CHAPTER 204: ENTERING THE DUNGEON

The stairwell wound down and down, a seemingly endless coil into the depths. The faint glow from the runes embedded in the steps was barely enough to see by, so Kai lifted his palm and whispered to himself.

"Illumination."

A sphere of white light bloomed into being, hovering just above his shoulder. Its glow pushed the shadows back in a trembling radius, revealing slick, damp walls of black-and-grey stone that seemed to pulse faintly, like veins under skin. The air was heavy, metallic, and still.

It was only when their boots hit level ground that Kai heard it.

A dry, hollow sound.

Clack... clack... clack...

The unmistakable rattle of bone on stone, growing louder. A sound every necromancer knew by heart.

’Skeleton.’

The noise echoed down one of the many corridors ahead. The tunnel split into a dozen intersections, each stretching into darkness, and from the leftmost came the sound.

Then, it appeared.

A skeleton stepped into the light, humanoid, its eye sockets glowing faintly blue. Its bones were yellowed and pitted with age, but its movements were steady, purposeful, not the jerky shamble of a raised thrall. In its bony hands it held a sword, and the blade blazed with the same blue hue, humming with stored magic. There was no armor. No shield. Just that blade and a slow, deliberate stance.

"Undead Enslavement!" Kai’s voice rang down the hall, his hand outstretched as tendrils of black light lashed outward.

The skeleton didn’t even twitch.

Instead, a whisper like static filled his head.

[A signal is interfering with your connection to Necromancy.]

Kai’s jaw tightened. ’Of course. An ancient necromancer’s tomb. Blocking other necromancers is the first thing I would’ve done if I built something like this.’

He reached for his shadow space. The familiar sensation of cool emptiness, his personal pocket of darkness, didn’t answer him.

[The same signal is blocking access to alternate dimension.]

The skeleton lunged forward, impossibly fast for its brittle frame.

"Fuck! Shade!"

Kai’s shadow surged to life, peeling off the ground and twisting into a humanoid blur. The Shade darted forward with blinding speed, a whisper of darkness that slashed through the skeleton in a dozen sweeping cuts. Bones scattered across the stone floor, the magical sword clattering down last.

Kai knelt, reaching for the weapon. As his fingers closed around the hilt, the glow winked out. The blade disintegrated into a drift of pale blue dust, scattering like ash in a breeze that wasn’t there.

"Of course." He let the dust fall from his fingers. "No loot. No drops. No experience. Just enemies. This place is like the worst kind of dungeon. Players would riot over something like this. At least throw in an ore vein, or some trash items to salvage!"

His voice echoed bitterly through the halls.

Kai’s breath came a little quicker. Not just from irritation. The corridors pressed in, low and narrow, and the weight of the mountain above felt heavier with every second. His pulse ticked in his ears, a faint tightness winding in his chest.

"What’s wrong?" Vepice asked, tilting her head.

Kai exhaled through his nose, steadying himself. "I can’t take control of any undead in here, and my shadow space is cut off. Which means no reinforcements. No storage. And no supplies."

"So... no food?" Vepice’s brow furrowed in mild distress.

Kai stared at her, deadpan. "That’s what you’re worried about?"

"Well, you don’t need food. But I do. I’m not a walking corpse. I’m sure in your last life you always wanted it, too!"

Kai rubbed his forehead. "... I guess. Pizza, chips, and-"

A sharp twang.

Kai’s instincts screamed. His head snapped to the side just as an arrow hissed past, close enough to tug at his hair. It clattered off the stone wall behind him.

He dropped low, eyes scanning the darkness.

Vepice crouched beside him. "What’s pizza?"

"Later, Vep!"

Kai narrowed his gaze. He couldn’t sense anything. His mana sense was... scrambled, like static filling his skull. The whole tomb reeked of concentrated mana, warped and twisted, making it impossible to distinguish one source from another.

He gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply.

A breath. A focus. Then, a growl of mana surged through him. Kai thrust his arm forward, exhaling in one sharp motion. A river of flame burst from his hand, a searing jet like a living flamethrower, roaring down the corridor. The heat painted the walls gold and orange, firelight carving into the suffocating dark.

