The air in the Forgotten Citadel turned razor-sharp as the shadows surged. A wave of darkness crashed toward Ashen and his warriors, screaming with the wails of the forgotten.
Ashen moved.
His sword flared with golden light as he slashed through the oncoming tide, cutting the shadows apart. The severed wisps shrieked before dissipating into nothingness. But the void never stayed empty for long. More shadows replaced them, rising from the very ground, their movements unnatural, twitching like broken puppets.
Seren raised her staff. A pulse of silver light erupted outward, forming a protective barrier around the warriors. The shadows recoiled, their screeches growing more enraged.
"We can't keep this up forever," she shouted. "This place—it's feeding them!"
Ashen's mind raced. They weren't just fighting enemies—they were fighting a living nightmare, a place that wanted them erased.
From the far end of the courtyard, the Harbinger watched. Amused. Unmoving.
"Is this the strength of the one who seeks to defy the Abyss?" The entity's voice rumbled like distant thunder. "Pathetic."
Ashen's grip tightened. His instincts screamed that this wasn't a battle of brute force. The Harbinger wasn't here to kill them outright—it was testing them. Toying with them.
Fine.
He would play its game.
"Seren," he called, dodging a shadow's strike. "We're not going to win by fighting forever. We need to break this cycle."
She understood instantly. "There's a core! A source! If we find it—"
"We destroy it."
She nodded, scanning the ruins. "The patterns… the runes on these structures… They're forming a convergence point."
Ashen followed her gaze. At the very heart of the city, behind the Harbinger, a massive black obelisk pulsed with crimson veins of energy.
There.
The core.
Ashen locked eyes with Seren. "Get us to that obelisk."
She didn't hesitate. Slamming her staff into the ground, she whispered an incantation. A ripple of silver energy pulsed outward. For a brief moment, the shadows faltered, their forms distorting.
That was all Ashen needed.
"Move!"
The Charge Through the Abyss
With blinding speed, Ashen and his warriors broke through the shadowy horde. Seren's barrier carved a temporary path, but the darkness fought back, reforming with each step they took.
The Harbinger finally moved.
Lifting one hand, it gestured lazily toward the obelisk.
"You think to sever my tether?" It laughed. "Try."
The obelisk pulsed.
The city shifted.
Walls twisted. Roads stretched and folded upon themselves. The very reality of the Forgotten Citadel became fluid, reshaping itself into a labyrinth. The obelisk, which had been within reach just moments ago, now seemed impossibly far.
Ashen skidded to a stop, cursing. "It's distorting space!"
Seren gritted her teeth. "It's alive."
Behind them, the shadows regrouped, their numbers now countless. The warriors had no choice but to stand their ground as the battlefield warped around them.
And then, the Harbinger appeared before Ashen.
No movement. No transition. One moment it was watching from afar. The next, it loomed inches away.
Ashen barely brought his sword up in time.
CLANG!
The force of the Harbinger's strike sent him flying backward, skidding across the distorted pavement. The impact rattled his bones.
It was fast. Unfathomably so.
Before he could recover, the entity was on him again, its massive clawed hand reaching for his throat.
Instinct took over.
Ashen twisted, his golden aura flaring as he brought his blade up in a counterstrike. The Harbinger smiled as the sword struck its armored form. The golden energy crackled—but did not pierce.
Instead, the Harbinger grabbed the blade with its bare hand.
Ashen's eyes widened.
"You wield the light, yet you do not understand its limits." The Harbinger's grip tightened, cracks forming along Ashen's sword. "You seek to fight the Abyss with mere radiance? Fool."
A pulse of abyssal energy exploded outward.
Ashen flew.
His body crashed through the shifting ruins, colliding with a crumbling pillar. Pain lanced through him, but he forced himself up. His warriors were struggling, barely holding back the ever-growing tide of shadows.
The obelisk still pulsed in the distance, seemingly untouched by the chaos.
This wasn't a fight they could win through force alone.
Seren appeared at his side, eyes frantic. "We need to break the illusion! This maze—it's designed to trap us in an unwinnable battle. We have to find the real path!"
Ashen wiped blood from his lips. His sword hummed weakly in his grip, the cracks still visible.
The Harbinger tilted its head, watching. Waiting.
Mocking.
Ashen exhaled sharply. Think.
He closed his eyes, blocking out the chaos. Ignoring the battle. Ignoring the overwhelming presence of the Harbinger.
And then—he felt it.
A thin thread of energy. Faint, almost invisible. A pathway cutting through the illusion.
His eyes snapped open. "There's a real path. The maze is fake. Follow me!"
Without hesitation, he dashed forward, trusting the instinct pulling him toward the obelisk. The others followed, pushing through the shifting walls.
The Harbinger did not stop them.
It simply laughed.
"Interesting."
The obelisk loomed closer, the distortion unraveling.
And as they reached it, Ashen raised his sword.
The golden energy pulsed one last time.
And then he struck.
The moment the blade connected, reality broke.