Meanwhile, far from the blazing chaos of the dungeon, in the soft twilight shadow of a quiet and unsuspecting city, something stirred.
The golden glow of streetlamps flickered calmly over the stone pavement near the city gates.
The guards were relaxed, yawning under their helmets, never imagining that reality itself would warp just meters away from them.
FZZZTT!
With a surge of distortion and a ripple of mana, a cube blinked into existence. It was black, spinning with eerie, geometrical pulses of energy.
From it, Keith emerged.
His boots touched the ground with a quiet clink, and the cube folded in on itself, vanishing into thin air.
He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, as if the journey had drained more from him than expected. His eyes—usually light, confident, even smug—were grim now. Weighted.
"Keith!" a voice called out.
From the shadows under the gateway arch, three figures stepped forward.
