Contrary to my expectations, nothing popped out. We had a completely ordinary time heading through the catacombs and up to the next layer. If anything, it was too normal. Too easy.

  I didn’t trust it- at least not until Damion accidentally stepped wrong on the stair-step and nearly had his head blown off by a fireball. Only a quick burst of wind saved him from having a way-too-deep haircut. For once, Burst didn’t make fun of him.

  It wasn’t that the passage was unguarded- rather, I was with two Anarchs who’d been through here thirty-seven times and knew where all the traps were. Of course, it’d be easy to get through this section.

  They stopped at a landing right before the door, presumably leading out to the terraced layer of General’s Rest. Burst reloaded her bubble rifle, pulling off the top tank and replacing it with one from her bag. “Boss is just out there.”

  ”The General. No name, as far as I know.” Damion’s eyes furrowed. “Um- a summoner? But, also, a really good swordsman. I have AOE, so I can take care of the summons. You guys just need to focus on the boss.”

  “Idiot. You explained nothing.” Burst hefted her gun and nodded to the door. “Watch out for when her sword glows. She’ll start throwing Ether Slashes. Oh, and sound attacks. Those things happen sometimes. They’re easy to break if you hit them with ether. Got it?”

  Ether Slash? That was… hmm… sounded familiar. Where- ah, right. It was one of the Skills that was recommended to melee awakeners. Basically, it used ether to make a ranged slash. Not particularly strong at base levels, though it was handy.

  ”Yep.” I tapped my arm. “Handled.”

  Damion’s voice rose a few octaves. ”I like the confidence! Let’s get this party started!”

  Burst just sighed and fired off another acid splash at the door leading out of the mausoleum. It slowly melted down, revealing the area beyond.

  Like I suspected from below, this entire section was a terrace built into the side of the mountain. Mausoleums surrounded the entire area. Most of them were open, the corpses once entombed within ripped out and sprawling in desecrated piles.

  The terrace had a large clearing in the middle of it, and a fountain lay shattered dead center. Corpses stood skewered on fence spikes all around the clearing. Scavengers. Their bodies dangled limply, thick clothes flapping in the wind.

  A lone figure in aged armor stood on the far side of the clearing, looking out over the cemetery. A crimson, tattered cloak fluttered roughly behind them. Through the gaps of the armor and cloak, I spotted nearly translucent skin shining through the darkness. If the moon peeked out right now? It’d almost be a picturesque scene.

  Sharp, ear-splitting keening poured from the figure constantly. It had no meaning outside the pure emotion pouring through the song; otherwise All-Speech would’ve translated it. The haunting cry evoked a sorrow so visceral it made me think back to the past- to before everything fell apart.

  My mood plummeted. I pulled my sword, gripping the pommel tightly. Burst fired off a round of acid from her water gun to start us off. The globules flew over the figure on the other side of the clearing. The pink bubbles popped, spraying acid everywhere below.

  While acid burned away their cloak, the figure turned back to us with rigid movements. The wail abruptly cut off and a feral glare landed on us through the eye-slit of the General’s helmet. Its movements were halting and broken, as if the armor had rusted over on their joints.

  It spoke, though in a language I’d never heard. All-Speech did its job, translating it into something I could understand. The voice that came out was horribly hoarse, wrecked as if she’d been screaming for centuries. “You-! You honorless scourge! I’ll tear you limb from limb for what you’ve done!”

  The others didn’t seem to care or understand in the slightest. Burst didn’t even wait for the General to stop talking before shooting again. This time, it was the piercing shots that exploded within. The general cut herself off mid-rant and raised a kite shield to take the brunt of the blows. They failed to penetrate through the rusted metal, though left pink residue everywhere.

  While the general was distracted by the shots, I darted forward to engage in close quarters. String Form, Horizontal Slash. I used my entire body’s momentum, throwing it into the attack full force. Or, at least, that's how it looked. I held back on the strike, keeping myself ready to react to any movement.

  The General caught my sword with her own, ramming forward with her shield to catch me in the side. The feint from just a moment ago allowed me to easily back-step around, going with the flow to dodge the shield slam.

  The General pulled her sword into a heavy overhead slash-

  Feint. It was a feint. There wasn’t enough pressure in her ghastly wrist. I ignored the slash, putting space between us to open sightlines once more. Burst immediately took advantage of the gap and fired another heavy shot at the General.

  In the middle of a move, she couldn’t react in time and took it on the wrist. The pink bubble immediately exploded, denting the gauntlet in. Although the shield could take Burst’s blows, her armor couldn’t. The General staggered back, a wail erupting from her throat. “To me, men!”

  All around, armor pieces clattered and stood of their own will, grabbing whatever weapon was the closest. Possessed armor? Enchanted armor? What were they? Maybe even undead, though not like I expected? Regardless, the enemy count immediately jumped to thirteen.

