They went lower and lower, and with each step, the fortress became stranger.
The sections above had been brutally loud, filled with soldiers running from one disaster to the next through narrow paths. Down here, the corridors were wider and taller than Eirwen expected, tall enough for even Varkos to move without lowering his head, yet they felt abandoned and empty. Black stone arches rose overhead, ice and frost hanging from them, and thick iron ribs crossed the ceiling at regular intervals, reinforcing the whole thing even further.
At some point—Gods knew how many eons ago—this tunnel had obviously led outside.
The floor was worn down in the middle by something that had passed through it for years. Maybe back when the fortress had first been found, this had been a proper passage. Maybe it had been used for supplies or sending out scouting parties. Whatever it was, even Eirwen understood that having such an entrance was stupid.
Because at some point, the Nightmare Creatures must have started throwing themselves at the fortress, so the tunnel had to be closed.
And apparently, nothing had managed to breach it until now.
Eirwen looked toward the distant red light flickering from a torch at the end of the passage and clicked his tongue. 'Of course it happens while I'm here.'
Leviathan stirred somewhere deep inside his Soul Sea. 'You attract disaster.'
'You are by far the worst disaster I attracted then!' he barked back inside his mind.
Varkos did not speak as he led them forward. His black armour made a low, grinding sound with every step, the gigantic plates shifting over each other like parts of some mechanical monster. His axe rested over one shoulder, the dull and jagged grey blade angled away from the walls.
Seraphiel walked beside Eirwen. He looked better than before, but not comfortable. The bluish tint on his face had faded, yet his breathing was still too controlled, like he was forcing himself to seem recovered and ready.
Meanwhile, the sound ahead grew clearer.
It was not the endless shrieking of a swarm. There were fewer noises, but heavier ones. Something wet dragged across stone, a man shouted, then his voice broke into a gurgle before being swallowed by something snapping shut.
The final archway opened into a long outer tunnel.
Blood covered nearly every surface. Some of it was red, some black, some a pale grey colour that steamed in the cold air. Broken bodies lay near overturned barricades, their armour torn open, their limbs twisted or missing. Human intestines had been dragged across the floor in long wet lines, mixing with shattered shell, broken spikes, and clumps of pale flesh. The old sealed gate at the far end had been crushed inward, three of its black metal plates bent like soft wax. Snow and freezing air leaked through the cracks, carrying a creepy howl with them.
Nightmare Creatures had already entered, and one of them stood near the left barricade.
It resembled a hound, tall, lean, and covered in pale grey hide stretched over hard muscle. Black spikes grew from its spine, shoulders, and forelegs, each one dripping with greenish fluid that hissed wherever it fell onto the bloody floor. Its head was narrow and skull-like, with no eyes whatsoever. Its mouth opened far too wide, showing rows of serrated teeth stained with blood.
Another was chewing through a soldier near the right wall, and a third stood on top of a barricade, head low, spikes raised.
Eirwen's eyes widened, and he was ready to step forward into the battle when the bodies suddenly started to move.
A dead man near the center of the tunnel twitched once, then planted a broken hand against the floor. Another corpse dragged itself upright, half its face missing, head hanging uselessly. Two more bodies rose near the breach, limbs jerking as if something above them was pulling invisible strings.
Eirwen looked up.
High above, clinging to the curved ceiling between two iron ribs, was a pale, almost human-shaped Nightmare Creature. Its limbs were too long, its body too thin, and its mouth split into four narrow sections that opened and closed slowly. From its fingers and throat hung dozens of white threads that stretched down into the corpses.
Varkos lowered his axe and said in a rough, painful voice, "Move."
The hound on the barricade sprang first.
Eirwen summoned [Hydra's Choice] before it reached him. The Memory formed in his right hand with a sharp flash, the longsword settling into his grip.
'Finally enough space for a sword!' Eirwen thought ecstatically.
The hound lunged for his throat, and Eirwen stepped into it and swung. [Hydra's Choice] cut upward from his right side, biting through the creature's lower jaw and tearing one side of its mouth open.
It did not die from that, though. Its body slammed into his chest hard enough to drive him back a few steps, and one of the spikes along its foreleg scraped across his left wrist.
The cut was shallow, but the effect was anything but.
