SILENTLY.

Sophia barely blocked in time.Even the impact made no noise.

"This is bad… I can't hear anything…"

She strained to listen—

But there was nothing to hear.

Then she realized:

I don't need sound.I need rhythm.

She closed her eyes.

Felt the air pressure shift.Felt her heartbeat steady.Felt the floor under her shoes vibrate when the Shade moved.

It flickered again.

Sophia rotated her staff—

And struck it squarely in the chest.

A shockwave of silent force shattered it.

Sophia opened her eyes, smiling faintly."No sound needed."

The corridor cleared.

Rhys walked alone down the shifting corridor.

The whispers faded.

The walls straightened.

Everything turned—

still.

No sound.

No illusions.

No monsters.

Just silence.

Too much silence.

His weakness, the dungeon knew well:

He lives by motion.

By reacting.

By reading the flow of battle.

But here—

Nothing moved.

Not even the air.

A shape formed ahead.

A humanoid — blurry, unmoving, like a statue carved from shadow.

Then—

It moved.

Instantly.

A blur of darkness, silent and deadly.

Rhys swung Runius, sparks dancing as he barely parried.

The Shadow stilled.

Completely motionless again.

Rhys strained, waiting for the next attack—

It didn't come.

And that was the trap.

His instincts screamed at him.

He moved first—

And the Shadow reacted instantly.

It used his own motion

Against him.

Rhys grit his teeth. "So that's the gimmick… If I move, it moves."

He steadied his breath.

Lowered Runius.

And went completely still.

The shadow twitched—

Confused.

Rhys whispered, "Your turn."

It lunged—

Fast, predictable in its single action.

Rhys moved at the same instant—

One perfect slash.

Runius cut through the figure, splitting it in half.

It dissolved.

Silence returned.

But now—

A doorway waited.

And Rhys stepped through.

Each path ended.

Each corridor curved toward a single point.

And the mist walls began to crumble.

As the Door to the final chamber was opened.

Rhys stepped forward first, Runius lowered but ready.

A second later—

"RHYS!" Aria came stumbling out of a fading corridor, hair sticking up like she'd fought the fog itself. "If I had to fight one more sniffer-dog in there—I swear—!"

Sophia walked out next, gripping her staff. "Not being able to hear anything was… awful."

Caria followed last, calm but clearly tired. "My illusion copy was frustrating."

Rhys blinked. "…Wait. You all had monsters?"

Aria stared at him. "Don't tell me you didn't."

Rhys rubbed his cheek. "…Mine was weird."

Sophia sighed. "Figures."

Before they could talk more, Aria pointed forward. "Forget that—look."

The mist pulled back, revealing a huge stone archway.

The Final Door

The chamber they'd entered was round, with glowing lines on the floor all leading to a massive stone door ahead.

This door was different from all the others.

Two giant slabs of stone stood together, covered in shifting patterns.

At the center was an emblem shaped like a closed eye.

Sophia whispered, "That's the boss seal."

Caria stepped closer. "Since we passed the three trials, it's opening for us."

Aria cracked her knuckles. "Good. After all that nonsense, I'm ready for something I can actually hit."

Rhys walked up and placed his hand on the door.

Immediately—

THUD.

A heavy pulse shook the room.

The eye-shaped emblem slowly opened, glowing pale white.

Mist pulled away from the door as it began to move, stone grinding loud and slow.

The air grew colder.

Sophia held her staff tight. "Everyone ready?"

Caria drew her daggers. "Stay alert."

Aria grinned. "Let the boss try something. I'm ready."

Rhys lifted Runius. "Then let's go."

The door finally opened wide.

Inside was a large dark room, thick with moving mist—

and a single shadowy figure waiting at the center.

Rhys took a step.

"Time to end this."

They entered together.

The final boss waited for them.

As the four stepped inside, the mist curled around their feet like living smoke. The chamber stretched out wider than it looked from the outside — easily the size of a training field. The ceiling vanished into darkness, and the floor was covered in faint glowing runes forming a giant circle.

In the center of that circle…

A figure stood unmoving.

Tall.

Thin.

Almost human-shaped.

Its body made of mist wrapped around a faint, dim core.

Caria whispered, "That's not a monster… that's a construct."

Sophia corrected softly, "No… that's a Warden."

The figure's head lifted — two hollow, empty eye sockets staring straight at them.

Aria stepped back. "Okay, creepy."

Rhys raised Runius. "Here it comes."

The runes under their feet lit up sharply—

And the shadow suddenly broke apart.

Like pieces of a puzzle peeling away.

What stood in its place was its true form:

A towering eight-foot creature with a body made of shifting vapor and armor formed from hardened fog. Four ghost-like arms drifted behind it, moving independently.

Its "face" was a smooth mask with a single eye-shaped crack in the center.

The moment its core flared with white light—

The runes around the room locked into place.

"Phase One!" Caria shouted.

Valecran moved first.

It didn't run.

It glided — instantly closing the distance.

A spectral hand shot toward Rhys' chest.

He blocked—The impact sent him sliding back three steps.

"Hard hitter!" Rhys shouted.

Aria dashed in, slashing at its side. Her blade passed through harmless mist—

Then hit solid fog-armor hiding beneath.

CLANG!

"It's got real armor under the smoke?!" she yelled.

Sophia fired a burst of pure kinetic force from her staff. It hit Valecran's mask—

The eye-crack widened.

Rhys understood. "Aim for the mask!"

Valecran roared — the sound like ten voices echoing at once — and its four ghost-arms stretched outward.

The room warped.

Mist surged up, forming dozens of humanoid shapes.

Mirages.

"Fake enemies incoming!" Aria shouted.

Caria was already moving. "They'll distract us — focus only on the one with the glowing core!"

Rhys charged Valecran again, dodging a sweeping arm. He swung Runius in a heavy arc, cutting into the creature's side—

Mist burst out like smoke, but the Warden didn't falter.

Instead—

Valecran slammed its palm to the ground.

The whole room shook.

Pillars of condensed fog shot up from the floor.

Sophia screamed, "Move!"

They barely dodged as spikes erupted where they had been standing.

Aria cursed, "This is only phase ONE?!"

Rhys grit his teeth, rushed in, and struck the mask—

The crack split wider.

Valecran staggered.

The runes flashed.

The mist thickened—

And Phase Two began.

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