With a deafening groan, the Memory Tower began to fall.
Ethan’s eyes locked onto the collapsing spire. Its descent was like slow motion, every fragment of stone and ethereal material tumbling downward toward him. From the far distance, he could hear Klax, Tara, and Fauna shouting, their voices swallowed by the chaos of the city as the Dreamstrider horde converged upon him.
The creatures—those eerie, manta ray-like beings—circled him like vultures over a carcass. Their sapphire and white bodies glowed faintly against the darkened cityscape, their translucent forms phasing in and out of existence as they drifted closer. He felt the invisible weight of their gaze, the ethereal pressure pushing down on him. There were dozens of them—each one shimmering with an aura that made the air feel heavy, suffocating.
DELVE CHALLENGE: GAUNTLET
TIME REMAINING: 3 mins
He didn't have time to think. He had to buy his team the time they needed to pass the trial.
Ethan fought back the first few Dreamstriders that dared come too close, slashing with his Mithril Scythe. His weapon’s edge cleaved through them, though their ethereal forms barely bled—if at all. With each strike, the creatures dissipated momentarily, only to reform nearby.
A few bursts of Twilight Edge stopped them – bringing down whole squads who circled him, launching the spirit-orbs that served as their ranged attacks. His Repulsor Shield was working overtime – nullifying their strikes with ease. Their magic couldn’t break through Valgraiva’s defenses. This form really was his trump card.
But, like everything else, it wasn’t invincible. Ethan knew this as he saw the tower’s shadow looming over him, blotting out the sky.
I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!
Ethan smirked as the tower finally came down on his skull.
Then...darkness.
The Memory Tower came down hard, its impact silencing everything.
For a moment, the world stopped. Beneath the rubble of the fallen spire, Ethan felt the crushing weight of stone and magic. His body—his host—was pinned, unable to move. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear anything except the faint sound of his own breathing and the pounding of his heart in his chest.
It was quiet now, a stillness that chilled him to his core. Outside the tower, the Dreamstriders prospected the destruction they had caused with nonchalance – their faces blank and forms simply hovering around the felled tower as their Appraisals detected no signs of life. Apparently satisfied with their kill, the squads began to fly off towards the still screaming voices of the hybrids this upstart intruder had brought with him.
Then, the silence was broken by a sound like shattering glass.
Followed by the howl of an Undead warrior.
[Twilight Edge]
[Paralysis Coating]
Magic surged within him – the man wearing the Demon Hat on his brow who had just melted through the fallen tower like a blade passing through butter. In the next instant, five Dreamstriders were cleaved in half, their ghostly forms disintegrating in a burst of light and shadow.
From the wreckage of the Memory Tower, Ethan rose.
The rubble phased through his form like mist parting around an unseen figure. Ethan’s body flickered, ethereal and ghostly. His form shimmered as if made of translucent smoke, his features barely visible as he grinned up at the remaining Dreamstriders. His crimson eye glowed brighter than ever, a beacon in the twilight gloom.
[Phase Shift]
Ethereal Form (Grade D) upgrade complete!
While under the effects of {Ethereal Form}, you can pass through solid objects
Spirit Core Cost: 400
Ethan smirked up at his fallen enemies – their stone corpses crashing against the smoke-filled streets of their once tranquil city. The Core cost had been steep, but he had done it—committing everything to upgrading his Ethereal Form so that now it enabled him to pass through solid surfaces as if they were nothing more than air.
I regret to remind you that we are not done yet! Sys shouted – almost as though the system itself were choking through the smoke plumes around them.
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GAUNTLET: 2 minutes remaining.
Ethan’s smile widened.
Two minutes is all I need.
The Dreamstriders, sensing the shift in power, turned back toward him. Their forms flickered in and out of sight as they began to swarm him, a shimmering sea of sapphire and white, but Ethan was ready.
“Come and get me, you overgrown sea-urchins!” he snarled.
With a single fluid motion, he summoned his Twilight Edge once more. The sword of pure shadow burst from his hand, its dark energy crackling in the twilight air. He swung it in a wide arc, sending a wave of destruction through the Dreamstriders that surrounded him. Five more were cleaved apart, their bodies disintegrating into ghostly mist.
But the horde kept coming.
Wing Buffet: Activated.
His ethereal wings—massive and spectral—unfurled from his back. With a powerful flap, he sent a shockwave of force outward, repelling the nearest Dreamstriders and sending them crashing into the translucent walls of the city. They writhed in the air, struggling to regain their balance as the force of the wind battered them.
Ethan was relentless. He knew he didn’t have much time. The Gauntlet Challenge was ticking down, the seconds slipping away.