The shadows shrieked and bent as something moved beyond the light.

The last of the flames guttered out, smoke curling along the tunnel walls and fading into the dark. The echoes of burning stone died away, leaving only the sound of their own breathing and the occasional drip... drip of water from somewhere above.

The arrows had stopped for now.

"We need to get out of here soon. I can’t fight at full strength and you’ll need food."

"Agreed. Let’s map out the layout somehow."

"I’m already doing it in my head. We’ll be fine. I won’t lead us around in circles."

Kai and Vepice crept forward, boots scraping against the stone floor, their footfalls sounding far louder than they should. Every shadow stretched unnaturally long, almost as if the walls themselves were watching them.

Then, without warning, a translucent film of faint blue light shimmered into existence in front of them. The surface rippled like water, blocking the passage ahead.

An instant later, another arrow flew. It grazed Kai’s cheek with surgical precision, leaving a thin, stinging line of red.

Beyond the glowing film, a skeleton archer stood poised, its bones glistening faintly in the eerie light. Its bow looked carved from some black, petrified wood, its string humming with mana. Behind it, a taller, robed figure floated slightly above the floor.

A lich.

The creature’s skeletal hands wove intricate signs, maintaining the translucent barrier between them and its thrall. Its empty eye sockets flickered with cold blue fire as it regarded Kai and Vepice like prey caught in a snare.

Kai clenched his jaw. "Of course. Always a lich."

He raised his arm, summoning a shield of his own. A dense, blackened barrier, reinforced by layered sigils, spread outward. Arrows clattered and shattered harmlessly against it as he advanced, step by deliberate step.

The lich’s barrier pulsed each time he drew closer, resisting him, almost pushing back with its own force.

When he finally reached it, Kai pressed his hand against the shimmering surface. Black tendrils of necrotic energy lashed from his palm, seeking to siphon the life essence sustaining it, his usual method of tearing through magical defenses.

Instead, the cold, clinical voice of the system echoed in his head.

[Absorbing Life Essence is not possible due to the signal.]

Kai’s fingers twitched against the barrier, his teeth bared.

"What else can’t I do in this damn place?!"

The only response was the echo of his own voice bouncing back down the empty hall.

Vepice flinched as a sharp crackling hum came from the stone beside them.

Before Kai could react, a bolt of lightning exploded out from a narrow slit in the wall. The jagged arc tore through the air and slammed into him. His defensive barrier, designed to deflect physical blows, not energy, might as well have been paper. The lightning sliced through, searing into his side with a sound like meat on a hot skillet.

Kai stumbled back, smoke rising from his scorched skin. The stench of burnt leather and charred flesh hung in the air.

"A trap," he hissed, steadying himself as he gritted his teeth through the pain. "These bastards built the whole place to kill intruders, not just stall them."

Vepice’s eyes darted around. "What can I do?"

Kai flexed his burned arm, glaring at the lich beyond the barrier. The skeleton archer had nocked another arrow, its movements steady and unhurried, as though it knew its time would come.

"Circle around," Kai said, his voice low and edged. "Take out the lich. Don’t stop moving. Don’t give it time to cast or summon more. Cut it to pieces until there’s nothing left but dust."

Vepice hesitated. "And you?"

Kai’s lips curled into a grim smile as he rolled his shoulders, drawing on every ounce of strengthening magic he had. His shadow stretched behind him, creeping along the floor like a coiled predator.

"I’ll handle the archer. And anything else that thinks they can take me on."

Vepice darted down the hall on the right side a few metres behind Kai. With any luck, she wouldn’t run into too much trouble. He’d go himself, but the lich and archer would probably be too much for Vepice alone.

Instead, he bombarded the barrier with extremely light spells to keep the Lich’s attention on him.

’She needs the element of surprise, or she won’t be able to pull this off...’

The lich’s barrier didn’t falter, or even weaken. It was as if the dungeon itself fuelled the barrier. If that was the case, Kai would run out of life essence long before the barrier was destroyed.

"Come at me, then! Is this all you’ve got?!"

Kai smiled, curling his fingers towards himself in a ’your turn, come her some’ gesture.