The creature’s jaws yawned wide, mana swirling in its maw like a storm about to break. The tunnel behind me was a death zone; the path ahead was barred by its hulking frame. No retreat. No escape.

  Only one option.

  I Flash Stepped.

  In a blink of an eye , I reappeared at its front right paw, blade poised to strike. But the beast had anticipated me. It had moved its paw already back and its head snapped toward me, its mouth glowing with the promise of annihilation.

  Then, salvation.

  A volley of force jolts slammed into its left eye, snapping its gaze sideways. The monster roared, thrashing so violently that chunks of the cavern ceiling sheared loose, stone raining down as the world shook with its fury.

  I saw the opening and seized it.

  “Limit Breaker Slash!”

  Sapphire flame roared along my blade as I brought it down in a blazing arc. The strike carved into the Ardent’s right flank, detonating with otherworldly force. The impact hurled its massive body into the tunnel wall, stone shattering under the weight of its collapse.

  For a heartbeat, victory seemed certain. The beast’s bone armor was cracked, its body wreathed in blue fire. But then impossibly, it began to rise. Staggering, smoldering, yet unbroken. My ultimate strike had hurt it but not destroyed it. “Damn,” I heard Balt say behind me.

  At least Resilience kept me standing. No collapse, no exhaustion. Not anymore. I took heart that I could go all out now without blacking out right after.

  The Ardent shook itself free of the rubble, shards of stone cascading from its shoulders. This time it advanced with measured steps, eyes burning with cruel intelligence.

  “So… you have some power,” it sneered, voice dripping with contempt.

  I held my ground, blade steady, every nerve braced for the clash to come. That same instinct, the one that had saved me while fighting the kobolds—flared again, screaming at me to move.

  I Flash Stepped.

  In the instant I vanished, the ground where I’d stood erupted into a smoking crater.

  The warning surged again. My Sphere snapped into motion, intercepting a projectile mid?flight. Sparks sizzled, flooding the tunnel with a burst of blue light.

  Beside me, Balt raised his staff. A shimmering shield flared to life at our backs, sealing off the rear.

  We had no time to speak. The earth trembled beneath my boots, dust raining down from the ceiling. I turned back to the enemy I could actually see. The Ardent thundered forward, its massive frame barreling through the tunnel like a living avalanche. I sprinted to meet it, blade raised, every step feeding into the momentum of my strike.

  Its horned head dipped low, dark energy crackling between its jagged horns as it aimed to impale me. With Limit Break burning through my veins, I slipped past the initial gore, threading the needle between those deadly points.

  “Limit Slash!”

  My blade came down in a sapphire arc, slamming against its skull. A sharp crack split the air, but the beast’s charge only faltered for a heartbeat before its momentum hurled me backward like a ragdoll.

  I smashed through Balt’s barrier. The sound of shattering glass rang in my ears, and suddenly there was nothing beneath me but open space. The tunnel had spat me out into a cavern.

  Before I could arrest my fall, instinct screamed. I summoned a Searing Sphere mid?air, just in time to intercept a rain of arrows. Sparks flared, blue light strobing across the cavern walls. The Sphere shattered under the barrage, and I hit the ground hard, scrambling to rise.

  Another warning surged through me. I wouldn’t make it. I crossed my arms over my chest, bracing for impact, before it could land Balt Blinked in front of me, staff raised high. A radiant barrier blossomed outward, encircling us in a dome of shimmering light. “I got you,” he said, voice steady even as the next volley slammed against his shield.

  I forced myself to my feet, summoning another Sphere to reinforce our defense. My head cleared, and for the first time I scanned our new battlefield.

  The cavern was vast, at least the length of a football field. The ceiling soared so high it vanished into the darkness, the faint glow of scattered torches barely scratching the shadows. The air was thick with dust and the acrid tang of mana discharge.

  An arrow shattered my Sphere. I conjured another, sweat beading on my brow. My gaze snapped forward searching.

  The Ardent tore across the cavern floor, claws gouging deep trenches in the stone, eyes blazing with murderous intent. If I could just stop the sniper’s bombardment, I could focus on this behemoth and wear him down, piece by piece.

  A projectile slammed into Balt’s shield, the barrier rippling under the impact. Cracks of light spider?webbed across its surface. Even with the mana?restoring ring on his hand, Balt was running low.

