mana Shot away like a fly. The orb flew off into the distance and exploded against a rock formation.
This was impossible. It was too fast, too strong, too skilled. My eyes darted over to the edge of the basin. Miyuri was on her knees, her slate glowing so brightly it illuminated her face, which was pale with concentration. Beside her, Elara had her hands pressed to the obsidian ground, her entire body trembling, a faint violet aura surrounding her. They were working, but they needed more time.
We have to buy them more time.
A bolt from Silas's crossbow finally found its mark, embedding itself in the Founder's shoulder pauldron. It was a minor hit, but it was enough. The Founder paused its assault on Erina, turning its featureless face toward the shadows where Silas was hidden. In that moment of distraction, Erina unleashed a desperate battle cry, her sword glowing with an even more intense fire.
"Burning Blade!" she roared, lunging forward and bringing her sword down in a devastating vertical chop.
This time, the Founder was forced to meet it with a full, two-handed block. The impact was immense. The ground beneath their feet cracked. Erina was putting every ounce of her strength, every drop of her mana, into this single, desperate attack. For a brief, glorious second, the Founder was held in place, locked in a struggle of pure power.
"Kael, now! Full power!" she screamed, her voice strained.
I didn't hesitate. This was our one chance. I poured all the remaining mana I had into a single, massive Mana Shot. The air warped around my maguns as a sphere of crackling blue energy, twice the size of my last one, coalesced between them. I aimed it directly at the Founder's back.
"Take this!" I bellowed, unleashing the shot.
The Founder, still locked in its struggle with Erina, couldn't block it. The massive orb of energy slammed into its back with the force of an explosion. The sound was deafening. Dust and debris filled the air.
As the smoke cleared, my heart sank. The Founder was still standing. Its back was smoking, and the silver light of its armor flickered erratically, but it was standing. It shoved Erina back with a final, contemptuous push, sending her tumbling to the ground.
It turned its head, its smooth, featureless faceplate now fixed directly on me. And for the first time, I felt a new emotion radiating from it. Not the weary calm of a warrior, but a cold, calculated anger.
It had decided that I was the primary threat.
The light-blade in its hand vanished. It raised its open palm toward me, and the air began to condense, to warp, a spear of pure, white light forming in front of its hand. It was gathering energy for an attack so powerful I could feel the static in the air raising the hair on my arms.
I was out of mana. Erina was down. Silas was too far away. This was it.
"We found it!"
Miyuri's voice, a triumphant, desperate scream from the edge of the basin, cut through the tension. "The focal point! It's here! We're planting the beacon!"
The Founder paused, its head tilting slightly, as if hearing her cry. The spear of light in its hand wavered. It knew what they were doing.
It had to make a choice. Finish me, the immediate threat, or stop them, the strategic threat.
It chose them.
The spear of light dissipated. In a movement so fast my eyes could barely track it, the Founder turned and shot across the basin, a silver and white comet aimed directly at Elara and Miyuri.
"No!" I screamed, my body moving before my mind could catch up, scrambling to my feet and running, even though I knew I was too slow.
This was the final, desperate moment. The whole plan, our very survival, hinged on what would happen in the next five seconds.