The chimera's body crashed to the floor with a final, guttural roar, voidlight leaking from its wounds before fizzling into smoke. The dungeon trembled briefly, then fell eerily silent.
Reynar dropped to one knee, breath ragged, the glow on his arms dimming.
"That... was way closer than I thought it'd be," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.
Liora collapsed beside him, her blade dissipating into wisps of wind. "You're telling me. That beast… it was far stronger than what should've been guarding a dungeon of this level."
"Probably corrupted by the Void," Reynar said grimly. "That would explain the madness… and that power."
Liora nodded faintly, but her brows remained furrowed.
Then her gaze shifted—past Reynar, to the severed tendons and the clean slice that had halted the chimera mid-charge.
She stood up, scanning the broken chamber.
"That strike… wasn't yours. And it sure wasn't mine."
Reynar followed her line of sight. The precision of the cut, the angle—it had come from above, impossibly fast.
Someone else had been here.
"Someone helped us," he said, voice low. "That blur... silver hair. Just for a second."
"Silver?" Liora repeated, suddenly tense. "That's not a color you see often."
She closed her eyes, as if recalling something long buried.
"There was someone like that before," Reynar said slowly. "Back during the forest incident. When I sneaked out to train and got surrounded... someone helped me then too. Moved fast. Silver hair, golden eyes. I couldn't make out the face."
Liora's eyes widened slightly. "You think it's the same person?"
"I'm sure of it."
She looked around the ruined sanctum again. "But why hide? Why not just talk to us?"
Reynar exhaled slowly, staring at the spot where the blur had vanished. "I don't know. But… it didn't feel hostile. More like… someone watching from a distance. Careful. Maybe even afraid."
Liora's expression darkened. "We'll need to stay alert. Someone strong enough to wound a chimera like that isn't just passing through."
From high above, unseen in the shadowed rafters, Sylvie crouched quietly, expression unreadable.
They were starting to suspect.
They'd seen her. Felt her presence.
But they still didn't know who she was. Or what she was doing in the dungeon before them.
Sylvie narrowed her eyes, watching them bind their wounds and approach the fallen boss core. They took nothing else. Just the core. No relics, no storage chests.
They're not here for loot, she thought. They're here for something else.
She didn't know whether to feel relieved or more threatened by that.
Still… something strange tugged at her chest as she watched Reynar gently help Liora up, supporting her without hesitation, concern etched clearly on his face.
He cared.
She looked away.
She didn't know what that felt like.
Not anymore.
Back on the chamber floor, Liora straightened with effort. "Let's report this to the system. If it was a Void-infected guardian, the cycle's not over. That means this wasn't just a random spawn."
Reynar nodded, then paused as the familiar system chime echoed in his mind.
[Dungeon Cleared — Corruption Level: Moderate][Sanctum Core Retrieved][Warning: A new Void Rift is forming in a nearby sector. Estimated time to emergence: 6 days.]
Six days.
That wasn't much time.
He looked to Liora. "Another one. And it's coming fast."
She nodded grimly. "We'll need to rest. Recover. Then train harder. Because next time… we might not get help."
Reynar turned back one last time to glance at the upper reaches of the chamber. Something had been there. Someone.
And they weren't alone in this fight.