I flicked my scythe super far down the hall, controlling it almost like I had telekinesis. The Will Wire really was something else. Although it didn’t have a ton of push and pull strength at base, if I manipulated it just right I could get a surprising amount of force from the scythe. It flicked and flashed, leaving the net of wires behind it.

  Wumph!

  I fired another thorn weave down the hall, this time closer to me to keep them from approaching, and checked on my companions. While I was having the time of my life just lighting up the hall, they were… not doing great.

  [Nighteye’s ears perk up. The kids call it ‘struggle bus’.]

  Struggle bus? Why not train? Trains were definitely cooler- ugh, stop distracting me cat. We were in the middle of an intense battle. Even a moment’s lapse of attention could be devastating… where was I again?

  Ah, right, my fireteam. To be frank-

  [Nighteye snickers. No, you’re Aylin.]

  It was just a saying… did you get into the catnip again? Why were you so chatty all of a sudden? The gun fire drew my attention back to the fight.

  Bruce unloaded up into the cloth covered eye with wild abandon. Most of his shots bounced off or exploded harmlessly against the cloth though. His plasma cannon of an arm did some more damage, but it wasn’t near enough. The cloth just kept regenerating, creating a protective field around the snake eye.

  Blazing, for her part, sent blast after blast of fire at the cloth to a similar effect. It was only when she brought the lantern of golden light near the cloth that it pulled back in parts to reveal the ominous purple glare of the snake eye.

  The boss wasn’t just taking it either. Dark shadow serpents flooded from the coils of blue cloth, lashing out at my fireteam. Each time one died or hit something, it exploded into a black vortex that devoured nearby light. Most were taken care of by Bruce’s crazed fire, but Blazing had to take out a few with her greatsword. Each impact drained her flames.

  “…!” I flicked my wrist, conjuring up a shortsword of Ivorshroud to take out shadow viper that popped out of nowhere. I flipped one of my LMGs toward Bruce, taking care of a duo that were summoned right next to him. I was starting to run low on ammo.

  ”Thanks, Moon! Blazing! Draw in close with the lantern!” Bruce called out, pausing his gunfire. His plasma and rockets, that is. The ARs all over his body continued laying down suppressing fire, keeping the flying shadow skulls at bay.

  “You don’t think I’m trying?!” Her flaming wings flapped, sending her flying toward the covered eye once more. The brilliant golden fire burned at the fabric, causing it to recede-

  “The Void ssshall devour all! Cease your uselesss fighting.” The warped voice of the long dead snake came again, radiating through my head. Shadows erupted from the ball, flicking toward Blazing like a snake tail. She raised her flaming greatsword to block. It slammed into her, launching her careening to the side.

  The tail didn’t stop there. It flopped to the ground, striking the sandstone floor. Shadows crawled all along the floor, leaking up through the gaps between the stone work. Spectral hands reached up, though couldn’t go much further thanks to the radiant light of the lantern.

  “Don’t step on the cracks!” Bruce kicked away a shadow hand that’d latched onto his ankle. “They’re draining my energy. I can’t keep this up much longer!”

  I moved to the middle of the tile, flicking back to fire a shot of Thorn’s Defiance and clear out another swathe of mummies. They were endless in number. With my suppressing fire from the LMGs slowing down now that I was running out of ammo, they were closing the gap. My scythe flicked down the hall far more erraticly, and my strings pushed and pulled at the enemy.

  A coil of cloth splintered down to meet Blazing. Its target was all too obvious—it wanted to break the lantern. Even sacrificing bits of itself to achieve such a thing. It’s cloth regenerated, but it’d weaken near the brilliant gold light.

  Clang!

  She cut at it with her greatsword, though from the sounds of the sword, it was a deceptively heavy blow. “What’s this creep even saying? Bar bar?”

  Should I… start helping out? They’d be fine, right? Probably… as things stood, they could handle it for now. Best I just kept on over here. Still, I stopped the two LMGs, one white one grey, entirely. Just in case I needed to help.

