As time passed, Nyx continued to battle the seemingly endless groups of Twilight Sect disciples in an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse. While their roles frequently shifted between hunter and prey, it was clear that the Sect was steadily gaining the upper hand. With each magic ward they completed, blocking anyone with an affinity for dark essence over forty per cent from passing, Nyx had to retreat further into the underground arena/storage area/prison.
With the increasing pressure, knowing that escape was becoming more and more unlikely, Nyx changed her tactics. While she would still kill those who were a threat, those weak in skill, ability or will would be brutally crippled. While this bought her some time and reduced the confidence of her pursues significantly, it only bought Nyx small respites where she could catch her breath and heal the most grievous of her injuries.
Even with her past experiences, she soon lost her sense of direction and time. The maze-like passageways were remarkably similar, making it almost impossible to tell them apart. Combined with the constant fighting and lack of sunlight, Nyx didn't know if hours or days had passed since the confrontation outside.
Initially, Nyx caused extra damage to the hallways on purpose, leaving herself a trail, but after being forced off course multiple times, it just became more confusing. The eerie feeling that she wasn't inside a human-made construct, but something living continued to gnaw at the edge of her awareness, but Nyx believed that it was the least of her problems.
Her situation deteriorated when the Sect started using adventurers. Unlike the Sect Disciples, adventurers had plenty of experience battling monsters in underground environments, mainly from the nearby ice dungeon. With their knowledge, skills and equipment that offset her dark and ice elemental affinity, the injuries Nyx sustained started to increase at an alarming rate.
It was after one of these battles that Nyx found herself leaning against a stone wall, gasping for breath. She clutched the horrifying concaved wound on the left side of her stomach. Thick black blood, with a dark blue tint, seeped from between her fingers as the edges of the injury slowly knitted themselves together and began to return to its natural position. While the rate of recovery was still noticeable to the naked eye, it was at least ten times slower than when she had regrown her arm.
Every time she exhaled, a cold white mist would flow from between Nyx's lips before spreading outwards and defusing into the surrounding air. When she inhaled, the numerous arrowheads lodged in her back would shift, causing waves of excruciating pain. However, even though Nyx felt her vision blur with each breath, she appeared to ignore everything as she focused her senses inward and towards the fragments of dungeon crystal that were slowly moving towards her core.
"How the hell am I still alive?"
Nyx's thoughts were in turmoil as she recalled the previous battle while suffering the stabbing, needle-like pain generated by each shard as they slowly cut through her flesh and muscle. Every single fragment of dungeon core, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, was relentlessly gravitating towards the centre of her chest.
"When that bastard hit me in the stomach, I should have gone off like a firework... or at least had my insides turned to mush yet..."
"I'm still here." Nyx's right hand clenched as a frown appeared on her face.
After sending a stream of dark essence to try and stop the fragments from moving, only to discover that it had little to no effect, Nyx glared at remains of a short man nearby. His plate armour had been fractured in multiple places while his lifeless face still revealed an expression of shock.
Nyx's eyes moved to the glowing war hammer nearby, its head still glowing with flame-like flickers of energy. "Fucking dwarfs and their enchanted weapons."
It wasn't long before the anger Nyx felt at her defeated foe was replaced with a chilling thought.
"Wait... what if I got caught and failed to detonate the core..."
Nyx shivered slightly, not sure if it was because of her continually dropping body temperature or that fact that she had just found out her trump card was a dud and the fate she feared most could have easily come to pass. Remembering the hit she took earlier, that seemed to destroy the top right of her head, Nyx felt the foreboding sensation that killing herself if she was about to be captured would be harder than she initially thought.
Just as her thoughts and imagination were starting to take flight, a wheezy, extremely unhealthy sounding cough caused Nyx to lift her head. Due to the shadow-like veil that wrapped itself around her body, the frown that marred Nyx's features was hard to distinguish.
Ahead of Nyx, no more than a dozen or so feet away, was a heavily injured man who was slowly dragging himself backwards.
The man's movements were greatly hindered by his severe injuries and by the fact that he had to use his only functioning hand to put pressure on the wound on the left side of his neck. Every time he reached the bloody remains of one of his companions, the fear dancing in his eyes would slowly increase as his movements became more erratic and uncoordinated.