The flesh around the wound tried to regenerate, failed, swelled, tore itself open again, and then tried to close once more. Pain shot up his arm, making him clench his teeth in frustration. The green substance hissed inside the wound, fighting his Flaw every time it tried to repair the damage.
'Taking the poison out will take too long,' he groaned, switching his silver longsword into his left hand. He lifted his poisoned wrist, then cut off the damaged part below the forearm with one clean slash.
The severed hand hit the floor with a wet slap, still twitching as the poison ate at it.
His stump sprayed blood for a heartbeat before bone, muscle, and skin started rebuilding themselves.
But the Gravehound came again, not waiting even a single second.
Eirwen met it one-handed, his golden eyes wide and his mind focused on one thing. [Hydra's Choice] swept low, forcing the creature to jump, and his right hand was already reforming as it landed. He drove his knee upward and pushed his Essence into Steel Shroud.
The edge extended from the joint and punched into the creature's chest, forcing the Nightmare Creature to shriek. Eirwen ripped his knee free, caught [Hydra's Choice] properly as his new fingers finished forming, and brought the longsword down through the side of its neck.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon: Gravehound.]
[You have consumed a Soul!]
[Devour the Flesh for more!]
The second Gravehound hit Seraphiel before Eirwen could even collect himself.
Seraphiel's chained short sword flashed out and cut across its face, but the creature slammed into him anyway. Or at least it tried to.
Instead of hitting the Dreamer, it struck an invisible barrier.
He stepped back and flicked his wrist, letting the chain wrap around one of its forelegs before pulling just enough to ruin its balance. The hound crashed into the gore-covered floor, spikes scraping green lines across the stone.
Noticing the opening, Eirwen dashed forward to finish it.
But just as he covered a step, a corpse stumbled into his path.
It had once been an Awakened—maybe still alive a minute ago—but now pale threads sank into its shoulders, wrists, and neck, jerking it forward like a marionette. It raised a broken sword and swung at him, and Eirwen did not hesitate. He did not waste a single thought on the morality of fighting the corpse of a human.
[Hydra's Choice] moved in a clean arc and cut the corpse from shoulder to hip. The two halves fell apart, still twitching as the threads pulled uselessly at ruined meat.
Another puppet lunged from the side, its jaw missing, fingers reaching for his throat. Eirwen stepped in and crushed its chest with his knee before stabbing through its neck.
'How annoying!' he scoffed.
The delay had cost him, since the Gravehound near Seraphiel twisted and raked its spikes across Eirwen's left thigh.
Of course it just had to hit him while trying to get Seraphiel.
The poison entered deep immediately.
His leg tried to heal and began tearing itself apart from the inside. Muscle swelled, skin split, closed, split again, and the pain nearly forced him down to his knees. Eirwen cursed and cut off the poisoned leg above the knee, slicing even through Steel Shroud with ease.
He fell hard, his shoulder hitting the gore-covered floor and sliding through blood and bits of organs, but the poison went with the severed limb. Bone pushed from the stump a second later, muscle wrapping around it in red ropes as his leg rebuilt itself.
The Gravehound lunged at his face while he was still down, switching its attention from Seraphiel to him.
Eirwen rolled under the bite, shoved [Hydra's Choice] upward, and drove the blade through the creature's open mouth. The tip punched out through the back of its skull. He twisted the sword until the inside of its head tore apart.
[You have slain an Awakened Demon: Gravehound.]
[You have consumed a Soul!]
[Devour the Flesh for more!]
His new leg finished forming with a disgusting series of wet cracks as Eirwen pushed himself upright, breathing hard.
The Nightmare Creature on the ceiling, meanwhile, started to move as more corpses rose.
A wounded soldier near him screamed as a thread pierced his shoulder and dragged him backward across the floor. His nails broke against the stone as he tried to hold on, but another thread sank into his cheek and pulled his head up.
Eirwen saw the fear in the man's eyes, but he swung anyway, and [Hydra's Choice] cut through the soldier's neck before the body could be used against him.
The head rolled across the floor, still wearing an expression of panic.
[You have slain an Awakened human]
[You have consumed a Soul]
[You have obtained some of the Soul's possessions]
[Devour the Flesh for more]