The rats hit us like a living tsunami, drowning us in an endless sea of black fur. The sheer pressure of the mass slammed into me, knocking me off my feet and sweeping me up. Sharp teeth grazed my skin, claws scrabbled across my arms and neck. I could feel their writhing bodies in my hair, creeping under my clothes, crawling across my face. My armor was useless against this foe which forced their way under every gap in my protection. The stench of wet fur and filth filled my lungs as I gasped for air. The swarm was burying me alive.

  Individually, the rats did no damage. But as hundreds of tiny claws tore at my skin, the damage notifications blurred together into a steady stream of red. Death by a thousand cuts wasn't just a saying anymore. It was my reality.

  I desperately struggled, trying to regain my footing. My sword was dead weight. Without a firm footing, my swings lacked sharpness. It was like trying to cut water, a futile gesture against an enemy that flowed around every strike. Momentary ripples in the never-ending stream of bodies.

  Twisting, turning, I fought the rat swarm until my feet finally touched something solid. Ground. Sweet, blessed ground. I finally felt anchored, no longer adrift in the sea of bodies and was able to push back against the flow of rats.

  I planted my feet squarely on the ground and swung my sword – once, twice, thrice. Each strike connected with satisfying resistance now, sending tiny bodies flying.

  The quest log flashed before my eyes.

  It was a grim reminder of the impossible task ahead.

  I did the math in my head. Nine rats per swing. Nine. Fucking. Rats. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or both. Over a hundred thousand swings to clear this nightmare? My arms would fall off first. Despair started to creep in, my mind racing ahead to the inevitable collapse of our defenses. This wasn't just impossible, it was insane.

  "Everyone still breathing?" I called out, trying to keep the edge of panic from my voice.

  Beside me, Estella's chakram’s spun around her at a furious speed. They formed a lethal sphere of death that protected her from the swarm. Rats rushed in and fell, their bodies shredded to mince before they hit the ground. Not a single hair out of place, not one smudge on her clothes. Just graceful murder in motion.

  I was secretly impressed and jealous. Her little bubble of death looked way more comfortable than my current rat-covered situation.

  But it wasn't enough. The rats kept coming. For every rat that fell, ten more poured in to fill the gap, each one desperately trying to sneak pass holes in her defence. A rain of blood fell upon Estella as the rats marched into her whirling meat grinder. But even with blood splattered over her, she maintained her grace.

  I watched her lick blood from her lips, a satisfied smile playing across her face. Maybe I should've been disturbed by how much she was enjoying this, but right now that was what we needed.

  “Keep it up, Estella!” I shouted through the chaos. Naturally as a dexterity class, she would be the best suited to this task.

  She glanced at me, her face calm, almost serene amid the carnage. “Isn’t this so exciting?” She smiled, blood-splattered but elegant, and kept tearing through the rats."

  “You and I have different concepts of exciting,” I muttered, but couldn't help grinning back. Her enthusiasm was infectious, even in this nightmare.

  Eventually, the rats gave up trying to penetrate her shield and detoured around her instead. With the rats no longer suiciding, the numbers slowed to a crawl once more.

  The kill count mockingly ticked up. A drop in the ocean.

  "Stay behind me!" Tirion bellowed over the squealing chorus.

  He knelt in front of Lysa with his shield that extended to the ground, protecting her from the worse of the flood. A thumping sound resonated as the rats slammed against his shield. Sweat plastered his fur to his face, but he didn't give an inch.

  Behind him, Lysa face was pale as she frantically chanted out a spell. Her hands glowed with a black aura with streaks of purple. As her chant reached a crescendo, she let out a cry, “Oh great shadow lord, please grant me strength.”

  The aura extended from herself and enveloped Tirion in its embrace. His ears perked up, and I swear his shield grew heavier, more solid.

  “Thank you love.” Renewed vigor surged through Tirion. He rose from his knee like a mountain coming to life, pushing forward against the swarm. The shield that had been holding steady now began to advance, forcing the rats back step by step.

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  I started to regret not investing in a shield. The best defense is a good offense, after all. But now, watching Tirion's unwavering stance, I was beginning to see the appeal of a solid defence.

  "We won't last forever," Tirion's grunted, each word punctuated by the sound of tiny bodies slamming against steel. "Any ideas?"

  I silently agreed with him. We were stabilizing, but against this relentless flood, it was only a matter of time before we ran out of stamina. Sweat stung my eyes as I scanned our surroundings, desperately searching for any advantage.

  That's when I noticed it. The giant Rat King loomed over us. There was something about it that was different. Its eyes glowed with a cold intelligence, locking onto us, assessing.

  "Take out the big one!" I shouted and pointed at it. "It's controlling them somehow!"

  Estella nodded. “Cover me”

  Tirion immediately moved to shield her, with Lysa following close behind. "Whatever you're planning, make it quick!" he barked, his shield groaning under the increased pressure.

  I locked eyes with Estella. No words were needed. She lowered her protective sphere and switched her chakrams to attack. They whirled towards the rat king, carving a path through the chittering horde. Swish, the blades passed through the giant rat. It killed a few rats in the amalgamation but otherwise did no lasting damage.

  "It's not enough!" Estella cried, frustration evident in her voice.

  I lunged, aiming for its eye, every ounce of strength behind the blow. But the rat king was prepared. A tendril of rats whipped out, striking me down to the ground with a crunch.

  "Noctus!" Estella's cried out and ran to my side.

  As I struggled to my feet, Lysa stepped forward. The air around her crackled with dark energy.

