Maya soared through the skies and scanned the landscape below for any sign of something that might lead her to the key. However, she was abruptly interrupted by a sharp pain that struck her back unexpectedly.
The attack caused her to falter in mid-air. A gasp escaped her lips as she tried to understand what had just happened. Before she could recover, another wave of pain surged through her as she felt sharp teeth sink into her left arm.
In a panic, Maya reflexively cast [Whirlwind], summoning a powerful gust of wind around her. The turbulent air buffeted her attacker, wrenching it away with a force that sent it spiraling downward.
Struggling to regain control and soothe the throbbing pain in her arm, Maya managed to hover down to a nearby rooftop. She finally managed to get a glimpse at what was attacking her: a stone gargoyle who crashed down onto the street.
Reeling from the attack, Maya decided to revert back to her human form, immediately feeling the gravity of her injuries. She winced in pain, clutching her arm tightly with her hand.
As she brought her hand into her field of vision, Maya's heart sank at the sight of blood coating her fingers. But before she could even panic, the shrieking sound of the gargoyle snapped the Shapestealer back to reality.
She knew she had to fight. And so, she closed her eyes and transformed into the Shadow Knight.
Dark energy coalesced around her and wrapped her form in a familiar armor. But as her form solidified, Maya noticed a discrepancy. Part of her left arm manifested improperly, leaving it cracked and deformed: likely due to her prior injuries.
Fortunately, Maya managed to pull from surrounding shadows and knit the arm back into its intended shape. With her form now whole, the Shapestealer clasped her hands together and materialized a shadowy sword.
Soon after, Maya heard a shriek as the gargoyle took to the air and lunged towards Maya. As the monster closed the distance, she used her sword to cleave through the gargoyle mid-air.
The force of the blow sent the creature hurtling away. It crashed onto another rooftop, part of its body cracking.
Maya ran and leapt across the gap between the buildings. Landing on the other rooftop, she found the gargoyle struggling to rise. With a swift strike, Maya brought her sword down upon the creature, the blade cutting through its stone body with ease.
She repeatedly cleaved through the gargoyle, until finally, with a powerful stomp to its chest, she shattered it completely. The force of her blow reduced the creature to rubble.
As the dust settled, Maya's gaze fell upon a small, yellow gem amidst the remains. She reached out to claim her prize, but her movement was halted by the sound of more shrieks piercing the air.
Maya turned around and saw four more gargoyles fly towards her. Just as the gargoyles closed in on her, Maya activated [Phantom Stride], causing the incoming gargoyles to phase right through her.
Seizing the momentary confusion her disappearance caused, Maya moved behind one gargoyle that had lagged slightly behind its companions. She swung her hands down upon the gargoyle's head. And as she did, a shadowy sword manifested in her grip, materializing just in time to deliver a devastating blow.
The sword's blade cut through the creature's stone head, leaving a deep crack that spread rapidly. Within moments, the gargoyle's body went limp. Its form began to crack further before disintegrating into dust, revealing a familiar yellow gem.
Alerted by the demise of their companion, the remaining three gargoyles redirected their flight towards Maya and lunged at her. Before the Shapestealer could react, one of the gargoyles reached her first and latched onto her head.
It clawed and bit down on her head, its stone teeth and talons seeking to penetrate her shadowy armor. In the heat of the attack, Maya's grip on her shadowy sword loosened, and the weapon clattered to the rooftop.
She reached up in a desperate attempt to pull the attacking gargoyle off her head, her fingers grappling with its stone-like body. But she soon felt sharp pains shooting through her legs. The other two gargoyles had joined the fray, each sinking its teeth into one of her legs. The combined force of their assault overwhelmed her and threw her off her balance.
Maya kept stumbling around until she reached the edge of the rooftop. With a strong tug from her assailants, she was sent tumbling over the edge.
She hit the ground with a heavy thud. Reeling from the impact, Maya quickly gathered her wits and began shaking off the gargoyles, which were also disoriented by the sudden fall. She pushed the creatures away from her, their stone bodies scraping against the ground as they tried to regain their balance as well.
Maya staggered back to her feet and used the nearby buildings as support to steady herself. She then activated [Phantom Stride], her form vanishing into thin air before reappearing behind one of the recovering gargoyles.
