Chapter 67: Shadows Fighting Shadows (Part 2)

The leader rolled through the broken opening, and the Panther followed.

Zion shifted his attention after them. The tunnel was narrow and almost completely dark, with only small traces of light reaching it from the chamber behind.

The leader pushed himself up and started moving while the Panther disappeared into the wall.

After that, Zion had trouble following the fight at all.

The leader vanished from one position and appeared in another while the Panther slipped through the surrounding stone and darkness. Every few seconds a dagger flashed or claws struck the wall, but Zion could barely tell which movement belonged to which of them.

"They’re fighting like shadows."

The leader eventually reached the end of the tunnel, only for the Panther to emerge directly in front of him. The passage was too narrow to dodge around it.

"Got you," Zion laughed.

The Panther lunged, but its claws passed straight through the leader as his body dissolved into black mist and slid along the floor before reforming several meters farther ahead.

Zion shot upright. "What?! You can do that too?! Cheater!"

The leader stumbled when he reappeared, his breathing heavier as one hand briefly touched the wall to steady himself. Whatever skill that had been, it clearly cost him something.

The Shadow Panther did not seem interested in giving him time to recover and immediately attacked again.

Ahead, the tunnel opened into a larger chamber. The leader glanced toward it, then back at the approaching beast before making his decision.

He jumped through the opening. Zion followed him into the chamber.

Gold light reflected across the leader’s black cloak as he landed near the base of a raised platform.

The Glittering Treasure Chest sat above him, sparkling beneath several small crystals embedded in the ceiling.

Then the leader stopped. The chest was already open, and someone was standing beside it.

Zion’s grin disappeared. "What? Someone got to it?"

Then he looked up.

This time, he could see the invisible woman clearly. Her cloak had fallen back enough to reveal dark hair tied tightly behind her head, while one hand held something she had already removed from the chest.

A dagger.

Not one of the simple silver blades the party had carried into the dungeon.This one was black from hilt to tip, with a thin red line running down the center of the blade.

Zion recognized it immediately.

[Bloodletter’s Fang]

Of course the invisible assassin had found the one weapon in the chest that was actually perfect for her.

The Shadow Panther burst from the passage behind the leader, and the woman moved instantly. Her body vanished before the beast could fully commit to its attack.

The Panther swung toward the leader, but a black blade appeared from nowhere and slashed across the side of its neck. The beast recoiled, giving the leader enough time to move away from the tunnel entrance.

The woman appeared beside him for barely a second.

"Are you okay?"

The leader nodded once. "Thanks, Lyza."

The Panther didn’t wait and attacked again. Both of them moved at once. Lyza disappeared while the leader teleported sideways, forcing the beast to choose between them.

It went after the leader.

Lyza appeared behind it and dragged Bloodletter’s Fang across its flank before disappearing again.

Zion watched her closely. "She’s really good."

The leader attacked from the opposite side, striking the Panther’s shoulder before teleporting away again.

For several seconds, the two managed to keep the beast caught between them. The leader drew its attention while the woman attacked from wherever it was not looking, then disappeared before it could retaliate.

For a few seconds, the two of them worked together well enough that it almost looked like they might overwhelm the Panther.

Then the leader stepped onto the wrong stone. A quiet click came from beneath his boot.

Zion’s attention snapped toward the floor. Small vents opened along the base of the nearby platform, and green gas burst into the chamber before the leader could react.

He vanished and reappeared several steps away, but the cloud spread too quickly. By the time he stumbled out of it, he was already coughing hard.

The woman appeared beside him.

"Move!"

He tried, but his body only blurred for a moment before the skill failed.

Zion leaned forward as the leader dropped to one knee and coughed hard enough to shake his entire body.

When he pulled his hand away from his mouth, thick green blood coated his glove.

"That looks bad," Zion muttered. If this wasn’t a protected floor, he was sure the poison alone would kill a number of people. It had hit the leader harder than he expected, probably because of how drained he already was.

The woman grabbed his arm and tried to pull him upright just as the Panther emerged from the darkness.

She saw it coming. Her body disappeared, and a moment later Bloodletter’s Fang slashed across the Panther’s face.

The beast recoiled.

She immediately reappeared beside the leader and tried moving him again, but he barely managed one step before another violent cough doubled him over.

More green blood spilled onto the stone.

Then the Panther disappeared.

The woman froze and searched the room.

"Where—"

A shadow formed beneath the leader before she could finish. The Panther erupted upward just as she lunged toward him, but its claws reached him first.

The leader vanished in pale light.

[Adventurer defeated.]

[Defeat Essence acquired: 25]

The woman’s hand passed through the empty space where he had been. She remained crouched there for a moment before slowly standing and tightening her grip around the new dagger.

Zion had expected anger. Maybe panic.

Instead, she simply turned toward the Panther as it stepped out of the darkness across from her. The beast was badly hurt now. One shoulder had been cut deeply, blood ran from its shoulder, and the slash across its face had narrowly missed one glowing eye.

Even so, the Panther lowered itself to attack.

The woman disappeared, but instead of looking around blindly, the Panther immediately lifted its nose and turned toward something Zion could not see.

"You can hide from sight, but not from a predator’s nose."

The woman might have been completely invisible, but apparently that did not matter much to the Panther. It lunged toward the empty space ahead. For a fraction of a second, her outline appeared as she jumped aside, then vanished again before its claws could reach her.

It kept following.

Another attack forced her to dodge, then another, but she never seemed to panic. Unlike the others, she stayed calm and kept moving just far enough to avoid being cornered.

The Panther prowled through the treasure chamber with its head shifting from one direction to another as it followed her scent.

Eventually, it stopped beside one of the stone pillars, tensed, and lunged around it.

Nothing was there.

The Panther stopped beside the pillar and lifted its nose again, searching for a trail that was no longer there.

Somehow, she had broken it.

"Where did she go?"

The beast looked uncertain. It looked around the room, raising its nose to latch on to the scent. Then a black blade appeared directly beneath its jaw.

The woman materialized with it and drove Bloodletter’s Fang upward into the Panther’s throat. She ripped the dagger free and jumped back as the Shadow Panther staggered once before dissolving into white smoke.

[Floor 3 Cleared]

[Initial Clear Bonus]

[500 Essence]

Zion slumped against the throne.

"My Panther..."

The treasure chamber fell quiet. The woman stood alone where the boss had disappeared with her head lowered, and for a moment Zion assumed she was exhausted. Maybe upset about her teammates.

Then he noticed her shoulders shaking. He leaned closer.

"Is she crying?"

The woman slowly raised her head. She was smiling, not even just slightly.

She was beaming.

"...What?" Zion looked at her with confusion. Yeah, she beat the boss but...

She looked around the chamber with bright eyes before suddenly throwing both arms into the air.

"AH! THIS PLACE IS SO COOL!"

Zion recoiled.

The woman laughed as she looked over the traps, broken stone, hidden passage, and lingering green poison. "I have to bring everyone here! The whole Brotherhood could train on this floor!"

Zion slowly leaned back against the throne.

"Brotherhood?"

She inspected Bloodletter’s Fang with obvious satisfaction before slipping it into her belt.

"And the boss hunts you through the traps too? That’s perfect!"

Zion’s eye sockets narrowed.

"Train?"

For several seconds, he simply stared at her before glancing toward the corridors where the rest of her party had been defeated.

Thieves. Assassins. Cultists.

He looked back at the woman.

"What kind of Brotherhood are you people part of?"