  I conjured out even more Ivorshroud, throwing a second scythe down the hall. I wasn’t running low on resources yet, but if things kept up that wouldn’t last long. I pulled it along with the Will Wire, sending it catapulting straight through a mummy’s neck. It sliced through in one smooth move, dropping the mummy and the several just behind it.

  “This one is the end that beginsss again. None ssshall ssstand before the devouring Void!” The snake called into our heads. It’s eye peeked through the gaps in the cloth, staring down at Bruce. He was aware this time though, looking away before he could start turning into stone.

  That wasn’t the real attack though. The shadows surged all around the massive dead snake. They were bound by the daggers sticking into its body, clinging to the edge of the room. Slowly, they started to seep in further and further. My Will Wire was cut away by the shadows steadily encircling the room and closing it down.

  ”Our space is shrinking!” Bruce shouted over his fire and danced over the shadow cracks of the floor. His AR wiped across the space, gunning down dozens of shadow serpents. “We need to do something now!”

  “Enough!” Waves of fire poured from Blazing, scorching the ground… the matchup was bad though. The flames were rapidly absorbed by the shadow snakes and pulses through the cracks. What remained channeled back into Blazing gathering into a pin-prick ball. It wasn’t just her fire either, the lantern continually fed into the ball, making it glow even more violently. “Moon! We need you!”

  I glanced down the hall. All the mummies were done. It seemed whatever the snake eye was using to seal the space made summoning stuff useless. I flicked my shortsword once more, slamming it down into a shadow snake just before it could lunge.

  “Get it close!” Blazing flicked the lantern to me. She must want to ward off its cloth and then hit it with a heavy slam all at once. “Get ready, Bruce.”

  I moved to catch the lantern-

  I instinctively flinched back, barely managing to keep it from shattering with a quick tendril of ivory Ebonshroud. The close proximity to the light burned at my flesh like Dew. Stronger, even. Maybe if I was fresh on a dose, it’d be fine. It’d been a little over two weeks though. The feral, fanatical laughter that tried to break through my mind demanded I throw it down. That I snuff out the light.

  That was enough for me though. If that side didn't want to be near, then I’d do the exact opposite as per usual. I flicked the lantern into my hand. My entire body burned like a thousand suns radiated through it. My flesh even started to smoke slightly from the sharp light. I ran a band of Ebonshroud over it, covering the burning.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  This much pain… still couldn’t compare. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, trying to get used to the agony. There was no getting used to it though. It just settled across my body, amping with each passing moment.

  Even if I had the willpower to stand strong, my body would burn away at this point… or, at least, the contamination within would. I could feel it bucking at me, rearing for control. My teeth started to ache, and my skin turned faintly transparent under the scalding light.

  I sprinted across the space, jumping over the shadow cracks toward the floating ball. I didn’t have a good way of closing the gap, so I made due with the Will Wire, flicking it like a grappling hook. An Ebonshroud spike formed on the end, slamming up into the roof. I pulled myself up, lunging with the light.

  A shadow tail formed just above me to smack me away. I was ready after watching Blazing fight though. A second strand of Will Wire pulled me to the side just in time to avoid the heavy attack. Shadow snakes formed all around me in a desperate attempt to stop my approach, but they were gunned down by the waiting Bruce before they could have an effect.

  ”How dare you-! Argh!” The cloth burned and sizzled like my flesh. What the creature dealt with, however, was several times stronger than what I had to handle. The cloth caught fire and burned away, revealing the eye within.

  “Dodge!” Blazing called out. I pulled myself to the side, tossing the lantern up into the ball of cloth.

  Wooonggg~!

  The bright ball of light shot out into a ball several times stronger than what she released beforehand. It was golden too, strengthened by the divine light of the lantern. The brilliance of the beam made the entire rest of the room feel dark by comparison.

  ”No!” A desperate cry came, but it was too late already. The beam slammed into the opened cloth ball, directly vaporizing anything it touched. The beam continued on, cutting up straight through the roof of the pyramid like butter and out into the night sky beyond. Unfortunately, the lantern was included in that. I would've liked to bring that one back.

