SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign

Chapter 29: Decent Team (2)

The scythe clipped stone as it passed. A low hiss followed, like the air itself was trying to get out of the way too late.

Lucen ducked behind the half-broken pillar and barely caught his breath before the Reaper tilted again.

Silent. Still.

Then it vanished.

Lucen’s stomach dropped.

"Nope," he muttered.

He spun to the side just as the Reaper reappeared three meters away. Not stepping. Just... there. Like it had forgotten how to obey space.

Callen crashed into it with a roar, shield raised. The Reaper’s scythe met it with a hollow clang that shook the stone under Lucen’s feet.

Callen grunted and staggered, boots sliding.

Lucen scrambled back, hand glowing faintly with mana.

’Okay. Think. Think. No time for flashy. Just delay it. Distract it. Something.’

He lifted his hand and slammed a point into the floor near the Reaper’s feet.

[Tension Mark – Active]

The glyph snapped open—tight lines, anchored fast.

The Reaper didn’t react.

Then it moved.

One flick of its robe and the spell unraveled.

Lucen’s eyes widened. "What?"

Mira shouted from the side. "It’s got null fields. Wide-range. You need more anchor weight!"

Lucen ducked again as the Reaper turned toward her.

"No no no," he breathed.

Mira loosed two arrows, glowing with faint tracer lines. They hit.

Barely.

One skimmed the Reaper’s shoulder. The other embedded into the edge of its mask and snapped.

The Reaper paused.

Then it lunged.

Mira backstepped fast, but not fast enough.

Senna blurred between them with a spin, sword glowing faintly.

She struck the Reaper across the arm with a diagonal slash. Sparks flew.

It didn’t bleed.

But it turned.

She grinned.

Lucen muttered, "She’s insane."

Callen was back on his feet, shield braced again. "Lucen! Hold it!"

Lucen’s brain skidded sideways.

’What part of that looks holdable?’

Still, he dropped to one knee and planted another glyph.

[Hold Point – Activated]

Mana surged into the air like static. The Reaper jerked slightly, cloak dragging like it caught on something invisible.

Senna struck again.

The Reaper flinched.

Lucen gasped.

’It worked. Barely. But it held.’

The system pinged again.

[Hold Duration Remaining: 1.8 seconds]

He looked up.

"Now!" he yelled.

Callen charged.

Shield-first, full sprint, body glowing faint gold from whatever glyph buff he’d loaded pre-drift.

He slammed into the Reaper’s side.

It reeled.

Lucen felt the glyph crack.

’That’s it. That’s all it can take.’

The Reaper twisted.

A pulse of pressure rippled out from its form like a heartbeat.

Callen went flying.

His back slammed against a stone pillar with a sound Lucen didn’t want to think about. He didn’t get up.

"Callen!" Mira shouted.

Lucen stood fast.

His mana was dipping, breath coming harder now.

’If I make another glyph, I’m dropping below ten. That’s fine. It’s fine. Unless it notices me again.’

The Reaper hovered in place for one long, dead second.

Then it turned to Senna.

She stood between it and Mira, sword drawn, blood on her left sleeve.

Lucen caught her eyes flick toward him once. Just a flick.

’She’s telling me to do something. Cool. Easy. No pressure.’

He pulled up the system window in his peripheral vision. Flicked fast through spell slots.

No backups.

Three seconds to choose.

The Reaper raised its scythe again.

Lucen clenched his jaw.

Then charged straight forward.

"Hey!" he shouted.

The Reaper turned at the sound.

Lucen skidded to a stop and slammed another glyph right at the creature’s feet.

[Gravitic Snap – Active]

The floor cracked.

The air snapped in.

The Reaper’s lower half twisted slightly, just enough to throw off its swing.

Senna moved.

Fast. Down low.

Her blade sang once through the air and hit.

The mask cracked.

Not shattered. Just a line down the middle.

But the Reaper recoiled.

Lucen dropped to one knee, wheezing.

’Okay. Still alive. That’s a win.’

Senna called out, "More mana! We need more force on the next one!"

Lucen looked at his system.

Mana: 11/61

’You’re kidding me.’

The Reaper didn’t retreat.

It straightened.

The crack in its mask glowed faintly now. Not blood. Not energy. Just light.

White and empty.

Lucen looked at the others.

Senna was bleeding.

Mira was reloading.

Callen wasn’t moving.

The Reaper raised the scythe again.

Lucen’s hand lit up.

’Okay. Let’s die in style.’

The Reaper moved and the walls groaned.

Not from impact.

From something waking.

Something deeper.

Something worse.

The castle trembled.

Lucen froze.

Then everything went black.

—

The black wasn’t just absence. It felt like pressure. Like something was squeezing the air behind his eyes.

Lucen blinked hard.

Nothing.

Again.

Still nothing.

’Okay. I’m blind. That’s great. Super helpful. Peak combat condition.’

Stone cracked nearby. Sharp. Real. Not an echo.

A shout followed. Senna, maybe. Close. Her voice hit the air like a blade. Tense and fast.

Then another sound. A scrape, metal-on-bone, followed by a solid thud.

Lucen gritted his teeth and crouched lower.

His fingers scraped across the stone. Cold. Cracked. A loose chip of tile dug into his palm.

’Don’t panic. You’ve got spells. Sort of. Just can’t see where to put them.’

He risked speaking.

"Status?"

A pause. Then Mira’s voice cut through.

"Callen’s breathing. Senna’s up. You’re not dead."

Lucen muttered, "Give it time."

Another heavy crash echoed through the chamber. Stone crumbling. Something slammed against a wall.

Senna shouted, "Keep it on the defensive!"

Lucen reached into his coat pocket and tapped the edge of a rune slate. Just a piece of junk he kept for practice. The feel grounded him.

’Come on. Come on. You don’t need sight to fight. You just need timing. You need clues.’

Another scythe hiss sliced the air.

Lucen turned toward it on instinct and whispered, "Anchor this."

He slammed his hand to the floor.

[Hold Point – Activated]

The glyph didn’t crackle. It just pulsed soft under his hand. The system window floated up, text trailing faint blue.

[Anchor placed – Stability 76%]

He heard it take.

A moment later, the Reaper snarled.

Snarled.

Not a sound it had made before.

Mira gasped. "It’s stuck! Senna—now!"

Senna yelled, boots thudding over stone, followed by the sharp ring of metal biting something harder than bone.

A loud, rattling hiss burst across the room like a dying furnace.

Lucen flinched.

He blinked again.

Something flickered.

Just a flash. A light. Like someone lit a match behind his left eye.

’Vision’s coming back. Maybe. Hopefully.’