"How is it that I always managed to leave the skittish ones alive?" Nyx studied the man as she noticed that the front of his pants was wet even though there were only a small splattering of blood on them. Seemingly perceiving her gaze, the man looked up and flinched the moment their met eyes.
However, much to Nyx's surprise, he soon seemed to regain his composure as he began to glare back. She could somehow sense the fear the man felt, but at the same time, something was offsetting it. Somehow she knew it wasn't the pendant he wore. If Nyx were to try and describe it, it was that he had come to terms with his fate and felt he had achieved a goal or purpose.
Thinking this, the corner of Nyx's lips turned upwards. "Intresting~. It's almost like the sensations I got from those things in the grey space when they tried to intimidate me."
"Not bad~." Nyx's chilling, somewhat eerie voice seemed to resonate off the stone walls of the narrow corridor. Nevertheless, when it had reached no more than a couple of meters away from the pair, the echo seemed to vanish without a trace. "Not bad at all~."
The man froze.
"... at least for an adventurer." Nyx's eyes narrowed slightly, remembering the group had forced her into a corner again and again. The stalemate had lasted until she had been able to take out their healer and ranged support. Nyx felt that, compared to the cultivators and sect disciples that were more interested in personal power, the adventurers were far more challenging in group combat.
"You... you can talk?" The man flinched as he pushed himself backwards with renewed vigour.
Nyx tried to chuckle but stopped quickly as a light fit of coughing took over. After recovering, she shook her head. "I see. So~ they told you nothing?"
"I know enough." The slight whimper at the end of the man's sentence destroyed any illusion of strength he was trying to portray. "You may be intelligent, but you are still nothing more than a beast."
Nyx scanned his body slowly, noting the few faintly glowing items. "Unfortunately, lady luck isn't smiling on you today. Even with all of your passion, tricks, teamwork and self-sacrifice, did you believe that a mere C-ranked party could defeat me, Nyx, in a head-on confrontation? Even after the others had failed so miserably?"
"Already reduced to monologuing to buy time and sow misinformation... Just how far have I fallen? In the old days, I'd have only done this when I was bored or wanted to toy with my prey." Nyx slightly shook her head as the faint flickering blue from her left eye, reflecting off the wall, caught her attention. It reminded her about the damage she received earlier.
While she could still see, at least in a certain sense, from her right eye, Nyx observed from a particularly shiny remnant of shield embedded into the wall that currently resembled a blurry orb that vaguely matched the shape of her left eye. It looked similar to a blue ball of fire with the centre being lighter than its edges.
Nyx's sight flickered once again to the fallen dwarf as her surroundings darkened. However, everything soon returned to normal as the sudden surge in her emotions affected the stability of the essence surrounder her wounds. When it did, the pain that she had been suppressing erupted, bringing Nyx back to her senses.
After a final glare, Nyx returned her attention to the man as she resisted the urge to sigh. It wasn't because she wanted to hide her plummeting mood from the man but the pain that would come with the movement. As she watched in silence, the injuries on Nyx's body continued to heal as the surrounding shadows drifted slowly towards her. When they reached her, the shadows would seep into her skin before circulating towards her core and replenishing her reserves.
Noticing the man was starting to look about and mumble, Nyx cleared her throat.
"What a stupid human you are. You sacrificed the lives of your group for a purpose you don't even understand." Nyx forced herself to smile as she thought of ways to distract the man. While he looked to be in no shape to fight, Nyx knew better than most what one was capable of at death's door. If he had any last stand treasures or detonated his core, she would be in serious trouble. While her body had recovered a lot, she was still a few minutes away from stabilising her condition and being able to move on.
After trying to take a deep breath but finding she was still unable to expand her diaphragm fully, Nyx pressed her left hand against the wall. "You were used — expendable pawns. Fools used to buy time so that they could finish closing off the exits and setting up their formations. You were never meant to survive. It's not like they would be forced to pay a corpse for a failed job after all."
Listening to her words, the man trembled slightly as the green pendant on his neck flickered. A gas-like substance was escaping from the multiple hairline cracks on its surface, yet it still seemed to be working as he maintained his composure even under the pressure of Nyx's domain.
After swallowing hard, his breath somewhat ragged and uneven, the man's expression hardened. "What would a monster like you know?"