As it struggled to rise, she conjured a shadow sword mid-air and struck it on the head with all her might. The force of the blow shattered the creature's head. Soon after, the rest of its body followed suit, cracking and disintegrating into dust: revealing yet another yellow gem.
But then, the two remaining gargoyles pounced at her. The Shapestealer managed to knock one out of the way with the butt of her sword, its body skidding across the ground. She then parried the other's attack, blocking its bite with her left hand.
With the gargoyle stubbornly latched onto her hand, Maya rapidly shook her arm, attempting to dislodge the creature. Finding it resistant, she moved swiftly and slammed her hand against the side of a building.
Despite the gargoyle's continued grip on her arm, Maya raised it high and then slammed the creature against the ground. The impact was enough to finally force the monster to release its hold, its body cracking under the force before it lay still.
Now visibly more exhausted from the ordeal, Maya staggered back. She allowed the shadows enveloping her form to dissipate, reverting to her human form. She stood there, breathing heavily, each breath a testament to the physical toll the battle had taken on her.
As she tried to catch her breath, one of the gargoyles, though visibly damaged, clumsily got to its feet and charged towards her. The Shapestealer dodged its attack, and then drew her mithril dagger before plunging it into the back of the gargoyle's head. The precision of the strike shattered its already damaged head, causing the creature's body to crack and crumble to dust.
***
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
After the battle with the gargoyles, Maya collected the five yellow gems that each of the creatures had left behind. She then carefully tucked them away in her cloak.
With the gems secured, she turned her attention back to the cathedral, its silhouette now a beacon of progress at the edge of her vision. A sigh of relief escaped her as she began her approach, the weight of exhaustion momentarily lifted by the prospect of moving forward.
As Maya stood before the massive doors of the cathedral, a soft glow emanated from within her cloak. She saw as the yellow gems she had so stored began to levitate, their light intensifying.
One by one, they moved towards the cathedral's doors and phased through the solid wood as if it were mere mist. The moment the last gem passed through the door, a loud rumbling echoed.
The massive doors began to swing open slowly. But instead of revealing the interior of the cathedral. Maya saw a familiar white portal.
[Congratulations, you may now access the next floor]
***
As Maya crossed the portal, she found herself back to her human self. She stumbled slightly, disoriented by the abrupt change, and then steadied herself as she took in her new surroundings.
She was in a small room that was almost entirely devoid of any decor or furnishings. The walls were plain white. A few paces ahead there was a modest wooden table with a matching chair. Oddly enough, there was an assortment of foodstuffs on top of the table: bread, cheese, even a pitcher of water.
As she moved closer to the table, Maya's stomach rumbled. With a small smile of relief, she sat down at the table and reached for the food, breaking off a piece of bread first then eating it.
But as she ate, the Shapestealer noticed a small, red-colored note hidden under where the bread once was. She opened the piece of paper, but there was nothing written on it at first. That was, until a familiar set of notifications began to write themselves onto the note.
[Tribute has entered Floor 6]
[Level up awarded]
[Updating status]
Tribute Name: Maya
Level: 9 >> 10
Physique: 3
Dexterity: 5 >> 6
Magic: 1
After finishing her meal, Maya stood up from the chair, taking a final glance around the austere room. Her attention was drawn to another door opposite the one she had entered through. It was closed: the only exit from the room.
She walked towards the door, but as she reached out to touch the handle, Maya felt a great unease begin to crawl into the back of her mind. It was like something deep within her core was warning her of what was to come. And yet, she knew that choice was not something she had the liberty of having.
The moment Maya stepped out of the door; she felt a blistering heat as it closed behind her. A bright light forced her to squint. She fell to her knees, panting heavily.
Maya adjusted the hood of her cloak, pulling it further over her head in a bid to shield her face from the rays of sunlight that somehow permeated the interior of the cathedral. The light was piercing, more intense than any sun she had experienced outside of the Tower.
As she cautiously lifted her gaze, she saw that a vast ceiling stretched above; held up by a series of dark stone arches. However, she also saw the multitude of fiery orbs embedded in the ceiling. Each one glowed with a reddish, fiery light, pulsating like miniature suns.
She couldn't bear to look at them for long. And so, she staggered back onto her feet, leaning against the wall for support. She attempted to transform into one of her forms, either the Shadow Knight or the Wind Elemental, but to her dismay, she saw a notification that confirmed her fears:
[Sunlight Vulnerability penalty applied: transformation restricted]
The Shapestealer needed to find a place to hide herself from the light, and fast.