  The armor moved slow and haltingly, the rust holding their movements back. They wouldn’t be much, if any, of a threat in their current state. The General screamed once more. “For Etenheim!”

  A wave of ether launched from her, embracing the enchanted armor. They moved like they’d just gotten a fresh coating of oil. Their movements smoothed out and they approached from every direction. So much for having the numbers advantage.

  “Die!” It wasn’t just the armor either. The General likewise sped up, swinging at me fiercely. I caught her blade, forcing the heavy strike to the side. It wasn’t just speed. The buff affected strength too.

  ”I got the summons!” Damion called out. “Demon Burst!”

  A rough wind buffeted the terrace, blowing the armor over and forcing them away from us. When they were forced to gather, the little Demon King screamed, “Total Annihilation!”

  A tornado churned into existence, gathering rusted weapons, rubble, and armor. It twisted into a blender of guaranteed tetanus. The tornado charged full force into the group of enchanted armor and absorbed the entire group, leaving us to deal with just the General once more.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Element Shift!” Burst called out the name of her Skill and pointed her bubble gun at the General. This time, a purple bubble launched out of her rifle, popping against the General’s armor. The substance covered the General like tar, sticking her joints together and slowing her down once more.

  I met the General’s much slower strike with Garrote Riposte, catching her blade with my own. I forced it to the side, kicking out at her knee to throw her off-balance. She pulled back, dodging the kick but exposing herself in the process. I slashed my sword along her neck, trailing across the chainmail in a spray of sparks. The ether of Basic Ether Sword tried to force its way through-

  I back-stepped, pulling out of the slash to avoid another heavy shield bash. This time, she followed it by completely opening up her guard, sword and shield pointing away. She screamed toward the sky, pouring out all of her sorrows and agonies in one brutal sound. “AHHHH!!!!”

  I was already warned about this, so I knew exactly how to react. I slashed forward, cutting through an ether-reinforced sound wave. My sword trembled with the force of her scream. Basic Ether Sword’s shroud went out, fully taking the brunt of the blow and my weapon cracked along the edge.

  A thin stream of Ebonshroud flowed between my fingers and up my blade, reinforcing and repairing the cracked edge like it was never broken in the first place. I pulled back a step and eyed the General. Her scream cut short into a grotesquely hacking cough.

  More purple bubbles flowed from Burst throughout the short scuffle, though most were caught by the General’s shield. The entire shield was slicked with purple tar. Particles of rust and dust stuck to the once ornate tool thanks to Burst’s Elemental Shifted water gun.

  “You cur!” The General’s sword started glowing. A moment later, a slash sent a wave of red ether at me in a deadly attack.

  Basic Ether Sword shrouded my blade once more, though the ether flowed noticeably slower. Its covering was much, much weaker when I blocked the Ether Slash. My sword cracked and was repaired easily once more. It seemed that after breaking, the Skill had a weakened phase.

  “Get ready, Nyx!” Burst called out when I moved forward to meet the General blade to blade once more. I pulled back a half-step just in time. “Burst!”

  The purple tar and acid covering the General simultaneously glowed. I reacted quickly, pulling back even further from the bubbling liquid-

  Boom!

  Every bit of liquid shot by Burst exploded, destroying the shield entirely and wrecking the bits of armor covering the General pale frame. A gaunt and tattered body was revealed underneath through gaps in her clothes. Her bones were visible through translucent skin, and she seemed to flicker in and out of corporeality.

  In the split moment the General tried to recover, I charged into a shoulder-bash, slamming the General off guard. She staggered, shattering her poise entirely. The wraith flopped helplessly to the ground. She threw up a desperate hand to stop me, but it was already much too late.

  I gave her one lingering moment to recover. She stared up at me, eyes glaring into my own. The glare and hatred slowly faded away as if it’d all been a lie. Exhaustion weighed her expression down, turning what was once probably a beautiful woman aged and decrepit.

  I pulled my sword up, slamming down with both hands into the cracks of her armor. Her body went fully limp when the Ebonshroud blade pierced down into her heart. Black blood welled up briefly, though it dissipated into particles before it could hit the ground. The armor that covered her rapidly faded alongside the rest of her, blowing into the night sky. I bowed my head for a moment, honoring the fallen warrior.

  I looked back to check on the other two. Burst stood mostly fine, though she seemed a little dazed after the fight. She just stared into the sky, face completely blank like a slate. Maybe a Skill flaw? Or did she just see something I missed?

  The little Demon King, on the other hand, lay in a pile of rusted armor. A sword was stabbed down through his cloak, pinning him to the ground. “A little help?!”

  “…” I moved over and plucked out the sword, tossing it to the side. I stretched out a hand to him.