The man opened and closed his mouth one or two times before continuing after seemingly finding the words he wanted. "It's an adventurer's job to slay monsters like you. My group might have lost this fight, but now our brothers and sisters have a greater chance of victory. You might be putting up a brave front, but I can see you are barely able to stand. When the next group arrives and exploits those injuries, they will cut off your grotesque head and mount it upon the town wall for all to see."
The smile on Nyx's face grew. "Ahh, so that is what you were thinking? That your death, and the death's of your friends, has some meaning."
The man spat out a congealed lump of blood. "Wash your neck monster, if the Twilight Sect doesn't get you, the Adventurer's Guild will. There is zilch you can do to escape your fate. Even if you get out of here, the barrier of God of Light guarantees our victory. You have lost, and there is nothing you can say or do that will change that fact."
Nyx resisted the urge to look at the small dot hidden to the right of the man's chest. "What an idiot. Do you really think I wouldn't notice your last-ditch attempt at some form of glory or would rise to such a weak provocation that you even mentioned twice?. Still, as there is an audience, it would be rude not to play my part."
"Wash my neck? Hunt monsters like me? As if pathetic mortals like you have the ability or skill."
Nyx revealed a sneer, though it was almost indistinguishable from her silhouette, as she looked down at the man. The view from her left eye remained the same but overlapped with the shadow world revealed by her right. "On this continent, no, in this world, there are none that are my equal."
"How many of this world's experts fallen at my hands? How many have vowed vengeance only to be turned to dust and scatted across the land? How many bloodlines have gone extinct because of the fools that decided to try their luck against the darkness?"
"The forgotten dead that I have left in my wake are countless. Though my flesh may tear and my bones break, my spirit, my soul, will not falter. For you mortals, death is the end. For me, it's just a nice holiday. I'll return, and when I do, those that crossed me pay the appropriate price. After all, the darkness does not forgive, nor does it forget."
"Big words for a creature who will soon be burning in the Seven Hells." The man's movements were slowing down as his skin paled as the adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins began to disperse.
"Hmm, sorry. Though that place sounds interesting, it isn't a place a being like me can visit. Though, I do have to ask, is that were your companions have ended up?" Nyx's gaze moved away from the man and to the surrounding carnage. "If so, are they complete or in the tiny pieces I sent them?"
The few remaining light stones illuminated a grizzly, somewhat disturbing sight. Most of the nearby bodies seemed to have been ripped limb from limb while red and black blood coated the adjacent floor and walls. Just from this, one would be able to assume that the fight had been extremely violent and somewhat evenly matched.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Before she could continue, Nyx's body shook as she started coughing violently, much to the delight of the man. "Ha, like I said, big words. You are-."
However, his joy was short-lived as Nyx increased the circulation of essence around her chest and forcefully redirected the shards that had started slicing through her lungs. After realising that she couldn't stop them, no matter what she tried, Nyx shifted her lungs upwards while moving her other organs out of the way while trying to delay their progress for as long as possible. Due to the increased consumption of essence, vastly outpacing her passive absorption, the shadows surrounding Nyx thinned revealing her form.
While pondering about what would happen when the shards reached her core, Nyx saw the man's mouth drop open out of the corner of her eye. His gaze travelled her body, stopping on the injuries that were still healing at a visible rate.
However, she couldn't find any enjoyment from his horrified expression or change in the emotions emanating from him. It was quite possible that, although she had beaten far stronger sect disciples and adventurers since the Sect had turned against her, this small group of nobodies may have dealt her a fatal blow.
Turning her head back towards the man as he regained his senses, Nyx emotionlessly watched as he stopped trying to retreat and instead moved towards the nearby wall.
After reaching the wall, he propped himself up with one shoulder while gasping. The moment he was able to, the man tried to maintain the pressure his bleeding neck while moving his right hand to the dagger on his belt. However, all that remained of the hand was tattered flesh and bone, making his struggles seem somewhat pointless.
After trying for the fifth time, the man let out a whimper as his body slumped against the wall. "I don't want to die. Not like this. Not without achieving something."
His gaze turned towards Nyx with somewhat unfocused pupils. "I always imagined if I were to... to go, it would be out on a mission on the plains. Or in the beautiful catacombs of the ice dungeon. Not in this damn dark maze of a prison. Not surrounded by the bodies of my friends. Not at the feet of a monster like you."
