The Weaver's Nest, a labyrinth of libraries and hidden chambers at the heart of the underworld, is on high alert. Rumors about hooded fanatics moving through the tunnels have reached the old informant's ears. In his main chamber, where every silk thread hanging from the ceiling represents a traded secret, The Weaver sits calmly, his wrinkled fingers continuously weaving.
"They're coming," he whispers to his trusted lieutenant, a silk-masked woman known as Whisper.
"All entrances have been reinforced. Traps have been set," replies Whisper. "But, madam, they are not ordinary gangs. They are the Knights of the Void."
"I know," says The Weaver. "Prepare all the 'Spiderlings.' Tonight, we will remind the underworld why no one dares to disturb our webs."
The attack came without warning. Not from the front, but from below.
BOOOUUMM!
The floor in one of the corridors exploded upward as the Knights of the Void, led directly by Sister Morwen, burst in from the tunnels below. They did not look human. Their pitch-black armor was carved with runes emitting a cold aura, and the eyes behind their helmets glowed with a fanatical purple light.
"For the True Silence! Seize the archives! Capture the Weaver alive!" roared Morwen.
The Weaver's agents, the "Spiderlings," emerged from the shadows. They did not wear heavy armor. They moved swiftly, armed with poison-coated daggers and garrotes made of magically reinforced silk threads. A brutal battle erupted in the narrow corridors.
A Knight of the Void swung his greatsword, but a Spiderling dodged and threw several small glass orbs under his feet. The orbs shattered, releasing an extremely slippery alchemical liquid. The knight slipped, and before he could rise, a silk thread had coiled around his neck.
But the Knights of the Void were very strong. The strange aura of their armor seemed to dull pain and fear. One knight, despite being stabbed three times, managed to catch the agent attacking him and crushed his neck with one hand. Death filled the air.
Amidst the chaos, Ravenna Cruor entered through a hole in the floor, flanked by two of her personal guards. She paid no heed to the battle around her. Her eyes were fixed on one target: The Weaver's main archive room.
There, she finally confronted the old woman.
"Ravenna Cruor," greeted The Weaver, not even pausing from his weaving. "You're making quite a commotion in my humble abode."
"Your prattle ends here, old spider," hissed Ravenna. "You helped my Chosen Vessel escape. Now, you will pay. Tell me where he is hiding."
"Knowledge has a price, child," replied The Weaver. "And you have nothing left to offer me."
"I have this," said Ravenna, as the portable Altar of True Silence she carried began to throb with dark power.
Just as she was about to unleash her power, another voice shattered the tension.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, High Priestess."
From a side tunnel emerged a new group of figures. Six "Vipers" agents from Duke Alaric, moving with deadly efficiency. And at their forefront walked a young girl with a hard expression and determined eyes. Velka Nocturne.
Ravenna stared at her, her eyes widening in disbelief. "You! You were supposed to..."
"Be hiding?" interjected Velka. "I'm tired of hiding."
The situation now became a three-way standoff. The fanatical Ravenna and her Knights of the Void. The deadly Spiderlings of The Weaver. And Alaric's professional Vipers. All trapped within the burning nest, with the main prize—The Weaver and all his secrets—at the center.
He stood beside Elara Moonveil in the main command room. Before them, a three-dimensional holographic map of The Undercroft displayed the ongoing battle in The Weaver's Nest in real-time. Red dots (Cultists) and blue dots (Weaver agents) clashed and faded.
"Ravenna's forces are stronger than our initial data suggested," said Elara, her tone analytical. "Their armor has mana-suppressing properties. Interesting. I must obtain one for study."
Nihil said nothing. He just watched, his fists clenched at his sides. Each fading blue dot felt like a personal failure. He had started this. He had brought the Cultists out of the shadows.
"I need to get out of here," he said, his voice low.
"And where would you go?" replied Elara, not taking her eyes off the map. "Fall into the Inquisition's hands? Or straight into Ravenna's arms? You are the eye of this storm, Nihil. The safest place for you is here, where it is most calm."
