Decay

"Rearguard, get those doors propped open, I don't want them shutting on us again!" Lento shouted over his shoulder as he walked to the rank and file, preparing to leave his troops into the chapel's interior. So far, they had met with no resistance and the antechamber fell under their control in a matter of minutes, though an ambush was all but inevitable. With the doors secured and a relief squad stationed on the bridge, Lento marched to the front of the chamber and turned to face the crowd of anxious soldiers behind him.

"The path ahead of us diverges. To keep ourselves from falling into a trap, will be taking both paths at once! I will be leading the first division through the statuary while Penensio takes a second division through the basilica." He took three steps to his right and stood at Penensio's side. "Both paths meet at the cloister of the El lady, so pace yourselves and be on the lookout for an ambush!"

Looking out across the squads standing before him, Lento so the steel of resolve in their eyes and he nodded. "Now, let's get these doors open!"

The strangled groans of ancient stone echoed through the antechamber as a group of soldiers slowly pried open the path to the chapel's interior. Bracing himself for the rush of battle, Chung gripped his cannon and stared into the sliver of darkness that spilled out from the crack between the towering granite doors. As torchlight spilled into the seething shadows, his finger brushed the edge of his destroyer's trigger, his eyes searching frantically for the first sign of movement. After nearly a minute, both doorways stood open and not even the slightest sound escaped the darkness. Clenching his jaw, Chung walked up to the threshold and slammed his cannon into the ground.

"Everybody stand back!" As the nearby soldiers scrambled for cover, he fired a flare through the doors, chasing away to darkness and revealing an entirely empty chamber. Not only were there no demons to be seen, but the chapel had been stripped bare of all furnishings, furniture, and décor. All that remained were the cold torches hanging in the wall and the rubble that littered the floor.

"Hold a second, I'll get the torches lit…" Aisha cast her hand out and hurled a shower of sparks through the air, igniting the torches in the chapel interior before darting over to the opposite door and lighting those along the outer rim. The flames flickered softly, crackling as they burned away the thin layer of dust that had gathered on their surface. With no way of knowing just how long the torches had been left cold before their arrival, Chung found himself wondering if the demons had extinguished them on purpose or if they simply let them burn out because didn't need them in the first place. Before he could lose himself completely to his thoughts, the sharp timbre of Lento's voice cut through the stagnant air.

"Keep your guard up, watch each other's backs, and expect an ambush around every corner! If we move quickly then we can retake the chapel by nightfall. Now move out!"

As soon as the last soldier passed through the doorway, Raven reached up and pulled the portcullis down behind them. Although the prospect of being shut in rattled everyone's nerves, they had begrudgingly agreed that it was better to be locked inside the chapel themselves than to have the demons sneak out behind them and ravage the camp in their absence. With the path behind secured, Lento nodded and began the long, nerve wracking march through the silent halls of the abandoned chapel. Standing guard along with what's left flank, Chung scoured the room for the slightest sign of a demon's fangs, his eyes leaping from shadow to shadow as they melted in the firelight.

As the echoes of their footsteps were followed up by the vaults overhead, an unsettling silence wove its way through the soldiers' feet, around the hairs on the back of their neck and into their ears. Every second stretched into an eternity as they waded through the fresh layer of ash and debris that covered the floor of ancient, sacred stone. Soon, the silence worked its way into Chung's thoughts and his mind began to wander, past the dust and the dancing flames, across the archways and into the veil of shadows beyond. The soft torchlight scattered across the towering columns and overbearing statues that lined the corridor's edge, making the cold stone shift and writhe as if it were alive. Beneath the dust and debris underfoot Chung could just barely make out the outline of an old and weathered engraving that seemed to stretch across the entire floor. Although he couldn't see enough of it to make sense of its form or meaning, he found himself wondering if the history of the shrine was really so vast that it had to be inscribed not only on the walls but on the floors as well.

Just beyond the outer rim, a deep chasm cut through the floor, separating the center of the spire from its outer edge as if it were a lone island floating in the midst of a glassy sea. In the distance, Chung could see the soft silhouette of Penensio's squad making their way through the processional lane at the chapel's core. As his eyes focused on the unfathomable depths that surrounded them, the whispering glow of the nearby torches drew his gaze toward the face of a massive, roughhewn statue that had been braced between two pillars so tightly that it almost seemed to be pushing them aside. In the very next moment, as the torchlight faded and Chung's breath caught in his throat, the statue did just that.