"Sticks and stones~." Nyx slowly pushed herself away from the wall, her eyes moving from the tears streaming down the man's face and onto the remnants of the spikes on her left arm. They had all been snapped in various places and badly chipped in others.
Nyx's claws were in no better condition. She had even lost two fingers on her left hand. The stubs were already showing signs of regrowth, but the speed was almost unnoticeable. "Looks like I was a tad overconfident. A natural body can only do so much when against enchanted weapons and armour, at least at my current level. Not only that, it's about time, I started making preparations. The man might know nothing, but he isn't wrong. It looks like this is the end of the road for this incarnation."
Just as she reached the centre of the hallway, Nyx staggered while releasing an agonised groan as pain exploded from her left side. Closing her eyes, she stabilised her body and tried to focus her mind.
One of the shards had, due to the movement of her body and distracted state, suddenly sped up and touched the edge of Nyx's core after breaking through the restraints she had imposed less than a minute earlier. The moment the two came into contact, the fragment stopped as a bone-chilling cold started to take root deep in Nyx's chest, and her soul felt as if it had plunged into an icy lake.
A sense of nausea surged as small motes of light flickered in the darkness behind Nyx's eyelids. The urge for her to curl into a ball was almost overwhelming, yet she resisted. Nyx had the premonition that she wouldn't be returning to the abyss when her body finally failed, at least while it was in its current state.
"Not yet. I still have a little gas in the tank." Shaking her in an attempt to dispel the creeping desire of being surrounded and dying quickly under a barrage of powerful spells, Nyx slowly opened her eyes as she revealed a toothy smile. "The ferryman won't give me a free pass if I don't get him a few more fares first."
Slowly, Nyx retracted her hand from her stomach, which had already stopped bleeding, before tensing her muscles. At first, nothing seemed to happen as her muscles rippled and squirmed.
Yet, after less than ten seconds, the sound of metal clanging on stone reverberated. A sliver of metal, covered in black liquid, lay at Nyx's feet. A few moments later, the sound repeated as a barbed arrowhead hit the floor. Small clumps of what looked like black flesh and skin remained on its hooks. Eventually, four more arrowheads and the tip of a sword were expelled from Nyx's body as she let out a sigh of relief and stood straighter. "Much better~."
Returning her gaze to the man, Nyx noticed that he had a somewhat blank expression.
"Just... Just what are you?"
Clenching her fists in a vain attempt to dispel the pins and needles that had covered her body as she expelled the foreign items, Nyx chuckled but didn't respond. "Wish I knew that myself."
"Why?"
After waiting for an answer that would never come, the man's gaze scanned the remains of his friends and comrades nearby. "You left so many alive, even if they were crippled. Why did my group have to die? Especially when you have that healing ability. Did you even consider us a threat? My friends... I... Have we sacrificed everything for nothing?"
"Why should death have any more purpose than life? In the end, the only meaning it has is what you give it." Nyx took a tentative step forward, slightly wincing as her muscles screamed in protest. After staring into the man's eyes, even though she felt as if she were about to vomit and pass out, Nyx managed to force a weak chuckle.
"Instead of worrying about the dead, don't you think you should be more concerned over your fate?"
Nyx watched the confusion in the man's eyes as they suddenly contracted. After releasing a spurt of blood from his mouth, the man glanced down at the black crystal-like object sticking from his chest. His expression didn't change much as a second projectile slammed his left hand.
Nyx revealed a frown as she tilted her head to the side while staring at what should have been her shadow projectiles. One had impaled the hand that was holding his wound to the wall with the other had embedded itself in the man's chest. A thin layer of black ice had already sealed both injuries and stopped them from bleeding though it was clear that he was in a precarious state.
After taking one last glance at the projectiles, which had started to melt and release black, toxic-looking water and smoke, Nyx shook her head. "Now be a good boy and keep them busy~."
Just as she was about to pass the man, she stopped and looked at the strange crystal hidden just behind the green pendant. "Oh, if you don't convince them that you won't explode when they get close, they will kill you."
