The remaining Shadow Knights shrieked in fury as Glen shattered their vanguard. The undead warriors broke free from the edges of Caleb’s gravity well and lunged at Glen swinging their jagged broadswords with lethal precision.

Glen did not retreat. He activated Obsidian Skin.

His flesh hardened into dark translucent armor just as a rusted blade slammed into his shoulder. The attack sparked against his hardened skin failing to cut deep but the sheer kinetic force pushed him back a few inches.

"They hit hard" Glen noted his eyes tracking the next incoming strike.

Before the second knight could swing a supersonic bullet of absolute zero energy slammed into its helmet. The undead warrior’s head instantly froze solid before shattering into a thousand icy fragments. The headless body collapsed to the floor.

"I told you to stay out of my line of fire" Isla yelled from across the cathedral firing three more rapid shots that froze the legs of the advancing knights.

"I had it under control" Glen laughed ducking under a horizontal slash.

He pivoted on his heel using the momentum to swing his heavy black longsword in a wide arc. The dense A Rank metal cleaved straight through the rusted armor of two frozen knights cutting them in half.

The combat was fast and brutal. The trio moved with surprising synergy for a team that had never officially dived together. Caleb controlled the battlefield using localized gravity fields to slow down the fastest enemies or crush groups together. Isla provided lethal covering fire her ice bullets shattering the undead before they could flank Glen.

Glen was the vanguard. He was the wrecking ball.

He dashed through the shadows his heavy sword crushing bone and iron with every swing. His Level 15 stats combined with his merged skills made him a terrifying close quarters combatant. But as the fight dragged on he noticed something concerning.

The Shadow Knights were not dropping monster cores.

Usually when a monster died its body dissolved into ash leaving behind a crystallized core of mana. But these knights were simply falling to pieces and the dark purple mana leaking from their eyes was sinking back into the stone floor.

"Sterling" Glen shouted kicking a knight in the chest and sending it flying into a pillar. "They are not dropping cores. The mana is being recycled."

Caleb narrowed his eyes tracking the flow of the purple energy. "It is a summoner dungeon. These knights are just puppets. There is a Necromancer controlling them from deeper inside the ruins. As long as the summoner is alive they will just keep rebuilding themselves."

Right on cue the shattered bones and rusted armor scattered across the floor began to rattle. The dark purple mana seeped back into the debris pulling the pieces together. The knights Glen had just destroyed were slowly standing back up.

"I hate magic" Isla muttered reloading her pistols. "How do we find the summoner?"

"We will follow the energy" Glen said his eyes locking onto the thickest trail of purple mana flowing toward the back of the cathedral. "Isla, Caleb clear a path. We are going straight for the source."

"Hold your breath" Caleb warned raising his staff with both hands. "Gravity Repulsion."

A massive shockwave of anti gravity exploded outward from Caleb’s position. The reassembling Shadow Knights were violently thrown backward crashing into the stone pillars and walls clearing a wide path down the center of the cathedral.

Isla followed up instantly firing a barrage of ice bullets that froze the knights to the walls pinning them in place.

"Go" Isla shouted.

Glen activated Lightning Movement pushing his speed to the absolute maximum. He blurred down the center aisle of the cathedral leaving a trail of blue sparks in his wake. He bypassed the struggling knights and sprinted toward a massive set of iron double doors at the far end of the hall.

The doors were blown wide open.

Glen dashed through the entrance and slid to a halt inside a circular crypt. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Standing in the center of the room was the Necromancer. It was a towering skeletal figure draped in tattered purple robes holding a staff made of fused human spines. A swirling vortex of dark mana hovered above its head feeding energy to the knights outside.

The Necromancer turned its glowing red eyes toward Glen and raised its staff.

A barrage of dark energy spears materialized in the air and shot toward Glen at blinding speed.

Glen did not try to dodge. He dropped his heavy sword and raised his left hand. He channeled the demonic fragment in his core and activated Void Touch.

He swiped his hand through the air intercepting the dark energy spears.

The moment his fingers touched the magic the spears hissed and dissolved into dead gray ash. The demonic anti mana completely erased the spell before it could even detonate.

The Necromancer froze its glowing eyes flickering in confusion. It had never encountered a human who could simply rot magic with a touch.

That moment of hesitation was all Glen needed.

He closed the distance in a heartbeat grabbing the Necromancer by the throat with his right hand. He slammed the undead mage into the stone wall cracking the crypt.

"Let us see what you have" Glen whispered his eyes glowing with predatory hunger.

He plunged his left hand directly into the Necromancer’s chest shattering its ribs and grabbing the massive pulsing purple core hidden inside its ribcage.

The system interface flared to life in his vision.

[Target Core Acquired: B Rank Necromancer]

[Analyzing Skills...]

[Skill Detected: Shadow Step (B Rank)]

[Skill Detected: Mana Drain (C Rank)]

[Would you like to use Skill Predator?]

"Yes" Glen commanded.

The dark fragment in his core flared. A violent agonizing surge of energy ripped up his arm. The Necromancer shrieked as its core was forcibly drained of its essence. The purple light faded from its eyes and the massive skeletal body crumbled into a pile of lifeless dust.

Outside in the cathedral the remaining Shadow Knights instantly collapsed their magic severed.

Glen stood in the quiet crypt breathing heavily as the system finalized the theft.

[Skill Stolen: Shadow Step (B Rank)]

[Description: Allows the user to instantly teleport between shadows within a fifty meter radius. Consumes moderate mana.]

Glen smiled wiping a streak of sweat from his forehead. He looked at the dark corners of the crypt. He willed the skill to activate and instantly his body dissolved into black mist reappearing fifty meters away near the entrance.

"Shadow Step" Glen laughed the adrenaline pumping through his veins. "Now this is going to be fun."