The moment they stepped through the rift, everything changed.
The air was thick with void mana, oppressive and foul. The sky above twisted in unnatural shades of violet, and the land beneath their feet was a jagged, rotting mockery of the natural world—ashen grass, blackened trees, and twisted stone paths that shifted when you weren't looking.
Reynar grimaced, the weight of the atmosphere pressing down on his chest like a boulder.
"Void resistance enchantments holding?" Liora asked beside him.
"Barely," he replied, already feeling the faint ache in his joints. "Let's not waste time."
They advanced carefully, following a trail of floating, fragmented ruins. Strange beasts lurked between them—shadowy, semi-transparent, constantly twitching as though caught between two worlds. It didn't take long before the first of them struck.
A creature lunged from the mist—a panther-like voidspawn, its body stitched from overlapping mouths and jagged limbs. Reynar didn't hesitate. His blade ignited with shadow-resistant energy, cutting through the creature's chest in one clean arc. Behind him, Liora's knives danced in a blur of steel and wind magic, shredding a second beast before it could leap.
The battle was fast, brutal… but they were faster.
They stood back to back, panting.
"We're stronger than before," Reynar said, catching his breath.
"Don't let it go to your head," Liora replied, though there was a flicker of pride in her voice.
They continued forward, deeper into the rift—unaware that their steps echoed in ears that didn't belong to monsters.
Deeper in the Rift – Sylvie
Sylvie crouched on a crumbling ledge high above a void-choked corridor, her eyes narrowed as she watched the distant figures below carve through another swarm of beasts.
Them.
Liora and Reynar fought in perfect sync—his blade cleaving through bulk while her magic-infused knives struck with pinpoint precision. They weren't flawless, but they moved with trust. Like equals.
She hated how that made her feel.
She turned away, pressing deeper into the dungeon. Her limbs ached, blood crusting over one side of her tunic, but she pushed forward. The sanctum wasn't far now. She could feel the distortion of space narrowing.
And yet… her thoughts wouldn't quiet.
Reynar's eyes when he defended Liora. Liora's voice when she shouted his name. The way they moved, argued, laughed—even in the middle of a battlefield.
Free.
They didn't have collars. They didn't report to a shadowed throne. They didn't flinch every time someone raised a hand near them.
They chose each other.
That's what made her chest twist.
She gritted her teeth. I don't need anyone. I've always survived alone.
But the truth gnawed at her like a parasite. She didn't want to just survive anymore.
Not like this.
[System Notification]Warning: Dungeon Sanctum Proximity – Elite Voidspawn Detected.Time to Collapse: 72 Hours.
Back in the ruins below, Reynar wiped sweat from his brow, his system screen blinking low-level alerts from the last battle.
"They're getting tougher," he muttered.
Liora nodded, frowning. "And the distortion's increasing. We're close to the sanctum."
He glanced upward, to the twisting layers of shattered sky. "Do you ever feel like something's watching us?"
Liora's hand went to her blade. "I've been feeling that since we entered."
High above them, Sylvie watched again.
But this time… her fingers trembled.
She didn't understand why.