"This calm is a prison," hissed Nihil. He felt powerless. Trapped beneath the sea while people above died because of him.
The eye of the storm...
Elara's words triggered something in Heze's mind. A mad idea. A hypothesis born of desperation and Elara's own Trans-Essential theories.
He couldn't be there physically. But his power... his power was bound to the Void, a fundamental principle that existed everywhere.
He turned to Elara. "I need something. An 'anchor.' Anything I've directly touched before, with traces of my energy still lingering on it, that is in The Undercroft."
Elara finally turned to look at him, her curiosity overcoming her caution. "After the Thorek workshop incident, my team secured several items for analysis. Including..." She displayed an image. "...the helmet you repaired."
"Take me there," said Nihil.
A few minutes later, Nihil stood before the gleaming steel helmet in a laboratory. He could feel the faint traces of his own power within the metal.
He sat cross-legged before the helmet and closed his eyes.
[Activating: Synchronization Control (to stabilize the mind)]
[Activating: Conceptual Forging (to create new pathways)]
He did not attempt to move his body. He tried to project something much smaller. An echo. A whisper of his existence. He used the energy traces on the helmet as a voice, as a destination address, and used the invisible network of the Void itself as the medium.
It was an extremely mentally draining process.
[Attempting Application of New Skill: Echo Projection]
[WARNING: THIS ACTION REQUIRES ABSOLUTE MENTAL STABILITY AND SIGNIFICANTLY DRAINS CAPACITY]
[Capacity: 40/40 -> 30/40 -> 20/40...]
In his mind, it felt as if a small part of his consciousness was being pulled through an endless dark tunnel at the speed of light.
Back at The Weaver's Nest...
The three-way battle reached a stalemate. Ravenna, seeing her primary target (Velka) now protected by the Vipers, grew impatient.
"ENOUGH OF THIS GAME!" she roared, her portable altar glowing brightly. "I WILL WIPE EVERYTHING OUT!"
She was about to unleash a Void energy wave that would destroy the entire room.
Suddenly, something happened.
On a table near The Weaver lay an obsidian dagger confiscated from one of the gang members a few weeks ago. The dagger that Nihil had examined when he first visited The Weaver.
The dagger began to vibrate.
A purely cold, thick, and absolute aura spread from the dagger. Not a great power. Not an explosion. Just a presence. The silent presence of the true Void.
Everyone in the room felt it. The Knights of the Void wavered, their tainted shadow magic flickering fearfully before the source of the original. The Weaver stopped weaving for the first time. Velka felt the Nocturne blood within her turn cold.
And Ravenna... Ravenna froze completely. Her fanatical eyes widened. She recognized the aura. It was the aura of her "Avatar." But far purer, stronger, and more real than anything she had ever felt.
She looked around frantically, trying to find the source. "My lord...? Are you here?"
That moment of confusion was all that was needed. Whisper, The Weaver's agent, moved as fast as lightning, throwing several smoke bombs. "NOW!" she shouted.
The Vipers immediately pulled Velka back into the tunnel, while the Spiderlings melted into the shadows, taking The Weaver with them.
As the smoke began to clear, Ravenna was left alone in the middle of the destroyed room, her enemies vanished. She was not angry. She trembled with divine joy.
"He is watching over me," she whispered. "He has given me a sign."
At Omega Base, Nihil coughed and fell to the side, blood streaming from his nose.
[New Skill Unlocked: Echo Projection (Rank F)]
[Description: Projects a small portion of the user's aura and consciousness onto an object with their energy traces. Distance and duration are extremely limited.]
[Capacity: 20/40 -> 18/40]
Elara helped him sit up. "You... succeeded," she said, her voice filled with admiration.
Nihil stared at his trembling hands. He had succeeded. He had found a way to touch the world beyond his cage.
The war was not over. But now, he could fight again.
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