As the roaring golem sprung to life, a noxious wind-swept to the core door and snuffed the torches out. A flurry of shouts rang out from the soldiers and drowned as the golem ripped away the pillars beside it and hurled them into the crowd, stomping and flailing about wildly as everyone scrambled for cover. With his eyes ill adjusted to the dark, Chung aimed his cannon at the sound of crumbling rock and fired, lodging a flare into the golem's neck and illuminating its mangled face. Although the creature was now in plain sight, it was otherwise unfazed and continued its relentless rampage, clenching its fists and slamming them down toward a pair of unprepared soldiers. Rushing to their aid, Chung hoisted his cannon overhead and blocked one of the golem's heavy arms only to be swiftly knocked aside by the other. With a quick and violent spin, the golem tossed the two soldiers high into the air and sent them hurtling towards the far wall.

As Chung struggled to his feet, time slowed and a flood of sound closed in around him. From far ahead in the distance, he could hear the strangled cries of shrieking demons and the echoes of clashing steel. At his side, he could hear orders and screams flying past his ears, their message muffled by the unnerving grinding of stone against stone as the golem stomped across the floor toward him. As he struggled to catch his breath and recover, a shower of sparks flew through the air as a soldier's axe chipped away at the golem's arm. Unflinching, the living stone turned and snatched the soldier up by the arm, raising her high into the air, and squeezing. The course snap of breaking bone sent a surge of electricity through Chung's brain and he leapt forward, bounding over the broken pillars and driving his cannon into the golem's arm. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger.

Stone shattered in a brilliant flash and crumbled away as the wounded soldier fell to the ground and the golem stumbled off balance. Just as the creature began to steady itself, a stream of arrows piled into its chest and sent it reeling backwards. Before Chung could regain his footing and attack, Raven was already at his side, his blade glowing faintly as it sliced cleanly through the golem's core. Within the breadth of a second, the towering broke apart into a heap of ragged stone. As a statue crumbled and fell away into the chasm below, silence settled in over the corridor as everyone anxiously prepared to meet a second attack. As the tension slowly faded from the air, Lento called his squad to order.

"Form rank and treat the wounded! All of the uninjured, form a perimeter! And get those torches lit!"

Gradually, the silence gave way to know whispers and low, painful moans. The torchlight returned just a moment later as Rena struck a glowing stone against the tip of her bow and fired a volley of flaming bolts through the air. With the corridor once again bathed in light, the aftermath of their skirmish presented itself in stark detail. Compared to the desolate but pristine state of the chapel only moments earlier, the amount of destruction that had taken place in just scarcely a half minute's time was staggering. The ancient tiles of the chapel floor were shattered and scattered about, their delicate fragments either stained black with demon's blood or trapped beneath mounds of ragged debris. Although everyone survived the assault, there were more than a dozen left injured and their nerves had been rattled. Turning aside abruptly, Chung rushed to the nearest wounded soldier and knelt down by her side.

"Are you alright? Where are you hurt?" He reached down to his side and nearly tore the medical kit from his belt. Coughing slightly, the soldier raised her head and glance toward her left arm.

"It's broken but I don't think I'm bleeding…"

Chung slowly pulled back the sleeve of her tunic and stared at her twisted and bruised arm beneath. "I'm… I'm sorry…" His voice cracked as he searched through his pack for a splint and gauze, "I'm sorry, I wasn't fast enough…"

His hands shook as he reached out to set the soldiers bone, shrinking back as the soldier let out a quiet, muffled gasp. "Don't worry about that! I'm-" she winced, sweat pouring down the side of her face as she clenched her jaw, "I'm alive, and that's better than being a pile of blood and pulp."

"But-"

"Here, let me take care of that…" Rena reached down and slid her fingers over Chung's shoulder, "Lento need you to help him signal the other group."

Chung paused, his hands fell to his side, and he nodded. "Okay… But, please, let me help!"

