Luke stood before the door that led to the mechanism chamber. A crescent moon was carved into the stone, watching like an unblinking eye. He pressed his palms against the symbol and pushed. The door didn't budge. Charlie stepped up beside him. They shoved together. Nothing. It was like trying to move a mountain. Then a system notification flashed into view. But before he could read it, a metallic echo drifted from one of the corridors. Luke glanced over his shoulder.

"Oh, perfect… right now of all times… a Midnight Warden."

Charlie slid into a battle stance. Luke's eyes flicked to the notification. It was linked to the door.

[Special Event: Midnight Siege]

Description:

The Midnight Wardens have sensed your presence. Your intrusion has not gone unnoticed. They remained hidden, lurking within the fortress, waiting for you to wander deeper into their domain. Now they march, intent on hunting down and eradicating anyone who dares defile their stronghold. Their forces, led by their commander, have begun their assault to reclaim this territory.

Objective: Eliminate the leader of the Midnight Wardens and secure control of the fortress.

Status: Event in progress.

(Warning: Access to the mechanism will remain locked until the territory is fully secured. The door will only open upon completion of the event.)

It was that last line that made him grit his teeth.

"You're kidding me… it only opens after the event's over…"

The footsteps grew louder. And not just from one corridor. From all around. Heavy, synchronized. Armor groaning. Metal scraping against stone. He tried the door again, channeling stamina into his arms. Nothing. Turning into mist, he attempted to seep through, but there wasn't the smallest gap to exploit. The door wasn't a door. It was part of the wall, just with a decorative carving. No way to break it. No way to bypass it.

Luke turned. Three shapes emerged from the darkness. Black armor glimmered faintly under the sparse light, battered but unbroken. Slits in their helmets burned with crimson light, fixed directly on them.

[Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

[Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

[Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

The trio advanced. Two drew longswords from their inventories. The third kept its spear, then hurled it without warning. Charlie raised a barrier. The spear slammed into it, sending a sharp crack through the air. The swordsmen closed in immediately after.

"Charlie," Luke called, kukris already in hand.

She caught one blade with her own. The other swung for her, but Luke stepped in, blocking the strike. More footsteps echoed. They were surrounded. Of course. They had been allowed to go this deep on purpose.

"They were upstairs the whole time… just waiting," he muttered.

Another spear cut through the air. Luke snatched it mid-flight. With his free hand, he hurled a kukri. The blade punched clean through the Warden's helmet, shoving it back until it toppled to the floor.

[You have slain a Midnight Warden – Lvl 40]

More metal-clad footsteps followed. He glanced at Charlie. She was holding her ground against two of them.

She's strong. But not as strong as me.

Luke recalled his kukri and flung the other one, burying it in the arm of the Warden locked with her. The impact knocked it back. Charlie tried to drive her sword in, but the creature deflected. Another swung for her head. That was the problem. Luke could channel stamina into his weapons. Charlie couldn't.

More Wardens emerged from the side corridors, their black armor swallowing the light, crimson eyes burning in the gloom. The formation tightened until there was nowhere left to run. They stood still, spears in hand, watching.

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"We just need to take them out. Then the fortress is ours."

Charlie gave a sharp nod. The Warden she had been fighting lunged again, and she shoved her hand into the gap in its helmet and unleashed her Flame. The creature recoiled, startled. Chains of spectral energy lashed out from her other hand, coiling around it before she hurled the armored body into the cluster of Wardens ahead. She stepped to Luke's side, sword ready, fist raised.

Then, a different footstep echoed through the hall. Heavier. Deeper. The Wardens blocking the main corridor shifted, clearing a path. From the darkness came a figure. Its armor was darker still, like it devoured the torchlight. In its hands, a massive black blade. And in its helmet, three glowing red eyes.

[Midnight Warden Captain – Lvl 70]

Luke's gaze narrowed. "So even you have a captain."

