[Level Two — 9:25 AM]
The first Wraith appeared three ters from the stairs.
It didn’t attack imdiately. It just floated — a vaguely human shape made of shadows.
Then it touched Raven’s arm.
"Cold," said Raven.
[Raven MP: 420 → 390/420]
"MP," said Alex. "They drain MP on contact."
"Noticed." Raven stepped back. "How do you kill them?"
[Soul Sight — activated]
The Wraith had a small, dense core, visible to Soul Sight as a bright point in the center of the diffuse form.
"Center mass. There’s a core."
Grim was already moving. The scythe passed directly through the core.
The Wraith dissolved.
[Grim souls: 731 → 731.3/1,000]
"Small souls too," said Alex.
**"Yes. But the core is the point."**
Three more Wraiths appeared from the left corridor.
"[Soul Sight] for the cores," said Alex. "Grim marks them. Everyone else aims where Grim aims."
**"Understood."**
---
The problem with Level Two wasn’t the Wraiths.
It was that the Wraiths ca first, and what ca after was worse.
The Bone Golem appeared at the end of the central corridor.
It stood three ters tall. Bone compacted and fused until it was almost stone. No visible core from the outside, and the layers of material too dense.
Maya: "Weak point?"
Alex with [Soul Sight]: "There’s sothing inside, but it’s protected. I can’t pinpoint it from here."
The Golem charged.
Grim intercepted it.
BOOM.
Grim gave way a ter and a half but didn’t fall.
[Grim HP: 3,360 → 3,100/3,360]
He pushed back. The Golem staggered.
Kira with [Predator’s Sense]: "The right shoulder joint. The material is thinner there."
"Sure?"
"The movent pattern favors it. If the core is offset to the right, that’s where there’s the least protection."
Alex to Grim: "Right shoulder."
Grim turned the scythe. A direct cut to the Golem’s right shoulder.
The bone armor gave way.
A crack. Small but real.
The Golem began to regenerate, the bone fusing back in real ti.
"Fast," said Raven.
[Blood Weapon — sword] from Alex directly through the crack while it was still open.
[Necrotic Burst] channeled into the tip.
Internal CRACK.
The Golem stopped.
Then it collapsed inward, all the material without the core that animated it falling to the floor in pieces.
[Grim souls: 731.3 → 734/1,000]
"Crack first, core second," said Alex. "Before it regenerates."
"How long does it have to regenerate?" asked Emily.
"What you just saw."
"Three seconds."
"Less."
---
[East Corridor — 9:50 AM]
The third type of creature on Level Two arrived without warning.
A Shadow Crawler had a form that moved completely flush to the ground — like an independent shadow, without volu, without a surface to attack directly.
The crystal lanterns didn’t illuminate it. Darkness was its natural state, not a condition.
Maya’s lantern flickered.
Then it went out.
Complete darkness.
"Stop," Kira said quietly.
Everyone stopped.
[Predator’s Sense — maximum]
Kira’s amber eyes glowing in the darkness — the only light source in the corridor.
"There’s sothing on the ground. Two ters away. Moving toward the right flank."
[Soul Sight — activated]
Alex saw the Crawler — its faint aura, almost massless, moving exactly where Kira said.
He pointed right with two fingers.
Grim followed the point. The scythe ca down.
The Crawler split in two on contact but didn’t die. It just separated.
"That doesn’t work," said Alex.
**"No."** Grim withdrew the scythe. **"How?"**
Alex looked at the Crawler with [Soul Sight]. The split aura trying to reconstitute itself.
"It needs light. Any light that isn’t from the crystal lanterns." He looked at Emily. "Purifying Light?"
"It’s at fifty percent."
"Does it work even distorted?"
Emily extended her hand.
The light ca out fragnted — not the clean beam from before, but sothing broken at the edges.
The Crawler recoiled.
It didn’t die. It just recoiled.
"It keeps them at a distance," said Emily. "Is that enough?"
"For now."
---
Alex’s [Death’s Domain] attracted all the undead on Level Two toward him instead of intimidating them. They kept it suppressed. Without Death’s Domain, Alex operated more limited than normal, without the influence field he’d used in all previous battles.
Which ant [Soul Sight] beca his primary tool. And [Soul Sight] had a continuous MP cost.
[Alex MP: 535 → 490/535] — and dropping.
The Bone Golems responded to sound. A loud impact in the corridor activated every Golem within a fifteen-ter radius.
Which ant combat had to be silent.
No verbal orders in an active corridor. No skills with a high sound-impact component.
The team adapted.
---
[North Corridor — 10:20 AM]
Two Bone Golems at the end of the corridor.