Without another word, Nyx continued and passed dazed man. As she did, the smile on her face vanished as she stared at the hand that had formed the black-ice projectiles. "Around 70% dark and 23% ice. Looks like death by becoming an elemental is finally off the cards but why are they already in sync? I haven't even cultivated the ice energy, and it's somehow turned into dark ice. Not only that I can somehow control it perfectly when it should be running rampant and trying to destroy my body. Does it have anything to do with how brittle the dungeon core was? Maybe it was already collapsing?"
The distant sound of boots caused Nyx's ear to twitch as she looked over her shoulder. "No rest for the wicked huh... Oh well, if they came any later, that man would be dead, and all of that would have been a waste of time."
Wobbly at first Nyx started running. After turning the corner, she sensed people approaching her from the opposite direction she was heading and slid to a halt.
Looking around, Nyx sighed as she flicked her arm outwards and towards the wall nearby. Moments later, the two light stones nearest to Nyx released a small, hiss-like noise before flickering and going out. Due to the dim light of the others nearby, white smoke could be seen rising from the broken light stones.
After running to the darkest area between the remaining lights, Nyx pressed herself against the wall as she released two waves of dark-mist from her body. As the mist flowed outwards, it caused the surroundings to dim before dispersing the smoke and smell that had been lingering around the destroyed crystals.
Knowing that those approaching would be able to see her any moment, Nyx closed her eyes and tried to ignore the pain that accompanied the strange sensation of becoming one with the surrounding shadows. Unlike before, when she had closed her eyes, Nyx could somehow see her surroundings in the same monochrome vision of her shadows.
It wasn't even five heartbeats later that a group of heavily armoured, blue-robed disciples turned the bend and raced towards her. Nyx didn't remain idle and silently used her claws to climb the wall, her body feeling lighter and lighter as the seconds passed, before pressing herself horizontally into the corner at the top.
The man at the front, wearing a mixture of chainmail and leather armour visible beneath his robe, seemed to notice the darker area and quickly pulled out a glowing yellow stone. After muttering a few words, the rock flew forward at a speed that Nyx found hard to track.
As the stone neared, Nyx held her breath and suppressed the energy in her body. As she did, Nyx carefully analysed what she could make out of the man's expression while her muscles coiled and her foot moved into a position that would make it easier to kick off.
It was only when the stone fell to the floor, and the man's expression hadn't changed that Nyx slightly relaxed.
When the group reached the corner Nyx had come from, Nyx heard a couple of supprised shouts as another group yelled out a challenge. After a brief back and forth, a cry that there was a survivor echoed down the corridor, and the group vanished as they cautiously progressed forward.
After counting to five, Nyx let herself drop to the floor. While she intended to land on two feet, the pain shooting up her legs caused her to fall to all fours as a hiss nearly escaped her lips. While it hadn't affected her injuries, most of the energy she had regained had been used when she concealed her presence and shifted into, what Nyx had started calling, her void form.
Taking a deep breath, Nyx slowly stood up and started hobbling in the opposite direction.
"Slow and steady wins the race. Slow and steady." Nyx continued to talk to herself and curse her lack of mobility as she attempted to ignore the pain ravaging her body. She knew that running on all fours was faster, but the increased movement of muscles caused more pain and reduced how fast she could recover. Not only that, but she didn't have the energy to waste as absorbing too much would lead her pursuers towards her location.
"Why is it that ever since I arrived on this damn continent, I feel like I am always getting chased or in the shit?"
After a barrage of complaints, Nyx reached the end of the corridor and looked both ways before stepping out and releasing a torrent of curses. Just like all the other passageways she encountered, the two to each side looked the same.
"This place..." Just as Nyx was about to pick a direction, she frowned as her body tensed. "No... you have to be kidding me."
After releasing a mighty sigh, Nyx's shoulders slumped. Returning to the middle of the intersection, she faced the wall. "It can't be. This continent doesn't have enough energy. There is no way in hell that essence manipulation has advanced so much that they can replicate the spells and formations of the prime continent here."
After searching the nearby wall for a minute, Nyx seemed to find something. Using one of her nails, she scratched a small section. On the third attempt, a green rune slowly flickered into existence.
As the rune lost its power, Nyx looked both ways again to see that both corridors were slanted downwards. Looking back behind her, the passage her senses had told her had been a perfectly flat, actually had a steep incline upwards.
"Fuck."
