[Chapter 317. Behind the Mist]

With slow but deliberate steps, Iris walked through the stained white hallway of this once-beautiful castle, her armored boots now silent against the ancient stone. The echoes had ceased as she stepped onto the threadbare, rotting carpet running along the corridor's center. Its fibers disintegrated beneath her weight, releasing a cloud of musty dust with each footfall. The walls around her bore the ghosts of faded tapestries, their once-vibrant patterns reduced to indistinct blotches of color where moisture had bled the dyes across the fabric.

With one last look over her shoulder, she glanced back toward the distant portal, the shimmering blue vortex now barely visible through the corridor's gloom. Searanox was nowhere to be seen nor heard. She turned her attention to the corridor on her right, where muffled sounds emerged—guttural snarls of beasts intermingled with the discordant clanging of metal weapons against armor plates. Her silver eyes narrowed as her ears swiveled toward the cacophony. Each distinct sound was analyzed and catalogued before she consciously dismissed them, focusing instead on the unnerving wall of fog ahead.

The supernatural mist before her seemed to writhe with unseen malevolence as she brought up the turquoise stone. Its steady luminescence pushed back against the darkness like a protective ward. With a steady hand, she held the glowing rock in front of her, the soft blue light casting elongated shadows across the walls. Each step deeper into the fog drowned out the sounds coming from behind her; their frequencies first muffled, then distorted, until they were consumed entirely by the silence. Soon, there remained only the soft whisper of her own breathing and the almost inaudible creak of her armor joints moving in unison. The air grew thick and heavy in her lungs, tasting of salt and decay—a sensation that made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end despite the protective covering of her dark armor.

A minute later, she reached the end of the fog and emerged on the other side, the sudden clarity of the air hitting her like a physical blow. The corridor continued on as if nothing had happened—as if the fog didn't exist as a barrier between realms. Before her stretched a wide hallway whose high ceiling was lost in shadows, its grandeur marred by cracked marble floors and crumbling archways. Immediately, she could see shapes moving along inside the wide hallway: small, armored figures that skittered about like nervous insects. They were half her height, with the exception of one that stood taller than the rest, though it was still a head shorter than she was.

From a quick count, there were a dozen of them milling around. There was no formation or any sign of tactics. They simply stood or paced across the space, their movements punctuated by occasional guttural exchanges that suggested some form of crude communication.

In a flash of blue light, her Eldritch Zweihänder appeared in her hand. The massive greatsword's black metal seemed to drink the light around it, while turquoise energy pulsed along its edge like captured lightning. The weapon's weight was negligible in her grip—an extension of her own will and power as she moved forward with grace, each step measured and precise.

`Two ranged units and two with shields. The rest of them look like melee fighters to me.` Iris thought, slowly moving forward. Her armored boots made almost no sound against the cracked marble.

Every instinct screamed that this was too easy—that an ambush or trap would spring at any moment. While her eyes tracked every movement in front of her—the way the smaller Gatura Warriors shifted their weight, how the armored Elite held its weapon, the subtle twitching of the ranged units clawed fingers—she focused on the layout of the corridor. There were no doors or crossings, just a straight way forward. This felt less like a random patrol area and more like a carefully orchestrated kill zone.

The air hung heavy with the scent of damp fur and old blood, a combination that made her want to wrinkle her nose despite her conditioning to ignore such distractions. The moment Iris got into range, her Zweihänder began to give off an intense turquoise glow, the light pulsing like a captured heartbeat as power surged through its length. Before the Gatura could register the sudden illumination, she vanished into a dark, smoke-like fog, reappearing right next to one of the Gatura Guards, her blade already mid-swing. She wasn't aiming for the bigger one; her tactical assessment dictated that she had to thin out their numbers first and eliminate the shield-bearers who might complicate her positioning.

The blade made contact with the small creature's huge shield. In a deafening clash of metal that sent sparks flying in all directions, the creature was launched down the hallway like a ragdoll. On its way, it crashed into two other beasts, blasting them off their feet and sending them tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and armor.

Before they could react, she brought another blow down on one of the Warriors in the front, her sword moving with deadly precision. There was a loud ping as her blade met a long pole of metal, the sound reverberating through the room like a hammer striking an anvil. Her eyes locked onto the metal rod that had blocked her strike. Standing in front of her was the taller beast, holding its halberd at an angle that deflected the force of her blow with surprising skill.