Roar: Activated
His voice boomed, echoing through the city streets.
The sonic blast shattered the calm, sending tremors through the air and further disorienting the creatures around him. They flinched, their movements growing sluggish as his roar reverberated through their bodies, disrupting their ghostly forms.
But it wasn’t enough.
More Dreamstriders closed in from every direction, their numbers seemingly endless. They swirled around him, their ethereal forms brushing against his skin, cold and otherworldly. Ethan swung his scythe, cutting through as many as he could, but for every one he felled, two more seemed to take its place.
His limbs grew heavy, fatigue setting in as the onslaught continued. The timer on the Gauntlet Challenge ticked down to a single minute. He could hear Sys’s voice in the back of his mind, a sharp, cold warning.
I know what you’re doing.
You think they will manage to complete the challenge without you leading them? With you acting as a decoy?
You place too much trust in your team, Ethan. You need to run.
Ethan gritted his teeth, refusing to give in. He wasn’t going to abandon his companions—not now, not ever.
If you’re still here when the challenge ends, you will be swallowed by the Delve. Is that really the destiny you want?
The words echoed in his mind, but Ethan stood his ground. The Dreamstriders were closing in, their sapphire bodies glowing brighter as they prepared to overwhelm him.
This is not how the Archon is supposed to behave!
Haven’t you gotten it through your thick skull yet, Sys?Ethan snapped as he sent his final Twilight Edge slicing clean through the torsos of five Dreamstriders at once.I’m not your regular Archon.
Sys might have said something else – but the voice of Ethan’s guide was stopped by the final wave of Striders. Every one of them in the city was descending on him in an undulating mass of death, each one readying their spirit-projectiles, charging them up as they dove for him.
He faced them. He wasn’t backing down.
ETHAN!
They’ll make it, he told himself. Because when the chips are down…you gotta trust your team.
A spirit supernova raged before Ethan’s eyes now – a sun birthed from the collective hatred of the Dreamstriders for their opponent that just refused to die. They reeled back as one, ready to send the blast hurtling towards their prey.
Ethan brought his shield to bare, and closed his eyes.
And then, just as the last second ticked away, a notification popped up in his vision.
DELVE CHALLENGE: GAUNTLET
COMPLETE!
REWARD: 700 Spirit Cores
Chrono-Trap kit x2
Moonlight Katana (Mithril) x1
His smile was one of relief and bravado both.
See, Sys? What did I tell ya?
The Dreamstriders froze mid-flight, their bodies jerking up like marionettes with their strings cut. They hovered in place for a moment before becoming docile once more, their once-threatening presence dissolving into a peaceful calm. The horde that had been moments away from tearing Ethan apart now drifted aimlessly, as if they had forgotten their purpose entirely.
Ethan blinked, barely able to comprehend what had just happened. He exhaled a long, shaky breath, his body still thrumming with adrenaline.
A bright light engulfed him, and in the next instant, he was teleported away.
The world swirled around him, and when the light faded, he found himself standing at the outskirts of the Nerve Tower. His companions—Tara, Klax, and Fauna—were there, waiting for him. Their faces were etched with worry, and Fauna was crying, her soft sobs breaking the silence.
“Ethan!” Fauna rushed to him, her tear-streaked face filled with relief. “We thought—we thought you—”
Ethan chuckled softly, reaching out to ruffle her hair, though his ethereal form made it more of a ghostly caress. “I’m fine, Fauna. Just had to take care of a few things.”
Tara crossed her arms, looking him up and down with a mix of relief and exasperation. “You’re a damn idiot, you know that?”
“That the best you can do, kitten? I’m sure your mind knows dirtier words than that.”
Before the blushing Minxit could answer, Klax, who had been silent up until now, stepped forward. His eyes held a glint of knowing, a look that spoke volumes. “I knew it,” he said quietly. “I knew what your plan was, even if it was stupid.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “Oh yeah? And what was my plan, exactly?”
Klax didn’t answer right away. He simply stared at Ethan, the weight of their shared history hanging between them. Then, with a quiet nod, he said, “You trusted that we’d finish the challenge in time. Even when you were facing the horde alone, you trusted us.”
Ethan glanced at Fauna and Tara, who both looked back at him with a mixture of admiration and frustration before they all turned their gazes to the shadowed form of the Nerve Tower blotting out the city’s twilight gloom above them.
Ya see, Sys? he smiled. Maybe I can be too trusting of my allies in this world. But you don’t trust them enough.
Sys seemed to groan in his mind as the team then moved off.
Luck and persistence won’t last forever…