Wade's lungs burned.

The press of Reflective Wraiths over him was suffocating. To him, it was a writhing, slashing mass of glass and shadows clawing to tear him apart.

Their shrieks filled his ears, a chorus of distorted voices echoing through the crystalline garden. Their claws tore at his armor, and he could feel the metal grinding under the pressure.

His muscles screamed with effort as he tried to move.

"Not…" he gritted his teeth, blood running from a fresh gash across his forehead, "…today."

Wade clenched his teeth, and activated the best skill for this scenario.

Fireburst.

The explosion tore through the pile like a bomb.

Flames erupted from Wade's body in a violent, expanding wave, blasting away the pile of wraiths that buried him.

Glass and shards exploded outward, the garden briefly illuminated in searing orange.

The wraiths that had been directly upon him shattered on impact, and the ones that had been above the pile screeched as they were hurled across the clearing.

Their bodies burst into clouds of glowing fragments an instant later from the force.

Wade stood slowly from the inferno, smoke rising off his armor.

His hair was singed, his face streaked with ash and blood. A deep cut ran from his left brow down to his cheek, warm blood sliding past his jawline and dripping onto his breastplate.

He wiped it with the back of his hand, blinking hard.

The wound stung like hell with his left eye barely opening, though still intact. He exhaled shakily, relief barely cutting through the adrenaline pumping through him.

"Lucky," he muttered to himself. "Could've lost the damn thing."

Another shriek tore through the air. Wade's gaze snapped forward.

A new wave of wraiths emerged from the shattered treeline, their blue eyes glowing brighter in the smoke-filled haze.

Their mirrored bodies reflected the fire that still burned along the ground, turning them into living torches of light.

Wade raised Toothpick. "Alright then…" he growled.

He surged forward.

The nearest wraith lunged, and Wade's swing met it in the air, the hammer end smashing straight into its chest. The impact shattered its torso, glass fragments scattering like confetti.

Another came from his flank, claws slicing toward his ribs. Wade twisted, ducked low, and slammed his elbow backward, catching it in the side of the head before finishing with an overhead swing that split it in half.

Every strike felt like thunder in his arms. Every swing shattered another monster.

Two Reflective Wraiths lunged at him together, trying to flank him from both sides. Wade teleported, vanishing between their claws in a blink and reappearing behind them.

Toothpick arced in a vicious sweep. Both wraiths shattered at once, their remains glimmering faintly as they faded.

Another wave surged from the reflecting pool at the garden's center. Wade swung his axe like a comet, flames flaring from his weapon as he activated Fireburst again, this time channeled through the attack.

Each impact left trails of fire that clung to the wraiths like tar, melting through their mirrored hides.

He moved like a whirlwind, teleporting between clusters of enemies.

One moment, he was in the thick of them, the next, gone, only to reappear behind another pack and crush them before they could turn.

But there was a problem. The wraiths kept coming.

They crawled from every direction, materializing from the mirrored surfaces of the garden walls, the fountains, the statues, even from shards of broken glass lying on the ground.

The mirrors themselves were like portals.

Wade realized it as he saw one emerge halfway out of a cracked mirror on the floor. "So that's how you bastards keep spawning."

He swung his axe, shattering the mirror, and immediately, the wraiths that had been forming inside it froze, their reflections fading away.

A grim smile crept across Wade's face. "Got you."

He turned, surveying the battlefield.

There were mirrors everywhere, lining the walls, embedded in the fountain, forming the base of the trees.

"Guess it's time to wreck the place."

He teleported across the garden, smashing every mirror he could reach. His axe shattered the surfaces with deafening crashes, each impact followed by a ripple of blue light and a shriek from the wraiths tied to that portal.

"Fireburst!"

Flames erupted with each strike, melting glass and warping the once-perfect reflections into molten puddles.

The ground steamed, smoke rising thickly into the air.

Wade moved like a storm, from one mirrored surface to the other.

The wraiths tried to intercept him, but he couldn't be stopped. Every time they lunged, he blinked behind them, and every time they reappeared, he reduced their entry point to rubble.

He smashed through another panel with a downward swing, fire erupting in a cone around him. The shards fell like glowing snow, hissing as they hit the burning ground.

When the final wall gave way, the shimmering flow of wraiths slowed, then stopped altogether. Only the remaining wraiths, cut off from their source, still fought.

They rushed him, the rest of the party facing their own waves of wraiths.

Wade grinned, blood dripping from his chin as he raised Toothpick one more time.

He surged forward, his body moving like a blur. His axe crashed into one wraith, sending it flying into another.

He ducked under a slash, brought his weapon around in a brutal side swing, and shattered three more. The sound was like breaking ice, loud and satisfying.

One managed to leap onto his back, claws scraping uselessly against his armor.

Wade teleported upward, appearing in the air above the garden. The creature lost its grip, plummeting to the ground and shattering into dust.

Just as he began to fall, he extended his arms.

Bone erupted from his back, unfurling into massive skeletal wings.

He looked down, smirking through the blood streaking his face. He stretched his hand forward, gathering the necessary mana.

"Let's light this up."

The flames answered, swirling around his arm in a vortex of red and gold.

Then he spun in midair.

Fireburst.

The explosion that followed wasn't a burst, it was a descending inferno.

A massive cone of fire spiraled down from his body, sweeping across the garden below.

The flames engulfed the wraiths, consuming them where they stood.

Their mirrored bodies melted under the heat, collapsing into pools of glass that hissed and bubbled before fading entirely.

The shockwave hit a second later, scattering ashes and embers into the air.

Wade hovered above it all, wings spread wide, his body outlined against the blaze.

For a long moment, there was nothing but the crackle of dying fire.

Then there was a soft woosh.

Wade landed slowly, the wings folding back into his spine with a faint crackle of bone. He straightened, exhaling at the sight.

The garden was unrecognizable. It had become a wasteland of smoke, heat, and shattered reflections.

The once beautiful crystalline trees were scorched black, their glass branches twisted and melted.

The fountain had collapsed entirely, its glowing water now a bubbling pit of molten stone.

He stood there, surrounded by the carnage, chest heaving, blood still dripping from his wounded eye.

"I guess that's the story the dungeon was trying to tell."

He chuckled.

"Close the damn portals."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.