The tunnels twisted endlessly, but Zayden's instincts led him forward.
The deeper he went, the hotter the air became. A damp, almost sickly-sweet scent filled the passages, sticking to his throat like rot. Kuro hissed uneasily from his shoulder, its crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
Zayden's sword was already coated in ichor, the blackened steel gleaming with shadow energy. Dozens of workers and warriors had fallen to him, their shards tucked neatly into his space ring. Still, no matter how many he killed, more came.
He already had enough shards to complete one of the requirements for his rank up.
But now…
The tunnel widened abruptly, spilling him into a cavern that stretched at least fifty meters across.
And his steps froze.
Eggs.
Thousands of them.
Pale, fleshy orbs as large as pumpkins clumped together in sticky mounds, pulsing faintly as if breathing. The faint glow of fungus lining the walls made the entire chamber shimmer with sickly white light. Every surface crawled with movement.
And guarding it all were warriors.
Not just a handful—at least a dozen, pacing in rigid lines around the chamber. Their eyes glowed red, and the air vibrated with their deep, insectile clicks.
Zayden exhaled slowly. "So this is the nest's heart."
His gaze sharpened. The system wanted him to clear the anthill. This chamber wasn't optional; it was a core. And destroying it would cripple the nest.
Kuro's scales bristled. The dragonling hissed, shadows rippling from its tiny body as if it too sensed the importance of this place.
Zayden grinned faintly. "Let's cut deeper."
The nearest warrior noticed him, mandibles clicking. The sound echoed, drawing the attention of the others. In an instant, all twelve warriors turned toward him, their heavy bodies lumbering forward in perfect unison.
The air grew heavy.
Zayden twirled his daggers, shadows coiling tighter around his arms. "Come, then."
The first warrior lunged.
Zayden met it head-on. His dagger slashed upward, shadows extending the blade into a long arc. The warrior's mandible shattered, ichor spraying across the floor.
"Umbra Blast!"
A pulse of black energy erupted, sending three more warriors flying back. Their shells cracked on impact, but none fell.
The swarm closed in.
Zayden ducked, rolled, and slashed in one fluid motion. His dagger carved across a warrior's underbelly, spilling dark fluids. It screeched, convulsing violently before collapsing.
[Power Shards x3 acquired.]
Another charged from behind. Kuro reacted, shadows bursting from its mouth to form a phantom wolf that slammed into the beast, staggering it. Zayden spun and drove both daggers into its head.
It twitched once, then stilled.
Two down. Ten more to go.
The chamber shook with the sound of pounding limbs. Warriors pressed in from all sides, mandibles snapping, bodies weaving together like a wall of armoured death.
Zayden's breathing deepened, shadows gathering around his entire body.
"Umbra Beam!"
A black spear of energy lanced through three warriors in a row. Their bodies smoked, holes burned through their shells. One collapsed instantly, another staggered, and the third limped but still fought.
Zayden didn't hesitate. He rushed forward, finishing them one by one with clean strikes to the head.
More shards drifted upward. He waved them into his ring without a glance.
The last six pressed in. Their combined clicks filled the air with a shrill, grating hum that made the chamber vibrate.
Zayden crouched low, daggers raised. His muscles coiled like springs.
"Umbra Slash!"
He blurred forward, his blades becoming streaks of shadow. Two warriors fell instantly, their heads severed clean from their bodies. The others struck back, claws and mandibles hammering like hammers.
Zayden blocked with his sword, weilding defensively in front of him, sparks of shadow scattering across the chamber. The impact shook his arms to the bone, but he forced his strength through, shoving them back.
One misstep would mean death.
The warriors lunged together, overwhelming in size and number. Zayden dropped to a knee, stabbing his dagger into the ground.
"Dark Spike!"
Spears of shadow erupted from the floor, skewering two warriors through their chests. They shrieked, legs flailing helplessly before going limp.
Another leapt at him. Zayden rolled aside, coming up behind it. His dagger plunged into the joint of its neck, and with a surge of Umbra energy, he tore the head free.
[Power Shards x3 acquired.]
Breath ragged, Zayden stood amidst the corpses. Ichors puddled across the stone, steaming under the faint fungal glow. His sword dripped blackened blood.
And then, silence.
