Nionyn’s brows furrowed slightly.

“But… are you not the caretaker of this place? I’m assuming whatever you have planned will result in your true death, so what then?” He asked Kiburi who washed the dishes he had used.

[Then this place will become just another abandoned castle.]

Nýchta saw Nionyn's jaws clench but, to her surprise, he didn’t speak.

Instead, he placed aside the scroll and ate his remaining food before joining Nýchta in handing in his bowl to Kiburi who washed everything up with his ethereal hands.

Upon finishing, he wiped everything down with an old cloth and made his way to the kitchen’s exit.

[Please, follow me.] He said before leading Nýchta and Nionyn back to the small passageway wherein they first met.

He looked out into the swamp beyond the castle’s walls and sighed.

[I have waited for this moment for twenty years and although I am fully prepared to die, I cannot help but feel a little sad that the three of us knew each other for such a short time.]

Nýchta and Nionyn remained silent as he turned to face them. Adorning his face, a wistful smile.

[I… was never a warrior. I left my tribe at a young age to escape the suffering that had been brought about by the encroaching Smog. I searched for the heroes of old that my elders once spoke of with the hope that they would protect me from any further suffering and it is on one of my many long journeys that I learnt of an Old King who sent out a call for warriors far and wide. He beckoned them to a place called Castle Toniróon and so I came here, not in search of battle or glory, but safety. I worked as a Keeper for the castle when the real heroes left and I have performed that duty without fail.]

[I know that I will never be forgiven for what I did but I ask that you help me in laying the Fallen to rest.]

“Alright.” Nýchta and Nionyn said simultaneously.

[Good. Oh- and feel free to do with the Aleusara as you please. I would offer the gold in the treasury but something tells me neither of you are interested in it.] Kiburi said and Nýchta nodded before unceremoniously opening her jaw far wider than a person normally could.

She then ate the entire lump of Aleusara, which she had held in her left hand, much to Nionyn’s visible dismay.

Nýchta’s eyes then briefly acquired a white glow around their irises.

She raised her left hand and saw, floating around her left wrist, two streaks of white light.

She noticed that Nionyn was looking at her with flabbergasted eyes and so she smiled weakly in response.

[Ahem! I must also warn you both. Agnótis’ stands in waiting atop the cliff and he kills any living thing that dares approach. Both he and the stairs you need to ascend the cliff are beyond the castle's last door.]

Nýchta nodded all while Nionyn stared at her with disbelief.

[Alright, raise your weapons.]

Nýchta promptly unsheathed her daggers.

Nionyn frowned at this but he raised his longsword regardless.

Kiburi gave both of them a nod before pressing his hands together.

[Goodbye- Oh- I forgot to ask your names.] Kiburi said with an embarrassed chuckle.

“My name is Nionyn of Silures.”

“And I am Nýchta.”

[Alright. It was a pleasure to meet both of you and I wish you nothing but good fortune in all your future battles.] Kiburi said before taking a deep breath which Nýchta found strange but she didn’t comment on it.

[Aithérios, tear my soul asunder and feed it to these three blades!]

A loud shattering noise then came from one of the eight streaks of light above his head as it countless wisps of purple light were born from it. These wisps wrapped around the seven remaining streaks of white light.

The wisps then grabbed and dragged the streaks away from Kiburi’s and towards Nýchta and Nionyn.

As they did, Kiburi’s ethereal essence started moving with them.

[AHHHH!]

He cried as more of his being was stretched and pulled apart.

Each streak of light took with it different parts from him and those parts were dragged towards Nýchta and Nionyn’s weapons.

The streaks of light were the first to arrive and they landed just above the hilts of each weapon with Nýchta's daggers sharing four and Nionyn’s sword taking three. The strips of Kiburi’s essence were next and, guided by the wisps of purple light, they wrapped around the three weapons before seeping into them. This gave the blades of Nýchta and Nionyn’s weapons a deep purple glow.

