They walked deeper into the ruins. The black towers loomed like jagged teeth against the cavern ceiling.

The air grew colder with every step. The silence of the forgotten city was entirely unnatural: there was no wind, and no insects. Only the sound of their boots echoing on the obsidian cobblestones.

"This place is massive..." Seraphina said. She rested the heavy glass greatsword easily on her shoulder.

"And completely dead," Kaelen added, his violet eyes scanning the dark alleys.

His dark aura continued to cut a clean path through the swirling purple mist. The miasma was thick enough to choke an normal person. For Kaelen, it felt like breathing pure energy.

"The architecture is flawless," she noted, looked at a crumbling archway. "No human hands built this. The precision is way beyond from human capable."

"They were humans once," Kaelen corrected her. He pulled the pale leather grimoire from his back. "But they evolved. They bound themselves to the void."

The grimoire pulsed warmly in his hands. The ancient runes on the pages shifted and glowed.

"Where is it leading us?" Seraphina asked.

"To the center," Kaelen answered, poiting toward a massive structure in the distance. "There’s a sanctuary ahead. It guards the path down to the lower floors."

They marched toward the center of the city. The ruined buildings seemed larger and more elaborate.

Soon, they stood before a massive courtyard. At the end of the courtyard sat a colossal cathedral. It was built entirely from polished black stone.

Unlike the brightly lit temples of the Church, this place has no stained glass. It had no statues of holy saints. This place was designed to embrace the dark.

[System Alert: Entering the Void Sanctum.]

[Warning: High-density miasma detected. Dormant entity awakening.]

"Get ready," Kaelen warned. He drew his chipped hunting knife.

He flared his aura. The glowing three-foot abyssal blade formed instantly.

The heavy stone doors of the cathedral slowly open, causing a wave of freezing, suffocating air washed over them.

A figure floated out of the darkness. He wore an tattered, ancient gray robes. He was footless, floating about a foot above the ground. His face was hidden beneath a deep hood. Two burning crimson eyes pierced through the shadows.

He held a twisted staff made of pale white bone.

[System Alert. Boss-Class Entity encountered.] [Fallen Void Priest: Level 65.]

[Notice: Extreme magical threat. Physical attacks highly reduced.]

"Level sixty-five," Seraphina gripped her greatsword with both hands. "A magic user. Looks like this will be another tough fight..."

"No, it won’t." Kaelen smirked.

The Void Priest raised its bone staff. A large ball of condensed dark magic formed at the tip, then the creature aimed directly at Seraphina. He recognized Seraphina as a physical threat.

"Move!" Kaelen shouted.

The Priest fired. The dark sphere shot across the courtyard like a cannonball.

Seraphina didn’t try to block it. She relied on her Level 85 instincts. She dove to the right. She rolled flawlessly across the cracked obsidian.

The dark ball hit the ground where she just stood. The explosion shattered the cobblestones, leaving a massive smoking crater.

"Too slow," Kaelen growled.

He dashed forward. The stone cracked under his boots. His new agility made him move like a lightning, and in less than a second he managed to closed the distance.

Kaelen swung his void blade horizontally, aimed for the creature’s neck.

The Priest reacted instantly. He slammed his bone staff into the ground, and a thick barrier of dark purple energy erupted around its body.

Kaelen’s blade struck the barrier. Sparks of void magic rained down on the courtyard in a torrential downpour, but the shield held firm.

The Priest turned his crimson eyes to Kaelen. He raised a skeletal hand, preparing a spell from close range.

"You rely too much on magic," Seraphina’s voice rang out from behind the creature.

She leaped high into the air, the borrowed chainmail shifting smoothly with her movements. She brought the massive glass greatsword down in a brutal, vertical chop.

The heavy glass blade smashed directly into the top of the Priest’s magical barrier.

Thunder echoed throughout the ruined courtyard. The physical force of Seraphina’s strike was so powerful that the dark shield immediately cracked like fragile glass.

"Breeeaaaak!!" she roared.

She pushed harder. The glass greatsword shattered the barrier entirely.

The Priest shrieked. It stumbled backward, completely defenseless.

"My turn..." Kaelen said coldly.

He stepped directly into the creature’s guard. He didn’t slash this time. He plunged his dark blade straight into the center of the Priest’s chest.

[Activating Skill: Abyssal Extraction.]

Kaelen didn’t just stab the creature. He opened his mana circuit, then commanded his core to devour.

The violet energy in Kaelen’s hand acted like a vacuum. It violently sucked the dark magic right out of the Priest’s body causing the creature screamed. His crimson eyes flickered in pure panic.

"You belong to the void," Kaelen whispered. "And the void belongs to me."

He twisted the blade, extracted the last drop of the monster’s mana.

The Priest crumbled into gray ashes. The bone staff clattered onto the obsidian floor, instantly the courtyard become completely silent.

[Boss Entity Eliminated. Massive Experience gained.]

[Host Level Increased: 42 -> 45.]

[Skill Leveled Up: Abyssal Aura is now Rank 2.]

Kaelen dismissed his blade. He breathed heavily.

Devouring that much raw magic made his veins burn. It was a painful, intoxicating heat.

Seraphina walked over to him. She lowered her greatsword.

"Are you hurt?" she asked. Her golden eyes scanned him for injuries.

"I’m fine," Kaelen answered. He rolled his shoulders. "I just leveled up three times. The system is generous."

"You devoured that magic directly," she said, looking at the pile of ash. "I’ve never seen a skill like that. It’s terrifying."

"It’s efficient," Kaelen corrected her.

He crouched down and picked up the bone staff. The system interface immediately popped up.

[Item Acquired: Ring of the Fallen Prelate.]

[Description: A spatial ring hidden within the staff. Contains ancient knowledge and high-tier defensive properties.]

Kaelen crushed the top of the bone staff with his bare hand. The fragile bone shattered, and dark silver ring fell into his palm.

"Is that a ring...?" Seraphina asked.

"A spatial ring," Kaelen nodded, slipped the silver band onto his right index finger. It immediately resized itself to fit him perfectly.

[Passive effect activated: Miasma Resistance +50%.]

"It grants incredible resistance to the environment," Kaelen observed, looking at Seraphina.

Her skin turned pale again. The intense combat had drained her stamina, and the thick miasma was slowly creeping back into her veins.

"You need this more than I do," Kaelen decided. He pulled the ring off and handed it to her.

Seraphina blinked in surprise. "Master, this is boss-tier loot. You should keep it for your own protection."

"Don’t worry... my aura protects me," Kaelen stated firmly. He grabbed her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "You are my shield, Seraphina. A cracked shield is useless. Wear it."

The moment the ring touched her skin, her color returned. The suffocating pressure of the city was instantly repelled from her body. She let out a long sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Kaelen," she whispered softly. She didn’t call him Master this time. It felt deeply intimate.

"Don’t thank me yet," Kaelen smirked. He turned toward the open doors of the cathedral. "The stairs to the lower floors are inside. We are only halfway to the bottom."

"Then let’s keep moving," she smiled.

She gripped her glass greatsword. She stepped beside him, entirely ready to follow him into hell.

Kaelen walked into the dark cathedral. The system had promised him a kingdom. He was going to claim it.