The creature was skinny… plated… with grey skin stretched tightly over a hunched frame. Its back was bony, almost skeletal, and its long hands—thin and gnarled—twitched as it raised one slowly. With a sharp crack, it shattered the glass slightly. Most notable was its long, black tongue… slithering like a snake's, dripping with dark saliva. It reached through the broken pane and began lifting the wooden barricades one by one, pushing them aside with unsettling patience. Then it paused—its gaze drifting toward the night sky, where the rift lingered in the distance, indistinguishable from the dark canvas above. It seemed… anxious. Without a sound, it leapt inside the ruined mansion. Its eyes locked on the soft flames of the hearth… and the sleeping figures curled beside it. It approached them slowly—movements quiet, measured… like a predator. Closer, step by silent step, it crept. Then… as soon as it was within reach… Its tongue stretched out— "Don't you think it's rude to sneak in uninvited?" Sylvia's gentle voice cut through the silence, calm yet sharp. It froze. The others burst into motion. Whatever sleep they feigned, it ended in a flash. Xander struck first—an uppercut straight to the jaw. "As if we would sleep in a mansion in the middle of a death zone…" Leoan unleashed a bolt of lightning. Before it even touched the floor, a white arc surged through the creature's body. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 Matia followed up with a giant hammer, conjured with a shout—she brought it down in a thundering blow, smashing the creature into the polished floor. Damon moved last, pinning it to the ground with his sword. The thing shrank back, trembling violently. Its black tongue writhed as it reached… not for them—but for the fire. It stretched toward the hearth, as if the flame was some ancient, hated enemy. They hadn't been so stupid as to actually sleep. Each of them had remained alert to some degree. They knew the dangers of the night more than most. They had seen what horror slept beneath its silence. Light was always the nemesis of nocturnal terrors. Damon stepped forward. Before he could act—its long tongue lashed out again. And smothered the hearth. The fire died instantly. The creature slumped, body twitching… and for a moment—it almost looked relieved. Damon frowned. He was the only one who could see clearly in the darkness now. "Were you trying to take out the light…? Too bad... Evangeline, light up." Evangeline sighed, annoyed. Her duskglass armor flared to life—glowing with a bright, golden light. "You forgot to say please…" Damon sneered. "I also forgot to give a damn." Sylvia flipped through her skill, journey book. Her eyes narrowed as the entry came up. "Hmm… it's called a Lamp Snatcher… it says—and I quote: 'Corrupted and broken, many of Lysithara's citizens became hideous monsters. Among them, some retained fragments of humanity. A shame… the Lamp Snatcher retained none. Only fear. Fear so pure it twisted into instinct. They seek to extinguish any light that reaches the sky… in fear of what it may call… of what might see it. Only the spires were ever safe to illuminate. Darkness became safety. So they kill light. They snatch it away. Every. Single. Night.'" Damon turned to Evangeline—her armor still shining, casting rays that reached the ceiling. Suddenly… he had a very bad feeling. "Evangeline… kill the lights." The ground rumbled. He felt the mansion tremble. "Evangeline—now!" She didn't need to be told twice. Damon ran toward the barricade and ripped it off with brute force. He stepped to the window, staring into the endless night. His vision, unaffected by the dark, adjusted instantly. And his face paled. At the sight of what hovered in the sky… From the black rift that loomed eternally above Lysithara—like the sky itself had been shattered, like the heavens were just a jagged shard of broken glass—something had begun to spill through. A fragment of a broken heaven, moving… breathing… rupturing. It wasn't just darkness. No, when Damon looked closer, it became clear. It was a sea—a tide made not of darkness…something worse, of monsters. Hundreds… no, thousands of them. Crawling. Slithering. Flying. Each one different, yet unified by a single trait: Their bodies were black. So black they made shadows look pale. Ink incarnate. Living voids. And they were coming. Though they were still far, Damon could make out their forms—some humanoid, others alien and unnatural. Towering ones with spindly limbs and wings made of bone… serpent-like ones that swam through the air… twisted horrors that looked like they'd crawled out of the mind of a dying god. Then the rift shook. Not from the monsters. But from something… worse. A colossal hand reached down—massive, thick-fingered, and clad in fractured lightlessness. It pushed against the boundaries of the world, fingers clawing for entry. But the rift was too small. For now. All around them, the city began to stir. Lysithara… dead for centuries… moved. From alleys, rooftops, graves, and shattered buildings, the corrupted remains of its ancient inhabitants rose again. Some barely skeletons, others wrapped in spectral armor, others bearing the sigils of forgotten houses and fallen orders. Their eyes glowed with rage—not at the living, but at the thing that dared invade their ruins. They rose not to kill the intruders. They rose to make war. Giants shook off centuries of dust. Colossi dragged broken limbs across collapsed bridges. All of them… answering the call. A tide of darkness was descending, and the broken city answered. Damon could only watch. He felt small—so small. He couldn't move. His body refused to answer. He stood frozen watching the endless sky, a single man before a battle of forgotten gods and monsters. And then… Evangeline appeared beside him. He hadn't even noticed her move. The others were there too. "Wh… what is that…?" she whispered. Her voice snapped Damon back into himself. His eyes widened—he looked to the Lamp Snatcher, which now scurried away in sheer terror. It had been trying to escape the light. Avoid the flame. That was why they snatched the lamps. To smother the glow that would draw attention to Lysithara. They were never predators. They were just… afraid. And they had been right to be. They were too close to the rift. The hearth's fire, Evangeline's glowing armor—it had all acted like a beacon. A signal flare to the things beyond the void. They had called it here. Damon's grip tightened around his sword. The Lamp Snatcher vanished into the ruins. The city rumbled. And in the distance, battle began. Titanic. Deafening. A war between the broken rotten dead and the abyss-born horrors had ignited. "Come on—we need to go…" Damon's voice pulled them all back to reality. No more awe. No more fear. Remorseless dulled his fear…slightly. Just survival. They grabbed their packs. Damon looked once more at the sky—no longer dark. It was now lit by alien stars. Something… some entity had wiped away the bleakness with a single attack. A clear sign. A warning…a warning of things to come. His Pale Crown armor pulsed—its soul core burning with purpose. It wanted to fight. It was calling him to battle. He ignored it. He wasn't suicidal. The others felt it too—the hum, the whisper, the pull of their enchanted gear, yearning to clash against the impossible. But they all knew the truth: Fighting meant death. Sylvia gritted her teeth. "They're heading here. We need to move." Damon took the lead, eyes sharp. "We need to get out of here. No one uses flashing or glowing-type magics." His voice was steady but hard—gritted with urgency. "That'd be like painting a target on our backs." He paused. "In fact… no magic at all." Then he leapt out the window— —and landed right in the middle of hell.