The city looked the same, yet completely different. Darkness still swallowed the streets, but something had shifted. Before, the shadows of souls hid behind walls and boarded-up windows. Now they drifted through the open streets without purpose. It was as if they had finally been released from a cage, only to discover that freedom meant nothing to them.

  Max flew low, studying the buildings. Something strange caught his attention. From every house came a faint glow – not real light, but more like the echo of memory. As if stone and wood still held fragments of those who had once lived there, crumbs of souls left inside the walls.

  Why hadn’t the Spirit devoured that as well? Why leave these shadows behind? They were souls, but hollowed out and emptied from within. Maybe, if they were filled with energy again, they could recover. Max felt he had to try. Perhaps they could restore themselves in the Otherworld.

  He descended and opened a door to his plane, just as he had done before. At first, nothing happened. Souls usually sensed the call of a door, but now there was no reaction. Then one shadow drifted closer, paused near Max, and quietly stepped through.

  Did it work?

  The air in front of him suddenly tore open with a streak of black. Another shadow emerged, larger than the rest, rising from the darkness so sharply that Max flinched. Its silhouette was denser, heavier. For a moment, they seemed to lock eyes, and Max would have sworn that the empty darkness where its head should have been was staring straight at him. The moment stretched – then the shadow dissolved into the door.

  A white glowing sphere remained on the ground.

  Max knew what it was. A core shard.

  He picked it up, and warmth pulsed in his palm. Another new magic? At this rate, he would collect an entire set, yet he still had not mastered the ones he already possessed.

  He put the core shard away and watched as the dark silhouettes slowly, one by one, moved toward the door. They were in no hurry. In the end, he decided to leave the door there and flew back to where he had left his body.

  Instead of relief, he found emptiness.

  No body. No Ruslan. No Kristina. No Julia.

  In just a few hours, they were gone.

  “Julia!” he shouted, louder than he intended.

  She appeared beside him at once, as always.

  “Max! I did it! There was this sticky ghost slime, and I stepped into it, and it started draining my strength!” she said quickly, waving her hands. “I barely got free!”

  Max clenched his teeth.

  “Where are my brother and sister? And where is my body?”

  “Uh…” Julia made a guilty face. “I saw you here, you know… drooling. Well, your body was. And then your body… stood up. And Ruslan and Kristina followed it.”

  “My body walked on its own?” Max narrowed his eyes.

  “That’s what I’m saying! On its own!” Julia spread her hands. “And you told me not to mess with your body!”

  Max’s fists tightened.

  “Where did it go?”

  “I followed it, of course!” Julia frowned. “I’m not stupid. Come on, I’ll show you.”

  They followed her for quite a while, though at least they could fly fast. Max finally spotted Ruslan and Kristina on the square near the Tower. Had they really gone that far trying to save him?

  Ruslan held a torch, its flame casting sharp shadows over Max’s motionless body. It stood in the middle of the square, swaying slightly, letting out a dull, unnatural groan.

  “Bueee…”

  Max froze. Watching his own body from the outside was disturbing, but this was worse. Every movement looked wrong, alien.

  “Max, you’re scaring us…” Kristina whispered, hiding behind Ruslan.

  “Bueee…” the body groaned again.

  “I told you we shouldn’t have followed it,” Ruslan muttered, staring at his brother as if at a monster.

  Max stepped closer, and the feeling only grew stronger. The body no longer felt like his. Something else was inside.

  “Someone has possessed my body,” he said coldly.

  “Are you sure?” Julia hovered to the side and did not hurry to approach.

  “Why don’t you check?” Max glanced at her.

  “Hey! That’s your body, not mine! I’m a bodiless ghost! Weak and fragile! And you’re the God here, aren’t you?” Julia planted her hands on her hips, trying to sound bold, though her voice trembled.

  Max was about to respond when both of them froze at the same time. From the chest of his body, a black tendril began to stretch outward. It twitched, lengthened, and then a mass of darkness crawled free. A figure formed in front of them – one of the hollow souls that had been wandering the city. At the same time, Max’s body slowly collapsed to the ground.

  Julia stumbled back, and even the hint of a joke vanished from her face.

  “Th-that’s… them. The ones peeking from the windows?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “That’s a soul, Max!”

  “Yes,” he confirmed, feeling a cold weight tighten around his heart.

  “This will sound strange, but that soul has no soul,” Julia said after a moment, staring at the dark mass. “Wait… did the local Spirit do that to it? Max, I think I’m going to… leave.”

  “Relax. The Spirit has already been dealt with,” Max replied calmly, though irritation boiled inside him. “For now, wait. I need to calm those two down.” He nodded toward Ruslan and Kristina.