"Actually…" the soldier glanced aside to Rena, an uneasy smile on her face. "I would feel much safer with her… "

"Ah…" It was at this moment that Chung realized that he had never set a broken bone before in his life. Nodding awkwardly, he left the matter to Rena, grabbed his Destroyer, and headed out in search of Lento.

As the last flickering light of Chung's signal faded away, Eve nodded and turned aside to Penensio.

"It seems as if they were also attacked, though they sustained greater casualties than we did. They will need several minutes to treat the wounded."

"I see. Thanks." Penensio rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and surveyed his soldiers. "It's a miracle that we made it out of that ambush so quickly."

Eve parsed a quick, final message across the chasm and then closed her console. "That is likely because the enemy did not expect Oberon to be outfitted with infrared visual sensors." At the mention of his name, Oberon nodded and struck a dramatic pose while Penensio chuckled softly and smiled.

"Not quite sure what you mean by that, but your body guard there really saved us. When we get back, remind me to give him a medal."

"I am certain that he would appreciate that… however, he prefers to be rewarded with pastries."

"Hahaha, well, when we return, I'll see to it that-" Penensio suddenly fell silent, his brow furrowed as he glanced around the room. Lowering his voice, he motioned for his troops to fall into formation. "We may not be done with them yet. Something's coming…"

At the front of the squad, Aisha and Elsword room stood back to back staring into the shadows, their hands alight with fire as they trained their eyes on a strange, faint cloud of smoke that crept along the floor toward them. As he raised his blade and dug his feet in, Elsword blinked. By the time his eyes were open again, the jaws of a garish phantom hung in the air only inches from his face.

A noxious chill shot through Elsword's spine, overwhelming his senses and causing his fingers to twitch. Without thinking, he turned and pushed Aisha out of the way just as a ghastly claw cut through the air overhead. Raising his sword on instinct, he prepared to weather the blow when he felt himself being jerked back and away from the ghost as a pair of red knights pulled him from danger and cut through the seething smoke.

"Stay down and take cover!" The elder knight shouted back over his shoulder as the runes on his sword sizzled and sparked. Shaking his head out, Elsword glared indignantly and scoffed as he scoured the room for the necromancer that had conjured the beast. While the red knights formed a perimeter around the squad, Aisha stormed over to Elsword with a fierce and furious scowl.

"What the hell were you doing? You almost got your face clawed off!" She glared sternly and reached out to grab Elsword's arm when she realized that he wasn't paying attention. "I was about to teleport us both away, you didn't have to-"

Gritting his teeth and ignoring Aisha's concern, Elsword locked his gaze onto the faint glow of a demon's eyes high on a balcony up ahead. Dashing past the red knights, he rolled beneath a newly forming phantom and bounded over the broken pathway. With reckless haste he filled the air with fire, exposing a gnarled old necromancer chanting wildly and waving his arms as a half dozen phantoms materialized in the air around Elsword. Leaping away from the smoke, Elsword kicked off of the wall, landed on a statue's shield, and jumped high into the air holding his sword overhead. As he neared the balcony, he swung down swiftly… and missed. Having misjudged the distance, his blade fell short of its mark and he began to topple down toward the open maw of a howling shade. In the very next instant, he felt the searing pain of a ghastly claw tearing into the skin of his legs, and a wave of panic crashed down upon him.

Suddenly he found himself and Aisha's arms as she sailed through the air and carried him off to safety, flickering across the room as she dropped them both on the balcony behind the necromancer. Before the demon could turn to face her, she rushed forward and delivered a fistful of concentrated dark magic into its side, launching it over the railing and across the room. As the necromancer fell, Aisha blasted it with a stream of fire, scorching its fur and sending it tumbling down into the black ravine below. A moment later, the phantoms vanished and the black smoke faded away.

Now that electricity running through his nerves had calmed, Elsword took a deep, heavy breath and sat forward. Still saddled with a lingering sense of fear and frustration, he clenched his fist and lowered his head.

"…Thanks."

As soon as he spoke, Aisha turned and marched toward him. In a single motion she knelt down in front of him, placed her hands on his shoulders, and slammed her forehead into his.

