I looked at Sare, my fists tightening until my knuckles burned, nails biting into my palms as if pain might ground me.
"How many?" I asked, my voice low.
She didn't answer immediately. Her gaze drifted past me, toward the darkness swallowing the forest, her brow slowly drawing together.
"Everything we don't need to kill," she said. "If it's just the entrance, we can hold it."
Then she hesitated. "But that place… that's the den of the strongest monster here."
Trace straightened at once, tension snapping through her like a drawn blade.
"Then we kill it," she said. "It's nighttime. We need somewhere to stay."
The words hit me hard. I slouched, dragging a hand down my face, dread coiling tight in my chest.
"We'll die," I said. "We have a better chance turning back than fighting that thing."
I swallowed. "We're only Touched rank."
Trace turned to me, her eyes bright with certainty—too steady, too sure.
"We aren't normal Touched," she said. "You killed a high-ranking monster."
"I got lucky," I cut in, the words spilling out sharp and raw, fear bleeding through despite my effort to bury it. "That wasn't strength. That wasn't control."
"In battle," Trace replied evenly, stepping closer, "there's no such thing as luck. Only skill. Only instinct."
Her gaze didn't waver. "That's what I've been trying to teach you."
My jaw tightened. My pulse roared in my ears.
Sare stepped forward before the silence could break us. She studied us both, calm but intent, as if she were already weighing outcomes only she could see.
"It should be possible," she said softly. "Risky—but possible."
Her eyes met mine. "If you can get me close enough, I can paralyze it."
She shifted her attention between us.
"After that, you deliver the killing blow."
The weight of it settled deep in my chest. I exhaled slowly, shoulders sagging as resistance finally drained away.
"…Damn it," I muttered. "I guess I'm outvoted."
I straightened, forcing my fear down, meeting their eyes.
"So," I said, "what's the plan?"
Sare turned toward us, her presence sharpening the air. Even behind the blindfold, her gaze felt like it pierced straight through flesh and thought alike—eyes like daggers aimed at our very existence.
"You both stall it," she said coldly. "Create an opening."
Her head tilted slightly.
"I strike the heart. That's its weakness. It's the fastest way for the venom to work—instant."
I stiffened. "So you need us to get you a direct hit?"
I glanced at Trace. "She doesn't even have a weapon."
"Yes," Sare replied immediately, as if she'd already accounted for that flaw. "That is why this will be the hardest role."
Her voice remained steady, mercilessly precise.
"You will protect her from fatal injuries. Block any attack she cannot dodge—with your sword."
A pause.
"And you will protect yourself."
I let out a long breath, the weight of her words finally crashing down on me.
"So," I said quietly, "you want me responsible for both our lives."
Before Sare could answer, Trace grabbed my arm. Her grip was firm, grounding. When I looked at her, her eyes glowed faintly—as if they were seeing something just beyond the present.
"I trust you, Asher."
My reflection stared back at me from her gaze—my own empty grey eyes, steady but hollow, resolve and doubt clashing in silence.
"…Fine," I said at last. "And after we kill it—how do we survive the night?"
Sare answered without hesitation.
"Other monsters will not enter that den once it's claimed."
She turned slightly, indicating the ruins beyond.
"If necessary, we can draw them out one by one for food. There's also a lake outside the ruined temple."
Her voice softened just a fraction.
"We will endure."
We neared the temple, the entrance gate rising at least thirty feet above us—black marble veined with age, cracked and worn as if it had stood for centuries.
I pushed the gate open.
The echo rang once—deep and hollow—and then stopped.
Something noticed us.
From the darkness beyond the threshold, the Hollow beast stepped forward.
It stood nearly ten feet tall.
A silver saber rested in its grasp, pristine and glistening despite the rot around it. The creature held it with the stillness of a sentry, not a beast—like a guardian standing watch over a forgotten throne.