  The creature stood motionless like a shadow and showed no sign of aggression. Max decided not to waste time. He walked around it and returned to his own body. The moment he did, a sharp, unpleasant sensation pierced him – like someone had entered his flesh without permission, like a stranger walking through his own house. This was his body, not a public hallway. He would need to find a way to protect not only his soul, but his body as well.

  The first few seconds were difficult. His body felt sluggish and resistant, as if he had to relearn how to control it. At least it was not cold in the underground ruins, so he was not freezing. Even better, his suit was as clean and intact as always. Clean clothes mattered to him.

  “Hi,” he said quietly, turning to his brother and sister as he tried to stand. When Max activated his flesh ring, everything became much easier. His body quickly returned to normal.

  The response was a piercing scream.

  “AAAAAA!”

  Max covered his ears. Ruslan did the same. Kristina’s scream cut not only through the air but through their skulls. The dark creature flinched and retreated deeper into the street. Ten seconds later, silence returned.

  “Idiot!” Kristina burst out, wiping her tears. “Why would you scare us like that?” In the next moment, she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. “I was so scared! I thought the Spirit had taken you!”

  “It’s fine,” Max said, stroking her hair. “The Spirit is gone. We dealt with it. Now we need to decide whether we’re going back to the elves.”

  He did not want to. The elves had almost fed them to that monster. Who knew if they would thank him for destroying their “sacred” Spirit? Maybe it had been their guardian. Or maybe some cruel cult.

  Max did not realize how close he was to the truth.

  His doubts were cut short when the air around them shifted. Max did not feel it with his skin or hear it with his ears, but with magic. It pressed against his lungs and scraped at his insides like a creeping illness.

  “We need to find an exit. Now,” Max said at last.

  Ruslan and Kristina immediately began arguing.

  “Max, tell him!” Kristina grabbed his arm. “We have to go back to the elves! They’ll understand you saved them from the evil Spirit!”

  “They tried to feed us to it!” Ruslan shot back, raising his fists. His voice thundered, though his hands trembled. “I think they were worshiping that Spirit!”

  “They’ll be nice now! And they’ll feed you!” Kristina tried to shout over him.

  “Feed me what? Grass?” Ruslan snapped. “I’d rather die here than go back to them. There has to be another way out, Max. A whole city can’t have just one exit!”

  He swung his arm sharply, and the torchlight cast a huge shadow across the ruins. The buildings stood like silent witnesses to an old tragedy.

  “What if there are magic traps?” Kristina argued. “Or more magic doors like the ones the elves used?”

  Max fell silent. He could feel magic beginning to fill the city, and he did not like it at all. Something in the air was changing. The concentration was rising slowly. It felt like sickness, like contamination. This was not the magic he had sensed above ground. This was something else – bitter and dangerous.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He clenched his teeth and focused on his blue space ring. He sent energy toward the place where the Spirit had once been sealed.

  There was no sound.

  Only a faint echo of emotions.

  “Well… hello,” Max said quietly, exhaustion crashing down on him. “I know you’re not ready to come out yet, but we need your help.”

  He felt the Spirit begin to stir.

  “Something bad is happening in the city where you used to live,” Max continued calmly into the empty air, hoping the Spirit could hear him.

  “Who are you talking to?” Kristina whispered nervously. “Max, you’re not going crazy in this city, are you? I’m scared… Oh! A kitty!”

  Without thinking, she bent down and scooped up a black cat that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the dark underground city.

  The cat looked almost ordinary, but Max understood at once. It was the same Spirit.

  “Kristina, you’re going to choke him! Let go! He needs to show us the way out!” Max protested.

  “Needed to!” the cat squeaked angrily as Kristina quickly released him. He dropped onto the stone pavement, shook his paws in clear offense, and then, with an important air, began walking down the street ahead of them.

  “So we’re just supposed to follow it?” Ruslan asked flatly. “Where did a cat even come from in a place like this?”

  “Just trust me,” Max replied, and followed their guide.

  The dark streets were silent, but with every step, faint rustling and dull thuds grew louder. The sounds came from many directions at once, creating a heavy, oppressive atmosphere. Finally, they reached the center of the underground city. A massive black arch stood there, majestic in the torchlight. In front of it, on a small pedestal, sat the black cat, calmly licking its paw.

  Max recognized the symbols immediately. He had seen something similar before. This was not just an arch – it was a portal.

  But to where? Another world?

  The stone surface was covered in carved patterns that emitted thin threads of space magic. What looked like old cracks to Ruslan and Kristina now glowed for Max with living weaves of power. He could clearly see the traces of space magic. The arch was a true reconstruction of door technology, similar to what he had seen in the Otherworld.

