Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

For a moment, Mina considered using the <Marriage Bond> to call Mina and Fin to help. It was a small whisper, voiced by the tiny speck of doubt that she had that she would not get out of this. However, she banned that thought.

The other two were also most likely in the middle of combat right now. She couldn't disrupt their focus because of a little insecurity. Most importantly, her pride didn't allow her to be the first to ask for help. She wanted Seth to trust her blindly. She didn't want him to worry about her every time she was off on her own.

Fuck that thing. So what if she couldn't move? Big deal. She wasn't stunned and could still act. At a thought, her inventory opened, and she dropped a horde of Golem Knights into the darkness. They immediately formed a defensive perimeter around her, facing the shadow thralls.

Among the golems was also a wolf the size of a bison. Gell, her Archwolf, had recently become a juvenile. His system level was 90, but he was able to kill lv.130 bosses in the abyss without big problems.

The opponent didn't just watch her silently, the golems had just moved when the three main figures charged at her, wielding blades and shadows as their weapon. Shocked, Mina found that they were actual, proper assassins.

Their presence diminished with every step they took, and then they actually slipped past the wall of golems. The golems were actually unable to detect them, but Gell wasn't. The archwolf's massive jaw caught the shoulder of the High Priest, who didn't bother paying attention to the beast he tried to sneak by.

Still, the other two were upon her and attacked. Without resistance, two blades covered in black aura passed through her neck and hard respectively. No blood spurted, no damage was taken. On the other hand, her body was falling straight through the floor, the blades passing through her head and shoulder, not doing anything.

<Intangibility>, a skill of the Ring of Gyges, couldn't remove the <Shadow Pin>, but allowed her to escape this situation unharmed. Slipping through the floor, Mina also used <Invisibility>, hoping she could escape the bind by not having a shadow at all. It was not that easy.

Before she completely slipped through the floor, she recalled Gell to the pet space, leaving only the golems as a distraction. The golems wouldn't be able to help, and she wasn't going to leave her pet in this danger. She would have collected the golems, too, but they were too far away.

The shadow assassin slid through the floor with some worry. She could only hope there was open space somewhere below her, as she couldn't do anything to maneuver herself right now. Feeling queasy, she slid through several meters of rock before falling into a cavern.

She deactivated the <Intangibility>, almost landing on her feet; however, the floor was uneven and littered with what felt like rotten twigs. She lost her posture and collapsed on the heap of “twigs”. It was one of those moments when she wished she didn't have <Nightvision>.

The whole cavern she fell into was littered with dismembered skeletons. Heaps of brittle bones covered in desiccated strips of skin and flesh. It was like the den of a man-eating beast that had devoured armies for centuries...

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“Even if I can't see you, I know your location,” a black deer in the shadows spoke. The moment Mina saw it, she felt a tremendous impact at her waist, as she was slapped away by a shadow tendril.

The immobilized assassin tore through mountains of rotten bone before hitting cold, hard rock. She had tried to use magic and the shadows to lessen the damage, but ultimately, it was the armor's damage dispersion that stopped any serious injury.

Lying on the floor, the head of the deer came into view above her. She could make out some fine gray lines covering its body. Despite the dire situation, she wanted to smirk. The creature had mutilated itself, but it wasn't that easy to escape the sickness.

But this wasn't the moment to gloat. Apart from trying to survive, she had been wrecking her brain to find a way to get rid of the <Shadow Pin>. The system had not announced a duration, which meant it was a state that would continue until broken by force.

“It is quite ironic that you entered this place of all places. Many sacrifices found their ends in these halls; it is fitting for you to join them here. You will cast away your mortal shackles and join them as part of me,” the shadow deer prattled on. Meanwhile, Mina had an idea and released three things from her inventory.

Right before the deer, a golem soldier appeared. The mass-produced armored golem was immediately hit by an almost invisible force that crushed the metal armor at the waist and chest. The golem broke and was cleanly bisected. His legs fell limply to the ground, while his torso landed not too far from Mina on the ground.

“These toys mean nothing. Have you not realized it yet? Resistance is futile...” Across the cavern, more and more shadow figures appeared, like a show of power. Why was this creature so theatrical about killing someone?

Mina internally rolled her eyes. As if to answer the statement, the golem torso, unimpressed by the crushed chest, lifted its arms in the air and activated the other two items Mina had released from her inventory.

“Here comes the sun!” she thought spitefully, preparing her ears and eyes for what was to come. The next moment, a terrifying sound shook her entire being.

Breaking through the fists was a blinding light that filled the whole cavern and drowned out every shadow. Mina felt the incredible heat on her face, and the next moment, she felt the force binding her vanish. All shadows and the <Shadow Pin> had melted away before Alison's flash bangs.

“Ugh, what have you done..!” dozens of voices echoed in pain. The flashbang had no offensive capabilities apart from creating a blinding light; however, the luminous veins she had noticed faintly on the shadow creature had flared up again.

All the fragments of Jiu Yuu Ying were covered in ropey nets of pulsating vessels. A human figure even collapsed, a huge, glowing orb growing in the center of its head. Mina's lip pulled back, revealing a wide grin.

“Looks like the disease flares up when you are exposed to light, would be a shame if- Klink!”

Two more flash bangs appeared in her hands, now that she could move, and she immediately pulled the pins, throwing them into the crowd.

Mina, the shadow assassin, created a lightning storm inside the subterranean cavern as the explosions and flashing light wouldn't stop. Over and over, bright light shone in the darkness before vanishing again.

Under the constant blasts of light, the bulging veins swelled, and many actually burst, creating splashes of light, accompanied by the shadows' pained cries. The cat exhausted half a stack of flashbangs before finally halting to see the result.

The number of shadows was greatly reduced, with those still standing being covered in veins and showing signs of brightly shining tumors across their body. The floor was covered in white, bright, bioluminescent liquid.

“Ooohhhh, you will pay for this!” the remaining voices moaned. The next moment, the temple shook.

“What in the world is that...” the voice exclaimed as if it saw something completely different from the dark cavern covered in shadows. Mina heard the stone ceiling above groan and stones falling among the rotten bones like a maniac playing on a macabre xylophone.

When she saw the root appear from the ceiling, she knew what the shadow meant.