"Ow, what-" When Elsword looked up, he nearly choked on his own voice. With Aisha's face only inches from his own, he saw her eyes quivering with rage and worry. As she squeezed his arms, her hands began to shake and her scowl softened.

"Idiot! What the hell were you thinking!?" She relaxed are grip and slumped back onto her heels. "What…"

"I-" Elsword gasped, his mind torn into many directions to form a response, "I just…" his voice was stunned and his words were frail as he recalled his actions and tried to come up with some explanation for what he now realized was a horrible plan. For all his searching, he could only conclude that at that time, that was what he felt like he needed to do. "What-what else was I supposed to do? You were in trouble and-"

Aisha glared sharply, "Don't act like you weren't! Neither of us was in any shape to fight those things back of the camp so what makes now any different?"

"I'm not a helpless kid." Elsword glowered, as much of annoyance as embarrassment, "I know how to fight so lay off, okay?"

"No one called you a kid, so why are you even bringing that up? And besides that, if you're gonna just swing and miss like that and obviously you have no idea what you're doing!" Aisha sighed heavily and stared into his eyes. "…why didn't you just knock it down with a spell… that's what you've always done before…"

"I don't… I don't know." Elsword's mouth wrinkled up awkwardly and he stared at a crack in the floor, "I just thought, if I kept doing that, then I wouldn't be strong enough." He ran his fingers across his forehead and ruffled his bangs, trying to shake loose a thought or memory that might help him explain himself better. Of course, all that he got for this was a head full of disheveled hair as a stubborn pout settled in across his face.

"Elsword. You're starting to piss me off." The fragile fury in Aisha's voice cracked as the torchlight flickered across her face. "Are you saying I'm weak because I only use magic and don't bash thing over the head?"

"No! That's not it!" He bit his lower lip, flustered and frustrated as he avoided Aisha's gaze. "But I'm not making any progress just reading books all day! I have to get stronger…"

"Why!?" Aisha shouted softly, her voice tinged with desperation, "Why… You're not making sense, what does running off like an idiot have to do with getting stronger!?"

"It just does, alright!?" Elsword leaned forward, driving his fist into the floor, "There's nothing else to explain!"

"Listen." Aisha gritted her teeth, her eyes glistening as they overflowed with frustration and worry, "I'm trying to understand why you just ran off and nearly died for no reason so either tell me what's going on or go back to camp!"

Elsword fumed. "There's nothing to explain, okay!? I just need to get stronger and I can't do it by standing back and throwing magic around!"

"Why Not!?" As Aisha stood and shouted, Elsword leapt to his feet and nearly screamed.

"Cause if I do I'll never be as strong as Elsa!"

As those words crossed his lips, Elsword's eyes glowed brightly, with as much passion and fervor as fear and anguish. Blinking, Aisha slowly made sense of Elsword's distress.

"Elsa… your sister? But…" Since she had scarcely heard more than a few words about Elsa, she struggled to understand the significance of Elsword's outburst, but she could see very clearly that this was a painful subject for him. While the form of her next question lingered on her tongue, Elsword turned aside and slumped down against the balcony's railing.

"It's not good enough, unless I can be as strong as her… If I can't, then I can't protect anyone, and I can't do anything. If I'm not gonna be useless, I've gotta get stronger…"

Although she didn't understand entirely, Aisha closed her eyes for a moment and tried to calm herself. Without a word, she walked over to the railing and sat down beside Elsword. After spending a few seconds in silence, Elsword glanced aside at her suspiciously.

"What?"

"I don't know…" Aisha stared off into the shadows, her mouth straight and her eyes weary. "I don't know what your sister was like. I've only heard a few things from the Red Knights when they talked about her, and she sounds amazing… but that doesn't mean you have to be just like her if you want to be as strong as she is. And, besides…" she giggled lightly and poked Elsword's shoulder, "There's no way you can jump around and fight bears hand to hand. You're way too short."

"Hmph." Elsword scoffed. "I am not. I'll grow like 3 feet in the next year"

"Oh?" Aisha grinned, "Then I'll grow four feet, cause you'll never be taller than me."

