The air was thick with the stench of scorched stone and fading abyssal mist. Kael's heart pounded in his chest as he stepped over the crumbling remains of the tunnel, his boots crunching against loose debris. The collapse behind them had sealed off their retreat.

  There was no turning back.

  Phantom scouted ahead, his rifle’s barrel glowing faintly from the heat of recent fire. "We need to find an exit before this whole place caves in."

  Elysia kept close, her fingers still pulsing with residual magic. "And before more of those things show up."

  The prisoner remained silent as it followed them, moving with an eerie stillness that made it seem more like a specter than a living being. Its glowing violet eyes never wavered, scanning the path ahead with unreadable intent.

  Kael shot a glance at the figure. "What did you mean before? That your strength is nothing against what’s coming?"

  The prisoner finally spoke, its voice layered with an unnatural resonance. "The abyss has waited. It is patient. I held it back before, but it was not defeated. It has only been growing."

  Lyria scoffed. "Growing? What, like an infection?"

  The prisoner did not answer, but Kael could see the tension in its stance. It wasn’t just speaking in riddles—this was a warning.

  And it was too late to stop what had already begun.

  The tunnel opened into a vast chamber, its ceiling lost in darkness. Massive stone pillars stretched upward, supporting what looked like the remains of an ancient stronghold. Walls bore deep claw marks, and shattered chains lay scattered across the floor—remnants of past battles.

  But what caught Kael’s attention was the massive gate at the far end.

  It had once been sealed, covered in layers of intricate runes. Now, those runes were shattered, their glow extinguished. The gate itself hung slightly ajar, a sliver of darkness leaking through the gap like a wound in reality.

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  Aldric cursed. "Looks like something got out before we even got here."

  Elysia approached the gate cautiously, tracing her fingers over the ruined sigils. "This wasn’t just broken—it was consumed."

  Kael felt a chill crawl up his spine. "By what?"

  The prisoner’s voice was solemn. "A herald."

  The moment the words left its lips, the chamber trembled.

  From the gate, the darkness moved.

  A low, guttural growl rumbled through the chamber as a form emerged from the blackness beyond the gate. It was massive—easily three times the size of a man—its body a writhing mass of shadow and corrupted flesh. A jagged, bone-like mask covered its face, cracked with glowing veins of abyssal energy.

  Its hollow gaze locked onto them.

  Then it charged.

  Kael barely had time to react before the thing was upon them. He dove aside as a massive claw slammed into the ground where he had been standing, shattering the stone floor. Dust and debris exploded outward.

  Phantom fired, his rifle’s energy rounds tearing through the air. The shots struck true, searing into the creature’s form—but it barely staggered.

  Lyria rolled into position, knives flashing as she hurled them toward the beast’s exposed joints. The blades struck, but the abyssal corruption swallowed them whole.

  "Damn it!" she snarled. "It’s eating everything we throw at it!"

  Elysia raised her staff. "Not everything."

  A surge of pure arcane energy erupted from her hands, slamming into the beast’s chest. It reeled back, its mask cracking further—but it did not fall.

  Instead, it laughed.

  A deep, distorted sound that sent ice through Kael’s veins.

  The prisoner stepped forward. "You will not leave this place."

  The herald let out a guttural snarl. "You… are weak. A shade of what you once were."

  The air around the prisoner rippled. For the first time, Kael saw something else in those glowing violet eyes—not just power, but rage.

  Then the prisoner raised its hands.

  A sudden shockwave blasted outward, forcing Kael and the others back. The air grew impossibly heavy, thick with unseen energy as the prisoner’s form began to change. The tattered robes disintegrated into particles of violet light, revealing an armored figure beneath—gleaming, ancient metal inscribed with sigils long forgotten. Chains still wrapped around its arms, but now they burned with raw, untamed energy.

  The herald hesitated.

  "You should have remained sealed," it rasped.

  The prisoner lifted a hand.

  "Perhaps. But now… you will be."

  The entire chamber erupted in light.