Five Midnight Wardens emerged from the tunnel like a nightmare given form. The world held its breath. Even the air seemed to retreat, as if the cavern itself feared what had entered.

They stood like shadows carved from night—tall, motionless, cloaked in silence that screamed louder than any war cry.

Their obsidian plate glistened with an unnatural sheen, edges jagged like broken glass. Beneath their helms, glowing eyes pulsed like coals barely contained, flickering with restrained hunger.

The sheer pressure of their presence crushed the atmosphere, pressing into lungs, bones, thought.

Angelica moved first. "Run!"

The scream shattered the paralysis gripping the others.

Luke's mind raced. Every fragment of information, every possible escape route, snapped into clarity. The Wardens had never entered this place before. And then he saw it—the tunnel behind them, carved from the Wild Zone. They hadn't come here by choice. They had been drawn in. By the ants. The chaos. The scent of blood.

The lead Warden let out a guttural roar, deep enough to tremble the stone beneath their feet. Arrows and spells lashed out toward them—futile. They vanished against the advancing armor like sparks swallowed by a storm.

Luke turned—Allison was limping. Blood streaked her leg. Barely standing.

"Charlie! Get her out of here!"

The command came without thought. Charlie obeyed instantly, sprinting to Allison and lifting her into her arms without slowing. But the battlefield had already collapsed.

A piercing whine tore through the air—so sharp it split thought. A spear hurled itself into the space between heartbeats. Too fast for reflex. Too cruel for mercy.

Anna barely turned. Her body twisted mid-air, eyes wide with shock, arms flailing like she could still catch herself—then the impact.

She hit the stone with a sound that silenced everything. Her limbs fell slack. The spear had gone through her, pinning her to the ground like prey. Blood spread beneath her, a slow, steady bloom in the dust.

She didn't move again.

"Anna!" Philip screamed, voice raw. "You killed her!" He charged. Blind. Furious.

He didn't reach them. The Warden didn't even draw a weapon. It stepped forward, raised a fist, and struck. Philip's body ricocheted off the stone floor like discarded cloth. Then the boot came down. Once. Twice. A third time. When the Warden stepped back, there was nothing left to recognize.

Cecilia collapsed to her knees. Silent. Shaking. Jonathan grabbed her and dragged her back. "Everyone move! NOW!"

Charlie retreated with Allison in her arms. Allison thrashed. "Let me fight!"

Luke already had his kukris drawn. Angelica loosed arrow after arrow—blinding flashes of mana, each shot meant to disorient, to stall. One Warden lifted an armored forearm to shield its helm. Luke saw the opportunity. He moved. Vaulted over broken stone. Closed the gap from the flank. But the Warden blinked—there, then gone. A blur.

Luke's instincts screamed. He spun, activating his heightened perception just in time to intercept the incoming strike. Metal met metal. The impact exploded with force, hurling Luke across the cavern. He bounced twice before he could stop himself, the breath knocked from his lungs.

More screams. Victoria. A spear punched through her spine. She collapsed instantly. No motion. No life. Then came the sound. All five Wardens roared—together. A unified signal of annihilation. Their swords materialized, immense and glowing with spectral energy.

Luke's stomach sank. Combat Phase Two. They weren't fighting now. They were hunting. The Wardens surged forward. No pause. No hesitation. Angelica ran, firing desperately, every arrow glowing bright.

One Warden raised its blade and struck the earth. The ground split. The shockwave flung bodies like leaves in a storm. Luke staggered but kept his footing. One Warden broke from the group and charged straight for him. Its sword gleamed in both hands, high above its head.

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Luke activated every ounce of energy he had left. Force flooded into his weapons. The twin kukris blazed in his grip. The sword came down. He dodged. Barely. The blade struck stone. The floor fractured like glass.

Luke lunged—and landed on the Warden's back.

The Warden spun, sweeping its sword in a brutal horizontal arc. Luke dove, the blade slicing the air inches from his face. He felt the pressure of it pass, like the breath of death itself.

Rolling to his feet, he launched forward and drove his kukri into the creature's chest. The blade, charged with raw stamina, found purchase—sank deep into armor that had deflected so much already.