Elsword smirked. "Yeah right…" For a moment he seemed content, but his smile faded quickly. Seeing the worry return to his face, Aisha moved a bit closer and let their shoulders touch.

"It's okay though, even if you can't be as strong as her, that doesn't mean you're worth less as a person. And you don't have to be strong in the same way as her either… you should do the things you like and what feels natural for you instead of forcing yourself to do something just because you think it's how things are supposed to be."

Elsword nodded quietly, turning his thoughts over and trying to make sense of his reality and the ideals that he had held as absolute since he could barely walk. He suddenly felt like a child, for rushing off blindly, for failing to live up to his sister's standards, for not understanding his own thoughts and feelings, and for making Aisha angry, again. The painful weight of regret pounded against his chest, and he did his best to stifle it at least for a little while. He was in the middle of what might as well have been a dungeon, surrounded by demons, and with a long day ahead, so self-reflection would have to wait. Still, he felt that this was something too important for him to ignore, and he kept hearing the echo of Aisha's words pass through his ears. Suddenly weary and worn, the only response he could muster was a firm nod, and a faint smile. "Yeah…" He felt a lump in his throat as he forced himself to meet Aisha's gaze. "A-and, I-I'm… sorry…" Blushing, he turned away and mumbled under his breath.

Gently and slowly, Aisha reached out and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Good. Now don't do that again, or I'll tell Rena about it."

"Gah! No!" A wave of panic spread across Elsword's face and Aisha giggled at him. As they stood up and dusted themselves off, they quickly realized that someone was staring right at them.

"If you are finished, the Commander is ready to move out." Eve hovered just over the balcony's edge, her hands delicately resting upon the rails. "If you had simply notified me that you were here then the others would not have spent so much time wondering if you had been injured."

"Wait, the others?" Elsword's eyes widened and he looked over the railing to find Penensio and the rest of his soldiers waiting impatiently below.

"Yes." Eve nodded, "I'm fairly certain that all of us heard you shouting."

"A-All… of us?" Aisha blushed, immediately dreading Eve's reply.

"That is correct. Rena signaled moments ago to ask if you were alright. Shall I tell her that you were simply carrying out your courtship rituals as usual?"

"NO!" Aisha and Elsword shouted in harmony, waving their hands and shaking their heads furiously.

"Just tell her that we're okay, that's all!" Aisha smiled awkwardly.

"Y-yeah, we're fine." Elsword blushed and nodded rapidly. "Let's just get back down there, they're probably tired of waiting for us."

"…Very well." Eve flashed a quick signal across the chasm and lowered herself to the ground. As soon as she was out of sight, Elsword and Aisha let out a heavy sigh. Holding her hand out, Aisha turned to Elsword and grabbed her wand. Returning her gaze, he took her hand and the two of them teleported back down to the ground below.

After an arduous day of repelling ambushes and trudging through the dark, both squads reunited before the massive staircase that led up into the cloister of the El Lady. Of the one hundred and fifty soldiers that had entered the chapel that morning, twenty-six had been injured so badly that they could no longer fight, and three hovered close to death. Standing at the top of the stairs, however, their hearts were high; with only one room left to explore, that all but reclaimed the chapel in the space of a single day. With all eyes turned toward the cloister doors and the captains lined up at the front of the squad, Lento nodded and gave the order to open the final room.

The broad cloister doors opened easily, swinging in without resistance as if they were made of parchment and not ancient oak. With the path now open, a warm shower of light poured out into the corridor from the candelabra that still burned brightly within. To everyone's surprise, the cloister appeared untouched, as if it had never seen so much as a demon's footprint, much less the ravaging that the rest of the chapel bore witness to. Pensively, Raven and Rena took point and headed inside.

"… It's all clear." Raven studied the corners of the room, his voice relaxed but his hand still wrapped around the handle of a sword. "Or at least it looks that way."

Breathing out slowly, Lento let his shoulders drop and he turned toward his troops. "Alright, good work everyone. First division, I want you to escort the wounded back to camp, and bring them news of our success... The chapel is ours."

A round of cheers rang out through the hallway, their enthusiasm muffled by the weight of the wounds and horrors that had been inflicted upon them. As the momentary celebration faded away and the first division gathered up their injured comrades, Penensio stared curiously into the cloister itself.

