Reset After Solo Clear: Shadow Master Rebirth

Rumors and the Forbidden Dungeon

“They say three parties went in this week, but not a single one came back.”

Nox stopped mid-step, his ears catching the conversation between two players at the corner of a tavern. They were close enough that he did not need to try to overhear.

“That Forbidden Dungeon? I heard the loot inside is insane. One of them is a growth-type piece of equipment,” the other player said quietly, a mix of fear and curiosity in his voice.

“That’s why people still go in, even with the risk.”

Nox did not join the conversation. Growth-type equipment was not something trivial. If it was real, and if the dungeon was deadly enough to wipe out three parties, I needed to see it.

“Erebus,” he murmured softly so no one else could hear. “We have a new destination.”

The Forbidden Dungeon lay far beyond the city’s radius, hidden behind steep cliffs rarely crossed by ordinary players. Its entrance just a dark crevice in a stone wall, without any dramatic marker, as if deliberately designed to be overlooked.

“No level recommendation. That means it’s outside the normal category,” Nox murmured, staring at the system notification that usually appeared automatically.

He stepped inside without hesitation. The corridor within was pitch black, lit only by faint blue light from crystals protruding from the walls.

The first attack came without warning. A Wraith Sentinel emerged directly from the stone wall, its body half-transparent, a long sword blazing with purple energy in its grasp.

The Wraith Sentinel attacked fast, too fast to fully evade. Nox blocked with his blade, feeling a cold vibration travel from the enemy’s weapon into his arm.

“Erebus, hold it,” he said quickly, summoning the shadow dragon out of dormancy.

The Erebus Guardian appeared instantly, its claws intercepting the next strike. Nox used the opening, slipping into Umbral Veil and shifting with Shadow Step to the enemy’s rear.

He struck, but this time he held back the final blow, leaving the enemy with a sliver of HP.

“Now or never,” he muttered as he drove in the finishing strike himself.

[Shadow Extraction Successful!]

[Wraith Sentinel Shadow has joined you]

“Good,” Nox murmured, steadying his breathing.

Two more Wraith Sentinels emerged from the next corridor, and the same pattern repeated. Block the attack, redirect through Erebus, slip through shadows, leave a sliver of HP, extract.

In the third fight, one Wraith Sentinel nearly caught him off guard, striking from an angle he had not anticipated. Nox was a fraction of a second too late. The enemy blade grazed his arm, dropping his HP significantly.

“I let my guard down. I can’t keep fighting with the same pattern. The enemy can learn from mistakes too.”

Nox changed his approach. This time, he baited the attack using a newly summoned Shadow Wisp, letting the enemy expend its energy chasing a false target before he moved in for the real strike.

“Better,” he murmured as the third Wraith Sentinel collapsed, dissolving into particles that he immediately absorbed. “I almost forgot. There’s no such thing as a permanently safe pattern here.”

The corridor ended in a wide circular chamber with a high ceiling. At its center stood a figure clearly different from the others, a shadow duelist holding two daggers, one in each hand. Its face was blurred like smoke, unwilling to take a solid form.

[Sentinel the Duelist Detected]

[Treasure Chamber Guardian]

“There it is, the final guardian.”

Sentinel the Duelist moved first. Its speed far exceeded anything Nox had faced before. The twin daggers danced in patterns that were nearly impossible to read.

Nox was cut twice before he could fully react. His HP dropped rapidly.

“This is on another level. It’s like fighting two opponents at once,” he hissed, retreating, his breath uneven.

Sentinel the Duelist attacked again. This time the daggers moved in a crossing pattern that was almost impossible to predict. One slashed low while the other aimed for his neck from above.

The Erebus Guardian lunged, trying to hold it, but Sentinel the Duelist spun fluidly, dodging without losing momentum.

Nox closed his eyes for a split second, forcing himself to think. “Come out Now!”

He summoned every remaining Shadow Wisp and Wraith Sentinel Shadow at once, spreading them in all directions, forcing Sentinel the Duelist to divide its attention for the first time since the battle began.

“Now, Erebus!”

The Erebus Guardian charged from one side just as the enemy’s focus split, giving Nox the half-second opening he needed to slip into shadow and appear directly behind it.

He drove his blade forward, holding nothing back this time.

Sentinel the Duelist froze. Its smoky body began to unravel slowly. For a brief instant, its blurred face turned toward Nox, as if recognizing something in the way he fought.

“You recognize me?” Nox whispered, but the figure had already vanished completely into particles of light, leaving behind two daggers floating briefly in the air before dropping onto the stone floor.

[New Achievement Record: First Solo Conqueror of Sentinel the Duelist!]

[Item Acquired: Requiem & Silence, Epic Twin Daggers]

[First Growth Stage Activated]

Nox picked up the daggers, feeling a subtle vibration in their hilts as his fingers touched the cold metal, as if something within them had just awakened.

“Requiem and Silence,” he murmured, reading the names displayed in his status window.

He sheathed his old sword and replaced it with the twin daggers. They felt far lighter, yet somehow sharper than any weapon he had ever held.

“What is it?” Nox asked, frowning.

Nox filed the suspicion away in his mind, but he did not have time to dwell on it. The exit portal had already formed at the far end of the chamber, its blue light slowly swirling.

He looked around the now silent room. 

“If you’ve really seen me fight before, then this dungeon isn’t just about rare loot. There has to be something deeper connecting all of this.”