The Genesis Of A Necromancer - Chapter 110

Chapter 110: Trail 2
The staircase seemed to wind down into the bowels of the earth, leading them to some ancient, forgotten hell. Every step echoed through the confined space, bouncing off the damp, moss-covered walls. The air grew colder and heavier with each step, with a faint metallic tang clinging to their senses.

Jack glanced over his shoulder at Alisha, her staff clutched tight in her hands, its glow pulsing. Her face was stoic, but the flicker in her eyes, the doubt, mirrored the turmoil swirling in his stomach.

“Do you feel that?” she whispered, her voice cutting through the stifling silence.

Jack nodded, his voice low.

“Yeah. It feels. wrong.”

The torches along the walls sputtered, casting erratic, dancing shadows that seemed to move of their own accord

. It wasn’t just the darkness; it was the weight of the air, heavy with some malignant energy that pressed against them. Jack felt it crawling up his spine, an intangible force that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

‘The walls are alive,’ he thought grimly.

‘Waiting for us, watching for us to slip.’

And then, finally, the staircase flung open into a vast cathedral-like chamber. The space was stiflingly silent; the only sound was that of the crackle of torch flames licking the walls.

Jack’s breath caught as he took in the sight.

In the center of the room was a pedestal, on whose surface were cut strange, intertwining carvings that pulsed faintly with an otherworldly light.

The illumination itself was unnatural and cold—the artificial antithesis of the heavy darkness that had otherwise filled the room.

Jack narrowed his eyes, moving his feet cautiously forward. There was a subtle energy around the pedestal, one that felt both ancient and dangerous.

“There’s nothing here. except that,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.

Alisha joined him, her footsteps light but placed with deliberate care. Her staff shone dimly, its light fighting with the encroaching darkness that seemed to drink the chamber whole.

“Beautiful,” she breathed, letting her fingers move in a delicate touch over the carvings.

Her admiration turned almost immediately into unease as her hand withdrew, as if burned.

“And dangerous,” she added, her voice warning. “Be careful.”

“Dangerous is an understatement,” Jack muttered, his jaw tightening. He reached out an open hand toward the pedestal, calling up his energy, letting it churn inside him. The carvings began to shine with a fierier glow in response, vibrating at a low almost musical hum.

The instant his energy made contact, the pedestal flared, bathing the room in a blinding light. Jack threw a hand over his eyes, but even so, the light bit through to his brain.

An ancient, resonant voice echoed through the chamber, heavy with the weight of eons.

“Seekers of the forbidden path,” it intoned, each word echoing in their very bones, “your trials are far from over.”

As the light receded, the chamber changed. No longer were the walls blank, for they were etched with glowing, shifting symbols that seemed to twist and pulse like living things.

The pedestal, too, had changed. Its carvings now formed a labyrinthine map, the lines twisting and turning with a heartbeat of their own.

Jack clenched his fists as he turned to look at Alisha.

She was white, but not shaking, her hand tight on the staff.

“Well, that’s ominous,” Jack said, his voice laced with unease.

“It’s a test,” Alisha said, her voice level but firm.

“And we are not leaving until we pass it.”.

Just before Jack could speak, he was interrupted by a sudden flow of energy that, to the middle of the floor, swirled—churning into something indistinct at its centre.

It was facing them, its form composed from shadows that were only nominally humanoid. He clasped in his clawed hand a scythe—big and shining, full of dull menace.

Jack’s and Alisha’s gazes hardened, but it was Missy who finally spoke up.

“Isn’t that the same figure from the previous room?” she asked, her soft voice tinged with confusion. Her cheeks were flushed, her earlier exhaustion replaced with a measure of renewed strength.

Jack nodded, the system screen blinking to life in front of him as if to confirm their suspicions.

[Death]

‘So it’s the same figure. but what’s different this time?’ Jack’s mind was racing as he studied the creature. The glowing map lay behind it, tantalizingly close yet completely out of reach.

“To get that map, we’ll need to fight it,” Jack muttered, his gaze sharpening.

Alisha’s staff hummed in her hand, its light flashing once as if in response to her determination. But even as she steeled herself, Nephris’s voice whispered through her mind, a subtle caution:.

“Lady Alisha, you’re using too much karma. The strain on your body is becoming critical. Please exercise caution.”

“I know, Nephris,” Alisha replied aloud, her voice steady. “I’ll be careful.”

The shadowy figure moved, its shape rippling as if it were liquid. Its blank stare swept across them, pausing at Alisha before finding Jack. It slowly pulled up its scythe in a leisurely arc and cut the air.

WHOOSH.

A crimson wave shot from the sword and flew straight toward them with all the strength of a bursting dam, sending the air into palpable crackling, and from sheer force, Jack and Alisha instinctively acted at the same moment.

Alisha slammed her staff into the ground, and a barrier of glowing energy enveloped her and Missy. The energy struck it, splintering into shards of red light that dissipated into the air.