  It looked like an exit. But how did you activate it?

  “I think it needs a charge of space energy,” Max muttered, carefully tracing the lines with his eyes. “And a key.”

  “Needed to,” the cat said again, flicked its tail – and vanished into the air.

  Max tried once more to reach the Spirit, but it remained silent. Only an echo of tired emotions brushed against his mind. The Spirit was exhausted, asleep, and threats would not work anymore.

  Cold slowly crept into his bones, and Max noticed it only when Kristina began to whine softly.

  “Max, how much longer? I’m freezing!”

  He did not answer, fully absorbed in studying the lines. He had to understand how to activate the portal. Meanwhile, Ruslan wandered around the square, examining debris. He pulled a dwarven knife from a pile of rubble and inspected it like treasure. Strangely, it was not covered in rust. How many centuries had it been lying there?

  Max focused on the portal itself and managed to locate the energy reservoir on the pedestal at the center of the square. He began filling it with his own power, channeling energy through his blue space ring. It was slow work, but there was progress. The pedestal started to glow, and magical lines slowly spread across the square around the arch. The portal system was waking up.

  The main problem remained: how exactly did you activate it, and where would it lead? Hopefully not into the dwarves’ world. Most likely it required some kind of key – a signal to trigger it. Max saw no buttons or levers nearby.

  After some time, he realized the activation point was right there on the pedestal. But he needed to draw a magical key – a unique pattern he did not know, something that would align the correct power lines.

  Hack it?

  The thought almost made him smile. Max began feeding energy into different lines one by one, testing them carefully. At last, the portal reacted.

  Maybe it wasn’t a key at all. Maybe he had simply guessed the coordinates.

  The arch flared to life. The air hummed, the patterns brightened, and a glowing surface of passage unfolded before them. The energy was clearly limited, which meant only one thing – they did not have much time.

  “Ruslan! Kristina! Hurry!” Max shouted. “Ten seconds before it closes!”

  He jumped into the portal first. Ruslan practically shoved the frightened Kristina in after him, then dove headfirst into the glowing abyss himself.

  About an hour later, the elves were still standing by the gates that led to the lower city. The silence weighed on them. For most of that hour, Fal had been humming ancient melodies of his people, his voice echoing softly against the stone.

  “Tell me about Noah,” he asked at last.

  Anelle lowered her gaze and spoke quietly of her friend who had died shielding her.

  They were waiting for a sign from the Spirit that the sacrifice had been accepted. That was how they honored those who went below. They stood by the gate, waiting for proof that the souls had entered the realm of Eo. The other elves had already returned to the surface, but the princess remained. She rarely saw off those sent to the underground city. She did not truly believe that joy awaited anyone in Eo’s realm.

  But these humans had saved her from the orcs. If she could have, she would have helped them properly. Still, her people came first. That truth never changed. Eo protected their kind – from enemies outside and from darkness within.

  Minutes passed. No sign came.

  “The humans haven’t returned,” Anelle said quietly. “Then the sacrifice was accepted. May their home be filled with light.”

  Fal nodded, then added hesitantly, “Maybe Eo simply forgot to give a sign. We should go.”

  Anelle looked at him for a long moment. He had always been a little strange with his songs, but now unease stirred inside her.

  She was about to turn away when she froze. Something was wrong.

  At the edge of the torchlight, a brown stain darkened the ground. At first, she did not understand why it disturbed her. Then her heart seemed to stop.

  It was a mushroom.

  And it did not respond to her power.

  The princess could feel every plant, even deep within the underground. But this fungus was growing from such darkness that her magic could not reach its roots.

  “That’s impossible… It couldn’t have risen this high,” Anelle whispered and brightened the area with her power.

  Fal took a step forward, but she stopped him with a sharp gesture, pointing at the ominous patch.

  “It’s him,” she said, her voice turning icy.

  Fal went pale.

  “You’re… sure?”

  Anelle looked at him as if he had insulted something sacred. This was no matter for jokes, and he knew it.

  She clenched her fists until her fingers turned white.

  “Do you want to test it?” Her voice trembled with anger. “Go ahead. Touch it.”

  She nodded toward the brown patch. Fal swallowed and did not dare move. His eyes narrowed at the princess, but his feet remained planted.

  “But… the Mycelium? Here? Above?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “It has never risen. This is within Eo’s aura!”

  “And yet it’s here,” Anelle said through her teeth.