  I tracked the arrows, studying their arcs, waiting for the telltale flicker of movement. There, just a shift in the wall’s shadow. I hurled a Searing Sphere with everything I had. It sped out fast as a bullet and detonated in a burst of sapphire fire, and for an instant the stone itself seemed to writhe.

  “Got you,” I muttered.

  “Balt, follow me!”

  I chained my movement skill, vanishing forward in rapid succession. An arrow hissed past my ear, close enough to shear a lock of hair. Balt Blinked slightly ahead of me and to the left, but my speed carried me next to him quickly.

  “Can you to buy me a few seconds ?!” I shouted as I surged ahead.

  I risked a glance over my shoulder, the Ardent had turned, its massive frame barreling after us once more.

  “I can do it,” Balt said, planting his feet. He spun, staff raised, ready to hold the line.

  I didn’t hesitate. I trusted my friend. If Balt said he could do it, he would do it. My focus narrowed to the sniper’s location. Mana surged through me as I summoned another Sphere. My new Talent came with way more control than the level 1 version had. I launched it, its trajectory clean and true, streaking toward the shadow where the hidden Ardent waited.

  I heard Balt yell behind me. “Force wave.”

  I had no time to think, only to act.

  The spear detonated, and in the flare of light I caught it: a shadow shifting against the cavern wall. Instinct screamed at me to move, I Flash Stepped.

  In an instant, I was there, face?to?face with the inky shape. Ember blazed in my hands as I brought it down in a Limit Slash, cleaving straight through the heart of the darkness.

  The blade met hardly any resistance. It sliced clean, effortlessly. I even thought what was in the shadow had evaded me for a split second, my blade cut through so quick.

  Then the shroud of shadow unraveled, peeling away to reveal the truth: a gaunt, long?limbed creature, its bone bow splintered in two, its body already bisected by my strike.

  The cavern shook with the behemoth’s roar, a sound of raw fury that rattled stone from the ceiling.

  I didn’t hesitate. My boot came down hard, crushing the sniper’s skull, final, absolute. I wasn’t about to risk some twisted magic dragging it back, not after it had nearly killed me a dozen times in the last few minutes.

  I spun, searching for Balt. He wasn’t casting, wasn’t firing off force bolts. only darting and weaving, his movement skill the only thing keeping him ahead of the Ardent’s relentless charge as he Blinked back and forth.

  “It’s done, Balt!” I shouted, voice cutting through the chaos. “Head toward me!”

  My boosting skill was seconds from burning out, the timer in the back of my mind ticking like a war drum. I sprinted toward Balt, Ember blazing in my grip, every step echoing in the cavern’s vast hollow.

  The Behemoth Ardent roared, claws tearing trenches in the stone as it thundered after me. Each impact rattled the ground, dust raining from the unseen ceiling above. Its eyes glowed like molten coals, locked on me with murderous intent.

  “Balt!” I shouted.

  He was already moving, blinking in staccato bursts across the cavern floor, staff raised, his shield coming to life protecting his rear and flickering with strain. He couldn’t hold on much longer.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The Ardent lunged, trying to take a charged claw swipe at the mage. I Flash Stepped the last of the distance, reappearing at its flank, Ember slashing in a sapphire arc. Sparks erupted as my blade carved across its bone armor, leaving a glowing fissure but not bringing the creature down. The monster spun, horns crackling with dark energy, and I barely ducked beneath the gore meant to impale me.

  The cavern shook with its fury.

  Balt’s voice rang out behind me. “Force Jolt!”

  A streak of light flared, hitting the behemoth in the eye. It shook its head, shaking the blow off, but its eye was now semi-shut.

  No time to think. Only fight.

  The Ardent reared back, maw glowing with condensed mana. I felt the instinct again, that primal warning that had told me to act. I Flash Stepped forward, straight into the storm. Ember flared with Limit Slash, and I drove it upward into the beast’s jaw. The impact cracked bone, snapping its head back, the mana blast firing harmlessly into the cavern roof. Stone rained down, smashing onto the floor like meteors.

  The recoil hurled me across the ground. I rolled, came up on one knee, lungs burning. My boost skill flickered, a cooldown was imminent.

  The Ardent shook itself, blood and shadow dripping from its maw. It lowered its head, claws gouging deep furrows as it prepared to charge again.