Shadowed flames crawled across its form, clinging to a body that was almost human. Almost. The proportions were wrong, the stillness too deliberate. It looked dead—yet it breathed, each motion slow and heavy, as if existence itself weighed on it.
I couldn't tell what it had once been.
Only what it was now.
A Sentinel of the Hollow.
It charged.
Not with a roar—but with intent.
The Sentinel crossed the distance in an instant, shadowed flames trailing behind it as it swung its saber in a brutal sideways arc from the right.
"Trace—!"
She barely cleared it, throwing herself backward as the blade tore through the space where she'd been standing.
I met the strike head-on.
Midnight screamed as steel collided with steel. The impact slammed through my arms and into my spine, the force so immense the ground beneath my feet fractured and sank.
Too much.
I bent with it—rode the blade instead of stopping it—letting the force carry me forward rather than shatter me outright. Sparks and shadow scattered as I redirected the swing toward the Sentinel's center.
Trace moved in.
She struck from the side—fast, precise.
The blow landed clean.
The Sentinel didn't flinch.
My eyes widened.
Nothing. No stagger. No reaction.
This thing wasn't just strong—it was anchored, as if the Hollow itself held it upright.
Tank it.
That's my role.
But with the weight behind every blow, I didn't know how long my body would last.
The Sentinel shifted sideways with inhuman smoothness.
I detached my shadow.
"Midnight."
The sword left my hand and passed seamlessly into the shadow's grasp. In one fluid motion, it brought the blade down in a perfect arc.
The strike cut clean through the Sentinel's torso.
Too clean.
So clean it looked like it hadn't hurt at all.
My stomach dropped.
I circled wide and struck with everything I had left, driving the Sentinel forward. It crashed into stone, and Trace followed instantly, slamming a kick into its side and knocking it off balance.
For a moment—
It rose.
Too fast.
The Sentinel twisted, saber already descending toward Trace.
My shadow was too far.
I didn't have my sword.
I didn't think.
I shoved her out of the way.
The blade tore across my chest.
White-hot pain exploded through me as I was thrown backward, breath ripped from my lungs as I hit the ground hard. Darkness crept in at the edges of my vision.
Move.
My shadow plunged into the stone and snapped back into me.
I forced myself upright.
Pain bled through every ounce of my body, blood soaking my clothes with each shallow breath.
We need to hold it down for Sare.
Trace stared at the wound on my chest, fear flickering in her eyes.
"Focus," I said through clenched teeth. "We give her a clear shot—or we die here."
Trace straightened and lunged.
She slid beneath the Sentinel's swing, grabbed its empty arm, and planted it into the stone floor with everything she had.
Shadow… we're one, right?
Then give me the strength to hold.
I stepped forward and blocked the strike meant for Trace, Midnight ringing as it met the saber once more. My shadow burst free, wrapping around the Sentinel's sword arm and dragging it down.
Stone cracked beneath the strain.
I crushed my grip around Midnight and screamed, every shred of pain and will pouring out of me.
"DO IT NOW, SARE!"
She lunged.
Her spear drove forward in a clean, precise strike.
The Sentinel hurled Trace aside, her body slamming into the black marble wall. My shadow snapped back into me, flooding my limbs with borrowed strength as the Sentinel raised its blade for the final swing.
Then it stopped.
Frozen.
Sare stood before it, spear buried deep in its chest—driven straight into the heart.
Shadowed flames convulsed violently.
Finish it.
I jumped.
The last of my strength burned away as gravity took Midnight down.
One strike.
Clean.
The blade passed through its neck without resistance. The Sentinel's head fell. Its body followed.
I landed hard on my back as the world tilted and darkened. Voices reached me—panicked, distant—but I couldn't make them out.
Then the Voice spoke.
True Name recognized.
Beginning of After.
Shadow Guardian killedRank: Calamity.
Ancient:
The weight of it pressed into my soul.
I couldn't stay awake.
Darkness took me.