In the flickering light, a figure in tattered remnants of once glorious armor stepped forth from the shadows. The air heavy with a chilling presence as the fallen hero, steps forward.
"Welcome, to the tomb of my former glory. Once, I was revered as a champion, a shield against darkness. Now, I am condemned to this cursed existence, guarding these halls with unyielding resolve."
Her voice, tinged with anger and sadness, echoed through the chamber.
"Do you pity me for my decay, my shattered dreams? There is no need, for I have transcended the frailty of mortal life. In my veins courses the essence of undeath, and I wield the darkness itself."
Her grip tightens around the hilt of her sword, the blade flickering with her spectral and frozen aura.
"You, who dare disturb my eternal vigil, shall face the wrath of a hero turned vengeful specter. Each blow of my sword will echo with the cries of my lost comrades, each step will reverberate with the weight of my broken oath."
Her eyes, the epitome of death looked at Erik.
"Prepare yourselves, for within these catacombs, I am both sentinel and reaper. In death, I have found purpose anew, and your souls shall fuel my undying fury. Embrace your fate, for in this realm of mine, heroes are but memories, and the damned rise as death knights."
'Holy smokes what a monologue.' Niss thought through gritted teeth.
The guards of Erik Frost trembled in the face of this monstrous enemy. Erik, his protective instincts in overdrive, pushed his daughter behind him, squarely facing the death knight as it advanced.
"Lysandra! Take your friends and leave this place immediately!" Erik's grip on his sword tightened, and his frozen aura surged around him, sending shivers through everyone present.
"I said NOW! Go! I will hold it off. Inform the guild that a peak A-Rank monster has appeared!"
Shock and fear gripped some of the guards, causing half of them to recoil. Similarly Niss and the rest of the group found themselves frozen in place, the sheer intimidation emanating from both the monstrous figure before them and Erik himself.
'This is insane, their power is on a whole other level!' Niss was barely hanging on to consciousness as he tried to process the situation.
"Half of you, escort them out of here! The rest, stand with me!"
Even the mighty Duke of North Landia couldn't hide the fear in his eyes as he stood defiantly between the group and the towering death knight, a force of unimaginable power.
The guards swiftly followed their lord's commands, half of them forming a protective shield around Erik with their auras ablaze, while the other half hurriedly ushered our group of young adventurers away. The sudden rushing of the guards left Niss and the rest no time to react as they were guided through the blasted-open door and up the stairs, away from the ominous depths of the catacombs.
Niss wanted to see things unfold but he found his body was far to weak to resist, and the guards were extremely efficient.
Erik's POV:
'What the hell is a death knight doing here?'
Erik stood firm, his men rallying behind him, determined to protect each other from the terrifying death knight. As an S-Rank, he refused to let any of his men meet their end here. The death knight raised a hand, her shadowy voice reverberating again through the great hall.
"Arise!" Her command echoed, and suddenly, sarcophagi burst open. Skeletons and undead emerged, enveloped in a copy of her aura, imbuing them with dark power.
"Glacial Enchantment!" Erik's own spell burst forth from his aura, enveloping his allies with his own power. "You aren't the only one with soldiers." A smirk beginning to form on the corner of his mouth.
"I'll take you head on, brave warrior." The tip of the death knights blade pointed forward and down at Erik, smiling and accepting the one on one fight while his men dealt with the undead pests.
BANG!
Erik's sword clashed against the death knight's, the impact sending sparks flying, after images of their clashes rippling and causing mana to go wild in the places their blades met.
A moment of hesitation crept into Erik's heart he knew the soul within the death knight once belonged to a hero who had saved the kingdom from a demonic invasion. However, this would only fuel his determination further. He would put her to rest properly and cleanse this place of the looming undead power that threatened them all. With a fierce battle cry, he pressed on, channeling the full strength of his aura into every strike.
In the grand hall, devastation rained down everywhere. The last of the risen skeletons fell beneath Erik's men, who retreated to the doorway, their eyes wide with awe and fear as the titans clashed with astonishing power. Erik, faced the death knight with his full power as an S-rank.
A powerful strike sent Erik hurtling back, crashing into a nearby pillar. However, he was completely unharmed as he hurtled even further to the wall, the stone of the pilar turned to dust upon impact with his indestructible body.
Rebounding off the far wall, he unleashed massive spears of ice and caused eruptions of frost at the death knight's feet, momentarily immobilizing her. Erik had not needed to even speak a word as his mastery over ice was completely unchallenged in this world. Somehow Erik found himself struggling it wasn't enough. With each strike, she parried the ice spears effortlessly with her massive, aura-infused blade.
Undeterred, Erik just kept fighting, he possessed a monumental amount of mana and an A-Rank would never last against him. As another condensed ice spear was deflected, he blinked into existence directly in front of the vast emptiness within the death knight's helm. With unparalleled power, he drove his sword deep into the darkness, a crackling electric sound filling the room as his blade exploded within the monster's helm. The sword shattered, piercing not only the helm but also most of the suit of armor. Frozen, razor sharp metal fragments flew in all directions.
Erik stood over the fallen armor, once the prison that bound this tormented soul. A sigh of relief escaped him as he glanced at his men, all relatively unscathed. He jumped down from the slain death knight, his cuts and wounds already beginning to heal. Retrieving his coat, he slung it over his shoulders and strode out of the Chillcrypt Catacombs, and headed for the guild. The defeat of that monster had freed a true warriors soul and he was filled with honor to be the one to free her.
As he traveled back to Mourne Town he couldn't shake one thought.
'How could a D-Rank dungeon become this powerful in such a short amount of time?'
.....
Back at the guild hall in Mourne Town, the group gathered around a table near the reception area as the guards detailed everything that had happened. While the group discussed...
"That thing could have killed us with ease."
"I've never heard of something that powerful appearing in a dungeon like this."
"We we're so lucky we had you, Lysandra."
"Yeah without your fath... I mean without Duke Erik Frost we were surely dead."
"Please, no need for formalities," Lysandra said, her voice warm and genuine. "We almost met horrible deaths together. My father and I aren't sticklers for formality, anyway. Besides, aren't we all friends now?"
Growing up as the only child of the Frost family, Lysandra had been sheltered, especially after her mother's passing. Duke Erik was extremely protective of her, making it challenging for her to convince him to let her venture out on her own. Her desire to become strong like him and make him proud was the only way she managed to get out on her own, and beyond that, she hadn't had many true friends, just individuals who tried to win her favor due to her family's status, so she bonded with the group quickly.
.....