The muted clatter of Nyx's claws on stone reverberated up through the poorly lit circular stairwell as her barely distinguishable silhouette flickered past the occasional, murky yellow lightstone. Each time she moved through the darkness, the air around Nyx began to twist and distort as small river-like cracks formed from nothingness and flowed towards her.

As the lines reached Nyx, without any resistance, they passed through the black mist-like membrane that surrounded her body before mysteriously vanishing without a trace. However, her glowing blue eyes would slightly dim each time one was absorbed, only to return to normal as she re-entered the light.

When Nyx was halfway between the door from which she entered the stairwell and the first landing, the eerie silence of the tunnels below started to fade. While the average person would still have been shrouded in deafening silence, the improved senses of Nyx's Nightmare form enabled her to sense the faint, somewhat fuzzy sounds trickling down from above. The most prominent was the metallic clang of multiple bells at varying distances.

The moment the sounds became recognisable and separated from each other, vague views started to flash across Nyx's mind's eye.

Blurred scenes of villages, towns and sprawling cities in various states of destruction mingled together into a display of chaos. Towering plumes of smoke rose high into the sky, fueled by the collapsing buildings as humans, beasts and other strange races trampled over each other in what appeared to be a vain attempt to escape their impending doom.

The scenes soon vanished as a quiet, somewhat forlorn sigh escaped Nyx's throat. The lightning in her eyes, the only clearly visible part of her body, excluding the glowing, icy dungeon crystal clasped in her right hand, became sluggish. At the same time, the slow and steady beat of her core became more pronounced as the mist-like substance concealing her body darkened.

"Some things~" Nyx's chilling voice, sounding more serpent-like than human, reverberated in the stairwell. "Never change."

With each beat of her core, a pulse of black energy expanded outwards. As it passed Nyx's muscles, flesh and bones, the dark essence seemed to nourish them. The famished look Nyx had gained when regenerating her arm began to slowly diminish as her body started to fill out.

As Nyx's body repaired itself, her speed increased. Soon, she was moving so fast that an eerie sound, similar to a mix between an owl's screech and the noise made when a heavy fabric sack is dragged across a stone floor, pervaded the stairwell as the increased momentum caused Nyx's body to brush against the outer wall.

However, even though the friction between her skin and the wall left a black substance that was slow to dissipate, Nyx didn't seem to care as she continued upwards at a blistering speed.

Like a flash of black lightning, Nyx reached the first landing and passed the archway. From the quick glance she took, Nyx saw a narrow corridor that appeared to split off into several rooms or adjoining halls. They were dimly illuminated by dull, yellow stones on the walls just like the stairway.

Without pause, Nyx continued on and, just as she had done at the first landing, she didn't stop at the second, which was walled off. Nor did she stop at the third that appeared to lead into a kitchen-like expanse.

As Nyx rose, the sounds that had been trickling down continued to grow in variety and volume. However, while most weren't anything special, mostly everyday noises, they were quickly changing.

Almost hidden in the backdrop of the bells, the buzz of conversations, the occasional panicked shout or call for calm, gradually became more striking. There was even the faint sound of a child crying as its mother tried to comfort it, telling it they would be home soon and there was nothing to worry about.

Nyx's eyes narrowed as she abruptly stopped on the fourth landing. The breeze caused by her momentum continued onwards, disturbing a cobweb with a spider sitting in the middle.

"Damn it."

While she had been moving, Nyx's silhouette was barely visible. However, now she had come to a stop, her form had become almost indistinguishable from the surrounding shadows. The black mist that covered her body, concealing nearly every detail, blended perfectly into the background. Only her blue, lightening filled eyes and the dungeon core could be seen. They gave the impression of three ghostly orbs, one surrounded by a demonic-looking clawed hand, glowing as they floated in the darkness.

Shaking her head as she snorted a blast of air through her nose, Nyx looked over her shoulder and back down from where she had just come. Instead of reflecting the abyss-like stairwell, the reflection in her eyes revealed the corridor where she had parted with Prophet. The scattered remnants of her armour and clothing lay sprawled on the ground as humanoid shadows generated by approaching light sources illuminated the wall at the junction.

Just as she was turning back, Nyx grimaced as her ears flattened. A booming sound, comparable to when a portcullis is dropped, echoed from beyond the wooden door to her right. Soon after, similar noises repeated themselves at varying volumes and pitches.

