Chapter-16

I step forward, unhurried, unshaken.

The darkness does not greet me—it consumes me.

It is absolute. No flickers of dim light, no shifting shadows. Not even the glow of the amulet penetrates this void. The air is thick, oppressive, pressing against my skin like unseen hands, testing, weighing. It isn't merely the absence of light—it is a presence in itself.

Despair.

A more insidious enemy than blade or beast. It does not attack. It seeps. It whispers.

"Only those who have truly embraced the darkness, yet retain a flicker of hope, can withstand its influence."

I smile. A slow, deliberate curve of my lips.

How amusing. The labyrinth, the shadow creature, the guardians of this world—they think they are testing me. As if they understand the depths of my resolve. As if they grasp what I have already endured, already conquered.

I do not fear the dark.

I became in it.

The amulet's pulse is slow, almost hesitant, as though waiting to see how I will respond. I let my fingers brush against it lightly. Reassuring. A silent command. Remember who wields whom.

The darkness shifts, the weight intensifying. And then, the first whisper slithers into my mind.

"Why do you fight? Why do you build? In the end, all things crumble."

A flicker of laughter escapes me. "Crumbling is irrelevant," I murmur. "What matters is who is left standing when the dust settles."

The darkness tightens around me, pressing, searching. Another whisper, colder this time.

"You walk a lonely path. You have no allies. No true companions. Only power. And power is fickle. When it leaves you, what will remain?"

I inhale, slow and steady.

"I remain."

The darkness shudders.

The amulet's pulse quickens, as if feeding off my defiance.

A final whisper, sharper than the others, almost desperate.

"Even you have limits. Even you will break."

I stop walking. Stand still. Let the abyss press against me with its full weight. I allow it to search for cracks, to dig its fingers into the foundation of my mind, my will.

And I do not break.

I never break.

A shift. A ripple in the air. The suffocating weight begins to ease. Not gone—never gone—but retreating. A silent acknowledgment. It tried. It failed.

The path before me is still dark. But now, it is my darkness.

And I move forward.