"Hm. Curious. I wonder why they left just this room untouched… If you don't mind, I'd like the captains to accompany me as I look around a bit."

"…Alright, go ahead." Lento nodded and lowered his voice, "But keep quiet about this. The priesthood will have you hanged if you disturb anything inside. It took all of my authority just to get them to allow a dark magician and the queen of the Nasod inside here."

"Heh…" Penensio smiled and patted Lento on the shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll just be a few minutes and no one will ever even know we were there."

As he crossed the threshold, Eve and Oberon turned to follow. "I am curious about this El Lady as well… how old are the artifacts in this room?"

"Well…" Penensio stroked his chin and glanced around "Supposedly they predate the Last Day, though it'd be impossible for us to tell whether that's true or not if."

"As long as it keeps us from seeing the mages and priests again, I'd be glad to spend all day and there." Aisha laced her fingers behind her head and stretch her arms out as she, Elsword, and Chung passed inside.

"Just be careful in there! If you break anything, or even so much as much a statue and the priests hear of it they'll have the kingdom put your head on a stick faster than the demons would." As soon as Lento issued his warning, the cloister doors snapped shut. In an instant Lento's eyes when wide and he rushed to the door. Before his hand could burst surface, however, Penensio's confident voice spilled out into the hall.

"Ah, no worries! I seem to have bumped a switch of some sort while I was, uh… looking around."

"…honestly." Lento sighed heavily and peered through the crack in the door. "It looks like it's still unlocked, so we could open it at any time… But it seems like you set some sort of trigger. Probably one of the traps to keep intruders from storming an enticing anything they pleased."

Penensio chuckled awkwardly, "Well, imagine that! Must've activated all on its own when we walked past… hahaha…ha." He approached the door and knelt down, studying the fine mechanisms buried at its base. "I'll see what I can do about disarming this, but in the meantime we're all fine in here and there doesn't seem to be any more danger."

"Yes, so long as you keep your hands in your pockets." Raven's dry voice drifted through the doorway and Lento's forehead fell into his hands.

"Alright… just hurry it up, the Priests will be coming the next few hours to make sure the chapel's intact, and I can't very well blame the damage on the demons if you're still trapped inside there when they arrive."

"Lento, Relax! You should calm down, you're tense after a long day's march. I'll have this all sorted in a second!"

Lento leaned against the wall, his eyes weary as if he'd just lost a year off of his life. "Yes, well, forgive my lack faith."

While Penensio studied the trap embedded in the door, Aisha and Rena worked their way around the outer edge of the cloister, moving from the shadow of one towering tapestry to the next as they finally settled before the small golden statue of the El Lady. From the fold in her eyelids to the stray hairs across her brow, her statue was cast in greater detail than any that Aisha had seen before. In fact, there was so much detail and care in the craftsmanship of her features that are statue almost looked more real than Aisha's own reflection.

"I wonder if that's what she really looked like…"

Rena leaned in and in and lowered her voice, as if she wanted to avoid disturbing the statue's rest. "Supposedly, this was made when she was still alive. There's no way to tell of course, and it definitely doesn't look like something that's thousands of years old but… Then again, not much in this place actually does." She stepped back slightly, staring up at the murals and carvings engraved into the walls, studying the history captured in their frames. Nearby, Elsword crouched down and poured over a plaque in the corner, its surface emblazoned with the outline of a dark, monstrous figure.

"Hey, I thought this was the first time they'd ever seen demons…"

"It is," Lento answered from beyond the door, "Why do you say that?"

Elsword glared skeptically at the ancient engraving, unable to ignore the striking similarity between the dark figure on the plaque before him and the demons he had seen just minutes before. "Well 'cause it kinda looks like they've got pictures of 'em all over in here."

"Ah, no, that's…" Rena glanced over his shoulder and leaned forward, her eyes falling as her smile grew heavy. "That's a picture of one of the dark elves…"

"…The what?" Elsword blinked and stared at her quizzically.

