The ritual chamber wasn't what Jake expected.

He thought it would be small, a basement carved out of the old mine's guts. Instead, it was massive. The ceiling rose thirty meters overhead, held up by steel beams that clearly supported massive weight. The walls were bare concrete instead of pure stone, stained with rust and water damage due to the steel beams, but the floor told a different story.

The magic circle dominated everything.

It spanned the entire chamber and was at least fifty meters across, maybe more. The bones of monsters were arranged in patterns he didn't understand. Some were massive, mostly femurs the size of tree trunks, but there were also skulls with eye sockets large enough to crawl through. Others were smaller, almost delicate, placed with care at specific intersections of the lines.

The mana was thick and made both Lena and Jake struggle to breathe. The Shadow Construct stood in the center of the circle.

It was humanoid, but in the wrong places. Its body was made of solidified darkness, not the semi-transparent shadows Lena summoned, but something denser, heavier.

The material looked like black glass or basalt and was smooth and reflective in places and rough and jagged in others.

Its limbs were too long, and the creature had arms that hung past where its knees should have been. Its torso curved inward at the center as if something had crushed it from both sides.

Jake searched for a face, for eyes to read or a mouth to watch, but his gaze slid off an expanse of absolute black. There were no features to focus on, nothing to humanize it. That thing was just a terrifying void molded into the rough silhouette of a man.

—[Shadow Construct—Level 315]—

"Viren's last defense," Lena said. "It won't stop until we destroy it or it destroys us."

Jake's grip tightened on his daggers. "Can we kill it?"

"We have to." Lena stepped forward, her blades already drawn. "Stay behind me. Let me test its reactions first."

The Shadow Construct moved.

It didn't walk. It flowed, its body rippling across the floor like oil spreading on water but moving at absurd speed. One second it was in the center of the circle; the next it was five meters closer, blocking the path to the ritual components.

Lena threw a knife.

The blade passed through the Construct's torso without resistance, clattering against the far wall. The shadow rippled, unharmed.

"Physical attacks won't work," she said, not taking her eyes off the creature. "It's not solid."

"Then how do we—"

The Construct lashed out. It must not have liked Lena's attack.

A tendril of shadow shot from its arm, fast as a whip. Lena dodged, and the shadow slammed into the wall behind her, leaving a mark on the concrete.

Jake summoned the War Mastiffs. The hounds materialized, lunging at the Construct. The shadow let them pass through its body, then expanded, swallowing them whole. The Mastiffs dissolved into mana mist without a sound.

"Shit," Jake said.

Lena circled to the left, forcing the Construct to divide its attention. "We need to disrupt the mana holding it together. Skills should work. Try lightning or fire!"

Jake looked at his dagger. The Storm-Edge Kris wasn't just a blade. It could turn his mana into lightning. He'd used it before but never against something this strong.

"Cover me," he said.

Lena summoned her Shadow Operatives, and their figures peeled off the walls. They darted around the creature, drawing its attention.

Jake charged with his dagger. Mana flowed from his core down his arm, pooling in the blade. As the metal heated, sparks crackled along the edge.

The Construct lashed out again, its tendrils multiplying. One caught a Shadow Operative, dissolving it as soon as they touched. Another swept toward Lena.

The woman met it head-on, her blade coated in her own mana. The steel cut through the tendril, severing it. The shadow recoiled, writhing.

The fight turned brutal. Jake and Lena circled the Construct, trading blows with a creature that barely registered damage. Every slash Lena landed, passed through the shadows. Every summoned creature Jake threw at it dissolved on contact.

Jake's mana reserves dropped, and so did Lena's. His War Mastiffs lasted seconds before they got killed by the construct. The level disparity and the tier must have been too wide.

Lena's Shadow Operatives fared better, but only barely. They drew the creature's attention, forcing it to split its focus. The Construct lashed out with tendrils that moved faster than even Jake, with his trait, could track, dissolving one Operative after another.

The fight went on.

Many times Jake and Lena almost died, but since they were supporting each other, they avoided the worst outcome.

Lena adapted fast. She stopped trying to cut the Construct and focused on its tendrils instead, severing them before they could hit her or Jake. Each cut bought them seconds at best, mostly less.

Then Lena reached for her belt.

She then threw a smoke bomb. It was not that good against a shadow creature, but the smoke maybe was going to mess with its weird perception. She lunged at its head.

The Construct swiveled its torso, turning to swat her out of the air.

That was the opening.

"Jake, now!"

The boy didn't hesitate. He lunged, driving the Storm-Edge Kris into the Construct's core.

Lightning erupted.

The blade sank into the shadow, doing nothing, but the electricity arced through the creature's body. The darkness convulsed, splitting apart as the lightning tore through the mana holding it together.

Of Course, Jake Augmented the skill's power, which made it simply too powerful even for the creature to stand it. The creature shrieked.

Jake held the blade in place, pouring more mana into the attack.

In the end, the Construct collapsed and fell apart into wisps of shadow.

Jake pulled the blade free, stumbling back. His chest heaved. His mana was down to half, and his hands were numb from the recoil.

Lena caught his shoulder, steadying him. "Good work."

Jake nodded, too winded to speak.

They turned toward the circle.

It was glowing. Without the Construct guarding it, the components were exposed.

"Start smashing," Lena said. She moved to the nearest cluster of bones, bringing her blade down hard. The bone cracked, and the etched runes flared once before fading.

Jake joined her. Every piece they destroyed made the circle's glow dim a little more.

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