  “Haah- Haah.“ The beam abruptly cut off, and Blazing collapsed to her knees, panting harshly. The effects of it still lingered though. The temperature of the room spiked way beyond a healthy limit. Steam filled the space, and the sandstone close to the beam passed the molten state and was just vaporized.

  The malignant energy in the room didn’t dissipate. It started to fade, but remained. The voice called out once more, this time far weaker. “Thisss one cursesss you, ssstar-keepersss. I’ll remember thisss debt.”

  [Nighteye looks at the big snake. That didn’t sound ominous or anything.]

  It’d probably be fine? It was dead now. Would it come back in a couple episodes like this was Glitch Scouts? No… though that would be cool. I rubbed at a burning patch of my skin, peeling off a chunk. Ah, I want to go home and watch Glitch Scouts with Lucia.

  The entire room dropped by several dozen degrees, partially thanks to the new ventilation shaft leading right out the side of the pyramid. The mechanical voice of the OS called out a moment later.

  [Code: RC-1]

  [Rift: Closing: 44:59]

  [Nighteye lets out a breath of relief. Her full tub of popcorn falls to the side. That was tough, huh?]

  I guess… a little bit? By far the strongest D-rift I’d faced so far. Blazing made a good point though. This place was D-ranked with just one monster. It’d probably be C or higher if this was more ‘normal’.

  I stared down at the dead warriors who were here before us. Their bodies had been trampled and pulverized in the fight till almost nothing remained. Can you even imagine how hard this would’ve been if they hadn’t sacrificed themselves to kill the serpent? What we faced was just a fragment of that.

  “Is it over?” Bruce asked. I raised my guard several notches, looking around just in case. It seemed the rift was well and truly taken care of though. “My eyes are burned out. They’re repairing, but I can’t see.”

  The spatial seal of the snake coils was gone too. I retrieved my Ebonshroud scythes, reabsorbing them alongside the LMG. “Yep. Okay Blaze?”

  ”’M fine. Just- Haah- just give me a moment. Really- Haah- takes it out of me.” She flopped to the ground and draped an arm over her eyes, breathing roughly. “You guys- Haah- split stuff between yourselves. I don’t need it.”

  Following her words, the ether throughout the entire rift condensed here. A brilliant glow lit up the entire room. Several items formed in the light.

  [Skill Tome: Radiance]

  [“The brilliant glow led the warriors to — — —, the sealed prison of — — —. In its light, they stood a small chance of success. If they succeeded, their world might survive [Redacted]”.]

  [Radiance - Emit a light, melting curses, poisons, and diseases.]

  [Skill Tome: Darkest Night]

  [“— — — hungered for the sun, seeking to drown the world in eternal night. The great devourer’s gluttony knew no end, eventually drawing the eye and blessing of [Redacted].”]

  [Darkest Night - Absorb the light, becoming that which lurks in darkness.]

  [Sun’s Vengeance]

  [“My brave warriors of dawn, accept these khopeshes forged from the finest sun-steel. Push back — — — and his servants. You are our only hope.”]

  [Sun’s Vengeance - A khopesh forged at dawn. It’s blade superheats with a plasma edge.]

  There were parts of the OS that just cut out. It was a bit annoying, but there was probably a reason for it. The Redacted messages were far more interesting. What was the point of that? There was definitely esoteric knowledge that literally hurt to know, so maybe it was some kind of protection? Was it one of their names?

  Bruce moved up beside me, eyes hollowly looking toward a far wall. “What are they? I don’t have OS access.”

  Ah, yep. He wasn’t a Warden. I completely forgot about that. The cyborg held up surprisingly well given the situation. Granted, Blazing did most of the heavy lifting at the end with that beam of total devastation. “Two tomes. Plasma. Khopesh.”

  To be honest? I wanted the tomes. They sounded cool. More than that, I really wanted Radiance. If it really melted curses like it said, then I wanted to see how it’d play with my current state. I wanted it badly enough I was willing to give up every other reward here for it.

