Yes. Take it. It is ours.
With an almost involuntary stagger, Kris took a few steps forward toward the Cursed Knight. His notifications were going crazy – something within him was levelling up – but the stark frenzied need in his internal voice made him hesitate at the last moment. He stood in front of the Knight, his hand inside his open chest, fingers hovering over the amulet. What was the cause of his hesitation. This was it wasn’t it—the moment they’d been hoping for, the goal he’d set for himself from the moment he picked the Charm Leech Class. And as his fingers inched closer, almost touching the amulet, the dark, insistent whisper in the back of his mind grew louder, more persuasive.
Take it. Claim its power. Show them all what we’re capable of. Once it is yours, there will be nothing anyone can do anymore to stop you. You will blaze a trail through the tournament and no one in this integration will be able to stop you. The Fate of all will be set, with you as the judge and jury for all who transgress.
That whisper had become something manic, no longer just a suggestion; it was a royal command. Kris could feel the pull of the amulet, a magnetic force that seemed to draw his very soul towards it. His fingers tingled with anticipation, the air around him thickening with the promise of power beyond imagination. And that thought sent a shiver down his spine, a thrill that ignited a spark of something darker within him.
He could see it now—the way the others would look at him, not just with borrowed Adoration but with open fear. He’d never have to rely on drawing out their fickle affections towards him again. With this amulet in his possession, he could lock in their loyalty forever, their obedience towards him could be summoned with just a glance. No more than a raised finger of command and he would bend them to his will. He would be able to make them see that fear was a far stronger motivator than love could ever be. He would be wholly unstoppable. The tournament would just be the beginning.
But then, just as his fingers brushed against the amulet’s cool surface, preparing to rip it free from its home in the Knight’s chest, a sharp voice cut through the fog of his thoughts.
“Kris, wait!” Lorelei’s sluggish voice was panicked. “Don’t claim it yet! Something isn’t right here.”
His hand froze, the darkness within him recoiling slightly at the unexpected interruption. As he turned to listen to Fortuna’s Herald, the seductive pull of the amulet faltered, and he blinked as if waking from a trance. Lorelei was frantically – well, as frantically as she could under the powerful debuff - trying to sit up straight in Ent’s arms with the kind of urgency normally reserved for someone who’d just realized they’d left the stove on. She looked like death warmed over, yet her eyes were wide, alert, filled with a desperate glint that made Kris pause for a moment.
“Steffan, is there anything else your Guide says about this fucking amulet? Mine is being... less than helpful.” Lorelei’s voice shook with the effort, each word dragged out through the crushing weight of exhaustion pressing down on her.
The Necromancer eyes unfocused again. “The amulet? Hang on, let me check. Yes, there’s something more hidden here,” he said, his mouth moving along as he read. “That’s weird. There’s suddenly a lot more added to the notes. I’ve not seen it do that before. It’s like there was a spoiler tag on it or something. Hang on. Sorry, one moment. Let’s open it. Okay, there we go. Oh shit! Kris, back up. Fucking hell, it’s not just the Cursed Knight you have to worry about. The amulet itself... it’s... bloody hell … that’s nasty. It’s . . . ”
“For fuck’s sake, make like Chrissy and spit it out!” Hild growled, her axe already halfway to a defensive stance. Her muscles had tensed, the sharp edge of her weapon glinting redly in the reflective light of the bloody cavern walls.
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Steffan’s attention snapped back to the present, his face pale. “It’s cursed. The amulet—it’s not just a ticket to the tournament. It’s some sort of power converter. It magnifies its bearer’s mana to an insane degree. However, anyone who takes it is bound to it, just like the Knight. That’s why he’s still here, still guarding it. He couldn’t let it go, couldn’t break free. It’s a fucking epic battery that eats your soul at the same time. Guys, it’s the fucking Dark Side of the Force.”
A heavy silence fell over the group, each of them processing Steffan’s words. The idea of gaining immense power was tempting—of course it was. They’d all been somewhat humbled by the Levels of those that they had briefly met in Drayton Bassett. To be able to power level past that? Which of them didn’t want that? But that didn’t mean you ignored the cost. There wasn’t one of them that didn’t have a favourite Netflix show where someone chose to accept fell powers. And that never worked out too well. No one wanted to be a Nazi in the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even so, Kris felt the pull of the amulet again, the darkness within him responding to the power it promised. It was like a drug; one he hadn’t realized he’d become addicted to until it was time to quit.
“I’m not being funny or anything, but does anyone think that is a really shitty prize?” Chrissy said. “Why would something this evil be the ticket to the tournament?”
Kris couldn’t help but agree and pulled his hand back from the chest of the Cursed Knight, but the allure of the amulet was still tugging at him like one of his demanding nephews. The ones he had to put up with at family meals and just wouldn’t shut the fuck up. The dark whisper in his mind snarled, angry at being denied, but he forced himself to focus. “So what do you want me to do? Do I take it or not?”
“Smash ta' fucker,” Pete said, his voice gruff but filled with an urgency that brooked no argument.
Steffan nodded, his voice trembling. “I’m with Pete. Destroy it. There’s no way we want to have this sort of power anywhere near us. It’s the definition of bad juju. And I’m a Necromancer.”
Kris stared at the amulet, its surface gleaming softly in the eerie light of the cavern. The thought of destroying it sent a pang of loss through him, as if he was being asked to melt down a part of himself. “Destroy it?” he repeated, a mixture of relief and dread washing over him. Relief that he wouldn’t have to face the temptation of the amulet’s power, but dread at what that might mean. “And how exactly do you suggest I do that?”
But before Steffan could answer, the cavern began to tremble. The ground beneath their feet shook violently, sending loose rocks tumbling from the ceiling. The Cursed Knight let out a low laugh, like the death rattle of a long-forgotten god. Funnily enough, that description was really on the nose.
“You think you can destroy the amulet?” the Knight rasped, his voice filled with a dark amusement. “Ha. So many have tried. And yet all have failed.” The Knight’s helmet dropped down to focus on Kris, as if staring at him with eyes that saw more than they should. “The power within it is too great, too ancient. It cannot be unmade by anything less than an Old One.”
Lorelei, in her exhausted, crushed state, was not the only one who was sure they heard an upbeat female voice say, Well, isn’t that a lucky coincidence?
The tremors grew stronger, the ground buckling as if the cavern itself was coming to life. Kris stumbled, barely managing to keep his balance as the shelf holding the amulet in the centre of the Knight began to crack, deep fissures spreading outwards like spiderwebs to encompass the whole of the ancient guardian’s body.
“Get back!” Hild shouted, her voice barely audible over the deafening roar of the collapsing chamber.
But it was too late. The fractures carried on out from the Knight and onto the floor of the cavern. The cracks immediately gave way beneath them, and with a final, earth-shattering roar, the cavern floor crumbled into the abyss, taking the group with it.
Lorelei felt herself falling, the darkness swallowing her whole as the world around her dissolved into chaos. The sensation was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before—a disorienting mix of weightlessness and vertigo, as if the very fabric of reality was unravelling around them. The roar of collapsing rock and the panicked shouts of her companions filled her ears, but all she could focus on was the overwhelming sensation of being pulled into the void.
The last thing she saw before everything went black was the amulet, hovering in the air above Kris for a split second before it, too, was swallowed by the void.