The Hollow Sentinel

A growl rumbled through the tunnels, deep and guttural.

Liam's pulse spiked as he tightened his grip on his brush. Iris shifted beside him, her dagger already drawn, her stance low and tense. Ileana's expression hardened, her fingers hovering over another vial at her belt.

Then, the shadows moved.

Something emerged from the darkness—a towering figure twisted in unnatural angles. It was humanoid but wrong, its elongated limbs dragging against the stone. Its body was wrapped in faded, tattered cloth that clung to its skeletal frame. Beneath the fabric, deep glyphs pulsed faintly, like veins carrying an ancient, forgotten power.

But it was the face—or the absence of one—that sent ice down Liam's spine.

Where its features should have been, there was nothing. Just a smooth, empty surface, as if someone had erased its existence.

A Hollow Sentinel.

Liam recognized it instantly. Not from experience, but from the old texts he had studied in the Ardentia archives.

Ancient guardians. Relics of a lost Architect order.

And they only had one purpose—destroy anything that disturbed the ruins.

Ileana cursed under her breath. "I was afraid of this."

"You knew this could happen?" Iris hissed.

"I hoped it wouldn't."

Liam swallowed hard. "Can we kill it?"

Ileana didn't answer immediately. Then—"Not easily."

The Sentinel moved.

Its head tilted as if sensing them. Then, without warning, it lunged.

---

The Battle of the Ruins

BOOM.

The ground shook as the Hollow Sentinel swiped at them with an elongated arm. The air itself warped around its movement, sending out a shockwave of force.

Liam barely had time to react before Iris shoved him aside. The strike shattered the tunnel wall behind them, sending chunks of stone flying.

Liam hit the ground hard, but his brush was already moving.

"Ink Barrier!"

Dark lines streaked across the air, forming a protective wall just in time to block the Sentinel's next attack. The force of impact rippled through his body, but the barrier held—barely.

Iris darted in, her dagger flashing. She struck at its legs, aiming for the glyphs beneath the fabric, but the blade barely scratched its surface.

"Shit," she growled. "It's reinforced!"

Ileana moved quickly, yanking two vials from her belt and hurling them at the Sentinel's torso.

CRACK—HISS.

The glass shattered, releasing a thick, silver mist. The glyphs on the Sentinel's body dimmed for a moment, and it let out a sound—not pain, but recognition.

Liam saw the brief opening and seized it.

He dipped his brush into his ink pouch, channelling the energy coursing through him.

A new rune. A stronger one.

His hands moved instinctively, strokes forming a jagged, intricate sigil midair. His ink glowed, a fusion of two separate runes combining into one.

Stat Fusion.

The Sentinel turned toward him.

It sensed the power shift.

Too late.

"Ink Bind!"

The moment Liam's brush finished its last stroke, black chains erupted from the sigil, surging forward like living tendrils. They coiled around the Sentinel's limbs, tightening like steel bindings.

For the first time, the Hollow Sentinel hesitated.

It struggled, the glyphs on its body flaring violently, but the chains held.

Iris didn't wait.

She lunged, her dagger now coated in a flickering silver sheen—Ileana's alchemy at work.

A clean strike. Right into the Sentinel's exposed core.

The creature shuddered, its entire body jerking violently as the silver burned through its ancient form.

Then, with a final, echoing whisper—

It collapsed.

The Aftermath

Silence settled over the tunnel.

Liam exhaled shakily, his body buzzing from the energy of the fusion rune. The ink around him faded, dispersing back into nothingness.

Iris wiped her dagger against her sleeve, then shot him a look. "That was new."

Liam flexed his fingers. "It was."

Ileana studied him for a long moment. "You fused two separate runes."

Liam nodded. "I think I can do more than just paint."

Ileana smirked. "You might survive this."

Before Liam could respond—

The tunnel trembled.

Not from another enemy. Something else.

A deep, distant rumble, like the shifting of stone—or the awakening of something larger.

Iris' eyes narrowed. "That didn't sound good."

Liam clenched his jaw.

No. It didn't.

To Be Continued…