  Bruce waved toward the far wall. He probably meant to wave for the rewards. “You can have the tomes. I can’t use them anyway. I’ll take the khopesh? And since I’m only getting one reward… Could I get your contact info? Networking and all that.”

  “Yep!” I had no reason to refuse. The khopesh was cool, but I could always ask Rabbyte to make me something if I really wanted one. Sure, it’d probably be weaker as a technological replica, but I’d have one.

  I retrieved the two tomes, learning both. I also retrieved the khopesh. It seemed he couldn’t even interact with the rewards without a Warden. Something to think about if Throne wanted to push normies into rifts. I, of course, handed it over without hesitation.

  [Aylin Io

  Titles: Nyx, Moon

  Innate Trait: [Dream Stride], [Adaptive Ebonshroud], [All-Speech]

  Skills: [Etheric Reinforcement-Evo], [Brace-6], [Guard], [Mictal Fog], [Ether Physique-4], [Radiance], [Darkest Night]

  Boon: Nighteye - [Guiding Moonlight]

  Bound: [Will Wire], [Thorn’s Defiance]]

  Primo! And even Etheric Reinforcement was ready to evolve. I’d take care of that back home. Otherwise, my Skills were finally starting to look kind of good. Not quite a full, coherent build, but it was getting there. Next to go would be Guard and Mictal Fog, probably. I didn't really need them.

  I walked over to Blazing, who was still slumped over with an arm draped over her face. For a moment, an overwhelming urge to chomp down passed through me. I pushed back on it reactively and kept my cool. Ugh- my injuries must’ve been more severe I thought to degrade this quickly.

  “HhhAHahAHahAHAHAHA~!” A faint mad cackle filtered through my head. Definitely time for more Dew when I got back. Hmm… did the cackles seem stronger recently? No- it was probably just me jumping at shadows again.

  The enforcer didn’t even look up at my approach. “One of you want to carry me back? I feel like I walked a marathon.”

  Bruce moved toward us, following her voice. ”Is it really that draining?”

  “That final one?” She wiped sweat and sand off her face. “I get more powerful with every flame, but it also drains more. That golden lantern? That was some seriously strong stuff. The only reason I’m still up is thanks to my Ether Auto-Injector.”

  “Hmm… It's crazy that stuff is useful for you. All this Warden stuff blows my mind still. That’s like an auto-heroine injector to us mundanes.” Bruce shook his head. “What’s the plan now? Head back?”

  “Nah, we got forty-five minutes. Collect some stuff from that snake. Leave the daggers in it though. My Star is telling me pulling them out is a very, very bad idea.” Blazing’s eyes tracked to me. “Moon- you look like hell to be honest. Was that me?”

  “Snake. Venom.” I lied and looked down at myself. It wasn’t even the snake. It was that dumb lantern. Ugh- and I took Radiance. I’d have to take it slow and test the effects.

  My entire body was covered in irritating burns. Patches of my skin were hanging off, apreparing even worse thanks to the transparent look to my skin. I looked like a ghost with my all white clothes on. My steadily darkening white clothes. I rubbed at my cheek, peeling off a part. Dark black blood pooled out, hissing at the sandstone when it hit.

  “Be fine.” I waved her off and made bandages of ivory Ebonshroud, wrapping my horrifically burned body. I also leached my blood back into my body, cleaning up my white clothes. The wounds were already starting to heal. Definitely time for Dew. “Just rest.”

  “That skill of yours sure is nifty. Must’ve cost a fortune.” Blazing shook her head. “Just take a break- actually, go take pictures of what’s left of the carvings, hieroglyphs, and murals throughout this place. OuroSec will pay a fortune for it. Gotta make some money from this place.”

  A voice whispered that just one bite could satiate me for centuries. I ignored it though. I didn’t even need to eat or drink in the first place anymore. I was satiated already.

  “Yep.” I moved off, pulling out my phone. Sure beat having to dig through a long dead and decaying snake.