As she traveled through the cathedral, Maya eventually came upon a small room with an altar. The altar was surrounded by people wearing bright red robes. Maya hid behind a wall and peeked out to observe the robed figures.
She saw them tying a person to the altar. The individual was bound in chains, their mouth sealed with a gag. Despite their thrashing and attempts to cry out, none of the robed figures seemed to care.
Soon, they began chanting, and Maya's heart pounded in her chest. She felt a mix of pain from the sunlight that still touched her and fear of what the robed figures were attempting to do.
As their chanting reached its climax, one of the fiery orbs from the ceiling moved above the person bound on the stone altar. It fired a heat ray that consumed the individual, turning them into a charred crisp.
After the ritual was finished, the figures laughed and patted each other on the back before dispersing to another room within the cathedral.
Suddenly, Maya slumped down against the wall as all of her limbs felt weak. Her eyelids grew heavy, and even though she tried to move within the shadows to obscure her presence, the rays of the sun, or whatever it was emanating from those fiery orbs in the ceiling, were too much for the Shapestealer. The sunlight burned and suffocated her, making her weak.
However, desperation continued to fuel Maya as she limped from shadow to shadow, wall-to-wall, in an attempt to avoid detection. There was no going back now, so she might as well try to find a way out of this cursed cathedral.
Fortunately, the place was large enough that sneaking around wasn't too difficult. At first, she only saw the strange people in red robes walking about the place.
But without warning, once Maya was traversing a corridor, she heard a low growl echo from behind her. She froze, her breath catching in her throat. From the shadows ahead, emerged a creature of pure flame: one she subconsciously named a sun hound. Its form was canine-like, but entirely composed of the same searing fire that emanated from the orbs on the ceiling.
Maya's instinct was to retreat, but she knew any sudden movement might provoke the creature. The sun hound's fiery form crackled and hissed as it moved. The heat emanating from it was intense, easily felt even from a distance.
Carefully, Maya began to back away, her eyes locked on the canine. But the sunhound seemed to sense her fear, its growls growing louder by the second.
The standoff continued for what felt like an eternity, the only sounds being the crackling of the sun hound's flames and Maya's shallow breaths. Finally, wanting to break the tension: Maya took her chance. She turned and swiftly darted down an adjacent corridor.
Eventually, Maya found a potential path for escape. She saw one of the red-robed priests leave a room that seemed significantly darker than the rest of the cathedral.
The Shapestealer made a break for it when she noticed that the priest hadn't seemed to lock the room at all. As she touched the door handle, it quickly allowed her entry.
Inside, the room appeared to be a study of some kind, illuminated by lamps and candlelight rather than the blazing spheres that lit up the rest of the cathedral. Maya breathed out a sigh of relief as she slumped down on a wooden chair. Without the sunlight, she could actually relax somewhat.
After taking a brief break to compose herself, Maya went through the scattered notes and documents within the study. Much of it was unintelligible to her, as they used terms too difficult for her to understand or were written in a language she had no comprehension of.
But from what little she could decipher, Maya learned that she was in the Cathedral of the Hateful Sun. The place was dedicated to Nergal, one of the Old Gods. The cathedral was not only a place of worship; its primary purpose was to be a facility for research for…something she couldn't make out.
She continued to explore the study, her eyes scanning the room for anything else of interest. As she moved around the room, she noticed a hatch hidden beneath one of the tables. She almost missed it completely due to how it blended with the wooden floor.
Kneeling down, she found the hatch covered in a thick layer of dust. Its lock looked like it was in just as much disuse judging by how much rust was on it.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Maya took out her dagger and examined the rusty lock on the hatch. Seeing that it was too old to pick, she decided to force it open.
She positioned the blade of her dagger into a vulnerable part of the lock, then applied pressure with a firm, steady hand. With a creaking groan, the lock snapped open, breaking under the strain.
Maya gently lifted the hatch, revealing a narrow ladder that spiraled down into darkness. She peered down the ladder, but even with her enhanced vision, it was hard to make out what was at the bottom. Part of her considered going down to see what was inside, but she wasn't quite sure if that was the best decision.
That was, until she heard the sound of footsteps approaching from afar. Immediately, the Shapestealer decided to slip through the hatch, closing it quietly behind her, and began to descend the ladder.