This one was different. Its armor was enchanted, the kind of equipment far beyond the rest of the Wardens. A fully kitted magical set, head to toe. Dangerous did not even begin to cover it.

If I had come here in the past, I would be dead already.

He turned toward Charlie.

"Charlie-"

No time. The Captain moved. In a blink, it vanished. It reappeared right in front of them, sword already coming down. Charlie threw up a barrier, but it shattered like glass under the blow, sending her flying. Luke drew both kukris, channeling mana and stamina, and met the strike head-on. The clash rang through the corridor, strength pushing against strength. The Captain looked at him. Those three burning eyes locked onto his face.

Luke broke away, flinging a kukri with a burst of stamina. The impact staggered the Captain. He surged forward, catching the blade midair, ready to follow up, but a spear came out of nowhere. He ducked, only for another to thrust from the opposite side, this one still in a Warden's grip.

Charlie was back on her feet, but three Wardens rushed her at once, with a fourth closing in, sword raised. Luke clicked his tongue. They were separating him from her. All around, the Wardens held their spears in a tight formation, encircling them completely. A single step wrong and the wall of weapons would close in. At the center of the ring, the Captain took another step forward. The sound was different. Heavier. Deeper. The weight of the armor made the air itself vibrate. Without warning, it moved. A blur.

Luke reacted instantly. Predator's Mark flared in his eyes, tracking the Captain's silhouette. He caught the strike, crossing both kukris. If he had dodged, the blow would have gone straight for Charlie.

Strong. Incredibly strong.

The difference between someone in the fifties and someone above that range was enormous. Attribute scaling alone made it a chasm. And this enemy was level 70. Stronger than the angel. A brute-force warrior. Second only to the Beast Lord among the foes he had faced.

Luke retreated as the Captain's sword came down in a heavy arc. He reinforced his kukris with stamina, laced them with a touch of mana, and triggered the Demonic Blade Dance. As the sword fell, he twisted aside, spinning into a slash that rang against the Captain's armor. The hit forced it back, but the plating held.

He circled, striking from another angle. The Captain raised a gauntlet to block, then spun with the blade, a whirlwind of steel aimed straight for him. That was when two more Wardens surged in, trying to pin him down.

"They're coordinating, huh?" Luke broke free and sidestepped the Captain's strike.

The creature slammed into the wall. He studied it, strong, powerful. And in this tight space, it held the advantage.

"Charlie!" He turned just in time to see her alone, holding off eight Wardens.

"He's isolating you," Artemis remarked.

"I know!"

Luke moved to close the gap, flinging his kukris into the crowd, following up with quick punches to push them back. But when he glanced down the other corridors, more Wardens were closing in. Too many. Charlie's sword flashed as she cut down another, but for every one that fell, more stepped into view, patient, spears ready, waiting for the right moment to throw.

His perception field flared. He twisted aside just as the Captain came barreling in again, attacking without pause. The blade burned with a red glow, some kind of skill, and slammed into Charlie, sending her flying. Luke surged forward, both kukris striking the Captain's helmet. The blow knocked the monster down. He poured mana into the blade until he felt it stabilize, then leapt for the kill. The impact reverberated through his arms, the kukri biting only slightly into a gap in the helm.

The Captain roared and backhanded him, sending him tumbling. Luke got to his feet, coughing. The hit had been brutal. The monster dragged its sword along the ground, sparks flying. The gouges Luke had carved into the armor, and even the dent in the helmet, sealed themselves before his eyes. Then it let out a deep, resonant roar, triggering a skill that swelled its power. Behind it, more Wardens approached.

"This fight's gonna be rough."

And then the Captain vanished. Simply ceased to exist, no blur, no shadow. Even the Predator's Mark couldn't track it.

What the hell just happened?

Pain flared in his side as a cut appeared out of nowhere, the force pinning him against the wall. His mind scrambled. There was nothing in front of him. But when he slashed the air with a kukri, the blade met resistance, something unseen, but there. The realization hit like lightning.

"He's invisible!"

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