The massive stone doors slammed shut behind Lee Sung with a grinding finality, sealing him inside the antechamber.
The only light came from Helios himself — his body surrounded by a halo of searing golden flames. His smile was cruel, full of anticipation.
"So predictable," Helios taunted, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "You walk right into my trap like a moth to the flame."
Lee Sung's eyes narrowed. His shadows gathered around him, swirling like a living storm.
"You'll regret underestimating me," he said quietly.
Helios only laughed — a deep, rumbling sound that shook the ground.
From the darkness, new enemies emerged. Spectral soldiers, imbued with solar energy, their armor gleaming like molten metal. Lee Sung realized with grim certainty: these were the corrupted spirits of past summoners, enslaved by Helios's power.
And he was outnumbered.
Lee Sung's mind raced. He couldn't rely on brute strength — not against this kind of divine power. He had to be smarter, faster.
He raised his hand, commanding his necromantic forces to respond. His skeletal warriors materialized from the shadows, their eyes burning with cold blue fire.
The clash was immediate and brutal.
Shadow and sunlight tore into each other with deafening fury.
Lee Sung ducked and weaved between strikes, his movements honed by desperation. His skeletal soldiers held the front line, while he darted toward the center of the chamber — toward Helios himself.
But Helios was no fool. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a massive flare of solar energy arcing across the battlefield. It vaporized three of Lee Sung's shadows instantly.
"You can't win," Helios sneered. "You carry death within you, but I carry the power of the sun! Your darkness is a candle before my inferno."
Lee Sung ignored the taunts. He focused on what Akane's journal had hinted at: Solar energy is blinding, but unstable. If he could survive the first onslaught, Helios's energy would wane.
It became a battle of endurance.
Minutes stretched into an eternity.
For every shadow destroyed, Lee Sung summoned two more. For every blow landed on him, he pulled strength from the cold rage burning in his heart.
Jin appeared on a balcony above, watching the battle with a satisfied smirk.
Coward, Lee Sung thought bitterly. You sold your soul for power.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Helios faltered. His brilliant aura flickered, just for a moment — but it was enough.
Lee Sung struck.
He unleashed his full power, summoning a massive titan of shadows — a towering figure of skeletal armor and writhing tendrils. With a roar, the titan crashed into Helios, driving him back.
Helios screamed in rage and disbelief as he was hurled against the far wall. Cracks spiderwebbed through the stone, and part of the ceiling caved in, showering dust and rubble.
Lee Sung didn't wait. He lunged forward, snatching the Sigil of Warding from the pedestal behind Helios.
The chamber trembled violently. Traps triggered. Walls began collapsing.
Lee Sung sprinted toward a side passage, shadows shielding him from falling debris.
Above, Jin cursed and turned to flee. But Lee Sung, fueled by anger and betrayal, hurled a spear of pure shadow at him.
It struck Jin's shoulder, pinning him briefly to the balcony.
"You'll regret this, Lee Sung!" Jin screamed, before wrenching himself free and disappearing into the collapsing ruins.
Lee Sung didn't waste time. He tore through the Catacombs, following a half-remembered path Akane's journal had mapped out, the Sigil of Warding pulsing with power in his grasp.
He emerged into the dying light of the setting sun, battered but alive.
Helios had survived — but wounded.
Jin had fled — but exposed.
And Lee Sung, alone and hunted, had claimed the first real weapon against the gods themselves.
He looked down at the Sigil, feeling its strange, heavy presence thrumming through his arm.
"This is just the beginning," he muttered.
Ahead, the real war was waiting.