We landed at the cap of a decently sized cavemouth. At first, it seemed completely inconspicuous, but hidden within that tunnel was a nightmare shaded in darkness.

 

The scout arachnid of course couldn't sense the halfling and me, or even the captain as we were shrouded in our Shadow Magic, but I could see it.

 

Maeve looked quite stricken by worry as she obviously wasn't all that familiar with either magics, but I didn't really have time to explain things to her. We had to do things quietly and stealthily if we were to enact my plan and make swift work of all of this.

 

‹ Asethh K'or ›

 

Silent, yet not.

 

It was hard to distinguish whether or not the eerie chittering or the rustling of the dark was real, or simply a trick of the wind. Submerged in darkness and abandoned by the light, the cave was home to creatures that would send even most monsters shivering away.

 

But for someone like me who had spent most of their time alive within the Eldriac tunnels running deep into the Abyss, it was like home. It had no walls nor impressive-looking ramparts to fend off attackers unlike those surface dwellers desperately clinging to the light for its momentary warmth. Fools they were. Light is ephemeral whereas darkness is eternal. And here in the gloom, I reigned supreme.

 

This place was my domain, and any foolish to brave its depths would soon come to regret their lack in sense of mind.

 

And apparently, one such fool had just arrived at my doorstep.

 

"Finally come for me?" I sneered, wondering whether or not that brutish ape had decided to grow a pair and attack me or that halfling had somehow managed to find his settlement.

 

It mattered not as to who, they would all die regardless.

 

For I, was the Lord of Gloom, prince of darkness and everything went chittering in the dark.

 

A command of the mind was all I needed to send my forces to the disturbance at the end of my domain to deal with whomever was causing such a ruckus. I still didn't know exactly who it was since the web spun throughout my settlement on both a physical and mental level only alerted me to what seemed like a full-frontal assault, but my speculations pointed towards the gorilla.

 

For who else could've possibly have possessed enough dumb courage to do so brazenly. 

 

It appeared that he must've then taken out the halfling and whatever the other lord candidate had been since he was now attacking me.

 

That fool.

 

Once again, it simply marveled me how ingenious my strategies always turned out.

 

Hunkering down and cultivating my forces rather than crawling to the light and fight, I would simply watch as the opposition tore themselves apart while whereas I would be the last one standing. Fools indeed.

 

But as time went by as minutes turned to hours, the attack did not end. I had to keep sending units towards the tunnels being invaded, and despite knowing that my forces were not suffering any great casualties, whomever it was attacking me seemed not able to be quashed by the considerable forces sent their way.

 

My brow creased into a frown as I began thinking that I might just have to join the fight myself as I was running out of sending more units to end this farce.

 

Pacing along the white spindly platform of intertwining webs hoisted high in the air of a massive cavern that was my settlement, I eyed the pods of eggs that dangled from various thick web bridges and constructs like water drops, each the size of a man.

 

It wouldn't take much longer than one or two days before the last batch of units would be spawned, this one greater than any before from the sheer outrageous amount of food used. With a General, a true monster among units, My inevitable victory was only becoming more and more assured.

 

Only just a little longer, and I would-

 

My train of thought was abruptly halted when my senses alarmed me to a foreboding dread. Something was not quite right, and I couldn't help but feel the darkness was playing tricks on his eyes. But that of course wasn't possible.

 

However, that one alarm going off inside my head was the only thing that allowed me to survive another few fleeting moments.

 

 

A deep flare of red hot agony pulsed out from inside my very body as it felt like my insides were being torn apart from seemingly nothing. The distraction was enough to make me barely dodge the attack that went straight for my head. I felt my dread intensify as whatever object that just whizzed by my head felt like a bottomless pit that devoured on my very mana by simply being in the vicinity.

 

Instinctively, I activated every single skill and ability in my repertoire as fast as I possibly could, my Eternal Domain beginning its march to envelop the surroundings and whoever dared attack me.

 

But before my magic ever took complete hold, my focus slipped as a mind-wrenching surge of vertigo and pain assaulted my stricken mind. It was so abrupt and unexpected that my mental defenses, slacked as they had been, were shattered upon contact with the unseen attack.

 

I fell to the ground, my skittering legs falling limp under me.

 

 

Not a second later, another surge of agony hit me, this time right into my chest and through my heart. But not only that, there was the unbearable sensation of my own mana being ripped away from me, whatever that was suck in my chest hungrily devouring every single drop.

 

I looked down with despair blooming in my torn heart at the abyssal black dagger lodged in my chest becoming visible for exactly what it was; a [Mana Devourer]. A blade wreathed in Abyssal Obsidian. It was a weapon famously synonymous with the Order, the faction of mage killers and assassins. This was no ordinary [Mana Devourer] either, as it was clearly of mastercraft make, something even I could never dream of getting my hands on.

 

The Order would rather die than part with the knowledge of making such weapons, so even just getting one had never been something that had crossed my mind.

 

But here we were, one such exact weapon sapping not only my mana away, but my life with it.

 

"Yeah, some items really do suck when you're on the receiving end, don't ya think?" A candid voice tinged with mirth broke the illusion of time standing still.

 

Directly in front of me, a figure had appeared, and I hadn't even noticed due to imminent concerns.

 

But the instant I took in the smug expression on that dastardly face that had carved itself into my memory, I almost felt my pain drain away simply so that I could lunge to my feet and strangle him.

 

"Y-You...!" I managed, already feeling my lungs failing me.

 

"Huh, that was a great deal easier when you have no spells and tricks to hide behind," Xavier said as he paced calmly in front of me with his hands folded behind his back.

 

His seemingly relaxed posture and disregard were an obvious insult and mockery towards me.

 

I briefly noticed a smaller figure farther away, and after seeing her I needed no one to tell me exactly what had happened. My mind raced as my body faltered and the edges of my vision clouded. But the most chilling thing was not the pain or the despair, but rather the sudden lack of it.

 

At this point, I barely had enough agency to feel even that.

 

The last surge of panic was just enough for me to summon [The Scepter of the Miasmic Magus] from my [Greater Ring of Holding] but it was kicked out of my hand before I could use it. But even so, I doubted I'd even be able to fuel it with my ever-diminishing mana.

 

"Now, now - we'll have none of that again." He said.

 

He leaned in close, a hand reaching for me.

 

"This-this is not o-over, you accursed peasa-!" Was the last thing I managed to say to the damned cretin before everything went dark.

 

‹ Xavier Tal'chor ›

 

"No - it is," I said with a sigh as I ruptured the weakened arachnid's head like a popped balloon.