SSS Rank: Spellcraft Sovereign

Chapter 30: Decent Team (3)

He rubbed at his temple and crouched deeper. "Is it retreating?"

"No," Mira said. "It’s laughing."

Lucen stopped moving.

"What."

Another hiss. Louder now.

No words. Just broken rhythm. Like a voice that forgot how to breathe right.

Senna called out again, closer this time. "Lucen, you up?"

"I’m breathing. Debatably seeing. Vision’s trash-tier."

"We need another glyph. Right side. Just force."

Lucen snapped up his hand, still half-blind, and drew a short burst in the air.

[Gravitic Snap – Cast]

It launched sideways with a low ripple. A pulse hit something solid, and Mira shouted, "Hit confirmed!"

Lucen hissed through his teeth and clutched at his eyes again.

Another flash. This time stronger.

Shapes started to return.

Shadows first.

Then outlines.

Flickering lines danced like ghosts on the edge of everything.

And there it was.

The Reaper.

Still standing.

Half its mask gone now. Light leaking out like thread pulled from a wound that shouldn’t bleed.

It twisted its head toward Lucen, just slightly.

Lucen froze.

’Don’t notice me. Don’t notice me. I’m a background character. I pay taxes..’

The Reaper stepped.

No blur. No flicker.

Just there. Too close.

Lucen’s breath caught.

Senna screamed, "Move!"

Lucen rolled left on instinct.

The scythe hit the ground where he’d been, not clean, not fast, but heavy. The floor cracked wide.

Dust exploded.

Lucen slammed both palms to the floor mid-roll and screamed through clenched teeth.

[Tension Mark – Emergency Cast]

The glyph sparked. It barely formed. Raw lines. Messy flow.

But it triggered.

The Reaper staggered.

Not far.

But just enough.

Senna appeared from the smoke and slammed her sword across its chest.

Again.

Again.

The blade hit like she didn’t care what it was made of.

Lucen crawled backward, coughing.

"Status now?"

Mira answered, breathless. "It’s... slower."

"Dead slower or dramatic buildup slower?"

Callen’s voice groaned from the floor. "Gimme a minute and I’ll ask it personally."

Lucen cracked a grin. "He lives."

The Reaper stood still again.

It looked straight at Lucen.

This time, no flicker. No hiss. Just quiet.

Then the remaining half of its mask cracked.

Split.

Lucen whispered, "Don’t like that."

The glow inside it flared.

A blast of cold surged through the air like mana got flash-frozen.

Lucen’s system pinged.

[Warning: Unknown elemental shift detected]

The Reaper lifted its scythe again.

Then the ceiling above it shattered.

Stone rained down. Not much. Just enough to make the thing look up.

And from the hole in the ceiling, something else stirred.

Something bigger.

Lucen whispered, "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Senna said, "That’s not part of the drift layout."

Mira nocked another arrow.

The Reaper hissed again.

Then something dropped from the ceiling.

Black, fast, and wrong.

Straight onto the Reaper’s shoulders.

They both vanished in a blink.

Gone.

Lucen blinked.

He rubbed his face, still coughing.

"What the hell was that?"

Nobody answered. Not right away.

Then Senna muttered, "I think we just got saved. Or promoted to a worse nightmare."

Lucen looked at his mana count.

[6/61]

He groaned.

"Can we vote for a break?"

Silence.

Then Mira said, "After we find out what else is living in this castle."

Lucen dropped his head into his hands.

’Next time, I’m pretending I’m still asleep.’

Lucen leaned against the wall until he felt the stone warm up under his coat. Or maybe that was just his body giving up on temperature regulation.

He checked his system again.

Mana: 11... 15... 19...

It ticked up fast.

’Weird. I thought recovery was slower in drift saturation. Guess not for me.’

The others had fallen quiet. Mira crouched next to Callen, wrapping a quick bandage around his shoulder with strips from her pack. She moved with the kind of practiced stiffness Lucen had seen in low-tier medics—fast, but not gentle. Just enough to stop bleeding and keep things moving.

Senna stood a few meters ahead, watching the place where the Reaper had vanished.

Still tense. Sword still drawn.

Lucen didn’t blame her.

The dust hadn’t settled completely. Light from somewhere above flickered in and out, like the castle was breathing with bad lungs.

"Anyone else want to leave?" Lucen said softly.

Callen groaned from the floor. "Can’t even stand. You think I’m running?"

Lucen looked over.

Blood on his collar. His shield arm was still limp.

But his eyes were open.

That counted for something.

Senna finally turned around.

"We rest five minutes. Then we move. Whatever saved us... it’s still inside."

Lucen didn’t move.

Mira glanced at him. "Your face says you want to argue."

"My face says I want a grilled sandwich and two weeks of sleep."

Senna looked down the corridor. Then at Lucen.

"How’s your mana?"

He blinked.

"Uh. Coming back. Fast. Thirty-three now."

Callen made a noise. "You serious?"

Lucen shrugged. "I run hot."

Mira narrowed her eyes slightly. "System variance?"

Lucen held her stare for one breath too long.

Then smiled. "Maybe I’m just lucky."

Senna didn’t press it. Just said, "Good. You’re casting lead again if we run into anything."

Lucen muttered, "Yay."

He pushed off the wall slowly, stretching his shoulders.

The soreness had started to sink in. Not sharp pain. Just that low, dull throb that came from holding spells too long.

His hands tingled. His legs itched like the nerves were still trying to resync with the rest of his body.

’Could be worse. Could be dead. Could be blind. Again.’

He looked up at the hole in the ceiling.

Still open. Still jagged. The space beyond was just shadow.

No movement.

But no guarantee of safety, either.

He walked over to Senna.

She didn’t look at him.

Still watching the corridor. Still holding her blade like it was the only thing keeping her vertical.

Lucen glanced sideways. "You good?"

"Fine."

"That’s code for ’if you touch me I’ll stab you,’ right?"

Senna’s mouth twitched. Barely.

"I don’t stab people who ask nicely."

"Cool. I’ll scream politely if I get grabbed by a ghost."

She gave a small snort. The first real one since they’d entered the castle.

Lucen rubbed his palms together. They were warm now. Not shaking.

His system pinged again.

Mana: 60/61

Full.

He flexed his fingers once. Then tapped his wrist.

Spell slots flicked open in his interface.

All four, lit and stable.

’Ready as I’ll ever be.’

Mira stood, slinging her bow over one shoulder and pulling a knife from her belt.

"Where to?"

Senna pointed toward a dark archway at the far end of the corridor.

"Deeper. There’s a stairwell ahead. Goes down."

Lucen looked at the crumbled pillars. The old broken floor tiles. The way the dust shifted when they breathed.

He whispered, "Why is it always down?"

Callen muttered from the back, "Because nothing important ever lives on the ground floor."

Lucen sighed.

Then followed them in.