The cavern seethed with fire and steel.
The mage's inferno crashed into me first, flames roaring loud enough to drown thought. Stone cracked, the air itself blistered. For a moment, I was swallowed whole.
But I did not burn.
Shadows coiled tighter, a living cloak absorbing the storm. Embers hissed and vanished into my form. The heat remained, yes, but it was mine to command.
> [Ability Adaptation: Flame Resistance Increased]
Well, that's one way to warm me up. Shame I don't have marshmallows, though.
Through the fading flames, the captain came. His shield blazed with holy light, his sword descending like judgment. The strike landed true — steel cutting across my chest, searing the shadows apart.
The pain was sharp. Real. A reminder that I wasn't untouchable.
I hissed, but I did not retreat. Tendrils erupted, thick coils lashing around his shield arm, his sword arm, his waist. His weight buckled beneath me.
Our faces met — mine a void with burning eyes, his hidden behind iron.
> "You fight for light, but light blinds you. Shadows endure. Shadows see all. And I… am the Sovereign who cannot fall."
The words rolled like thunder, rattling his bones through steel. He faltered, even as he strained against my grip.
The rogue came next, daggers flashing in the dark. She was quick, slicing shadows as though to carve me apart. I split into ribbons, two tendrils snapping shut around her wrists mid-swing. One dagger clattered to the stone, the other scraped uselessly against my chest.
She cursed and struggled.
Damn, she's quick. Wouldn't mind those hands on me in… other ways. But alas, she's just trying to gut me. Women, am I right?
Her kick landed sharp against my chest. I didn't budge. My tendrils squeezed tighter.
The mage screamed — her grief and rage spilling out. "You murdered Father Elias!"
Her staff glowed white-hot, mana tearing from her core in a final desperate blast.
The cavern lit like dawn. Firestorm. Holy fury.
I walked through it.
Step by step, shadows reformed, jagged armor clinging to me. I advanced while her flames sputtered against my body, stolen by my abyss.
Her staff cracked. She fell to her knees, hands blistered and trembling.
Their eyes widened in horror. The captain, the rogue, the mage — they all saw the truth. I was no beast. No monster.
I was something worse.
> [Ability Acquired: Sovereign's Fang]
A blade of shadow extended from my arm, gleaming black with streaks of stolen flame.
I swung.
The captain's shield shattered. His arm bent at an unnatural angle, his sword dropping to the ground. The rogue was thrown across the cavern, breath exploding from her chest. The mage flinched, her broken staff snapping completely in two.
I loomed above them, tendrils curling like the spires of a throne.
> "The raid is over. You sought a beast. You found a king."
The cavern went still. Even the fire hushed.
For a long, terrible moment, I considered devouring them. It would be easy. A single lash of shadow, and they would be mine.
But then I laughed, low and cruel.
No. Let them live. The dead speak no tales. But the broken? They carry legends.
I lowered my blade, letting the captain see how close it lingered to his throat. Just enough to remind him — survival was not victory.
> "Crawl away, champions of light. You live not by grace, but by my will. Carry my name into the world… and remember it well."
The rogue staggered to her feet, dragging the mage with her. The captain followed, his eyes hollow behind the helmet.
None of them spoke. They only staggered into the tunnels, their footsteps uneven, their fear trailing behind them like a second shadow.
I stood alone, laughter echoing through stone.
Not mercy. Not kindness.
Only power.
And the world above had just received its first warning.