  A massive spectral hand materialized above the rat king, slamming down on it with great force. The construct buckled, rats scattering from its form. For a heartbeat, I thought we had it, but the rats regrouped and the rat king was reformed.

  “How do we kill this thing?” Tirion asked, his voice strained as he continued to defend against the flood. A rat slipped past his guard, sinking its teeth into his leg. He grunted in pain but held his ground.

  “Do that a few more times, it seems effective” I asked Lysa

  Tirion's head snapped towards me, his eyes blazing with concern. "Hey, it drains a lot out of her. Don't push her too much!"

  "It's okay, Tirion," Lysa reassured him, though her exhausted demeanor betrayed her words. She swayed slightly, steadying herself against his armored back. "I can manage. I still have a bit of mana left."

  We didn’t need to trouble her though. In the next moment, the rat king let out a deafening roar that shook the earth.

  I'd heard a lot of horrible sounds in my life, the crunch of bones, the wet gurgle of a dying man, that awful laugh he always had during training. But this... this was wrong. The sound burrowed into my skull like thousands of tiny claws, scraping against the inside of my brain. I clutched my head in pain. The sewer walls trembled, stones grinding against each other as if trying to escape.

  Something inside me went cold and hard, and a numbness spread through my chest. My heart turned to stone, and the fear washed over me like water off glass. Heart of Stone, the skill I had learned back in the upper city, watching a noble girl abusing what used to be a person. The same emotional deadening, the same artificial calm.

  The others weren't so lucky.

  Lysa crumpled like a puppet with cut strings, a sound catching in her throat that wasn't quite a scream. Her eyes were those of a cornered animal, seeing something that would haunt her dreams for years.

  Estella's dancing stopped mid-spin. She hit the ground hard, her chakrams clattering against stone as her body convulsed. The blood-splattered dancer who'd been laughing moments ago now curled into herself, whimpering.

  Only Tirion stayed standing, but barely. His shield arm shook so badly the metal clanked against his armor. His ears were pressed flat against his skull, but his stance remained solid. Even terrified, his training held, body positioned to protect Lysa, shield angled to deflect attacks.

  "You holding up?" I asked him.

  A sharp nod. "As long as... as I'm standing." His voice trembled, but his shield remained raised.

  "Good." I checked my mana reserves. "Because I'm about to do something stupid, and I need you to keep them safe while I do it."

  Another nod, shorter this time. No wasted movement. Even paralyzed with fear, he was still a knight first.

  “Let’s do this.” I took a deep breath. Behind me, three people lay broken by terror. Ahead stood a monster that could shatter minds with a scream. And here I was, walking toward it. As the only one unaffected, the burden fell upon me.

  The sea of rats parted as I approached, creating an unobstructed path to their master. Not a single attack, not one bite or scratch. Just silence and thousands of red eyes tracking my movement. The quiet felt worse than the earlier chaos, like walking to the gallows with an audience of vermin.

  Up close, I could see the individual rats that made up its form, their bodies twisted and fused in unnatural ways. An abomination that should never have existed.

  Then, it spoke.

  The Rat King's voice crashed over us like a wave of broken glass, thousands of squeaks and chirps forming words that shouldn't have been possible:

  "Such brave little prey, dancing in the dark." Each syllable was a discord of chattering teeth. "We have watched you. Studied you. The weakest one leads? How... amusing."

  "If I'm so weak, why do you need a million of you? Or are you afraid to face me alone?"

  The massive form rippled, rats flowing like liquid as it shifted. "Alone? We are never alone. We are us. And you..." A sound like rotting leaves scraping stone, its attempt at laughter. "You stand apart from your kind. Your darkness... it's stolen, forced, bent to your will. Not earned, not given. What are you, little knight?"

  "Someone tired of cryptic monster monologues." I settled into a combat stance, raising my blade. “Can we skip to the part where I kill you?”

  The countless eyes that made up its form glowed that eerie red. "Brave words. Empty words. We will add your flesh to our form, your bones to our throne. Your friends will watch, paralyzed, as you become part of our greater whole."

  "Sorry, Your Highness," I said, channeling mana into my blade. "I don't do group projects."

  The spell activated differently this time. Instead of the steady flow of power, mana surged through me like a broken dam. My sword hummed with energy, each pulse synchronized with the darkness of the Undercity. Here, surrounded by shadow, my spellblade felt supercharged, like the difference between a candle and a forest fire

  Black mist erupted from my blade, clouding the sewers. As I poured every last drop of my mana into the sword, it began to glow cherry-red, then white-hot, groaning under forces it was never designed to contain. The rats lining the sides began to panic, scurrying in confusion and fear. Even the Rat King recoiled, its many eyes widening as the power radiating from my blade grew unbearable.

  Its mass rippled with panic, trying to scatter. But it was too late.

  With a yell, I drove the overloaded blade into its core. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the world exploded.

  The sword detonated within the Rat King, releasing all the pent-up energy in a cataclysmic burst. A shockwave of shadow and fire erupted from my blade, disintegrating the rats that made up the Rat King's form.

  As the explosion faded, I found myself on my knees, gasping for breath. My sword was gone, consumed in the blast. Where the Rat King had stood was now a scorched, empty space.

  I turned to look at my companions. The paralyzing effect of the roar had worn off, and they were staring at me in awe and disbelief. Estella was the first to speak, her voice cracking in confusion. She stared at the crater where the Rat King had been, then back at me.

  "Noctus... What was that?"