During all of this, the constant ringing of bells continued.

After blinking a few times, looking as if she was suffering from a painful headache, the reflections in Nyx's eyes shifted as she turned her head in the direction of the wooden door.

The views changed as Nyx's perspective moved through what looked like an abandoned courtyard, up a set of sandstone steps and into a small room overlooking the sandy arena. People were queuing near the various exits as blue and grey-robed disciples ushered them out. A large crow circled high in the sky, intensely scanning anything that moved below. Nearby, other strange birds and even a small flying lizard were doing the same.

Looking upwards, the reflections in Nyx's eyes changed once again. As she did, a few drops of bright, red blood seeped from the corner of her eyes, running down through the tiny grooves on her scaled skin, and falling to the floor. The moment the blood touched the stone, it hissed for a brief second before rapidly turning black and evaporating.

At the top of the stairwell she was climbing, under the blazing sun, was a flat rooftop. Winged, angel-like beings similar to the woman she had killed earlier were dropping off various figures. Most were lightly armoured, but all were carrying deadly-looking weapons. As they landed, they gathered into groups and started setting up defensive formations or moving to secure any entrances to the arena's main building.

Another loud noise caused the reflections in Nyx's eyes to vanish as she winced. With a low growl, Nyx's figure flew backwards and soon reappeared on the third landing. Straightening up, Nyx glared upwards as if her gaze could kill whatever had made the noise while her ears twitched.

While still audible, the sounds echoing from above had diminished significantly in volume. As Nyx continued to look around and use her shadows to see the world around her, all she could see was the rapidly forming net of disciples, formations and traps around her. Even though she was in the most significant section of the arena, used as the town's prison and court, Nyx suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic.

"Fuck!" Nyx's voice, although extremely quiet, carried in the narrow space, echoing a few times both below and above her.

A light cracking sound emanated from the core in Nyx's hand as she tightened her grip. Noticing this, she raised it in front of her and uncurled her fingers.

Without any visible effort on Nyx's behalf, the dungeon core started to float a couple of inches from her palm. As it slowly rotated, the gem-like stone's glow increased.

"The solution to my problem..." Free from Nyx's grasp, a thin layer of ice rapidly formed on the crystal's surface. About halfway between her hand and the core, swirling icy-blue energy seemed to battle Nyx's black membrane in what appeared to be a stalemate.

"Or the harbinger of my destruction." Watching this, Nyx's head slowly tilted to one side. While observing the slowly rotating core, her eyes narrowed as her top lip pulled back in what appeared to be the early stages of a snarl. "... So the darkness is only borrowed power. Either I claim it as my own and turn against the true Nyx or form my own... faith? Whatever that means."

Nyx's fingers curled around the stone, pulling it back towards her palm as the faint sound of footsteps and clanking metal came from below. Taking a deep breath, Nyx closed her eyes. "Well... not like I can do anything for now. Just need to keep the elemental poisoning at bay so I can let loose."

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Nyx smoothly brought the stone to her mouth, which opened unnaturally wide, and shoved the core in. As her sharp teeth closed, the crystal's outline could be seen distorting the mist around her throat as it extended unnaturally on its journey down into her stomach.

Coughing twice, Nyx's fists clenched at her sides, generating a faint grating noise as her claws scraped against each other. Each time she breathed out, cold white vapour spewed from her nostrils and lips. The black mist around her body slightly lightened with a blue hue as flickers of white-blue, like small snowflakes on a dark night, appeared. The largest cluster of these lights was just below her left breast, over the top of her stomach.

Even though the light output from the stones hadn't changed since Nyx entered, the oppressive darkness that had been steadily growing halted. After a couple of breaths, it began reverting to how it had been.

After opening her eyes and examining the slight changes to her body, Nyx suddenly spun and punched out at the stairway's inner wall. While the hit looked powerful and produced a loud thud, it didn't appear to damage the wall in any discernible way. Pulling back her other fist, Nyx swung at the wall again as she swore. "Fuck! I haven't even merged with it and its already trying to take over."

"Fuck... Fucking bastards, fucking energy, fucking gods, fucking twilight sect, fucking..." Each time she spoke, Nyx would punch the wall with her opposite fist, filling the stairwell with a rhythmic thumping. As she did, the changes to her body became less noticeable but failed to completely vanish.

