The shiny black pelt slung over Lilith's shoulder was heavier than she expected. Still warm. Still reeking of rodent death.

"Ugh. Worth it," she muttered, tying it up with cord. "This thing's gonna sell for a week's food bill."

She stuffed the monster core into her pouch and gave one last glance at the bloodstained mini-boss chamber.

It had only been an hour since she entered, but it felt like days. Her coat was singed, her boots were dirty, her muscles ached in new ways—and she loved it.

"I should've brought a damn bag," she mumbled as she adjusted the weight. "Or a wagon. Or a cute magic butler."

She opened the mana map. The zone's pathways flickered in glowing blue ink, now mostly filled out behind her.

I've already used an hour. Four left. Can't waste time.

She followed the map's unexplored corridor until it ended at a wide, downward-sloping staircase carved into old stone. Roots hung from the ceiling like dried veins. The air thickened with a sour, musty scent.

"Zone 2. Let's see what you've got."



Zone 2: The Hollow of Echoes

The first thing she noticed was the silence.

Not peaceful silence—unnatural silence. Like a church long abandoned, where even echoes felt haunted.

The second thing was the architecture.

Half-collapsed pews lay in disarray. Cracked stained glass glittered faintly in the walls, shattered in colorful fragments. Rusted chandeliers swayed gently, though there was no wind.

Mounted armors lined parts of the corridor—some toppled, some still upright, holding rusted spears and hollow helms. Broken statues littered the corners, their faces chipped and eyeless.

Lilith slowed her pace.

"Creepy dungeons are never just for show…"



As if to prove her right, a ghost-flame suddenly flickered to life in a wall brazier.

Lilith jumped back.

"Okay! Okay! Got it. You're haunted. Noted."

The ghost-flame sputtered once, releasing a wretched stink like burned mold and sulfur. She covered her nose and moved on quickly.

Just a few steps later, she noticed something strange.

Ahead, the corridor split—left and right.

She chose left.

Ten steps in… and then she saw herself.

Herself.



A faint silhouette, walking toward her from the right.

"The hell—?"



She whirled around—but the corridor was empty.

Then back again. Gone.

She blinked rapidly, heart hammering. The faint glow of a floor rune flickered beneath her feet.

Illusions.

Sound illusions. Visual reflections.

A trap designed to make people loop. Or walk into danger.

She backed up, her Battle Instinct skill pulsing like a whisper in her chest.

"Right path's a dead end. Trap's probably ahead."



She carefully stepped backward until she returned to the original fork—and took the right path instead.

"You almost had me, you bastard hallway."



After winding through more collapsed sanctum paths, she stepped into a larger room. Wide. Vaulted ceiling. Several doorways led into it from other corridors.

Dust floated in the still air.

And something moved.

Shuffling. Groaning. The soft crunch of dragging feet.

Five figures entered the chamber from different angles. Their robes were torn but once ceremonial. Their skin gray and papery, eyes hollow, mouths slack and wheezing.

Ghoul Acolyte



"Of course it's zombies."

The first one lurched forward.

Lilith darted in with a swift slash—clean hit across its shoulder.

But it didn't even flinch.

The other four followed.

They didn't claw like beasts. They clung—arms wrapping, weight pressing down.

"HEY—!" She kicked one off, elbowed another.

The third grabbed her arm.

The fourth seized her leg.

They moved slowly—but they moved together.

Their weight threatened to topple her. She stabbed one in the side—no reaction.

She cursed and surged her strength, breaking the grip and tumbling backward in a roll.

"Okay. Brute force. Head or neck. Let's do this right."



She took a breath, flipped her grip, and rushed the closest one.

Slash—neck half-severed.

Turn—stab—dagger to temple.



It fell twitching.

One down.



Another tried to lunge. She sidestepped, slashed the back of its knees, then finished it off with a quick double stab to the skull.

She danced between them—dash, strike, retreat.

It wasn't clean. It wasn't elegant.

It was raw and exhausting.

By the time she decapitated the fourth ghoul, her chest was heaving, sweat pouring down her back.

The last one hissed and charged.

She ducked, slammed into its legs, knocked it off-balance—and crushed its head with a jumping knee to the temple.

The room fell silent.

Lilith collapsed to her knees, panting.

[XP Gained: 60]


Her daggers were slick with ichor. Her arms trembled slightly.

"That… was way too much cardio…"

She wiped her blades on a torn robe and scanned the room for loot—or the next horror waiting to be introduced.

"If there's a zone boss here, I'm gonna punch it in the face on principle."


The room where the ghouls fell was silent now—eerily so.

Lilith took slow, deliberate breaths as she paced through the carnage. She collected a couple monster cores and wiped some sweat from her forehead.

A faint noise echoed through one of the arched side doors.

Metal scraping stone.

Her head snapped up.

She followed the sound into a smaller chamber beyond. This one was less ruined—fragments of stained glass still clung to tall, cracked windows. At the far end stood a double stone door, partially sealed by chains.

Guarding it were two humanoid figures—both standing unnaturally still in full, rusted armor.

Lilith squinted. Their movements weren't twitchy like ghouls. They didn't stumble.

Their heads slowly turned toward her.

Then—

They screamed.

A horrible, distorted, ghostly wail tore through the air, bouncing off every wall. Lilith's hands flew to her ears too late—the sound wasn't loud, but it stabbed into her skull like cold needles.