"The dark elves… At least that's what they called them here. Their name in my language doesn't sound so sinister but it's a lot harder to translate." She brushed her knees off and lowered herself to the floor, sitting forward to study the plaque. "There's all gone now, or at least they have been for a long time… there was a war between the dark elves and the human kingdoms on Lurensia almost a hundred years ago, and the dark elves…" Rena's voice trailed away as her smile collapsed into a bitter frown, "…'lost'."

"What do you mean 'lost'?" Aisha asked warily, unsure of whether she should push Rena any further but at the same time unable to deny her own curiosity. Rising to her feet, Rena stared at the dark figure with a fond, sorrowful smile.

"There are no dark elves on Lurensia anymore. That's… what I mean by 'lost'." She paused, clasping her hands behind your back and turning away to the opposite wall. "Do know why they called the things we're fighting 'demons', even though they'd never seen them before? It's because 'Demons' aren't really anything in particular… It's just the name we give to things that we think are monstrous, evil, and that we want to kill without feeling remorse…"

"Ah, I think I've got it!" Penensio clapped his hands together and slid his fingers beneath the doorway, inscribing a tiny rune into the dust near the trap's trigger. With all his focus placed on the mechanism buried in the floor, he didn't even notice the faint wisp of smoke wrapping itself around his throat. "Okay, I think I've- AGH!" Just before he could disarm the trap, a great shadowy claw formed around his neck and lifted him all the way to the ceiling, slamming him into the vaulted arches and then dropping him nearly twenty feet to the floor. By the time the others noticed what had happened, Penensio was already unconscious.

Reacting instantly, Oberon leapt across the room and swung out towards the floating claw only to see it vanish before his blade could connect. As he turned to scan the room, a pair of claws formed behind him and caught his arms in their crushing grip, squeezing him tightly and tossing him towards the far wall. Rushing to intercept, Elsword and Chung caught him in cushioned his fall, though even after setting him back on his feet, Oberon didn't respond.

"Oberon! What's wrong!?" Chung shook his shoulders to no avail and Eve rushed over, staring in shock.

"His systems have been powered down! Avoid those claws, they will leave you unconscious!" As she spoke, everyone nodded and spread themselves out, keeping their eyes fixed on the floating hands in the corner of the room. As they took their stances and waited for the chance to strike, an eerie, disembodied echo filled the room.

"Very astute…" The voice moved through the air behind Eve, bursting into a cloud of black smoke and ensnaring her instantly. "The creatures of this world never cease to entertain me." As Eve's eyes flickered and she collapsed on the floor, the swirling smoke tested itself together into the form of a ghastly wraith, an extravagant stole draped across its billowing arms and its piercing eyes glowing from beneath a dour hood. As the phantom inspected its adversaries, Rena glanced aside to Aisha and Elsword.

"We'll try to keep her busy… you two search for the necromancer."

"If you follow that route then you'll be sorely disappointed." The phantom vanished and appeared behind Raven, swiping towards him and only barely missing as he bounded away. "I'm afraid we're completely alone here. It is just you, and I, and very soon… there will be only me." A pair of disembodied claws swept across the room, chasing down Rena as she fired off a volley of arrows only to miss when the phantom dissolved into a cloud of black mist. Standing her ground, Rena pulled her bow taut and glanced around the room.

"What are you? None of the demons know our language," She gave a wry smile, "So why do you?"

Immediately a web of chains appeared in the air around Rena and lashed her to the wall, knocking her bow from her hands as the phantom reappeared in front of her, cackling. "I am Amethyst, and that is all you'll need to know before you die…"

As Amethyst drew back its claws, Raven rushed forward and slid across the ground, his sword gleaming as he raised it high overhead to block the phantom's grasp. The air sizzled and popped as Amethyst's hand split open on Raven's blade, causing the wraith to reel back and hiss violently before floating off toward the center of the room and raising its hands to the sky. Seizing the moment and rushing up from behind, Chung leapt forward and drove his Destroyer into Amethyst's back. Before he could fire, the phantom shifted aside and his cannon's blast caught only the edge of its arm, leaving little more than a scratch on its shadowy surface. As Amethyst drifted away, a blood chilling shriek filled the air and a swarm of shades erupted from the ground at Chung's feet, clouding his vision and dropping into his knees before finally knocking him out.

