The air grew colder the further Adrian ventured into the Bone Architect's domain. It wasn't the chill of winter, but something far worse—unnatural, as though the land itself had been drained of life. Beneath his boots, the earth crumbled like brittle bone, sending faint cracks echoing into the silence.
Adrian pulled his hood tighter over his head, his crimson eyes scanning the twisted landscape. Spires of bone jutted from the ground like the ribs of a decaying beast, towering over him in grotesque mockery of life. Clouds hung low and heavy in the sky, swirling as if waiting for something—or someone.
'This is where you hide, Krynos.'
Adrian thought bitterly, his jaw tightening. His hand curled into a fist, dark energy sparking at his fingertips.
The faint whispers of his last encounter with Krynos haunted him. The brittle laughter. The chill of necrotic energy as it overwhelmed him. The sensation of dying—slowly, painfully—while those cold yellow eyes stared down at him, unimpressed.
'You'll regret not finishing the job.'
Adrian muttered under his breath.
* * *
From his perch atop a jagged hill, Adrian finally saw it—Krynos's stronghold. It loomed like a nightmare, a massive fortress built from dark stone and fused bone. The walls glowed faintly with sickly green light, pulsating as if alive.
Demons patrolled the perimeter, their movements mechanical, practiced. Some carried rusted weapons, others dragged skeletal hounds on leashes, their hollow eye sockets flickering with the same green glow.
'They think I'm dead.'
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
The thought made his lips curl into a faint smirk. Krynos's arrogance would be his undoing.
The main gate was crawling with guards—far too many for a head-on attack. Adrian circled the perimeter, his cloak merging with the deepening shadows. The land itself seemed to resist him, bones crunching underfoot, but his Darkness Element swirled protectively, muffling his movements.
He spotted a smaller gate at the fortress's side—flanked by two guards who looked half-asleep, their armor ill-fitting and dull.
"Sloppy," Adrian murmured, pressing his back against the wall.
Summoning the shadows was second nature now. He extended his hand, and thin tendrils of darkness unfurled from his fingertips, slithering silently toward the guards. Before they could react, the tendrils wrapped around their necks, pulling them into the abyss of shadow.
The guards' muffled gurgles were cut short. Adrian exhaled softly as their bodies crumpled to the ground. He dragged them into the darkness, ensuring they were hidden.
"Good guards make noise," he muttered dryly. "Bad guards make corpses."
With the path clear, Adrian slipped through the gate and into the stronghold.
Adrian found himself in a city built from nightmares. The buildings—if they could even be called that—were fused together from skeletal remains, bones stacked and shaped with dark magic. Towers rose high, their spires made of sharpened ribs, while streets were paved with shattered skulls.
And everywhere, there was movement.
Demons of all shapes and sizes filled the streets—scavengers dragging carts of bones, skeletal constructs marching in formation, overseers barking orders in guttural tones. Torches flickered with green flames, casting unnatural shadows that danced on the walls.
Adrian melted into the gloom, watching silently as a group of skeletal warriors clattered past, their empty sockets glowing.
"This isn't just a fortress," Adrian thought grimly. "This is a factory."
His crimson eyes flicked to the massive barracks to the north, where rows of skeletal constructs were being assembled and animated. Every movement was precise, mechanical—a mockery of life.
'Krynos's army.'
Adrian's fists clenched. He could feel the dark energy radiating from this place—familiar and sickening.
At the center of the city stood a massive structure, its façade carved with intricate skull motifs that seemed to watch him as he approached.
Adrian slipped in through an open window, his landing silent as he dropped onto the bone-cold floor. Inside, the air was still—too still. Shelves lined the walls, filled with books bound in cracked leather and jars holding substances that glowed faintly. The room smelled of rot and dust.
"A library?" Adrian murmured, his eyes narrowing. "No… a workshop."
He moved through the chamber, his fingers trailing lightly across the shelves. Krynos wasn't just a warrior—he was a scholar of death. These tomes held knowledge, forbidden and dangerous.
Before Adrian could investigate further, he heard voices.
Adrian pressed himself into a corner, his Darkness Element swallowing him whole. Two demons entered, their footsteps echoing in the hollow chamber.
"The Bone Architect is restless," said the first, his voice thin and rasping. "He swears the human is dead, but he still feels… something."
The second demon snorted, a low, guttural sound. "He worries too much. Even if the brat survived, he wouldn't dare come here."
"Maybe," the first replied. "But Krynos has ordered patrols to double. He senses something's coming."
Adrian remained silent, his expression unreadable. He senses me?
The demons continued their discussion, mentioning the Necrotic Forges, where constructs were made, and the central chamber—the heart of Krynos's domain.
Once they were gone, Adrian slipped back into the shadows, his mind racing.
'Good. Be paranoid. It won't save you.'
As night fell over the city, Adrian moved like a phantom, studying its weak points. The barracks were heavily guarded, but the supply depots were laughably vulnerable. Patrol routes were predictable, and the skeletal constructs, while dangerous, moved with the rigidity of puppets.
He watched as handlers whipped the constructs into line, their hollow sockets glowing faintly.
"They're just tools," Adrian murmured to himself. "Nothing I can't destroy."
He sketched a plan in his mind, noting the choke points, the escape routes, and the locations where Krynos's forces would be thinnest.
Adrian finally returned to the outskirts of the city, the distant glow of green light illuminating his features. He sat cross-legged, his cloak wrapped around him, as he let the Darkness Element pulse softly at his fingertips.
The memory of his death replayed itself once more—Krynos's mocking smile, the pain, the cold.
'Never again.'
Adrian's crimson eyes burned brighter as he whispered to the dark. "Krynos… you're going to wish you finished me the first time."
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but there was no humor in it. Only resolve