Part 1: The Splintered Path
The hallway was a kaleidoscope of death.
Twelve copies of Silas stood in a perfect phalanx, their curved scimitars catching the torchlight. The air hummed with the oppressive weight of a Level 45 Boss.
Elian stepped forward, his sword raised, but Isara cut across him.
She didn't speak. She simply made a sharp, cutting motion with her hand toward the dusty tapestry on the left wall.
Go.
Elian looked at the map in his mind. The tapestry hid a servant's corridor—a narrow, unguarded artery that bypassed the main hall and led straight to the Throne Room's rear entrance.
"We can't leave you," Titan grunted, his shield raised.
"He's stalling," Isara whispered, her eyes locked on Silas. "Every second you waste here, Viper charges the Heart. Go."
Elian gritted his teeth. He hated this. He hated leaving his people behind.
"Titan, Jax, Kael. On me."
Elian sprinted. He didn't run at Silas; he ran at the wall.
"Break it!"
Titan roared, slamming his shoulder into the hidden door behind the tapestry. Wood splintered, revealing the dark passage.
Elian paused for a fraction of a second, looking back at the three people remaining in the hall.
"Don't die," he commanded.
Then they vanished into the darkness.
Silas didn't chase them. He just laughed, spinning his blades.
"Running away? Typical Eclipse."
He looked at the only person left standing in his way.
Isara.
"Just you, Little Spider? You think you can hold the door alone?"
Part 2: The Crippled Wall
"She's not alone."
The voice was rough, wet with pain.
Valen stepped out from behind a pillar. He looked terrible. His skin was grey, his breathing ragged, and the fresh scar on his neck from Isara's surgery was seeping blood.
[Status: Valen (Level 43)]
[Condition: Weakened (Strength -30%, Agility -50%)]
"Valen," Isara hissed, not looking back. "You can't tank him. Your stamina is gone."
"I don't need stamina," Valen slammed the bottom of his tower shield onto the marble floor.
CRACK. "I just need to stand here."
Silas smirked. "A traitor and a corpse. This won't take long."
He snapped his fingers.
[Skill: Mirage Waltz]
All twelve clones moved at once.
They didn't just run; they flickered. It was like watching a strobe light. One second they were ten meters away, the next they were five.
"Die," Silas whispered from everywhere.
Three clones lunged at Isara.
She parried the first, ducked the second, and kicked the third. But she was overwhelmed.
A fourth clone materialized in the air above her, bringing both blades down in a guillotine strike.
She couldn't dodge. She was mid-animation.
CLANG.
A golden barrier erupted between Isara and the blade.
Valen had thrown himself in the way. He didn't use a skill; he used his body. The impact shuddered through his shield, traveling up his injured arm.
"Nngh!" Valen grunted, his knees buckling. The force was immense.
"Slow," Silas mocked.
The clone pressing against Valen's shield smirked. "You're wide open, Paladin."
Another clone appeared directly behind Valen.
The blade aimed for the gap in his armor—the exact spot where Isara had performed the surgery.
Valen couldn't turn. His muscles were locked by the poison's aftereffects.
He saw the reflection of the death blow in his own shield.
I'm sorry, Elian.
Part 3: The Ghost in the Scope
BANG.
The sound was deafening in the enclosed hallway.
The clone behind Valen didn't just vanish; its head exploded in a shower of black smoke.
Silas faltered, his rhythm broken.
"What?"
From the shadows of the mezzanine floor above, a figure racked the bolt of a long rifle. The barrel was smoking.
Roger adjusted his hat, his cybernetic eye glowing red.
"You boys having a party without me?"
He didn't wait for a reply.
"Isara! Left flank! He's swapping!"
Isara reacted instantly. She trusted the Sniper's call. She didn't look; she just spun and slashed to her left.
SLASH.
Her dagger caught the real Silas just as he teleported into a clone's position.
"Argh!" Silas stumbled back, a thin line of blood appearing on his cheek.
"Three," Roger called out, chambering another round. "Now it's a fair fight."
Part 4: The Symphony of Violence
For the next two minutes, the hallway became a masterclass in raid coordination.
It was beautiful. It was cinema.
Silas was faster, stronger, and higher level. But he was fighting a single organism with three heads.
[Roger's Role: The Conductor]
"Clone at 3 o'clock is fake! Real one is 9 o'clock!"
BANG.
Roger didn't shoot to kill; he shot to disrupt.
Every time Silas tried to wind up a heavy attack, a bullet sparked off his hilt or grazed his ear, forcing him to flinch.
[Valen's Role: The Anvil]
"Provoke!" Valen roared, his armor glowing with golden light.
Despite his trembling legs, he became a magnet. When Silas tried to rush Roger, Valen was there, a wall of iron. When Silas tried to flank Isara, Valen's shield slammed into his path.
He wasn't fighting; he was enduring. Every blocked hit sent shockwaves of agony through his poisoned body, but he refused to move.
[Isara's Role: The Hammer]
Freed from the pressure of tanking, Isara unleashed hell.
She moved like water. She used Valen's shield as a springboard, launching herself over Silas's guard.
[Skill: Shadow Dance]
Cut. Stab. Spin.
She was dissecting him.
"You taught me to clone myself," Isara whispered, appearing behind him. "But you forgot to teach me how to fear you."
Silas was losing.
The Vice Guild Master, the Level 45 Elite, was being pushed back by a crippled party.
"Enough!" Silas roared.
His yellow eyes flared.
"You think this is a game? I am the Black Lotus!"
Part 5: The Crack in the Armor
"Finish it!" Roger yelled. "He's winding up! Isara, the neck! Valen, lock him down!"
It was the perfect setup.
Silas was charging a massive Area of Effect attack, his blades glowing purple.
Valen saw the window. He needed to use [Shield Bash] to stun Silas for 1.5 seconds. That was all Isara needed to sever his spine.
"Haaa!" Valen lunged forward.
He put all his remaining strength into his legs.
He planted his foot to drive the shield forward.
But his body forgot the script.
The poison hadn't just weakened his muscles; it had eaten his stamina reserves.
Mid-lunge, Valen's heart stuttered.
His vision went black.
The strength in his right leg simply vanished.
Instead of a powerful shield bash, Valen stumbled.
He tripped over his own feet, crashing face-first onto the marble floor. The shield skittered away, leaving him completely exposed.
The synchronization shattered.
The music stopped.
Silas, who was bracing for the impact, opened his eyes. He saw the Paladin lying helpless at his feet.
The purple glow on Silas's blades intensified. A cruel, ecstatic smile split his face.
"Oops."
"VALEN!" Isara screamed.
She abandoned her attack route. She dove.
She wasn't trying to kill Silas anymore; she was trying to intercept the blow.
She threw her body over Valen's.
Silas brought both scimitars down in a cross-slash.
[Skill: Twin Viper Bite]
Isara managed to raise her daggers, crossing them in a desperate block.
But she was a rogue, not a tank. She didn't have the weight class to stop a Boss's ultimate attack.
CRUNCH.
The impact drove Isara's daggers back into her own chest. The force launched both of them—Isara and Valen—across the hallway.
They slammed into the stone pillar, crumbling to the floor in a heap of tangled limbs and blood.
"Isara!" Roger shouted, standing up from his cover, exposing his position.
Isara coughed, blood spraying the inside of her mask. Her arm was twisted at a wrong angle.
Valen was unconscious beneath her.
Silas walked toward them slowly, dragging his blades along the floor. Sparks flew.
"Beautiful teamwork," Silas complimented, his voice dripping with malice. "Really. It was almost moving."
He stood over them, raising his blades for the execution.
"But almost isn't enough."