[Chapter 329. Broken Promises]

In the darkness of the mining tunnel, where the air hung thick with the scent of dust and decay, only the ethereal glow of Iris's floating lantern and the radiant golden light from Carmen's staff pushed back the suffocating shadows. The Greater Obarro—a monstrous armadillo-like creature nearly a meter tall with iron-grey spikes covering its rock-hard carapace—shifted its massive body. Its muscles coiled beneath the armored plates, swelling as it gathered force for its attack.

In a sudden, violent motion, it launched its horn-like quills across the narrow tunnel in a wide, deadly spread. The projectiles, each the size of a dagger, flew through the air with terrifying velocity. Their sharp points glinted in the magical light before disappearing into the darkness. Sharp, resonant thuds echoed throughout the tunnel as the hard projectiles struck the stone walls and floor, ricocheting off the confined space like a chorus of deadly percussion.

Iris instinctively activated her Mystic Ward just as the first quills reached her position. The pale white, translucent barrier of shimmering energy materialized before her, its surface rippling as three projectiles impacted with enough force to make her grunt. The quills deflected harmlessly, clattering against the stone floor.

Nearby, Lana reacted with equal quickness. Her Aetherium Winged Armor glinted in the magical light as she raised her shield high. She managed to deflect two incoming projectiles with practiced movements, Wavebreaker sweeping through the air in an elegant arc. However, the sheer number of quills in the initial assault overwhelmed her defenses, allowing several to slip past her protective barrier.

Carmen, Sarah, and Vanessa, caught by surprise and unable to dodge, took the full brunt of the attack. Multiple quills struck their armor sets with sickening impacts reverberating through their bodies. The armor offered some protection, but the projectiles pierced through the metal plating nonetheless.

The Greater Obarro, satisfied with its initial assault, uncoiled its muscular body with a sickening series of pops and creaks from its armored joints. It rose to its full height on its rear legs, its beady eyes gleaming with malice, preparing for another devastating attack.

Before it could strike again, Iris shot forward like a bolt from a crossbow. Her movements flowed with precision despite the surrounding chaos. The Zweihänder in her grasp began to hum with power, its black metal blade pulsing with an intense turquoise energy that cast eerie shadows across her determined face.

"Arcane Slash," she commanded, her voice steady and cold as steel.

The turquoise energy swirling around her blade consolidated mid-swing, forming a razor-thin wave of arcane power that detached from the weapon and raced down the tunnel. It sliced through the ancient rail system with barely a sound, parting the metal tracks as if they were nothing more than parchment.

The energy wave struck the large form of the Obarro with devastating impact. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, with a sound like splintering rock, a deep wound materialized across the creature's armored shell. The gash opened, and blood erupted in a violent spray. The dark, viscous liquid splattered across the stone floor and walls, painting the tunnel in a grotesque pattern of destruction.

The beast let out a high-pitched shriek that set teeth on edge—a sound of pure agony vibrating through the confined space. It convulsed once, twice, before crashing to the ground with a tremendous thud that shook the tunnel's foundations, its armored legs twitching in death throes.

`No...`

The word formed in Iris's mind even as she turned her head toward the four women. Her enhanced perception took in the scene with clinical clarity. Two of them lay motionless on the floor, their pristine white armor stained crimson with their own blood. Carmen managed to remain upright but leaned heavily against her Staff, her face pale and clammy. Vanessa's breathing was shallow, her eyes fluttering as she fought to remain conscious. The metallic scent of blood overwhelmed everything else, filling the tunnel with the coppery tang of mortality—a reminder that even in this new world of System-granted powers, death remained brutally real.

`I said that I would protect them.`

The thought echoed in Iris's mind, each fragment reflecting a different facet of her failure. She had sworn to safeguard these women, yet now they lay scattered across the tunnel floor. Her gaze swept over them with mechanical precision, cataloging the damages as if processing data rather than witnessing suffering.