Turning back toward Raven as he cut Rena from her chains, Amethyst held its hands out and fired off a burst of black smoke toward them. Just as it was about to hit, Aisha muttered an incantation beneath her breath and teleported in between them, raising a powerful shield that blocked the phantom's attack.

"You will be a bother, I can already tell." Amethyst vanished and reappeared in front of Aisha, slamming its hands down toward her. Quickly rushing toward the door, Elsword grabbed one of the thick, broken chains that now lay across the ground, covered in fire and hurled it toward the wraith. Although the chain passed right through Amethyst's arms, it snagged against the stole on its shoulders and startled it just long enough for Aisha to escape. Infuriated, Amethyst cast off the chain and rose up to the ceiling, howling sharply and filling the air with ghosts and shades. Desperate to stop its assault, Elsword and Aisha hurled every spell they had toward the ceiling, filling the air with plasma and flames while Rena and Raven frantically tried to clear the air around them. Within just a few seconds, however, the noxious fumes of the summoned shades overwhelmed them and, one by one, they all fell to the ground.

"Hmph." Amethyst scoffed as the air slowly cleared. "Troublesome. I was certain that this form would be impervious to the weapons of this world… but the danger is still minimal, as expected." Floating down toward the floor, the phantom tossed aside Rena and Raven's unconscious bodies and drifted over to Aisha as she lay gasping for breath on the ground. "This one, however… this one was surprising. What is it that you have tucked away in this bag of yours…"

Extending its claws out slowly, Amethyst reached into Aisha's pack and immediately recoiled, hissing and clutching its fingers as if they had just been bitten. As Amethyst shrunk back, Aisha coughed and pushed herself up off the floor. Tightening her grip on her wand, she cast a sphere of concentrated dark magic out into the phantom's face. As the sphere burst and crackled above her, Aisha scrambled up to her feet only to find a dark, writhing claw close in around her mouth. The next moment, she fell to the ground with a sharp and painful gasp.

With everyone around him slowly fading away, Elsword could just barely keep his eyes open. His entire body ached from his earlier wounds, and it was only thanks to that pain that he was able to stay awake. When Amethyst turned back toward him, he shut his eyes and desperately searched his thoughts for a course of action. His sword would be useless; it would just pass through the phantom's shadow and leave him vulnerable to attack. Just the same, none of his spells would have any effect. As Amethyst calmly gathered Eve, Oberon, and Chung up and dropped them in the corner along with Rena and Raven, the blood in Elsword's veins began to burn.

There was nothing he could do, and nothing that he could think to do. He knew that there was nothing he could do on his own, but he had no way of calling for help. No scenario that he could imagine ended with everyone's survival, and his chest tightened up as if he had just been crushed by a mountain when he realized that there was nothing he could possibly do to change that. With all options exhausted, he took one last chance and opened his eyes and when he did, they landed on the shining, silver emblem attached to Penensio's belt. It was within his reach, but he wasn't sure if he would have the strength to grab it. With Amethyst quickly approaching again, he buried his face in the floor and gathered all of his remaining strength.

As Amethyst extended its claws out toward him, Elsword rolled away, pushed himself up to his feet, and then yanked the cloister doors open. As the trap sprung, he dove of the way and a brilliant flash filled the air as Amethyst was caught between a pair of gleaming sigils. Shocked, the phantom clawed at the sigils, tearing them away a bit by bit as it shrieked and hissed. As the sigils crumbled away, Elsword rushed to where Penensio lay, grabbing the rune from his belt and the sword from his sheath. Still unsteady and scarcely strong enough to stand, his legs shook as he rushed towards Amethyst, his hands gripping the rune so tightly that blood began to pour from his palm. With the pain mounting in his limbs and across his spine, he stumbled forward, his thoughts melting into a single, desperate plea.

Work! Please, work!

Tearing furiously at the seals, Amethyst broke free just as a rune covered blade pierced the air between its eyes. With a final, haggard gasp, the phantom's body burned away and its vestments crumbled into dust until all trace of Amethyst's ghastly form had faded from existence. Beyond exhaustion and covered in sweat and dust, Elsword grinned triumphantly and scoffed before falling forward and collapsing on the floor.