The chamber was still. The last warrior twitched, then collapsed in final death.
[Power Shards x3 acquired.]
All twelve lay dead.
But Zayden wasn't finished.
His gaze slid to the eggs. Rows upon rows of them, pulsing faintly like beating hearts. He could almost feel the life writhing inside. Future enemies. Thousands of them.
His lips thinned.
Kuro hissed, coiling tighter around his arm.
"Yeah," Zayden muttered. "I know. They can't be allowed to hatch."
He raised his sword.
"Umbra Blast!"
A wave of dark energy ripped through the first cluster of eggs. The shells shattered like glass, spilling steaming fluids across the ground. High-pitched squeals echoed faintly as half-formed larvae writhed before going still.
Zayden moved methodically. He tore through egg after egg, black spikes shattering them, beams scorching holes through clusters. Each blast filled the chamber with the stench of burning flesh and acidic fluids.
Dozens. Hundreds. Entire mounds collapsed under his strikes.
The sound of clicking grew louder.
Zayden froze, his eyes narrowing.
The walls themselves began to tremble. From the tunnels surrounding the chamber, deeper, heavier footsteps echoed. Not the skittering of workers, nor the pounding of warriors. This sound was heavier, sharper, filled with authority.
Knights.
Zayden's lips curled into a thin grin. "Looks like I woke them up."
The first silhouette emerged from the tunnel, taller than the warriors, its body plated with jagged armour that gleamed under the faint light. Its mandibles were longer, sharper, and in its hands it carried curved, blade-like limbs.
Behind it, more shadows stirred.
Dozens of them.
The next rank had arrived.
Zayden tightened his grip on his sword. His chest rose and fell steadily, a spark of excitement in his eyes even as fatigue weighed on his limbs.
"Kuro," he whispered. The dragonling hissed, shadows curling in the air.
The chamber filled with the sound of armoured legs striking stone.
And the knights charged.
The chamber shook as armoured legs thundered across the stone floor. The first Ant Knight burst from the tunnel, its height nearly twice that of the warriors. Its exoskeleton gleamed like black steel, ridged with jagged spikes. Each step carried weight, and its curved blade-like limbs scraped against the stone with a sound that made the air quiver.
Another shadow followed it, equally imposing. Two Ant Knights.
Zayden's eyes narrowed. His grip on his daggers tightened. Fatigue weighed on his muscles, his breath ragged from the slaughter of the warriors, but his eyes burned brighter than ever.
"These aren't fodder." His lips twisted into a grim smile. "Good."
The knights clicked in unison, a shrill, piercing sound that rattled the cavern. Then they charged.
Zayden met them head-on.
The first knight's limb came down like a guillotine. Zayden sidestepped, shadows wrapping around his body as he blurred to the left. His dagger slashed across its side, sparks bursting as blade met armor. The exoskeleton cracked slightly, but not enough to kill.
The second knight lunged immediately, its mandibles snapping inches from Zayden's chest. He twisted, barely avoiding the strike, then countered with Umbra Slash, his blade coated in dark energy. The strike carved deep into the knight's shoulder, black ichor spraying, but the creature roared and swung back with terrifying force.
The impact sent Zayden flying. He hit the cavern wall hard, stone cracking behind him. His vision blurred for a heartbeat, but he forced himself upright.
"They hit harder than expected," he muttered, spitting blood.
Kuro leapt from his shoulder, landing between him and the advancing knights. The dragonling's scales rippled with shadows, its small frame glowing with eerie power. With a hiss, Kuro unleashed a wave of phantom beasts — wolves, serpents, and twisted shapes made of pure darkness. They lunged at the knights, biting and clawing, forcing them to pause.
But only for a moment.
The knights swiped with their blade limbs, tearing through the phantoms. Each shadow-beast popped like smoke, vanishing in a swirl of darkness.
Still, the delay gave Zayden time to move.
"Umbra Beam!"
A black spear of energy erupted from his palm, piercing through the joint of one knight's limb. The creature shrieked, staggering.
Zayden charged, his sword driving toward the gap in its armour,
CRACK!
The sound froze him.
His blade, which had been hovering on the edge of life and death, due to his ignorant forging, snapped in half, shards scattering across the ground.
For the first time, Zayden stood alarmed...