Night came with whispers.
Not the kind carried by wind, but the kind that crawled inside your head and made your memories bleed. In the Veil Rift, dreams didn't wait for sleep — they hunted it.
Lucien lay beneath a petrified tree, his back against its bark, eyes half-closed, but mind sharp. His breath was calm, but his hand remained curled around the hilt of his soul-infused spear.
Beside him, Elira slept lightly, one hand resting on her dagger, the other trembling faintly. Her breathing was shallow.
[System Alert: Dream Terror approaching][Warning: Lucien's Nightmare Signature Detected][Optional Quest Triggered: Face Your Fear][Reward: Dragon Memory Fragment]
Lucien exhaled softly. "Of course."
The shadows nearby thickened, swirling like ink in water. Then… it stepped out.
Himself.
Same face. Same height. Same voice. But twisted.
His doppelganger smiled wickedly. "Still chasing power, Lucien? Still pretending you don't care?"
Lucien stood without a word.
The reflection tilted its head. "You abandoned her. You chose flames over love. And now you're alone."
Lucien didn't flinch. "Wrong."
He pointed behind him, where Elira slept.
"I made a choice. I'll make it again. And again. Because I'd rather be hated with power than loved while weak."
The doppelganger hissed, face warping into something monstrous — hollow eyes, flaming cracks across its chest, a voice like broken glass.
"Then BURN."
The world exploded into a dream battlefield.
Lucien stood atop a floating platform of shattered stone, surrounded by illusions of the past — Seraphine's final scream, the betrayal of his old brothers, the kingdom he once ruled burning from his own spell.
His doppelganger lunged, wreathed in flame and shadow.
Lucien parried with his spear, countering with Astral Corruption Flame, lighting up the dream-world in spirals of violet-black energy.
[Trait Activated: Immortal Will][You resist emotional disruption][Passive Fusion Detected: Veil Specter + Draco Vein][New Skill: Soul Breaker Flame – Attacks that disrupt illusions and memory constructs]
Lucien's flame struck true.
His shadow twin staggered, screaming as its body cracked.
Lucien moved in.
With one final thrust, he drove his spear through its heart.
The nightmare screamed one last time, then crumbled into smoke.
Lucien jolted awake, sweat trailing down his temple.
Beside him, Elira stirred.
"Another dream?" she asked.
He nodded. "A nasty one."
"You won?"
He looked at her, eyes glowing faintly.
"I always do."
[Nightmare Conquered][Reward Unlocked: Dragon Memory Fragment – Seraphine's Vision][Progress to Draco Umbra Phase III: 27%]
Later that morning, the rest of the scattered expedition group began to regroup. Most were bloodied, exhausted, and visibly shaken.
Selka, the thunder-touched girl from before, limped into camp with a cut across her arm. "Six dead. One went mad and attacked the others."
Lucien watched her with interest. "What happened to the mad one?"
She grinned. "We left him behind."
Brutal. Effective. He approved.
Then the Rift began to shift.
The sky tore open.
From above, a voice — distorted and ancient — echoed across the realm.
"You were not meant to come here. This is sacred ground."
Everyone froze.
In the distance, a giant humanoid silhouette emerged — ten meters tall, covered in glowing script, a cracked mask over its face, and a massive halberd in its hand.
[System Alert: Rift Guardian – Archetype Class][Difficulty: Extreme][Status: Hostile][Escape Rate: <1%]
Lucien grinned. "Now this… this is a challenge."
"Scatter!" an instructor shouted from somewhere beyond the trees. "Avoid direct engagement!"
But Lucien didn't move.
Neither did Elira.
"You're staying," she said, not surprised.
Lucien smiled. "I came here to evolve, not hide."
[Temporary Limit Lift – 100% Output Granted][System Unlocked: Dragon Surge][Skill Fusion Available – Astral Corruption Flame + Soul Breaker Flame = Dragon Wrath: Phase I]
He stepped forward, every inch of him wrapped in violet shadowlight.
The Rift Guardian's eyes locked onto him.
Lucien raised his hand.
"Come, then. Let me teach gods what fear tastes like."
The Guardian moved faster than expected.
Its halberd cleaved through air, warping gravity around it.
Lucien barely dodged, flames licking off his shoulders. He retaliated with a blast of Dragon Wrath, the fused flame ripping through the air and slamming into the Guardian's chest.
A scream like a collapsing mountain echoed.
The creature staggered but didn't fall.
Instead, it raised its halberd and pointed it toward Lucien's heart.
[Warning: Divine Pressure Detected][System Countermeasure: Active][New Title Condition Detected: One Who Faces the Divine]
Lucien laughed — mad and unshaken.
"Even divinity can bleed."
Beside him, Elira summoned her Feather Serpent — now glowing with strange new patterns. She joined the battle, binding the Guardian's legs with spectral coils.
"Now!" she shouted.
Lucien moved like lightning.
He jumped, spun midair, and unleashed everything — all the power, the hatred, the memory of Seraphine, the betrayal, the loneliness…
All of it became flame.
Pure, beautiful destruction.
The Dragon Wrath struck the Guardian's mask and shattered it.
Light burst from the cracks.
Then… silence.
The Rift Guardian collapsed.
Ash blew into the air.
[Victory Achieved: Rift Guardian Defeated][New Title Gained: One Who Faces the Divine][Rift Closing in 3 Minutes][Mandatory Evacuation Initiated]
Lucien stood in the fading light, breathing hard.
Elira was beside him, bruised but smiling.
"You're insane," she said.
He glanced at her. "And yet, you're still here."
She didn't answer.
Instead, she took his hand — for the first time.
They stepped through the fading portal together.