Wailing Remnants


Both figures stepped forward, dragging corroded swords behind them. Their faces were twisted—exposed bone through rotting helms. These weren't mindless.

"These ones can actually fight," Lilith muttered, taking her stance.

They moved together. One came high, sword raised; the other lunged low in a feint.

Lilith spun between them—deflected the first strike with a dagger, caught the other with her off-hand, and twisted to slice into the second's leg.

Not deep enough.

They staggered but adapted, forcing her on the defensive.

"Tch—can't take them both like this."



She dashed toward them instead of backing up—then at the last second, jumped and kicked the left one square in the chest.

It stumbled backward, crashing into a pillar.

She turned instantly—deflect, stab, dodge.

Her dagger struck true—piercing through the weak spot in the first Remnant's neck. A second stab buried deep into its cracked helmet.

The soldier let out a final hiss and collapsed.

The second one was already back, dragging its sword behind it.

"Persistent jerk…"



This time, she didn't try to block.

She waited.

Let it charge.

At the last second—sidestep.

The Remnant stumbled past her, off-balance.

She didn't waste the moment.

She kicked its back, sending it crashing to the floor—and pounced.

Both daggers plunged into its helmet.

It spasmed once… then stopped moving.

[XP Gained: 26]



Lilith stayed crouched over the body for a moment, panting hard.

"That… really took everything."

Two near-simultaneous fights. Multiple enemies each time.

Even with her boosted stats, the fatigue was catching up to her.

She slumped down against a wall, letting the cool stone soothe her sweat-slicked back.

"Fifteen minutes. Just fifteen. Then I'll deal with whatever's behind that door."



She closed her eyes briefly.

Just for a bit.

The silence of the Hollow of Echoes stretched around her like a thin veil—waiting.

--------

The double doors creaked open with a groan that echoed like thunder in the Hollow.

Lilith stepped inside slowly.

The room beyond was once a sanctum—clearly part of the chapel long ago. Shattered pews lay in neat ruins, and at the far end, a broken altar stood beneath a half-collapsed stained-glass dome.

But the figure in front of it was anything but holy.

A priest-like silhouette hovered just above the cracked floor, wrapped in blood-tattered ceremonial robes. Its body was half-transparent, swaying like smoke. Its face… no longer human. Just hollow sockets and a gaping grin.

Its hand clutched a long, ironwood staff capped with a decayed holy sigil.

Sanctum Priest's Remnant



As she stepped closer, it turned.

Then began to chant.

"Va'kuth… mennai'ra…"

A rush of red mist exploded from the altar, sweeping across the floor like living fog.

Lilith staggered, her vision dulling slightly.

"What is this…? It's messing with my senses!"



The mist burned her nose, blurred her focus. She couldn't sense the enemy properly.

Battle Instinct Lv.2 – Activated

A calming pulse spread across her nerves.

"Better."



The Remnant surged forward with unnatural speed—raising its staff high before swinging downward like a hammer.

Lilith caught the blow on her crossed daggers—but the impact jarred her arms.

"Damn, that's heavy—this guy's no joke!"



The priest spun smoothly, sweeping low with the staff's end. She jumped, flipping backward to avoid being tripped, then closed in with a counterstrike.

Her dagger flashed, slicing along its side. It hissed—its body flickering in and out of solidity.

"Can't hit it hard when it's in that phase… gotta wait."



The priest floated back and launched a black orb from its palm—twisting with runes.

She dodged to the side—barely.

The orb hit the floor where she stood.

[Mana Leech Zone Deployed – Spellcasting Blocked]



"Tch. Great. So I can't use magic if I stay there. Why does a low level monster has this kind of skill?"



She bolted out of the zone. The priest fired two more orbs—leaving patches of null-space behind.

It was boxing her in.

She gritted her teeth.

"You're using arena control… how very annoying for a corpse."



The priest charged again—this time with spinning blows. Lilith ducked, deflected, rolled between its legs, and stabbed into the back of its thigh-like haze.

Critical Hit



The spirit screamed.

A true wail—not magic. A soul cry.

The red mist thinned slightly.

"You don't like that, huh?"



It retaliated—spinning its staff and slamming the butt-end into her gut.

Lilith gasped, knocked off her feet.

The priest raised both arms.

Floating mana orbs gathered around it—ready to launch.

"Shit—!"



She threw a dagger—not at it, but at the broken chandelier above.

Glass and rusted iron came crashing down.

The distraction was enough.

She darted in, snatched her fallen dagger, and channeled every ounce of energy into a forward leap.

One dagger stabbed through the priest's stomach—

The other, into its face.

The orbs burst behind it—wild and uncontrolled.

The Remnant's body shimmered violently, flickering, twitching—

And then exploded into crimson mist.

Silence returned.

The fog lifted.

[XP Gained: 60]
[Level Up: Lv. 5 ? Lv. 6]
[SP +10]



Lilith dropped to one knee, panting hard.

Her heart raced, her body ached—but a slow grin spread across her face.

"Now that was a fun fight."



She stood, slowly gathering the loot from the altar—an eerie, rune-marked core and the priest's staff, now inert.

"One more zone to go."



She turned toward the exit, wiping blood from her cheek.

"Time to see what horrors Zone 3 holds…"



Continued...

Non-canon filler: The previous owner of the body has now become a yokai and came to haunt me and she has something to say to you all.
?Waa~ you made it this far?! I'm blushing just thinking about it~ Click the ?? if you had fun, okay?~ UwU?

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