The sound of the door closing felt final, like the last echo before everything went wrong. It wasn't paranoia—just plain fact. Corvin was about to start something dangerous, and I was walking straight into it.
The air around us was thick with tension, buzzing with the kind of dark magic that would make anyone with sense turn and run. But not me, of course. I had my own plan—or at least, I was working on one.
"Lucius," Corvin began, his voice smooth as ever, as if we were having a casual chat over tea. "Do you know why I brought you here today?"
I stayed quiet. Did I know? Yeah, I had a pretty good idea. It wasn't a friendly get-together. More like a 'let's see how much trouble we can get into before breakfast' kind of situation. My fingers twitched, ready to summon my sword at the slightest hint of danger.
Corvin stepped forward, shadows trailing around him like a personal army of darkness. "You and I... we're alike. We understand things that others simply can't. The world, as it stands, is flawed. Broken, even."
I raised an eyebrow. "Broken, huh? You sure you're not just using the wrong glue?"
Corvin's eyes gleamed in the dim light, clearly unimpressed by my sarcasm. "The dark element holds the power to reshape it all. Life, death, they're just tools, Lucius. We can use them to rebuild the world."
"So you're saying, 'Let's play necromancer and see what happens'? Not sure that's gonna win you any popularity contests."
He smiled thinly, his eyes hardening. "That's exactly where you come in. You've touched the dark element—you've felt its power. Together, we can harness it."
The pressure in the room grew heavy, like the air before a storm. I felt the weight of his words, the building tension of what was coming. I was ready, though. My fingers brushed against the air, calling to the sword I kept stored away in my magic storage.
Corvin kept going, seemingly oblivious to my preparations. "We'll need to break a few rules first. You understand, don't you?"
The words hung in the air, heavy like the weight of a bad decision. I could've stayed silent, pretended I was on board with his whole dark lord plan. Maybe even snagged a few useful spells from his insane research. But something about this just didn't sit right.
So, naturally, I did what any sane person would do. I pulled out my sword.
The faint shimmer of dark mana pulsed around it as I summoned it from my magic storage. My fingers tightened on the hilt as I took a step forward, glancing at Corvin. His grin faltered. "You're not with me, are you?"
Bingo. I gave him a half-smirk. "Nah, I'm not really into the whole 'raise an army of undead and take over the academy' vibe. Not my style."
His eyes darkened, the air thickening with mana as he lifted his hand. Shadows crawled across the floor, twisting and reshaping into grotesque forms. A low hiss filled the room as skeletal figures emerged, their bony hands reaching out like they had a personal grudge against me.
"Well, I can't say I didn't expect this," I muttered, raising my sword. "Time to make things interesting."
Corvin snapped his fingers, and the first wave of undead lunged at me. I dodged a gnarly claw aimed at my face, pivoting on my heel as I fired a dark element shot. The bolt crackled with dark energy, colliding with the skeleton and shattering it into pieces. One down. A lot more to go.
Corvin didn't even flinch as his creatures kept coming. He was busy now, chanting something ominous under his breath, his fingers tracing patterns in the air. Uh-oh. I didn't like the look of that.
"Alright, alright, let's do this the hard way," I grumbled. I slashed through another undead and fired off another shot. But every time I destroyed one, two more seemed to rise from the shadows.
Suddenly, the air around Corvin shimmered as dark energy coalesced into a huge blast. I barely had time to react before the explosion rocked the room, sending me flying into a wall. Dust and debris filled the air, and I coughed, waving it away. The room shook, cracks forming along the stone walls.
Well, that's not good.
The blast had to have been loud enough to wake the dead—ironic, considering Corvin had already done that. The academy students had to hear that. Which meant… any second now, reinforcements should be on their way.
If I could survive until then.
Corvin, however, seemed more annoyed than concerned about the destruction he'd just caused. "You fool. I gave you a chance to be part of something greater, and you throw it away for what? Loyalty to this dying academy?"
I rolled my eyes, sidestepping another skeletal hand that tried to grab my ankle. "What can I say? I have this weird thing about not wanting to be on the side of a complete maniac. Call me old-fashioned."