  “Riven!” Balt’s voice cut through the chaos. He blinked to my side, staff glowing faintly. His mana was nearly gone, but his eyes burned with resolve. “I’ll hold him. You finish this.”

  I nodded once. No hesitation.

  The Ardent thundered forward, a living avalanche of fury. Balt slammed his staff into the ground, a radiant wall erupting to slow its advance. The beast smashed through, shards of light scattering like glass. But that heartbeat of delay was all I needed.

  I leapt into the air, finally testing the idea I’d been holding back. No time like a life?and?death struggle to experiment.

  Mid?air, I took a step into nothingness, then Flash Stepped.

  In an instant, I reappeared above the Ardent’s head. It looked up, eyes wide with surprise.

  Ember blazed in my hands, sapphire fire roaring along the blade as I raised it high.

  “Limit Slash!”

  The strike hammered down, slamming its skull into the stone floor with bone?splintering force.

  I twisted in the air, orienting myself toward the cavern ceiling, and Flash Stepped again, vanishing upward, reappearing at a safe distance.

  Below, the behemoth staggered, its massive frame swaying as it tried to rise.

  Not this time, you big bastard.

  I poured every shred of aura into Ember, the blade burning brighter than ever before. My body angled downward, momentum building as I triggered Limit Slash again.

  I fell like a meteor, a rocket of sapphire flame.

  The blade struck home, driving into the Ardent’s already fractured skull. The impact detonated through the cavern, stone cracking, dust and shards exploding outward in a shockwave. The monster’s roar died in its throat as its body collapsed beneath the weight of my strike.

  I landed hard, knees buckling, Ember still glowing faintly in my hands. The cavern was silent but for my ragged breathing.

  Balt staggered up beside me, staff lowered. “Told you I’d buy you time.”

  I managed a grin, though my arms trembled. “Never doubted you.”

  I released Regalia, the power slipping from my body like a tide receding. My knees hit the stone, breath ragged. Ember’s blade plunged into the ground, and I gripped the hilt tight, using it to steady myself against the trembling in my limbs.

  Balt and I were inundated with system energy, and I felt my body recover. Thank the system for level ups.

  I checked my status and assigned my free point into spirit.

  After a few moments of steadying my breath, I pushed myself to my feet. My body ached, battered and worn, yet beneath the exhaustion, power still thrummed through me stronger than ever. A contradiction of the exhausting battle I just fought and the power coursing through my body.

  Ahead, Balt began making his way toward the fallen Ardent with the shattered bow. I followed, curiosity pulling me forward.

  Balt stepped up to the bisected creature, his staff still glowing faintly. He prodded the corpse with the tip, rolling it slightly as if testing for a reaction.

  I frowned, tightening my grip on Ember. “Balt… what is it?”

  He didn’t look back, eyes narrowing as he crouched low. “Something’s off. My instinct is telling me to check this thing.”

  My curiosity piqued, I summoned a Searing Sphere, its glow spilling across the cavern to aid Balt’s search. He continued prodding the corpse with his staff before dismissing it, crouching low to pat the creature down with deliberate care.

  “My Pathfinder instincts are screaming at me,” Balt said quietly. “This thing has something we need to move forward. Whatever it’s hiding, we have to find it.”

  Balt’s search grew more deliberate as he moved from the creature’s limbs to its chest. His hands tapped against the hardened leather armor, then paused. He leaned closer, fingers tracing along the surface until they caught on a faint seam.

  With a grunt, he pried it open, a hidden slit, nearly invisible in the dim light. Reaching inside, he withdrew a small, dark disk no larger than his palm. Its surface was rough, etched with the faint outline of a castle. The thing seemed to drink in the glow of my Searing Sphere, shadows clinging to it unnaturally.

  Balt held it up, eyes narrowing. “Found it.”

  I stepped closer, Ember still in hand. “What does it do?”

  He shrugged, the disk vanishing into his anchor. “I don’t know. But I think it’ll come in handy.”

  “Well, we can’t go back the way we came,” Balt said, his voice echoing in the cavern. “What now?”

  I steadied Ember against my shoulder. “The Ardent talked like there was another way,” I said. “When it collapsed the tunnel, he acted like he had trapped us instead of us trapping it.

  “There was that chamber where the army gathered that I and Sara saw; maybe there’s something in there that can help us find the way out.”

