Entering Apocalypse in Easy-Mode

The thing began to rise, slowly unfolded from the darkness, rising from the floor as black mist poured from its body. The moment it stood upright, the entire team reacted almost simultaneously.

Weapons were gripped tightly.

Samuel lowered his stance and held his spear ready. Don raised his shield and sword. Maira’s curved blades were already in her hands. Leyan drew his bow and aimed directly at the creature, his arrow already nocked and ready to be released.

Clyde remained still. He stared at the creature from a distance. His eyes trembled. Because he felt something was coming from that creature, an overwhelming presence that he knew.

Clyde could feel an immense amount of energy radiating from its body. But that was not what disturbed him.

It was the nature of that energy. The blackness, the endless darkness, the feeling of something ancient hiding beneath layers of darkness.

Clyde’s heart suddenly tightened, because he knew this feeling, he had felt it before.

"What...?" His breathing stopped for a moment. "Is this real?"

He could not believe what his senses were telling him.

Beside him, slightly behind, Arven noticed the sudden change in Clyde’s expression. The mage frowned.

Something about Jack’s reaction was strange to him. It was not the expression of someone who had just seen a powerful monster. It looked like he recognized something.

Arven stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Do you know what that is?"

Clyde flinched. He turned toward Arven like he had only just realized the mage was standing there.

He blinked before shaking his head. "No."

Arven stared at him for another moment, his eyes narrowing slightly.

But eventually, he shrugged. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

"Well, regardless, we obviously need to be careful," Arven whispered. "That thing is different from any monster we’ve encountered before."

"What do you mean?" Maira asked.

Arven kept his eyes fixed on the creature and said, "I’m not sure. But the magical energy I’m sensing from that thing is something I’ve never felt before."

His words did nothing to reassure them. The expressions of the others immediately became grim. Something unknown was rarely a good thing in a Ruin.

The creature slowly turned toward them. The black mist surrounding its head began to move. It separated to both sides, gradually revealing the face hidden beneath it.

Samuel’s eyes widened. His expression immediately became sharp. "Robert?"

Clyde looked toward him. "You know him?"

Clyde glanced at the others. Their reactions told him everything.

Leyan had stiffened. Maira’s expression was tense. Don tightened his grip around his shield. Even Arven looked troubled.

They all recognized the man.

"That is the leader of the missing team," Arven said quietly. "The team we were sent to find."

Clyde’s expression darkened. So this was Robert. The leader of the team that had disappeared inside this Ruin.

Now he stood before them, wrapped in darkness.

But Clyde already understood something that the others had not yet confirmed.

Robert was no longer simply Robert. The black energy surrounding his body was far too familiar.

Clyde could feel the presence of the Ancient One within it.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that he could feel the Ancient One through the darkness covering Robert’s body.

Clyde’s fingers tightened around his sword.

"Can he still be saved?" Maira asked quietly.

Nobody answered.

Clyde looked toward Samuel and asked, "What should we do?"

Samuel just silent for several seconds. Then he raised his spear slightly.

"Get ready to attack at any moment. But wait for the signal," Samuel said. His eyes remained fixed on Robert. "I’ll try talking to him first."

The others immediately prepared themselves.

Leyan kept his bow aimed at Robert’s head. Don positioned his shield in front of his body. Maira lowered her center of gravity, ready to move at the slightest sign of danger.

Clyde remained beside them, his eyes never leaving Robert.

Samuel slowly stepped forward. Only one step.

"Robert? Can you hear me?"

The creature’s head moved slightly. For several seconds nothing happened. Robert’s face was still blank.

Then something changed. His eyes moved to Samuel and recognition appeared within them.

"Samuel..." His voice was weak, and sounded desperate. "Is that you?"

"Yes. It’s me." Samuel’s expression tightened. He lowered his spear slightly. "What happened?"

Robert stared at him. Then his face suddenly crumpled. Tears began streaming down his cheeks and his expression became that of a terrified man who had finally found someone familiar after being trapped in a nightmare for far too long.

His shoulders trembled. He looked completely broken.

"Samuel..." His voice cracked.

Clyde frowned. Something about this was wrong.

While Arven, Maira, Leyan, and Don looked at Robert with grim expressions, Clyde was focused on something else. The darkness.

He could feel the Ancient One’s power more clearly now.

It was coming from the black energy wrapped around him. That darkness was not just magical energy. It was the same ancient presence Clyde had used to fight before. The power of the entity who had saved him.

"Samuel... You have to leave!" Robert suddenly raised his voice. "This isn’t something we were supposed to see!"

Samuel frowned.

Robert’s voice became frantic as he continued. "Get out of here!"

He looked around desperately, as though expecting something to emerge from the darkness at any moment. Then his expression collapsed again.

"But before you do... Please... Kill me first."

Robert’s body trembled. His eyes were filled with fear. He looked directly at Samuel.

Samuel gritted his teeth. Inside his heart, sadness, anger, and confusion rolled together into a single overwhelming emotion. He couldn’t bring himself to watch this man become like this. And he certainly couldn’t bring himself to kill him.

"What are we supposed to do?!" Maira asked anxiously. "We can’t just leave him like this."

"Arven, find the source of this corrupted power," Samuel said. "If we can destroy it, we might be able to save him. Or perhaps some of his teammates as well."

Arven nodded. "I’ll try."

He then raised his staff with both hands in front of his face and closed his eyes, concentrating deeply.

Robert suddenly lunged toward them with a low, feral snarl.

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