The scraping beyond the doorway grew louder as something massive shifted through the darkness, dragging heavy metal across stone with a grating rhythm that reverberated through the ancient corridor.
My Blighted Radiance cast a wavering black-and-gold glow through the opening, illuminating fractured tiles and an enormous chain before the darkness swallowed everything else.
Seraphina tightened both hands around her longsword and moved half a step in front of me, her posture sharpening as another metallic scrape echoed from within.
"Whatever that is," I murmured, trying to peer around her shoulder without getting close enough for something to rip my face off, "I definitely don’t remember putting it here."
"That sentence becomes more concerning every time you say it," Seraphina replied without taking her eyes from the chamber.
"Imagine how I feel."
Two pale golden lights ignited in the darkness before a hulking figure lumbered into view.
The knight stood well over seven feet tall beneath ancient white-and-gold plate armor, its once-pristine surface blackened by centuries of corrosion. Faded holy engravings still glimmered across the breastplate, while thick chains encircled its torso and stretched toward four enormous anchors embedded in the surrounding walls.
What little remained beneath the armor was even less reassuring. Gray, desiccated flesh showed through several fractured plates, hardened until it resembled weathered stone.
A translucent window appeared above the creature.
[MARTYRED GUARDIAN]
[Level: 24]
[Type: Sanctified Undead]
[Status: Corrupted]
"Twenty-fucking-four?" I blurted, staring at the number.
"Stop reading and move!" Seraphina barked as she drove her shoulder into mine.
We stumbled sideways an instant before the Guardian’s greatsword crashed into the floor. The impact pulverized the stone where I’d been standing, spraying fragments across my legs as I desperately regained my footing.
Before it could attack again, the Guardian abruptly turned toward Seraphina. The golden radiance behind its visor intensified as it studied her with an attention that immediately made me uncomfortable.
"Tainted..." Its ruined voice scraped from beneath the helmet. "The Light... has rejected you."
Seraphina’s expression hardened.
Her fingers tightened around her sword until her knuckles whitened, while every trace of irritation disappeared beneath an unnerving calm.
I’d seen her angry plenty of times over the last two days, usually because I’d deliberately caused it, but the quiet hostility settling across her face was something else entirely.
"Get in line," she replied coldly before surging forward.
Steel collided with steel in a deafening shriek. Seraphina couldn’t match the Guardian’s raw strength, but she didn’t try.
She twisted beneath its greatsword, slipped inside its reach, and carved her blade across an exposed joint before retreating from the armored fist that immediately followed.
"Any brilliant ideas?" she shouted, narrowly avoiding another brutal swing.
"I’m working on it!" I forced mana toward my palm while tracking the Guardian’s movements. "I’ve been doing magic for one fucking day!"
"Then learn faster!"
Black-gold fire coalesced between my fingers, and I launched Blighted Radiance directly into the Guardian’s breastplate.
Corrupted flame flooded through the holy engravings, devouring the pale radiance embedded within the armor.
The Guardian recoiled with a tortured roar, and an inappropriate surge of excitement rushed through me when I realized my magic had done considerably more damage than Seraphina’s sword.
"Holy shit! I actually hurt it!"
"Congratulations!" Seraphina shouted as she darted around its flank, using the distraction to drive her blade between two damaged plates. "Now do it again before it kills us!"
The Guardian’s helmet snapped toward me as she withdrew.
My excitement vanished.
"That’s unfortunate."
I hurled myself aside as the greatsword carved through the stone pillar behind me, showering my back with jagged fragments. Seraphina immediately exploited the opening, attacking its exposed flank while I scrambled through the debris and gathered enough mana for another spell.
After that, we found an unexpected rhythm.
Seraphina manipulated the Guardian’s attention, baiting its heavy attacks and exposing sections of armor for me to burn. Whenever Blighted Radiance forced it to defend against me, she attacked the openings I created.
It almost worked.
Then the wound she’d carved beneath its arm began closing.
Golden radiance coursed through the chains attached to the Guardian, flowing from the four anchors in the walls before disappearing beneath its armor. The damaged holy engravings brightened as the creature straightened and raised its greatsword again.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me." I tracked another pulse of energy along the nearest chain before understanding finally clicked into place. "Seraphina! The chains are healing him!"
Her gaze followed mine while she retreated from another swing. "Then destroy them!"
I redirected Blighted Radiance toward the nearest anchor.
Black-gold fire engulfed the holy runes surrounding its base, corrupting their golden illumination and spreading fractures through the ancient metal.
The Guardian convulsed.
Then it looked directly at me.
"Oh, shit."
The Guardian abandoned Seraphina and charged before I could gather enough mana for another spell. Its greatsword swept toward my exposed side with enough force that I didn’t need a System to tell me what would happen if it connected.
I tried to move, but I wasn’t fast enough.
Seraphina threw herself between us and caught the greatsword against her own blade.
The collision sounded like a cannon going off.
Seraphina vanished from in front of me.
Her body hurtled across the chamber and struck a stone pillar shoulder-first with a sickening crack. She collapsed onto the floor as her longsword skittered several yards away.
"SERAPHINA!"
My stomach dropped when she didn’t immediately move.
The Guardian turned back toward me, but a violent cough from across the chamber dragged my attention toward Seraphina. She rolled onto one knee, one arm wrapped tightly around her ribs, before spitting a dark mouthful of blood onto the stone.
Relief hit me almost as hard as the fear had.
"Stay down!" I shouted.
Seraphina wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand and glared at the Guardian as she forced herself upright.
"Fuck you."
I blinked. "Me or him?"
"Both."
Despite everything, a breathless laugh escaped me. "Good. You’re fine."
"I am very fucking far from fine."
The Guardian started toward me again, and whatever amusement I felt disappeared beneath a surge of anger.