Vanessa's pristine white armor was punctured in three places. A wicked quill had pierced through her shoulder plate. The dark spike protruded grotesquely as blood seeped around the wound, staining the fabric beneath the armor a deep crimson. Another jutted from her side, narrowly missing vital organs but causing enough damage to make her breath come in shallow, ragged gasps. The third tore through her thigh, the barbed tip embedding deep in muscle tissue.

Sarah's condition proved equally dire. She had taken two quills to the chest—one narrowly missing her heart—while another lodged in her abdomen, causing dark blood to pool beneath her on the stone floor.

Carmen had collapsed to one knee, a single quill protruding from her abdomen just below her ribcage. Each shallow breath caused visible pain, her face growing paler by the second.

Only Lana had escaped with relatively minor injuries—a single quill embedded in her thigh. Her face tightened with pain, but her stance remained defiant, her shield raised as if expecting another attack.

Iris's battle instincts overrode her internal turmoil as she spotted movement at the edge of her vision. The last Lesser Obarro had survived the initial onslaught. It scuttled forward, its legs moving in a skittering pattern across the uneven floor, aiming for the injured women at the backline who lay exposed and vulnerable.

Iris moved without conscious thought, her body executing commands like a well-oiled machine. The Zweihänder in her hands felt lighter than air as she pivoted on her heel, bringing the massive blade around in a deadly arc.

The black metal, still humming with residual turquoise energy, sliced through the air, whistling loud enough to swallow all other sounds. The creature's eyes widened before the blade struck. There was no resistance, only a clean, surgical divide as the weapon cut through armor, flesh, and bone in one smooth motion. The Obarro's body separated cleanly, sliding apart with a sickening wet sound before collapsing onto the stone floor in a heap of twitching limbs and steaming viscera.

Without missing a beat, Iris turned to face the wounded, her silver eyes flashing in the dim light as she addressed the fallen healer. "Carmen, get yourself together and use your abilities. You are the healer of this group." Her voice cut through the tunnel like a shard of ice. She watched Carmen flinch at her words, the healer's eyes widening as if pulled from a daze.

Carmen's grip on the staff had loosened until it slipped from her hand, hitting the hard ground with a clatter that echoed unnaturally in the confined space. The impact sent vibrations through the stone floor, a sound that symbolized her crumbling resolve. Her hands trembled—not just from pain, but from shock and adrenaline coursing through her system. Dark blood soaked through the armor around the quill wound, each heartbeat causing fresh pain to radiate through her abdomen. She stared at her staff lying on the ground as if it were a foreign object she couldn't remember how to use.

The sound of pained cries and groans was the only answer Iris received. Vanessa's breathing had grown shallower, her eyes rolling back in her head as consciousness threatened to slip away. Sarah tried to push herself up but collapsed back down with a strangled cry, the movement aggravating her wounds. Lana remained standing but leaned against the tunnel wall, her face beaded with sweat and her complexion unusually pale for someone normally composed.

"Carmen!" Iris screamed, her voice cracking like a whip in the confined darkness, cutting through the moans of the wounded. The sound bounced off the stone walls with a metallic edge that mirrored the desperation in her tone.

The healer didn't react. She only looked at her blood-soaked hand after pulling it back from her abdomen, her fingers trembling as she stared at the crimson coating her palm. The deep red looked impossibly vibrant against the silver of her armor. Her eyes were wide with shock, pupils dilated as she tried to process the impossible reality of her own mortality leaking through her armor.

"Heal them. They are dying." Iris's words were punctuated by a ragged gasp from Vanessa as another wave of pain washed over her, her fingers scrabbling uselessly at the stone floor. The acrid smell of blood and fear filled the tunnel, thick enough to taste.

Carmen moved like a woman in a trance, her gaze drifting over to the two women on the ground beside her. Sarah's face had turned ashen gray, her lips parted slightly as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, each shallow breath hitching painfully in her chest. Vanessa's eyes had rolled back, exposing the whites as she hovered between consciousness and oblivion.

Then Carmen looked back toward the larger beast. It had begun to dissipate into blue motes of light, the particles swirling like a tiny galaxy in the darkness, their ethereal glow casting dancing shadows across the carnage.