  He took my hand and pulled himself to his feet. Wind surged around him, blowing the rust and dust off of his clothes. “Thanks, Nyx. You’re so much better than that old hag.”

  Ether started to surge around us, similarly to when I killed the Marionette of the workshop. That was just one boss, though? Didn’t this place have dozens of POIs we had to clear out? “…?”

  Damion dropped my hand, rapidly backing away. He blinked repeatedly and his eyes flickered red. ”Oh, first time in one of these rifts? As long as one boss is taken out, it weakens the dimensional veil enough for us to get back. Primo, right?”

  “Yep.” Sure beats going everywhere. Here I was thinking this would be a multiple day trip to find all the bosses…

  “What are we going to get?” Burst dropped out of her daze and moved toward where the General was slain. She excitedly rubbed her hands together in front of the origin of the ether surge. A mechanical chime sounded off.

  [Code: RC-0]

  [Rift: Open - 44:59]

  So we had forty-five minutes to backtrack and get out of here? Shouldn’t be too big of a problem. It was what- a thirty-minute walk to get out to the General’s Rest? Assuming we only run into one or two Scavenger’s, we’d have plenty of time.

  The ambient surging ether condensed. A glow illuminated the spot, flashing brightly and an item- two items formed. One of them was a leather-bound book, the cover stained with blood. The other was an exact replica of the General’s blade.

  [Skill Tome: General’s Rally]

  [“History would forever remember ———, the great war hero of Etenheim. Her call rallied the scattered warriors into one cohesive unit.”]

  [General’s Rally - Let loose a furious cry, bolstering your allies.]

  [General’s Longsword]

  [“Oh, my beloved General ———, may this sword forever hold its edge.”]

  [General’s Longsword - A thrice enchanted blade. Only one enchantment remains, increasing its durability.]

  The little Demon King let out an excited shout and jumped happily, clinging to the book. It vanished in a flash of light. “It dropped! Finally!”

  “Yes, finally… if I never have to enter the Archaic Battlefield again, it’d be too soon… though this was a breeze thanks to you, Nyx.” Burst nodded to the sword. “Want it? Unfortunate its a durability drop over the other two. The sharpness variant is solid up to C-rank.”

  ”…” I shook my head. Durability was the one thing I definitely didn’t need. Ebonshroud equipment had infinite durability so long as I kept repairing it.

  ”Then we’ll sell it? Should be able to fetch a pretty penny out of all this. Oh, and the cores. I’ll take care of it and send your cut through Pursius?” Burst offered.

  “Yep.” I wasn’t too worried about them cheating me. And even if they did, I could just ask Pursius where they lived. They were good, but I had their patterns analyzed now. For both of them, closing the gap seemed to be their weakness.

  Burst grabbed the sword, which likewise vanished into thin air. The ether that was compressed around the items surged out, passing through me and the others.

  [Skill: Shoulder Charge]

  [Accept?]

  [Skill: Basic Ether Dagger]

  [Accept?]

  I accepted both. There was no reason not to, especially considering I had six Skill slots still open. If they weren’t useful, I could always just get rid of them without much of an issue. Wasn’t sure how good Shoulder Charge would be, but Basic Ether Dagger looked like the same thing as Basic Ether Sword, just for daggers.

  [Aylin Io

  Innate Trait: [Dream Stride], [Ebonshroud], [All-Speech]

  Skills: [Basic Ether Sword - 1], [Shoulder Charge], [Basic Ether Dagger]

  Bound: [Will Wire]]

  Interestingly, the OS also added All-Speech to my Innate Traits. It was really more of a learned thing rather than innate, but whatever. I wasn’t in charge.

  Just as I thought that would be the end of the notifications from the OS, I received one more. This one was different, though. It wasn’t announced by the mechanical chimes of the OS. Instead, it simply flicked into view.

  [Nighteye takes an interest in you.]

  What was that? I stared into space for a moment, eventually shrugging once it faded away. Whatever. I could look it up once I got back out to Bastion. There was probably something about it in a forum somewhere.

  “Ready to go?” Burst asked me. At my nod, she turned back toward the stairs leading off the terrace. “Ah, I remember when I first got the OS… good times. Nowadays, the messages are more annoying than anything.”

  ”How can you say that?!” Damion practically screamed. “It’s the best part!”

  ”If you’re a little kid, then sure." Burst easily dismissed his statement.

  "..." Was I a little kid, too, then? I kinda liked seeing all the messages at the end of a rift. And if I were a kid, then she wasn't even a toddler.

  "Ugh- Let’s just go?” She pulled at her rust-covered shirt uncomfortably. “I’m so ready for a hot shower.”

  A shower… That’d also be nice, but I was more interested in coffee. I’d be able to afford more than just a few cups after this, right? I couldn’t wait.