Also, floating just above the hilts of each weapon were the streaks of light.

Nionyn clicked his tongue.

“What?” Nýchta asked as Nionyn lowered his sword.

He looked at it with a stiff expression for a moment and sighed deeply before wearing his helmet.

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“It’s nothing. Let us fulfil that fool's last wish.”

Nýchta nodded before turning to the exit.

She then slithered out of the castle with Nionyn in tow and watched as wisps of black smoke rose from the swamp.

She rushed towards the nearest one and just as it took the shape of a man, she stabbed it in the neck and, to her relief, her dagger sunk into its ethereal flesh.

The dark spirit of the Fallen let out a horrifying screech before trying to cut Nýchta with its broken sword but she cut off its arm before finally chopping off its head.

The smoke that made the spirit then dispersed and slowly sunk into the ground.

Nýchta nodded to herself before glancing at Nionyn who rushed across the swamp, armour and all, while cleaving apart the dark spirits just as they formed.

Each swing of his sword culled several Fallen but just as five of them fell, ten took their place and Nýchta discovered shortly after that she was surrounded by the corrupted souls of the Fallen.

She slithered towards the nearest one and stabbed him in the skull before he could fully form only for one of the several Fallen behind her to cut her tail.

“AHH!” She cried before hurriedly turning around and cutting apart the Fallen.

She turned her blades on the Fallen around her but as more of them rose, they grew stronger and more durable.

It’s here that Nýchta realize that they weren’t wearing armour.

It was all simply corruption which was caked over their ethereal forms.

The same went for their weapons which were made from a hardened form corruption.

Nýchta’s attacks slowly grew less and less effective with each Fallen she destroyed.

Their armour was now so thick that her daggers bounced off, taking off chunks of darkness in the process.

She bit her teeth and continued to strike at the Fallen all while taking care not to get cut.

The numbers eventually grew so much that Nýchta could no longer see Nionyn as she fought.

Nýchta's heart started beating even faster because of the panicked realization that she wouldn’t be able to kill them all but dying didn’t scare her as much as not being able to reach her destination and so, using her tail to propel herself quickly, she slithered across the swamp, cutting apart any Fallen she came across.

She eventually came across a Fallen who deflected her attack with his short sword and this made her realize that they were learning more about her with each comrade they lost.

She swung her dagger to decapitate the Fallen but he blocked the attack with his sword again and kicked her in the belly.

This brief stop in Nýchta’s movements allowed several other Fallen to swing their weapons at her and although she carefully dashed away, she noticed that they were all also getting more skillful, as though the ones that rose before were fodder.

The Elite Fallen charged towards her simultaneously and with swings that aimed for her vitals.

Nýchta bit her teeth, dashed away, narrowly avoiding disembowelment and continued to strike at the dark horde of Fallen.

One of them managed to stab the middle of her tail with his spear, pinning it to the ground.

“AHHHHHHHH!” She cried before rushing towards the fallen who had stabbed her.

She forced her dagger into his head and watched as he crumbled and disappeared.

She then turned to her tail but even though she wanted to remove the spear, it was an ethereal object and so she couldn’t grab it.

She instead focused on the many Fallen who swarmed around her.

One of them tried bashing her in the face with a dark mace but she deflected it using her left dagger and stabbed his neck with the right one before tossing him into a bunch of other Fallen.

Nýchta then realized that she was fighting a losing battle and so she took a deep breath and called out to Nionyn all while fending off the Fallen.

“NIONYN! RUN TO THE EDGE OF THE SWAMP AND DON’T LOOK BACK!” She cried before dropping her daggers and quickly removing her helmet.

The fallen who were in the middle of swinging their weapons towards Nýchta suddenly slowed to a crawl as their once black forms rapidly turned ash grey.

Nýchta's eyes and those of her serpents had started glowing a dull greenish gold as they rapidly absorbed the essence of any Fallen who had his gaze on her.

