The air thickened into a suffocating fog as we burst into the new chamber.
This place was unlike the rest of the Sanctum.
Where before there had been solemn ruins and faded glory, now there was only chaos.
The floor was shattered into floating fragments, suspended over a bottomless abyss.
Towers of stone spun slowly through the air, gravity bending and twisting unnaturally.
Finn skidded to a halt beside me, his breath ragged.
"This is insane," he muttered.
He was right.
The sanctity of the place had been broken, reality itself coming apart at the seams.
I tightened my grip on my relic blade.
If the Sanctum was bleeding, this was its open wound.
From the swirling mists above, a shape descended.
At first, I thought it was another Revenant.
But as it grew closer, I realized the truth.
It was a Warden.
Or rather, what was left of one.
His armor was shattered, the relic-light around him corrupted into sickly green hues.
Chains of black mist wrapped around his limbs, puppeteering him like a marionette.
His eyes, once surely filled with pride and duty, now glowed with hollow malice.
"Caelan Veyne," the creature rasped, voice like grinding stones.
"You tread paths that should remain closed."
Finn raised his crossbow but hesitated.
This was not an enemy he could fight easily.
This was one of our own, twisted into something monstrous.
I stepped forward, feeling the Gauntlet pulse against my skin.
"I will not turn back," I said, voice steady.
The creature let out a soundless scream.
The floating stones shifted, slamming together to form a bridge toward him.
An invitation. Or a challenge.
I took the first step.
Finn cursed under his breath but followed.
Every movement made the bridge tremble, as if it resented our presence.
As we drew closer, I could see the details of the fallen Warden more clearly.
His sigil was shattered, his oaths burned away.
Only the shell remained.
"You were a Warden once," I said quietly.
"There is still a part of you left."
The creature tilted its head unnaturally.
"Hope is a lie," it hissed.
"All things fall. Even you."
Without warning, it lunged.
I met the blow with my sword, the clash sending a shockwave through the bridge.
The creature was fast. Faster than any Revenant I had faced.
Every strike carried unnatural strength, each movement calculated to break, not merely to kill.
Finn circled around, loosing bolts when he could, but the creature moved like smoke, twisting and dodging.
I dug deep into the Gauntlet's power.
This was not just a battle of strength.
It was a battle of wills.
The creature struck again, and I parried, pushing him back.
"You were once a protector," I said between gritted teeth.
"Remember who you are."
The creature hesitated for a fraction of a second.
A flicker of something human crossed its ruined face.
Seizing the opening, I drove my sword forward, not to kill, but to connect.
The blade pulsed with relic-light, shining through the mist.
The creature screamed.
Not in pain, but in rage and despair.
The chains binding him writhed, recoiling from the light.
Finn shouted, "Look!"
From the creature's chest, a core of pure light began to emerge.
Buried deep, but not extinguished.
The Gauntlet reacted instinctively.
I reached out, plunging my hand into the light.
Images flooded me.
Memories of battles long past.
Of comrades fallen.
Of a final stand where hope had died.
Tears stung my eyes.
This Warden had not fallen willingly.
He had been betrayed, abandoned, left to rot in darkness.
I gritted my teeth and poured my strength into the core.
Not to destroy it.
To free it.
The chains screamed and snapped one by one.
With a final, wrenching cry, the creature exploded into a storm of mist and light.
When the dust settled, only a fragment remained.
A small, silvered insignia bearing the Warden's broken oath.
I picked it up carefully.
The insignia was cold, heavy with sorrow, but it pulsed once in my hand before settling.
The Gauntlet absorbed it, and a new line of light traced itself along my forearm.
Oath of Deliverance: Bearer shall release those bound unjustly and stand as a beacon against despair.
I closed my eyes for a moment, honoring the fallen soul.
Finn approached cautiously.
"You alright?"
I nodded slowly.
"He was not our enemy. Not truly."
Finn looked around at the fractured landscape.
"Then what was controlling him?"
I looked up at the swirling sky, where something vast and unseen moved just beyond sight.
"Something worse," I said quietly.
The Sanctum was not merely collapsing.
It was being consumed.
And whatever lay at its heart, it would not let us leave easily.
I straightened, feeling the new power hum within me.
Whatever awaited, I would face it.
For the Wardens.
For the world.
For the future.
Finn loaded a fresh bolt into his crossbow and grinned grimly.
"Lead the way, Warden."
And so, we advanced deeper into the broken heart of the Sanctum, where light and shadow waged a war older than memory.