Blood in the Dark
The system's glow faded, swallowed once more by the endless dark.
Silence returned.
But something had changed.
A pulse—faint, like a heartbeat—echoed through the stone beneath his feet. It wasn't his.
It belonged to the world around him.
The Void itself had begun to breathe.
The air grew heavy, soaked with the stench of rot and iron. A low wind, cold and unnatural, slithered past him like the exhale of a dying god. Mephisto's body tensed. His muscles coiled, instincts howling before thought could catch up.
He wasn't alone.
The darkness ahead rippled. Twisted. Threads of shadow unwound like flesh being torn from a carcass.
Something stepped into view.
It was humanoid in shape—barely. Slouched, twitching with spasms that jolted its limbs unnaturally. Rags clung to its frame, soaked black with dried blood and something worse. Its face was hollow, eyeless sockets leaking strands of oozing Void. From its arms and back jutted long, jagged bone-like protrusions—primitive, natural weapons that scraped the ground with a sickening drag.
It hissed.
A wet, gurgling sound that vibrated in his teeth.
[New Enemy Detected: Void-Corrupted Husk]
[Level: 2]
[Threat: Low]
Mephisto's hands instinctively rose—but there was nothing to hold. No blade. No spell.
No weapon.
The Husk shrieked and lunged.
It moved like a beast on all fours, limbs jerking as if yanked by invisible strings. Its speed was unnatural—fast, erratic, unpredictable. It closed the distance in seconds, a blur of snapping bone and snarling voidrot.
Mephisto dropped low.
The Husk swiped. A jagged spike nicked his cheek, splitting flesh.
Pain flared.
Real. Raw. Sharp.
It grounded him.
He sidestepped, caught a loose shard of broken stone under his heel, and without hesitation, drove it upward into the creature's throat with brutal force.
A spray of black ichor coated his arm.
The Husk convulsed, limbs flailing in jagged spasms before collapsing into a twitching heap.
[Enemy Defeated.]
[Void Essence Absorbed: +2]
[HP -3% | Stamina -5%]
[Note: Physical strikes are viable, but inefficient without a weapon.]
Mephisto staggered back, panting. His hands trembled—not with fear, but with the electric hum of adrenaline. His blood burned in his veins.
Then, a flicker in the dark.
Two more figures. No—four.
Six.
Ten.
Dozens.
They crawled from the shadows like insects, husks and horrors twisted by the Void. Each one deformed in unique ways—some with extra limbs, others with open ribcages pulsing with dark tendrils. Hollow moans filled the air like a cursed choir.
[Multiple Hostile Presences Detected.]
[Combat Protocol Engaged.]
No time to think.
A Husk lunged—he ducked low and grabbed its skull, slamming it into the stone wall with a sickening crunch. It crumpled.
Another clawed at his side. He twisted, caught its arm mid-swipe, and wrenched until the bone snapped with a grotesque pop. He yanked the jagged limb free and drove it into the creature's eye socket.
[Enemy Defeated.]
[Void Essence Absorbed: +1]
Another leapt from above. He rolled forward, narrowly avoiding its spike, then sprang to his feet and smashed a fist into its jaw. Bone cracked. He struck again and again, until his knuckles bled and the creature stopped twitching.
The floor became slick with blood and ichor. Bodies piled. He fought like a beast—grappling, tearing, surviving. Improvised weapons made from bone, stone, and whatever else he could grab. Every second was a gamble. Every move born of instinct.
They overwhelmed him.
Three tackled him at once, claws digging into his back. He roared, bucked them off, and drove a shattered femur through the closest one's chest. Another wrapped itself around his leg—he stomped down, again and again, until its skull cracked beneath his heel.
[Enemy Defeated.]
[Void Essence Absorbed: +1]
[HP -15% | Stamina -20%]
His vision blurred. His breath came in ragged gasps. Blood poured from his shoulder, where a spike had slashed deep.
Still, he stood.
Still, he killed.
One Husk tried to crawl away—he grabbed it by the neck and slammed it into the ground until it stopped moving.
[Enemy Defeated.]
[Void Essence Absorbed: +1]
The tide slowed. Fewer enemies remained.
He fought through the pain. Through the haze.
His mind dulled. Then sharpened.
Each kill made it clearer. The Void in his veins pulsed with each heartbeat, synchronizing with the rhythm of slaughter. It was feeding. Thriving.
And so was he.
The last Husk came at him with a shriek—he ducked under its swipe, snatched its arm, twisted it behind its back, and drove its own spike into its skull.
The body dropped limp.
Silence.
Total.
[Enemies Cleared.]
[Void Essence Accumulated: 13]
[Stat Allocation Unlocked.]
[Level Up Available.]
A soft chime echoed through his skull like a distant bell.
He stood in the carnage. Blood-soaked. Breathing heavily.
His arms throbbed from overuse. His wounds burned. But he was alive.
And something inside him had changed.
The Ring of the Hollow Pact pulsed faintly against his finger, absorbing the surrounding Void essence like a leech drinking deep.
He looked down—his reflection in a pool of blood stared back. Cold eyes. Hollow. Something ancient and ruthless stirring behind them.
Was this what the Void wanted?
A vessel of rage and instinct?
He didn't know.
But it was working.
Then—he heard it.
Metal scraping against stone. Slow. Heavy. Rhythmic.
Step. Drag. Step. Drag.
The temperature dropped.
The silence grew thick.
And from the far edge of the corridor, a shape began to form—massive, armored, dragging a crude slab of iron across the floor like a rusted executioner's blade.
[Warning: Elite Presence Detected Nearby.]
[Approaching: The Hollowed Sentinel]
Mephisto straightened.
No weapon. No armor. Just bruised flesh, broken enemies—and the whisper of the Void in his skull, beckoning him onward.
He didn't smile. He didn't flinch.
He stepped toward the sound.
And he was ready.