Reset After Solo Clear: Shadow Master Rebirth

Ambush at the Threshold

"Well, look at that. He actually made it out alive."

The voice greeted Nox the moment the portal spat him out onto the cliffside ruins outside the Forbidden Dungeon. Three figures stood blocking the exit, their formation tight and deliberate, clearly no chance encounter.

Nox stopped, quickly assessing the dark red badges pinned to each player's chest, a symbol widely recognized among players as the mark of a player-killer party.

"Bloodthorn." Nox reading the name that appeared the moment he looked at the man in the middle, a broad-shouldered figure with two jagged swords strapped across his back.

"Sharp of you to read our names that fast." Bloodthorn smirked, stepping forward slightly. "We've been waiting for you a while now. Word is this dungeon's loot is insane for whoever manages to clear it."

To his left, a woman in a bone mask, spun her spear lazily. "Shame something that good would go to a nobody like you."

"Just hand it over nicely. We don't like dragging things out," added the third, a poisoned dagger clutched in each hand.

Nox looked between the three of them, his hand drifting slowly toward the hilts of Requiem and Silence. He didn't rush into a combat stance, only calculating the distance, the angles, and which of the three was most likely to strike first.

"You're waiting outside a dangerous dungeon just to rob someone who already wore themselves out clearing it alone. That's just what cowards do," he said, his tone calm, almost insulting.

Bloodthorn let out a short laugh, his eyes narrowing. "Pretty bold talk from a player whose level doesn't even reach half of what the three of us have combined."

"Level's just a number for me," Nox replied.

"Real philosopher, aren't you." Bloodthorn twirled one of his jagged swords, looking Nox up and down as if appraising the resale value of loot. "We've faced dozens of players who thought they were special. They all ended the same way, handing over their gear while they cried."

"Heard you solo-cleared this dungeon. Must've worn you out. Shame all that effort's about to go to waste just because you ran into us at the exit," Gravespike added, her voice mocking.

Nox looked between the three of them again, his hand drifting slowly toward the hilts of Requiem and Silence.

Gravespike struck first, her spear shooting straight for Nox's chest. He dodged with the barest movement, letting the spear tip pass a few inches from his skin.

"Careful. His movements look like he knew where the strike was coming before I even threw it," Gravespike hissed, stepping back warily.

"Don't give him room!" Bloodthorn shouted, charging forward alongside Venomwraith from two different directions.

Nox drew a short breath, unsheathing Requiem and Silence at once. "Let's see how far you three can actually last."

He melted into Umbral Veil right before both attacks landed, vanishing completely from their sight.

"He ran?" Venomwraith spun around in a panic.

Nox calculated their positions, the gaps in their formation, and the distance needed for one chained strike. He shot forward, striking Gravespike first, Requiem slamming into the shaft of her spear hard enough to knock it clean out of her grip.

"Argh!" Gravespike staggered back, her HP dropping sharply from the single hit.

"Got you!" Bloodthorn shouted, trying to close in from the other side, but Nox had already moved, his body spinning low beneath the jagged blade that swept just above his head.

"You attack as three, but you move like individuals. No coordination at all," Nox murmured, analyzing everything in the middle of the chaos.

"One's still not enough." Nox already spinning around, Silence in his left-hand slashing fast toward Venomwraith, who'd just tried to strike from behind.

Venomwraith screamed, his poisoned dagger flying from his hand as his body crumpled to the ground.

Bloodthorn stared at his two teammates, both down within seconds. "This doesn't make sense."

"Doesn't matter," Nox answered, stepping forward slowly, Requiem and Silence hanging loose and easy in both hands. "What matters is that you three picked the wrong target today."

Bloodthorn raised one of his swords, trying to mask his fear with whatever courage he had left. "I can still take you on my own."

"Then try." Nox stopped walking, letting the distance between them hold steady.

The Erebus Guardian emerged from Nox's shadow, its wings spreading wide, hissing low toward the lone Bloodthorn.

Bloodthorn stumbled back fast, his eyes going wide with fear at the sudden appearance of the shadow dragon. "What the hell is that?"

"Still want to continue?"

Bloodthorn shook his head quickly, both hands raised. "No, no. We're leaving."

He dragged his two fallen teammates along, scrambling to activate a teleport scroll, and in an instant all three vanished from the area, leaving Nox alone among the cliffside ruins.

"That was easy."

The Erebus Guardian moved closer, but this time its movements felt heavier, as if it were holding something back that wanted to break free from within. Its eyes glowed brighter than usual, the same way they had the first moment it touched the daggers earlier.

"What's going on with you? You've looked strange ever since we were inside the dungeon." Nox crouched in front of it, watching closely.

The Erebus Guardian lifted its head and let out a low roar.

Small cracks of violet light began appearing across its scales, spreading slowly like veins just waking from a long sleep.

"Erebus?" Nox stood quickly, on guard, his hand instinctively returning to Requiem's hilt. "What's happening to you?"

The creature didn't answer, only stared back with eyes now glowing brighter than before, as if something that had slumbered inside it for a long time had just started to stir awake.

Nox took half a step back, not out of fear, but from the same instinct that had saved him time and again, the instinct telling him that whatever was happening to the Erebus Guardian right now was only the beginning of something far bigger.