The Warden roared. With a vicious motion, it tore Luke from its body and hurled him across the cavern like a broken doll. The monster didn't hesitate. It charged again, dragging its greatsword in a blazing arc, poised to finish him—

Charlie struck.

She appeared in a blur and drove her fist into the Warden's chest with enough force to knock the beast off its feet. The ground shook from the impact. She stood before Luke. And then hell collapsed in on her.

Another Warden struck her from behind. A second dropped from above, crushing her beneath its weight. A third slashed clean through her arm.

Still—Charlie didn't fall.

She spun, lashing out with everything she had. Fists, elbows, knees—a relentless storm of martial rage. Even half-dismembered, she fought with unyielding fury.

"Allison—go!" Luke shouted.

No hesitation. She ran.

The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse. Survivors scattered into the tunnels, desperate to escape.

Luke turned. "Climb on my back!"

Allison vaulted up, her arms around his neck. He bolted. As they sprinted for a tunnel, Luke glanced back—and saw Charlie lose her other arm.

His throat tightened. "I'm sorry."

With a mental command, he recalled her to his soul. She dissolved into fading light.

At the tunnel's entrance, Luke hurled a kukri at the ceiling. The explosion brought it down in seconds—stone collapsing in a crushing wave, sealing the path behind them. No time to wait for the blade to return. He pulled it into his inventory and ran. Sweat poured down his face, legs burning, Allison's weight pressing into his back—but he didn't slow.

Then the rubble behind them erupted. The Warden burst through like a nightmare resurrected. Its roar shook the passage.

Luke didn't look back. He pushed harder. Every muscle screamed. Allison clung tighter.

"Luke—we're screwed!" she gasped.

He dove into a side passage. Narrow. Crooked. Splitting into endless forks.

"We need one that loops back to the Safe Zone!" she called.

"I know!" he snapped.

The roar returned—closer, louder, hungrier. The Warden didn't care about the collapsing walls. It tore through stone and steel alike, pulverizing the tunnels behind them.

Luke turned a corner—a massive fist demolished the rock just behind his heels. The passage narrowed. He dropped to a crouch, dragging them both forward through the choking dark. The air was thick. Stale. Suffocating.

But the creature didn't stop. It followed. Crawling. Smashing. Digging through the stone, relentless in its hunt.

Luke stumbled, his foot catching on something buried. A rail.

Then—light.

They burst into a wide chamber, fractured tunnels leading off in every direction. At the far end: a rusted minecart perched on old, cracked rails descending into shadow.

"That cart's faster than our legs," Allison said, already moving.

But the thought had no time to settle.

The Warden crashed into the chamber behind them, a force of nature in armor. The impact sent them flying.

Luke slammed into the ground, pain splitting his ribs. He rose, kukris drawn, blood dripping from his nose.

Allison coughed, steadying herself beside him. "He's not going to let us escape," she said, breathless.

Luke summoned Charlie. She appeared instantly at his side, sword already in hand, her arms—freshly restored by Basic Bone Regeneration—moving with purpose, not hesitation. The Warden charged, a black mass of steel and fury, and their blades met in a violent clash that rattled the chamber walls. Each strike forced Charlie back, her boots grinding against the stone floor; she struggled to match its raw power.

Luke circled wide, kukris glowing with stamina-infused energy. Allison unleashed a volley of frost spikes, aiming to slow the creature—but the Warden moved faster, spinning with a brutal sweep of its sword that blew everything back. Dust poured from the ceiling, cracks splitting across the stone like veins.

Then the blade slammed into the ground.

The floor buckled.

The shockwave ripped through them.

Luke was hurled across the debris-strewn chamber. Charlie smashed into a wall, her armor fracturing on impact. Above, stone began to crumble. Allison stumbled to her feet, katana raised. "We have to—" she started, but a spear tore through the air and pierced her chest.

Her body slammed into the ground, tumbling into the tunnel where the cart waited. Luke turned, vision narrowing, heart pounding. From a side passage, another Warden stepped into view, dragging its massive blade through the rubble.

On the ground, Allison wasn't moving. Blood pooled beneath her like ink on broken parchment.

Allison was...

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