The dungeon was suffocatingly dark. No heat, no wind—just silence. Even Kai's footsteps vanished without echo.
"This place is… wrong," Ariana whispered, clutching her staff tighter.
"Stay close," Ryujin muttered, eyes scanning the void. His instincts screamed danger.
A low hiss slithered through the air. Suddenly, shadowy claws erupted from the ground, dragging a guild hunter into the blackness. His scream was cut short.
"Shit!" Kai drew his blade, but there was nothing to strike.
The temperature dropped. From the darkness emerged the Shadow Wraith King, a towering figure cloaked in black mist, wielding a jagged scythe. Its hollow eyes locked onto Ryujin.
"Mortal… you carry the scent of the Abyss," the Wraith hissed. "You do not belong here."
Ryujin's lips curved into a chilling smile.
"Then you're going to hate what I do next."
He activated Void Step, disappearing into the shadows around the Wraith. But the monster matched him, melting into the void and striking from impossible angles. Each clash rang like a scream.
The Wraith's scythe sliced Ryujin's arm, drawing blood. That's when his composure cracked. He grabbed the shadow's arm mid-attack and ripped it off, laughing coldly.
"I'll enjoy tearing you apart."
Using Dark Moon: Eclipse Slash, Ryujin bisected the Wraith in a single devastating strike. The monster shrieked as its body dissolved, leaving behind a pulsing obsidian shard.
Ryujin picked it up, shadow energy crawling up his hand.
"Two shards… closer to my blade," he whispered, almost lovingly.
Kai and Ariana stared at him, unsettled by the look in his eyes.
"Bro… you're enjoying this way too much," Kai muttered.
Ryujin didn't answer. He simply smiled in the darkness.