The team at the other end.
Raven pointed at the left Golem with two fingers. Then pointed at herself.
Kira looked at the right Golem. Nodded.
Raven with [Blood Weapon — silent sword], channeling the crimson energy slowly to minimize the energy pulse, the activation sound absent.
Kira with her bow and her loaded arrow, the tip wrapped in cloth to eliminate the impact sound.
They moved at the sa ti with no additional signal.
Raven to the left Golem’s left shoulder.
Kira to the right Golem’s right shoulder — sa weak point they’d established, sa angle.
Simultaneous cracks.
Alex with [Necrotic Burst] channeled to the absolute minimum — enough for the core, not enough to activate the Golems in the next corridor.
Two collapses.
In silence.
Kira and Raven looked at each other.
Neither said anything.
They kept going.
---
[West Corridor — 11:00 AM]
The Shadow Crawler that cut Emily off from the formation did it at the point where the west corridor made a ninety-degree turn.
The team turned.
Emily turned.
The Crawler erged from the ground between Emily and the rest of the group — not aggressively, but its presence cut off the route back with the sa effectiveness as a closed door.
Emily stopped.
The Crawler between her and the team.
Her Purifying Light at fifty percent — it kept the Crawler at a distance but didn’t eliminate it. And the corridor behind Emily had two Wraiths that were orienting toward her.
"Emily." Alex in a low voice from the other side of the Crawler.
"I see it." Emily watching the Crawler that oscillated in front of her. The Wraiths approaching behind.
[Purifying Light — maintained]
The Crawler retreated just enough not to touch her. But not enough for her to pass.
Then Luna appeared.
Not because Emily called her.
She just appeared — from the spiritual plane into the corridor, no summoning, no activation light. Just suddenly present between Emily and the Crawler.
Luna’s horn glowed.
Not with the fragnted, distorted light of Emily’s Purifying Light. With its own light — white, clean, unhindered by the Catacombs’ environnt.
The Crawler didn’t retreat.
It dissolved.
Not like the Wraiths when their cores were attacked. It just... disappeared.
Luna turned her head toward the two Wraiths behind Emily.
The Wraiths retreated deeper into the corridor.
Emily looked at her unicorn.
Luna looked back with an expression completely innocent of concern.
---
[Main Corridor — regrouped — 11:10 AM]
The team back together.
"Are you okay?" asked Alex.
"Yes." Emily was still looking at Luna. "But Luna has never done that before."
"What exactly did she do?"
"She appeared on her own. Without calling her." Pause. "And her light works differently from mine here. It’s not distorted."
Everyone looked at the unicorn.
Luna looked ahead with the sa expression as always.
"I think she decides when to co out," said Emily.
**"Useful,"** said Grim.
"Just useful?" said Raven.
**"Very useful."**
Maya sighed and did a calculation.
"If Luna’s light isn’t interfered with by the environnt, she can handle the Crawlers without needing Emily to keep Purifying Light constantly active." Calculating. "Emily saves MP for real healing."
Emily looked at Luna.
"Can you do that? Keep the Crawlers away?"
Luna didn’t respond.
But when the next Crawler appeared in the corridor, Luna turned her head toward it.
The Crawler dissolved.
"Yes, she can."
---
[Transition Chamber — 11:45 AM]
[Grim souls: 800/1,000]
The chamber between Level Two and Level Three was smaller than the maps indicated. Four ters by four. Low ceiling. A rock door at the far end leading to Level Three.
The team used it as a recovery stop.
Emily healing what needed healing.
Raven counting skeletons — forty-two still present, she checked twice.
Maya updating notes. Alex checking his MP.
[Alex MP: 490 → 490/535] — [Soul Sight] off during the pause.
Kira didn’t sit down.
She walked the periter of the chamber, examining the walls, the floor, the ceiling.
She stopped at the floor in front of the Level Three door.
She crouched.
[Predator’s Sense — active]
She examined for twenty seconds.
"Soone passed through here." Low voice. "Two hours ago, max. Heading toward Level Three."
Alex: "How many?"
"One person. No visible companion — weight distribution for a single source." Kira pointed to specific marks no one else could see. "Small footprint. Light combat boot."
Raven: "Seraph."
Kira: "Probably." She stood up.
"But the gait pattern is different from the one I registered when she entered through the north corridor." A pause.
"Either she changed how she moves inside. Or—"
"Or there’s soone else inside that we didn’t know about," Maya finished.
Silence in the chamber.
Level Three waiting on the other side of the door.
**"Do we continue?"** said Grim.
Alex looked at the door.
Then at Kira.
Then at the footprint on the floor.
"We continue."
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