  I pointed into the darkness, I believe it was that way. You think you can get us there?”

  Balt gave a curt nod and took the lead, his staff glowing faintly to light the path. I fell in behind him, the tunnels twisting and narrowing as we pressed deeper underground. Each turn felt like a maze designed to swallow us whole, and I knew if I hadn’t had the pathfinder, I would have been in big trouble.

  After what felt like an eternity of winding passages, we came to a dead end—a sheer wall of stone blocking the way forward. Balt stopped, running his hand across the rough surface. His eyes narrowed, and he tapped the wall with the butt of his staff.

  “I think,” he said slowly, “behind this stone is the passage we need to take, you mind?”

  I strode up to the wall, Ember blazing in my hands. With a sharp breath, I unleashed a Limit Slash. The blade carved through stone as if it were brittle glass, the impact shaking dust loose from the ceiling.

  The wall wasn’t as thick as it looked. A few more strikes, each one ringing out in the confined tunnel, and the wall gave way. Stone cracked and collapsed, rubble spilling forward until a jagged opening yawned before us.

  Balt stepped past me, his staff glowing faintly as he picked his way over the rubble. I followed close behind, my Sphere’s light stretching long shadows across the newly revealed passage.

  I slowed, eyes narrowing as I studied the tunnel ahead. Then a smile tugged at my lips. I knew this place.

  “This is it,” I murmured. “The same passage Sara and I took before.”

  We pressed deeper into the tunnels, Balt leading the way with his staff casting a pale glow ahead. The air grew colder, heavier, as though the stone itself remembered the weight of what had once passed through these halls. My Sphere floated at my shoulder, its light stretching long shadows across the walls.

  After several winding turns, the passage widened, and there they were, massive doors of blackened iron, etched with runes that pulsed faintly in the dark. I felt my chest tighten. I knew these doors.

  This was the threshold. The place where I had seen the army gathered.

  Balt slowed, his expression grim. Together we approached, the silence pressing in around us. I raised a hand, pushing one of the doors just enough to peer inside.

  My breath caught.

  The vast chamber beyond yawned open, lit by the same guttering torches as before. But where once there had been a sea of armored bodies, a tide of soldiers waiting in formation, now there was nothing.

  The room was completely empty.

  The silence was worse than the roar of an army.

  I glanced at Balt, my voice low. “Thousands were here not that long ago.”

  He nodded slowly, eyes narrowing as he studied the vacant expanse. “Which means they’re somewhere else now.”

  I took the lead, moving cautiously forward, but the chamber was empty, no trace of life anywhere. My steps carried me up onto the dais, where the Black?armored Master had once sat, where Jory had been stabbed and turned into a lifeless drone.

  The chair itself was nothing remarkable, just a broad seat carved from stone.

  But behind it loomed three archways, their dark mouths waiting in silence.

  Balt and I stepped closer to the archways, our footsteps echoing in the hollow chamber. That’s when I noticed it, a raised pedestal set just to the side of every archway, carved from the same stone as the dais. At its center was a shallow indentation, perfectly shaped as though something was meant to rest there.

  Balt was already a step ahead. Without a word, he reached into his anchor and drew out the dark disk, its surface catching the faint light of my Sphere. He turned it over in his hand once, then looked at me, brows raised.

  I met his gaze, then gave a small shrug. “Let’s try it.”

  Balt moved methodically from left to right, placing the dark disk onto the first pedestal. Nothing. He tried the second again, nothing but silence.

  At the third, the reaction was immediate. The disk was yanked from his hand, sucked into the stone with a grinding pull. The pedestal flared, runes igniting as the archway above it began to hum with power.

  The air vibrated, a low thrumming that built until the entire chamber seemed to resonate. Then the archway came alive.

  A portal bloomed within its frame, not the black void I’d expected, but a window into another world. Through the shimmering veil, I saw a window and out of it lay a sprawling city of white?stone walls gleaming in the daylight, towers rising high above the streets.

  I exhaled slowly, the sight both awe?inspiring and unsettling. “Well,” I said, turning to Balt, “we figured out how they left. Didn’t Sara say the duke had a portal mage?”

  Balt shook his head, his expression grim. “The man is going to have some questions to answer.”

  We locked eyes, the weight of unspoken understanding passing between us. Then, without another word, we both nodded and stepped into the portal together.