Nyx closed her eyes as she released a long breath. "Well, at least that answers the questions about the barrier up there... It wasn't for me. This place is hiding something else. But if so, why would it appear as if had been created as the perfect counter to my affinities?"
Thinking about the reaction of the Twilight Sect, how it had sent waves upon waves of disciples to confront her and how they had tried to direct her movements with the wards, Nyx frowned. "So... what are they hiding? Is this why Timur is behaving so strangely. How he is handling the situation goes against his supposed reputation."
Feeling an itch in her chest, Nyx tried to cough lightly. However, the tickle in her chest continued to grow until it became painful. Soon she was violently coughing as she felt something clog up the airway on her right lung.
After thirty seconds where Nyx felt as if she were going to pass out, she coughed up and spat out a glowing blue crystal. It was no bigger than a fingernail, but from the throbbing energy emanating from it, Nyx could tell that it could destroy most of its surroundings with ease.
"What the..." Nyx's voice caught in her throat as she watched the black blood covering the crystal bubble as the crystal seemed to break apart. Soon, the blood and the crystal had turned into a gas-like substance and flew towards Nyx.
Before she could even think of dodging, the mist hit her and vanished without a trace. The only lingering effect being that Nyx felt as if her body temperature had dropped once again.
Staring at the place where the sliver of dungeon core had been, Nyx felt tiredness sweeping over her. Every time she blinked, it felt like it took a lot of effort to open her eyes. "What is happening to me? This makes no sense."
"I..." Nyx forced her eyes open as she bit the tip of her tongue. The sharp pain and the sweet hot liquid is bringing some clarity to her tired mind.
"Hurry the fuck up you bastards."
Upon hearing the voice, which sounded ragged laced with a hint of fear, Nyx's head snapped to her right. The exhaustion and pain she felt seemed to melt away her eyes focused on the end of the corridor.
"Impossible." Nyx's scalp tingled as her stomach contracted, feeling like she was standing on the edge of an abyss.
The voice she had heard was tantalisingly familiar. One that had haunted her nightmares almost as much the screams had echoed in her dreams.
Goosebumps rippled up her arms and neck as a low, hiss slowly escaped her throat. The slow, steady pulse of her core started to speed up as she forgot about masking her presence and began to absorb the surrounding essence wantonly. Within moments, the shadows had once again concealed her body and formed an imposing, almost reaper-like silhouette.
The limitations she had set on her body subconsciously lifted as loud, cracking noises emanated from her chest. The small blue cracks that had been around her stomach had almost doubled in size, no longer stopped by the rampaging flickers of black lightning, as white, chilling mist seeped from them.
The group turned the corner and slid to a halt as their gazes landed on Nyx. All of them displayed a fearful expression, but Nyx focused on the man who looked as if he had come face to face with the devil. He was extremely skinny, to the point he looked more like a mummy and had an ugly white patch over his right eye. The dark circle under his left suggested that he hadn't slept in some time while his utterly bald head reflected the light from the nearby Lightstone.
Nyx's right eye had mostly recovered to match her left as her pupils narrowed into serpent-like slits. A smile quickly spread; however, as it reached its pinnacle, Nyx felt the skin splitting at the corners of her mouth. However, she didn't pay it any mind. Not even the rapidly freezing walls in her peripheral, covered in rapidly expanding black eyes, could draw her attention away from the man standing in the middle of the group.
The man standing in the middle of the group let out a scream as the green crystal around his neck shattered, and he staggered backwards.
"Found~ you~." Nyx projected her voice into the head of the man and his guards. She could barely contain her joy. Just when she was about to admit defeat and go on a final death charge to take as many people with her as possible, she had run into one of the targets she subconsciously felt she would never find.
Nyx felt the dark and ice essence tug at her body, seemingly wanting her to turn around and ignore what she had found but how could she listen to it after such an encounter. Without any doubt in her mind, she knew it was a trap, but at the same time, in her current situation, the only difference it would make was whether she would complete with of her current goals.
The thin, bald man screamed and stumbled as he clutched his head. Moments later, he turned and fled down the corridor he had just come.
If she had any lingering doubt before, now it was gone.
Nyx smile widened, something that would have seemed impossible, revealing all of her sharp teeth. Watching the man's escorts follow suit as they turned and fled, Nyx slowly lowered herself onto all fours.
"Run fat man run. The darkness is coming for you~."