I swung my sword, dark mana crackling as it cut through another wave of creatures. The faint glow pulsed with urgency, but I could feel my mana draining fast. Each elemental shot was taking its toll, and I didn't have enough juice left to keep throwing them around.
Corvin's face twisted into a snarl, his contempt palpable. "You're just like the rest. Blind. Weak."
Before I could respond, he unleashed another spell, a massive pulse of dark energy that sent a shockwave tearing through the room. The blast was deafening, like the sound of a thunderstorm crashing into a mountainside. The floor trembled beneath me, and cracks spider-webbed up the walls. I could already tell this explosion had definitely caught the attention of the students outside.
"NO WAY! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" someone yelled from the hallway. I didn't catch the name, but the panic was clear in their voice, echoing through the halls like a siren's wail.
I stumbled, catching myself just in time to dodge another skeletal claw aimed at my head. My breath came in short bursts now, a mix of adrenaline and fatigue. I was running out of time, and the thought of being buried under a mountain of undead didn't exactly thrill me. I couldn't keep this up—not alone.
"Where's my backup when I need them?" I muttered through gritted teeth. I could picture Dorian and the others scrambling towards the scene, but they weren't here yet, and Corvin wasn't about to give me a break.
"Ah, yes, your precious friends," Corvin taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "How noble of them to rush into danger. How heroic." He waved a hand, summoning more undead from the shadows, their eyes glowing with the promise of death.
Another wave of undead creatures swarmed toward me, and I barely had time to raise my sword before they were on me. I swung, the mana-infused blade slicing through their bones, but I could feel my strength fading. Mana sword or not, I was reaching my limit.
Corvin laughed, a deep, twisted sound that echoed through the shattered room. "You can't win, Lucius. Not like this."
I fired another dark element shot, but it sputtered weakly, barely strong enough to knock back one of the smaller creatures. "Yeah, no kidding," I muttered under my breath.
But giving up wasn't an option. Not yet.
I ducked under a claw swipe and pushed forward, my sword cutting a path through the swarm. My eyes flicked towards the door. Any second now, Dorian, Selene, Leon, Claire, Fiona, and the others would burst in. I just had to hold out a little longer. Just a little longer.
Corvin, meanwhile, was going full supervillain mode, his arms raised as more dark energy swirled around him. Another spell, and this one felt even worse. The room darkened, shadows growing longer as the temperature dropped. My breath misted in front of me. "You've gotta be kidding me…"
Then, the final wave hit. A mass of undead, larger than before, surged toward me. I slashed through the first few, but my mana reserves were almost depleted. My vision blurred as I dodged another attack, my limbs heavy with exhaustion.
Corvin's voice cut through the chaos. "It's over, Lucius."
I glared at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction. "You talk too much."
But the truth was, I was almost out of options. Another explosion rocked the room, and I was thrown back again, slamming into the ground. The shadows closed in, the undead looming over me.
And then, just as I was about to make my last stand, the door burst open.
"Lucius!"
Dorian's voice sliced through the chaos like a lifeline. I looked up, chest heaving, my vision blurred from the strain. There he was, standing in the doorway, magic swirling around him, a crackling storm of energy that lit up the darkened room. Behind him, I could barely make out the figures of Selene, Claire, Leon, and the rest of the group, their eyes wide as they took in the scene.
Backup had arrived. Finally.
I staggered to my feet, my sword still in hand, dark mana flickering weakly at the blade's edge. "Took you guys long enough," I muttered, though my voice was little more than a rasp. My eyes flicked toward Corvin, who had turned to face them, his expression twisting into something unreadable.
He knew this wasn't over. Not yet.
The air thickened with tension, the weight of unspoken words hanging between us all.
Dorian stepped forward, raising his hand as mana swirled into his palm. "Lucius," he said quietly, his voice firm, "we've got this."
I gave a tired smile. But before any of us could move, Corvin let out a low, dark chuckle. His hand shot up, dark magic pooling in his palm, and the shadows around him surged forward.
I barely had time to raise my sword before the room was swallowed in darkness.