Regardless of the distance, wisps of white light flew across the swamp and entered Nýchta’s mouth as she glared at the dark horde which rapidly fell to the ground as ash.

As this happened, more streaks of white light appeared around her wrist until ten of them could be seen.

Nýchta glanced at the eastern edge of the swamp and saw a certain armored figure standing with his hands seemingly covering his eyes.

Moving in towards him were the Fallen who weren’t looking at Nýchta.

She quickly wore her helmet again, picked up her muddied daggers and hacked off a large portion of the spear that went through her tail.

She then slid her tail out of the remaining portion of the spear and looked back at Nionyn just as the Fallen raised their spears to strike him.

“I’m done! Turn around and finish the rest off!” Nýchta yelled and, without wasting a second, Nionyn grabbed his sword with both hands and swung it around, cleaving the surrounding Fallen in twain.

He then charged towards the remaining Fallen and cleaved them to pieces while Nýchta slowly slithered back to Castle Toniróon.

She eventually arrived at the front gate where she fell into the castle before sitting up by the door and watching Nionyn as he took care of the remaining Fallen.

Her gaze fell to her tail which screamed with pain but she told herself to ignore it for a little longer while Nionyn stabbed the last Fallen in the chest.

The Fallen then crumbled and returned to the ground as black mist.

Nionyn gave himself a satisfied nod and looked over at Nýchta before suddenly sprinting towards her.

“Are you alright?” He asked although his voice sounded strange to Nýchta. Almost as if he was holding in a pained breath.

“I… am… quite alright.” She wheezed as Nionyn rushed to her side.

He tore off his helmet, revealing that his entire head was riddled with scars.

Nýchta weakly raised her right hand and he hurriedly accepted it.

[Gaia, mend both our wounds.]

She whispered and just as the words left her mouth, a shattering noise came from her left wrist.

Nionyn then watched as countless wisps of green light rose and rushed into both his and Nýchta’s bodies.

He gasped as all of the wounds around his body healed before watching as Nýchta's body recovered as well.

“Humph! And you said you weren’t a spirit, haha!”

Nýchta could only smile as she slowly stood up, her hand still tightly in Nionyn’s.

The two then looked out into the swamp before turning to the north.

“One last obstacle stands in the way of both our quests. Are you ready, my friend?” Nionyn asked with wide unshaking eyes.

“Of course. Lead the way.” Nýchta replied earnestly while picking up her other dagger.

“Oh and be sure to start the battle with that technique of yours which can cull an entire field of men, hehe.”

“It only works as effectively on the souls of normal, mortal men. If the Agnótis above is anywhere near as strong as Kiburi suggested he was when he lived then all my curse would do is annoy him.”

“Oh, I see. Well, then it seems as though this will simply be a battle of skill.”

Nýchta nodded as she followed Nionyn to what Kiburi called The Castle’s Last Door. A tall door made of dark wood. Carved deeply into it were depiction of three eagles flying one above the other and although each of them had a unique design, Nýchta paid it no mind before joining Nionyn in ascending the large stairs beyond.

The stairs led up and out of the castle, via its roof before splitting into two.

Nionyn playfully took the right path and Nýchta took the left and at the center of the staircase, deep with a hole that, upon closer inspection, looked like an impact crater, was a dark and writhing corruption. It smelled like the worst rot imaginable and it stung the nose every time Nýchta breathed.

The two eventually reached the top and its here that they beheld a nightmarish vista. One of black hills, tall twisted trees and a sea of smog.

Standing at its center was a figure that was far too tall to be have been an ordinary man.

He stood arched backwards with a dark shield in his left hand and a spear, lined with skewered and blackened corpses in his right. Sitting proudly on his head was a helmet that looked similar to that which was said to be worn by the hoplites only instead of a proud red plume, sitting at its top was what could only be described as a cascade of corruption.