  Her gaze swept the darkness, and her heart tightened. She did not know what to do. The Mycelium had never grown upward before. At least, that was what the chronicles claimed. Eo was supposed to be stronger, supposed to tear out any of its tendrils before they could reach this far. But now…

  Perhaps it was already listening.

  Perhaps the shadow itself had become its ears.

  At that moment, Anelle heard footsteps – quiet, almost faint, coming from the direction of the stairs. Each step echoed in her senses like a hammer striking a drum. She and Fal froze.

  The chance that it was another elf was slim. Elves moved differently.

  Something crawled out of the darkness. It was difficult to call it a body. Knotted tendrils and twisted growths formed a warped silhouette. It moved, but there was no life in it as they understood life.

  It was part of the Mycelium.

  Fal whispered what they both already knew.

  “If it has risen to the surface… then nothing is holding it back anymore.”

  Neither of them dared to strike first. The figure approached slowly, as if certain victory already belonged to it. Cold spread through the air, and the smell of mold thickened around them.

  Anelle felt her blood turn to ice when a yellow ring flared around the creature.

  Her heart dropped into an abyss.

  Death – or eternal slavery to the Mycelium – awaited everyone here.

  The yellow ring, central and powerful, belonged to its main organ somewhere deep underground. The Mycelium could wield that ring from any part of itself.

  Anelle barely managed to raise a shield before the yellow ring flashed with woven light, and a hissing streak shot toward Fal.

  A scream tore through the darkness. The spike pierced Fal straight through, breaking every layer of his defense.

  “No!” Anelle cried.

  She knew what it meant. He was infected.

  She unleashed her ring at once. Vines burst from the ground, twisting in a wild dance. They ripped through the air, trying to pierce the fungal silhouette and pin it down. But the creature was faster. It tore the vines out by the roots and shredded them with its limbs as if they were thin threads.

  Anelle gathered the last of her strength and hurled it forward with a cry, shaping it into a massive wall of vines. The weaving sealed the entire passage like a living green barrier. Even a single minute would be enough.

  She rushed to Fal. The guard’s face was twisted in pain. They had known each other for thirty years – thirty years of his service at the fortress. Now his eyes burned with agony.

  Anelle felt the spores already spreading through his blood. They tore him apart from within, staining his skin with brown patches as the fungus grew inside him.

  She stepped back in horror. One more moment, and he would become part of the Mycelium.

  Her heart turned to ice, but she already knew what had to be done.

  Anelle turned and ran toward the gates. Only one path remained open – the city.

  She slammed the gates shut behind her and glanced back once. The creature had already shattered her wall – the same wall that should have stopped an entire warband of orcs.

  Her legs carried her forward on their own.

  Anelle had never run like this before. Since childhood, she had known the legends of what slept beneath the earth. The Mycelium – an ancient being that absorbed the power of one of the world’s centers of strength and fed on it for centuries until it grew powerful enough to threaten even Spirits.

  Now that legend had risen from the dark, and Anelle fled without a trace of princess pride. Lately, she had been forced to run far too often.

  She raced through the narrow streets at full speed, sweat running down her back, her bare feet scraping over cracks in the stone pavement. She leapt over fallen debris, focused on one thing only – to reach the light. Ahead, a torch flickered. Someone might still be alive there. Or even a Spirit. At this point, that no longer frightened her. The Mycelium feared light, and that was enough.

  She could feel the pursuit. Rustling and scraping followed her from the darkness. But when Anelle burst onto the central square, hope flared in her chest.

  Three teenagers stood there – alive and unharmed.

  Then she realized something was wrong.

  She could not feel the Spirit anywhere in the city. If these humans had done something to it, then by bringing them here she had doomed her own people. If the Spirit was gone, the elves would be forced to abandon their fortress, and she would not even be able to warn them of the danger.

  Yet something else shocked her even more.

  One of the teenagers – a dark-haired boy – was pouring energy into the portal stone before the ancient arch.

  Anelle froze as horror and fury rose together inside her. A human space mage had entered elven lands. How had they missed that? Was this the true human plot? Destroy the Spirit, open a portal, and let their armies through?

  Though soon, no one would survive here anyway.

  Treacherous, vile humans.

  She did not have enough strength left for a full technique, but she had to do something – anything. She only needed to get closer.

  She lunged forward, but she was too late.

  The portal flared. The arch opened, and light blinded her. She covered her eyes, and when she looked again, the teenagers were already disappearing into the glow one by one. The poisoned spike she fired after them shattered against the threshold of the portal.

  Anelle bared her teeth in fury. Staying here meant death. She had no choice. If fate had given her a chance for revenge, she would take it.

  With the last of her strength, the elven princess threw herself into the portal – and passed through at the final moment.