With each punch, the ice essence would circulate her body, mixing with the dark energy and, after a brief conflict, wrap around each other but remained separate. The air directly around Nyx took on a chill, feeling akin to the depths of a cold winter's night. A weak layer of black frost-like crystals started to spread from her chest, dissipating the mist like membrane that had once covered Nyx's entire body.

"Fucking, cock sucking, mother fucking, arseholes. What the fuck did I do to you? Literally, this is the best I have ever behaved, and it's not good enough. Want to push me into a corner? I'll fucking show you what happens when you force my hand." A trace of pain could be heard in Nyx's voice, though from the twisted expression on her face, it didn't appear to be emotional.

Nyx continued to pound the wall as she vented, cursing the Twilight Sect and their ancestors repeatedly. She occasionally moved onto Dimi, her old master and even Abnor a few times but would always return to Timur and those behind him.

After a final punch, which caused a few cracks to appear on the stone, Nyx sighed loudly as she looked at the chilling vapour escaping from her mouth. The energy around her seemed much more stable. Her form was once again visible, if barely, as she stood still. Every now and again, an icy-blue mote of light would flicker across her silhouette.

"I guess there is always my next incarnation..." Taking a few deep breaths, Nyx shivered before her muscles started to relax.

Slowly, Nyx turned around and leant her back against the wall. After another thud, the sound of the back of her head hitting the stone surface, she slowly slid down into a crouching position.

"Well, Nyx, my old girl. Here we are again~. Up shit creek on a sinking boat, that's on fire, without a paddle."

Nyx lay her right hand against her chest where a dark mist, much darker than the shadows surrounding her, gathered. After swirling a couple of times in a circular motion, the energy seeped into Nyx's skin. There it quickly flowed towards Nyx's core where it vanished as if it had been devoured by a ravenous beast.

A slow, mirthless smile slowly formed on Nyx's face once again revealing the sharp teeth that had been hidden behind her lips. "I'll admit it. You fuckers got me good. A barrier from the prime continent, a standing army of meatbags and a town who's the population you obviously don't give a rats arse about to be your eyes and ears. And that's while hitting me before I could resolve the element imbalance properly. If I had just one extra day..."

Nyx's gaze returned to the ceiling. "And now you're throwing everything and the kitchen sink at me, not even trying to hold anything back in reserve."

The smile grew as Nyx rolled her eyes. "Someone would think I just ripped the core out of one of your elders in public, embarrassed your Hall Master of Discipline and killed a couple of dozen disciples in the collateral."

Nyx's voice got quieter as she spoke until, in the end, it was barely a whisper and broke into a chuckle. Shaking her head, Nyx seemed to relax. "Ahh bollocks. Old habits really do die hard. Still, even if I fall now, the cost should exceed the gain."

A loud explosion resonated in the distance followed quickly by a slight tremor. Nyx frowned for a few moments before shrugging. In the reflection of her eyes, the sect members below had just finished checking the first floor and were moving upwards to the second landing.

"Oh, little Twilight Sect, it seems you have some guts. Sending so many weaklings to venture into the darkness. Is your goal to flush me out with numbers or simply exhaust me? It doesn't matter. Seeing as you are giving me such a gift, then I guess I should be generous and teach you the error of your ways. Of why you shouldn't treat me as just another 'human'. Nyx's smile turned savage as the sound of her voice trailed off. After slightly shaking her head, she started to stand.

Casually, as if she wasn't gradually being surrounded Nyx started to stretch. As she did, blade-like curved shapes, two rows of three running down each side of her back and some on the outside of her forearms, slowly rose. As she moved, her body sometimes resonated with a crack or pop, Nyx continued to take slow, deep breaths. Every time she exhaled, not only did her surroundings start to dim, but a bitting coldness seemed to roll off her body.

"Ahh, to hell with it. I'm thinking about this too much. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, and the 'kill them all and let the gods sort it out' has always worked well. Seeing as I have no chance to escape, I'll slaughter everyone who crosses my path and hunt down everyone important to the Sect. The devil can take his due when the dust settles."

The sound of footsteps became louder and was accompanied by whispers. Yet, to Nyx and her improved senses, every single word spoke was a clear as if they were shouting into her ear.