The Elite's eyes burned with intelligence as it adjusted its grip, its posture shifting from casual alertness to deadly focus. A second later, two blades swung toward her, one from each side, while the bigger beast flipped its bladed weapon upward. The maneuver pushed her long blade up and away, a tactical move that exposed her sides and gave the smaller ones an opening to attack from below.

Iris pivoted in place, her blade moving in a fluid arc toward her right, intercepting the first blow with a shower of sparks. Simultaneously, a shimmering barrier appeared on her left—her Mystic Ward flaring to life just in time to block the strike from the second attacker.

In the span of a few seconds, she blocked a dozen strikes, the sounds of metal against metal creating a chaotic symphony in the corridor. She dodged a few more by shifting her weight with practiced ease, then brought her blade down on one of the small furry beasts. Her strike was parried by the larger one once again; in a quick motion, it pushed her back, knocking her blade away with surprising strength. The force of the parry sent vibrations radiating up her arm.

The next second, her Mystic Ward flared as two crossbow bolts impacted the barrier, their kinetic energy dissipating harmlessly against the magic. Just before she could fully register the source of the attack, she made out a dull yellow glow emanating from within the crowd of beasts.

Moments later, the Gatura Warriors executed a coordinated movement, their bodies twisting in unison as they leaped aside with surprising agility. The sudden motion revealed what they had been concealing: a massive shield hurtling through the air toward Iris, a pulsing orange energy emanating from its surface. The air whistled as the beast closed the distance between them, leaving Iris with barely a heartbeat to react. Her combat senses, honed by countless battles and sharpened by her exceptional stats, screamed a warning as her body moved on pure instinct.

With a desperate mental command, she manifested her Mystic Ward just as the shield made contact. The impact was catastrophic. The glowing shield struck her barrier with the force of a battering ram, shattering it with a deafening crack that echoed through the corridor like thunder and sent fragments of light scattering across the stone floor.

Iris was thrown backward by the residual force, her armored boots digging deep into the threadbare carpet beneath her feet. The ancient fabric tore into ribbons as she slid several meters, the sound of ripping fibers mixing with the scrape of her long blade carving a shallow groove into the cracked marble floor. Her momentum finally stopped when her back slammed against the wall with a heavy thud that knocked the wind from her lungs.

`An ability that breaks through defense?` She thought while regaining her footing. Her mind raced as she analyzed the tactical implications of what had just happened. She dropped into a lower stance, her knees bent and her body coiled like a spring. The position gave her not just protection, but also the leverage to strike out with her full might if any of them came into range.

Her silver gaze was locked on the tall Elite, while her peripheral vision tracked the movements of the smaller Warriors as they circled like vultures. The Elite responded to her new position with an adjustment of its own, bringing its halberd up until the blade pointed directly at her chest, ready to thrust forward.

Iris shifted her stance, angling her Zweihänder to cover her front. The black metal seemed to absorb the dim light of the corridor as turquoise energy pulsed along its edge. The taller beast mirrored her movement, taking a deliberate step to the side as its long weapon shifted, flipping the bladed end up toward the ceiling in what appeared to be a defensive maneuver.

For several tense moments, Iris and the Gatura Elite engaged in a silent dance of stances—feints, adjustments, and counter-positions—neither willing to make the first outright attack. While this tactical standoff played out, the smaller Gatura Warriors took advantage of the distraction, slowly fanning out around her in a semi-circle, their weapons gleaming with deadly intent as they tightened the noose.

In a flash of movement, the Elite's halberd struck out toward her. The blur of motion was accompanied by two bolts fired from the rear. They weren't aimed at her directly, but strategically positioned to strike either side of her current location, limiting her evasive options. Time seemed to slow down as her enhanced mind worked through every possible action she could take in a fraction of a second. If she dodged the Elite's heavy attack, she would end up right in the firing line of one of the bolts. Furthermore, such an evasion would leave her vulnerable to the attacks of the other Warriors who were now nearly completing their encirclement. She could block the Elite's attack, but that would leave her wide open and allow the Warriors to close in completely.

As the bladed end of the Elite's weapon struck down toward her position with devastating force, the only thing it hit was the dark fog that drifted in the space Iris had occupied just a heartbeat ago.

Her Blade Step had carried her ten meters in an instant, materializing in a crouch behind two of the Warriors. Her Zweihänder was already swinging in a deadly arc toward their exposed backs.