That hit had been meant for me.
I thrust both hands forward and poured Blighted Radiance into the already damaged anchor. The corrupted fire consumed the remaining runes until the metal finally split apart and the attached chain crashed across the floor.
The Guardian staggered as Seraphina retrieved her sword.
We knew what to do now.
She kept the creature occupied while I attacked the remaining anchors, but the brutal impact had taken its toll.
Seraphina moved with a noticeable stiffness through her left side, favoring her injured ribs whenever she twisted, yet she refused to give the Guardian enough space to reach me again.
One by one, the anchors fell.
When the final chain shattered, the golden radiance sustaining the Guardian disappeared with it. Its movements deteriorated into sluggish, labored swings while the light behind its visor flickered erratically.
Seraphina recognized the weakness immediately.
She ducked beneath a desperate strike and drove her longsword through the fracture I’d burned into its breastplate. The Guardian shuddered around the embedded weapon, releasing a grinding groan as she twisted the blade deeper.
I gathered what little mana remained into my trembling palm.
"Move!" I shouted.
Seraphina ripped her sword free and staggered clear, giving me the opening to release one final Blighted Radiance into the wound she’d created.
Black-gold flames erupted through the seams of the Guardian’s armor.
Its final roar shook the chamber before the radiance behind its visor extinguished. The enormous knight collapsed onto one knee and crashed face-first against the stone, sending a tremor beneath my boots.
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
Seraphina rested one hand against the wall while clutching her ribs with the other, her breathing shallow and uneven. A bruise was already darkening along her shoulder, and the sight wiped away any satisfaction I might have felt about winning.
I approached her cautiously. "How bad?"
"I don’t think anything is broken." She tested her shoulder, immediately grimaced, and decided against doing that again. "Although I reserve the right to change that assessment when I can breathe without wanting to murder something."
"That hit was meant for me."
Seraphina glanced at me. "I noticed."
"Thank you."
The sincerity seemed to catch her off guard. Her expression softened for only a moment before she nodded toward the corpse. "You’re welcome."
My gaze followed hers toward the enormous armored body.
A thought occurred to me.
"How much do you think he’s worth?"
Seraphina stared at me in disbelief before an exhausted laugh escaped her. "You lasted perhaps ten seconds."
"He’s ancient, magically preserved, and full of holy mana." I gestured toward the corpse as though that explained everything. "If nearly dying doesn’t make us money, I’m going to be significantly more upset about it."
"You have problems."
"I have twenty-three hungry residents."
I stepped around the Guardian before she could argue.
Then I saw what it had been protecting.
The chamber extended beyond the battlefield into what looked like a forgotten treasury. Tarnished ceremonial vessels and sealed boxes crowded stone shelves, ancient weapons rested inside recessed alcoves, and several raised platforms supported petrified human remains still dressed in decaying religious garments.
Two partially opened chests near the far wall glittered with old coins.
My exhaustion suddenly felt considerably less important.
"Please tell me that’s gold."
Seraphina limped over and picked up one of the heavy coins, turning it between her fingers while examining the faded crest stamped into its surface.
"Imperial Aurelians. They haven’t been minted in centuries."
My face must have betrayed my disappointment because she sighed.
"That makes them more valuable, Kira. Collectors pay well for intact Aurelians."
I immediately dropped my pack.
"I fucking love collectors!"
Coins went in first, followed by several rings, gemstones and jeweled medallions Seraphina thought might be valuable. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm lasted only until I noticed how quickly the leather pack began filling.
I looked around the chamber again.
Ancient weapons. Unopened containers. Petrified remains. Ceremonial armor.
And one gigantic Sanctified Undead corpse.
Then I looked at my backpack.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me."
Seraphina raised an eyebrow while carefully wrapping several coins in an old strip of cloth.
"We finally find enough treasure to drag Ashfall out of poverty, and I brought a fucking backpack." I lifted it accusingly before dropping it again. "Why didn’t I think about how treasure works?"
"Because you’re an idiot?"
I narrowed my eyes. "You were significantly nicer when you were dying."
"I remember things differently."
Still muttering about an ungrateful Saintesses, I searched the smaller containers until a black leather satchel wedged behind a shattered chest caught my attention. Intricate silver runes decorated its clasp, while the leather itself remained remarkably preserved despite the centuries of dust surrounding it.
Seraphina noticed what I was holding and immediately limped closer, her irritation replaced by interest.
"That’s a Spatial Satchel."
My fingers tightened around the leather. "Please tell me that means what I think it means."
"It creates an expanded storage space," she explained, crouching carefully beside me while favoring her injured ribs. "Depending on the enchantment, something this size could hold considerably more than your entire pack."
I looked from the satchel to the treasury surrounding us, and hope surged through me.
"How much can this one hold?"
Seraphina examined the silver inscriptions until her fingertip stopped over a thin fracture cutting directly through the central rune. The slight tightening of her lips immediately told me I wasn’t going to like the answer.
"Currently? Nothing. The spatial enchantment is damaged."
I stared at the crack with genuine offense. "Of fucking course it is."
"It may be repairable," she added, turning the clasp over and studying the remaining runes. "The enchantment hasn’t completely collapsed."
That was considerably better than nothing.
"How much would repairing it cost?"
"I don’t know."
I took the satchel from her and examined the fractured enchantment again. If someone could repair it, this wasn’t broken junk. It was infrastructure.
A way to move treasure, supplies, equipment, and resources without depending on however much shit we could strap to our backs.
I carefully tucked the Spatial Satchel into my pack before looking over the hidden treasury again.
We couldn’t take everything today.
But we didn’t need to.
"Fine," I muttered, already considering how useful that little bag would become once it worked. "Then we’re finding someone who can fix the damn thing."