The entrance to the *Hollow Crypt* wasn't marked.
Buried beneath the *East Sanctum*, accessible only by forging a false key from soulsteel and flame-blood, it had been sealed for over a century. According to legend, it was once a catacomb where failed Devourer experiments were locked away—alive.
Now Kael and Elira stood before its rusted doors.
System Alert:
"Quest Activated: The Silent Gate
—Objective: Locate and Claim the Third Soul Node
—Threat Level: Tier 4
—Warning: Soul Remnants detected. Forbidden zone access will alert hidden systems."
Kael turned to Elira. "Last chance to back out."
She raised an eyebrow. "After two nodes, dozens of corpseforged, and nearly dying twice? You're stuck with me."
He smirked, then pressed Emberfang into the door's core.
With a hiss, the sigil unlocked, and the gates creaked open.
---
The Hollow Crypt smelled of old blood and silence.
Long corridors stretched downward, lined with statues—warped humanoid figures with masks fused to their faces, mouths open in silent screams. Soul mist drifted along the floor like fog, thickening with every step.
"Those statues," Elira whispered, "they're not just stone."
Kael nodded grimly. "They're failed Devourers. Preserved."
The deeper they went, the louder the whispers became. Not sound, but thought echoes clawing at the edge of Kael's mind. The system responded:
"Soul Interference Detected.
—Mental Fortitude Check… Passed."
At last, they reached a wide chamber.
A glowing platform floated at its center, and upon it hovered the *Third Soul Node* a sphere of deep violet light, wrapped in chains of ethereal soul-iron.
Guarding it was a creature unlike anything Kael had ever faced.
It floated, robed in shadow and crowned with horns of flickering soulfire. Its face was hidden by a broken mask. But its presence massive, ancient, *wrong* filled the chamber like gravity.
"Soul Remnant Detected: The Warden of Silence
Classification: Forbidden
Strength: Unknown
Status: Unstable Containment"
Kael stepped forward, blade drawn. "I'm taking the node."
The Warden raised its head.
"You speak with arrogance, child. The Forge branded you… yet you do not understand its price."
Kael's eyes flared. "Then show me."
The Warden attacked.
Its limbs extended into soul chains that lashed across the chamber. Kael dodged, barely missing the razor arcs. Elira sent a barrage of soullight spears, but the chains devoured them mid-air.
Kael leapt upward, activating *Soulbrand: Ember Break*, carving into the chains with burning fury. The Warden howled, shifting its body splitting into three spectral images.
Each spoke in unison. "You open a gate that should remain sealed. Every soul you consume... feeds it."
Kael's rage peaked. "Then I'll control what comes through!"
He drove Emberfang into the central image's chest. The blade pulsed with every soul he had claimed Devourer power and soulbrand rage combining into a flare of red flame and violet lightning.
The Warden screamed.
Its mask cracked.
And then it laughed.
"You're not ready. But you will be. We all break eventually."
Its form shattered into dust.
The Soul Node descended slowly.
Kael approached, reaching out.
System Alert:
"Third Soul Node Claimed.
—Blueprint Completion: 81%
—New Trait Unlocked: Soul Chain—bind targets briefly using soulforce.
—Path Divergence Detected:
> Option 1: Devourer Ascension
> Option 2: Sealbearer Rebellion
—Choice Required: Deferred."
Elira steadied him. "You okay?"
Kael exhaled. "No. But I'm closer."
Behind them, the chamber began to collapse.
---
Outside, deep in the imperial capital, a masked priest stepped into a silent cathedral.
"She's activated the third node," he said.
From the shadows, the *Hollow King* stirred.
"Good," the King rasped. "Then the gate will open… sooner than expected."