The shadow wall trembled violently under the relentless blows of Lu Bu's halberd, each strike sending deep vibrations through Lucian's body as he pressed against it.
"What the hell did I get myself into…?" Lucian muttered, chuckling weakly as he pushed himself upright.
"No exit, and a walking apocalypse blocking the only path forward."
He sighed, raking a hand through his hair, his fingers brushing over cold, pale skin.
"Should I just go for it…?" he murmured, eyeing his hands. But the color in his skin—or lack thereof—was answer enough.
"No… I'll die before I get close to killing that thing."
Another quake rattled the wall. Cracks of dark energy spidered through the surface as Lu Bu's halberd slammed into it again.
Lucian exhaled slowly, bracing himself.
"Alright then... we're gambling with fate."
He snapped his fingers.
"Shadow, coalesce!"
The torches flickered violently, then extinguished all at once, plunging the chamber into thick, oppressive darkness. Shadows slithered and curled toward him, gathering at his palm like a whirlpool of ink.
"Nightvision," he whispered.
His eyes flared with a violet glow, cutting through the darkness like twin lanterns from the abyss.
"Apophis."
The name was a trigger—spoken like a curse, like a prayer. The shadows exploded outward, funneling from his palm into the space before him, writhing and twisting.
"Nothing like using ancient folklore to summon a monster… to fight a monster." Lucian forced a laugh, masking the flicker of doubt in his chest.
The darkness condensed, forming the shape of a colossal serpent. Its body coiled like a black river within the confines of the dungeon, its eyes—twin mirrors of Lucian's—glowing with the same violet flame.
The abyssal snake hissed, its presence oppressive and otherworldly.
"Time for a deathmatch!"
With a sharp flick of his wrist, Lucian unraveled the shadow wall, its dark matter streaming into the serpent. The snake swelled in size, its form thickening with the influx of power until it nearly scraped the dungeon ceiling.
Across the ruined threshold, the wall now gone, Lu Bu stepped into view once more—halberd in hand, red armor gleaming in the void.
He stared at the massive serpent, then threw his head back and laughed.
"Let's see if you can handle this one!"
Lucian pointed directly at Lu Bu.
"Sic 'em, boy!"
The abyssal serpent surged forward at full speed, crashing against Lu Bu's halberd. The collision triggered a shockwave so intense it snuffed out the remaining torches on Lu Bu's side of the chamber.
"Well, that's convenient."
Lucian grinned as the serpent swelled even larger, feeding off the deepening darkness.
"Let's see if you can fight blind in the—!"
Before he could finish the sentence, Lu Bu swung.
Once.
With a single, impossibly precise slash, he cleaved the serpent clean in half—from skull to tail. The darkness unraveled like shredded fabric, dissipating into the void.
"Dark…?"
Lucian's words caught in his throat as he stared, stunned.
He had summoned a monster the size of the dungeon itself—and it had just been split apart by a man not even half its size.
"You're a walking piece of plot armor, aren't you!?" Lucian barked out a laugh.
"But plot armor doesn't mean invincible."
He flung his hand forward.
"Converge!"
The shadows obeyed. In a rush of movement, they knitted together once more, reforming the massive serpent in an instant. It lunged again, relentless.
"From dungeon crawling to a goddamn kaiju fight…" Lucian muttered, scanning the chamber with frantic eyes, trying to formulate anything resembling a plan.
Because deep down, he knew this summon couldn't win. Not like this.
"Come on… what I wouldn't give for a deus ex machina right now!"
A wet cough interrupted his thoughts. He staggered.
Blood dripped from his mouth, staining the floor.
Lucian's eyes snapped back to the battle.
The serpent's head was gone—completely obliterated.
Lu Bu stood at the center of the wreckage, calm, composed, halberd dripping with shadow-stained ichor.
Lucian wiped his mouth, hissing through clenched teeth.
"Shit… regenerating that damn snake is gonna kill me."
"You know what? Fine!"
Lucian snarled, pulling the shattered serpent's essence back into himself. The shadows flowed into his core, patching wounds and steadying his breath.
"If I can't beat you with brute force…" He stretched out his hand, violet light crackling at his fingertips.
"Then I'll break you with the mind!"
"Dominion of Cruelty: Mind Prison!"
The dungeon warped. In a blink, the cubic chamber gave way to a war-torn cityscape—buildings crumbled, smoke rising in jagged pillars, the sky dark and oppressive.
[Location: Xiaopei — World: ???]
The runes flared before Lucian's eyes, then vanished.
"You…"
Lu Bu's voice was low and rough, his eyes burning with fury—just before spectral chains erupted from the ground, locking him in place once again.
In this realm, Lucian was in control.
"What the hell…?"
Lucian glanced around, brow furrowing. The architecture was alien, the language on the signs unreadable.
"So this is your world, huh?" he muttered, a shaky chuckle escaping. There was amusement in his voice—but underneath it, a trace of unease.
Even if this is my spell… it's still his mind, Lucian realized. His will alone could twist this place against me.
Slowly, he approached the chained behemoth. Lu Bu strained against his bonds, but for now, they held.
Lucian placed his hand on the warrior's forehead. Their eyes locked—both glowing with a shared violet light, flickering like twin stars in a collapsing sky.
"If strength won't break you…" Lucian hissed, his voice low and resolute, "then I'll dismantle you from the inside."
Lucian prowled through the shadows of Lu Bu's mind, searching—hunting—for cracks. Doubts. Regrets. Anything he could exploit.
"You're a stubborn bastard, aren't you?" he muttered with a dry chuckle, sifting through flashes of memory and blood-stained history.
But nothing surfaced. No hesitation. No guilt. Just unshakable will and a trail of war.
The sky above twisted. The chains groaned and rattled.
Then—Lucian's boots began to sink, swallowed by ash-covered streets.
"…My domain," he whispered.
"Is war," Lu Bu growled, voice booming like thunder.
The chains shattered in a blinding explosion, a shockwave tearing through the warped city.
Lucian was launched backward, slamming through the charred remains of a building and hitting the ground hard.
He spat blood, vision swimming.
"Looks like I made things worse for myself…"
he coughed, laughing through grit teeth.
Sweat beaded on his brow. What was supposed to be a trial boss was now turning into a full-blown nightmare.
And war—true war—had just begun.