"Time to set the vibe."

"From the..." Nyx's voice resonated in the mind's of the disciples who were ascending the stairs, causing them to freeze. It wasn't just the disciples in the stairwell that heard her. Every human or sentient beast near the arena was able to hear Nyx's quiet, inhuman voice.

After a few seconds pause, a conflicted expression destroying the smile on Nyx's features, she continued. "... Abyss I am born. To the Abyss, I shall return. My name is Nyx... and you have pushed me too far."

After a slight crouch, Nyx's figure exploded forth, rapidly descending the stairwell. Moments later, she had already beheaded the blue-robed disciple leading his comrades up the step with her clawed right hand. As the man's blood splashed backwards, onto the faces of those following, Nyx swept into the group's ranks.

Screams of pain and fear made an almost deafening noise as Nyx's claws, spikes and tail made short work of the group. The narrow corridor, as well as the close proximity of their allies, made it impossible to form any significant resistance and within a few breaths, seven men and two women were dead.

As the falling bodies rolled to a stop, wedging themselves at awkward angles between the steps and the walls, the copious amounts of blood flowing downwards made it seem as if were the stone floor that was bleeding.

Nyx continued downwards, meeting two disciples who had been left to guard the third landing. They were still partway from drawing their swords when Nyx's claws had ripped out their throats. By the time they had crumpled to the floor, a look of horror and disbelief etched onto their faces, Nyx had already reached the first floor's landing.

Nyx's foot shot out of the darkness, slamming into the knee of the female guard standing just inside the doorway. As the woman screamed and started to fall, Nyx entered the room while spinning. As her tail slammed into the woman's face, sending her crashing to the floor, the spike extending from Nyx's left elbow pierced into the man's, who had been standing on the opposite side, head.

The woman, her grey robe soaked with the blood flowing from her face, started to pick herself only to find her head clasped by two clawed hands. Lifting her eyes, the woman finally met Nyx's gaze and turned deathly pale as her bottom lip quivered.

Nyx flicked her head slightly in the direction of the corridor. The sounds of people rushing towards their direction evident by the clang of weapons and armour.

"How many?"

After swallowing hard, the woman opened her mouth. "I'll never-"

With a loud crack, Nyx twisted the woman's neck. "Wrong answer~."

Kicking off from her already crouched position, Nyx started running down the corridor. Her already low position kept lowing towards the ground until, instinctually, she stretched out her arms and let her claws dig into the floor.

As she pulled her body forward, her speed drastically increasing, Nyx's back legs pulled ahead and overtook her arms. Each time she extended her front legs, the spikes on her arms and elbows would extend. However, as she pulled them in, they would flatten against her body, becoming almost unnoticeable. The retraction of the spikes enabled Nyx to run similarly to a cheetah without impaling her body or back legs.

The first disciple to round the corner at the end of the corridor didn't even see Nyx coming as she slammed into him. After crashing into the wall, the man's body toppled to the floor. Blood quickly pooled under him, seeping from the back of his head and the various vicious wounds that littered his torso.

The people who had been following the man looked on in confusion as they tried to stop. However, having used the man's body as leverage, Nyx had already turned the corner and hurtled towards them.

Alarmed cries soon turned to screams of terror as Nyx butchered her way through the group. Only the blue robbed disciples or those wearing plate armour seemed slow her down. One of the last in the group, given enough time to comprehend the situation, managed to land a strike with his sword only to look on in horror as sparks flew and it was harmlessly deflected.

As he stumbled back, clutching the guts that were spilling from his abdomen, the man tried to speak. However, his mouth only managed to open and close a couple of times before the light dimmed from his eyes. The man, like his comrades, fell to the floor dead.

By this time, Nyx had slid to a halt and was breathing heavily. Plumes of icy vapour erupted from her mouth and nostrils as she slowly turned to survey the scene behind her.

After blinking a few times and standing up, Nyx raised her hands and examined her claws. The dark mist that had been concealing her body had become a lot weaker, and the tiny, scale-like patterns of her skin could be seen. When she had picked a few chunks of flesh that had managed to get stuck on her claws, ignoring the blood that covered her body, Nyx chuckled as she straightened up. "Now this is much easier."

Lifting her head, Nyx took a deep breath and revealed a peaceful smile. "Oh, how I have missed being at the top of the food chain."