Meanwhile, Jack waved his hand in a forward direction, and a thick shroud of shadows rose to protect him.

The wave hit hard, tearing through his shielding in an instant. He dodged to the side just in time, but not quite quickly enough. Rolling onto his feet again, he felt a thin stinging on his cheek—a small scratch from some lingering energy.

“I see. well, that’s how it is, then,” Jack muttered, his voice grim.

‘This one uses aura manipulation. the last one didn’t,’ he realised, a shiver working its way up his spine.

‘That’s why the first was easier. This one. it’s mastered aura control.’ The thought sent a shiver through him. He stole a glance at Alisha, still standing firm as the tension in her eyes betrayed what her expression did not.

The shadowy figure moved again, this time more swiftly. Its scythe cut the air with deadly grace as crisscrossing arcs of crimson energy were set free in the chamber.

Jack and Alisha parried and riposted in unison now, out of necessity. But the creature would not relent, on the contrary, growing more ferocious by the second; Jack’s mana was drawn to the last drop, with little realistic hope it could regenerate his expectations in time.

Alisha’s glow dwindled down further, the girl now panting heavily, herself pressed to her absolute limits of capability.

The shadow came forward, its presence suffocating. Jack gritted his teeth and flared with determination in his eyes.

“We’re not losing,” he growled, summoning the last reserves of his strength.

‘Aw, shit’ Jack thought as his grip tensed, ‘If I’ve got no mana points left, then I’m gonna have to fight it… with my fucking weapon’

His teeth were gritted as he felt the Shadowfang, his ever-loyal enchanted dagger, appear in his palm.

It throbbed with a muted, tenebrous vibrance that buzzed in osmosis with the silhouette standing before him.

“Alisha!” he barked, his tone brittle and demanding.

“Get the map. If I’m right, this thing’s only reason to exist is to protect it. Once you get it, it’s game over.”

Alisha hesitated for a heartbeat, looking back and forth between Jack and the sinister figure.

“Try to be careful,” she said, voice tight with concern, finally nodding and running toward the pedestal at the far end of the chamber.

Jack’s jaw clenched even tighter as he saw her leave.

‘I hope I’m right about my speculations,” he thought darkly. His gaze returned to the sentinel—a lumbering mass of darkness that exuded malice.

Its massive scythe winked an otherworldly red, the thing remained still, almost as if to see through his intentions.

He took a deep breath, bracing himself, then sprang forward. His feet blasted off the stone floor with such force that dust and debris flew. The earth creaked under him, an impression of the force that was his speed.

The figure in the shadow reacted immediately. Its scythe arced wide, attempting to collide with him in mid-air.

But Jack was prepared. He threw Shadowfang at the creature with a flick of his wrist. The dagger flew through the air like a black comet with a razored edge.

The scythe clashed with the dagger with a loud clang, where lightning sparked out from the impact.

The soles of Jack’s shoes met Earth with a thud as he ground to a stop, adrenaline coursing through his fingers from the pressure of the collision that echoed across the landscape.

“That thing’s got insane strength,” Jack thought, gritting his teeth as his palms ached.

The thing cocked its head, as if taunting him. It moved a little, its blurry shape rippling the way the surface of a pond does. He could sense the oppressive aura radiating from it, a tell that whoever was standing before him was no ordinary foe.

His stance squared as Shadowfang manifested back into his grasp with a muted pulse of shadowy energy as he flexed his fingers around its hilt.

‘I’m just an enchanter tier swordsman. I should not even be considering trying to go toe-to-toe with a sentinel, let alone an aura manipulating one,’ Jack thought, his mind racing as he was running the numbers.

But then a smile stole over his face, fierce and defiant.

‘But I am not your everyday swordsman. I’m a battle mage.’

With that, he roared, and the sound bounced around the chamber.

“You think I’m out of tricks? Guess what, shadow freak—you’re made of darkness, and lucky for you, that’s my element!”

Seizing the opportunity, Jack burst into motion, activating [Dash], and appearing in a blur behind the sentinel. The dagger glowed dimly as he cut down, the blade passing through the creature’s cloak-body.

The sentinel froze momentarily, its head inclining downward as it inspected the rent in its build. Scurryimgs flitted about around the wound, as if trying to close it.

But nothing happened.

Jack staggered back, chest heaving, a triumphant grin on his face. Shadowfang gleamed in his palm, its blade smeared with dark swirling tendrils, remnants of the sentinel’s own essence.

“It worked,” thought Jack, his heart thrumming with excitement. ‘This thing’s body is shadows, and Shadowfang and my power will soak up shadow energy like a sponge.”

The sentinel turned to face him, its faceless form radiating pure rage.

Sensing slight weakness, its scythe flashed with a vicious crimson hue, and the temperature around the chamber plummeted.

Jack’s smirk bloomed into a grin, the glint in his eye dark and dangerously sharp.

‘I’m not on the offensive anymore, and I have little mana, but as long as this thing keeps feeding me shadows, I’ll win.’