Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 206

Chapter 206: Walls and Nightmares

The next chamber had nothing.

No shifting platforms, no glowing nodes, no enemies waiting with spears or sigils.

What was before then was a long, circular room made entirely of black stone. The walls curved smoothly, so polished they almost reflected the pale glow of Kai’s floating light orb. The only sound was the faint echo of their boots on the floor.

Kai exhaled, rubbing at the raw welt on his shoulder where the light elemental had burned him.

“Empty,” he muttered, scanning the space with his mana sight.

It was flooded with ambient mana, as every room had been, but there were no signatures, no hostile intent pressing down on his senses.

For once, just silence.

Vepice leaned against the wall, cradling her right arm. One of the wind elemental’s strikes had left a deep gash along her forearm, wrapped now in a strip of shadow-infused cloth that Kai had tied tight. Her breathing was still ragged from the fight.

‘If I had Mari here, I could get her to heal Vepice… But she will have to deal with the pain for now.’

“I…” Her voice broke the quiet. She stared down at her trembling fingers. “I feel… useless.”

Kai looked at her, brow raised. “Useless?”

She nodded, shoulders slumping. “You fought everything. You froze the elementals, shattered them, kept us alive. I just… grabbed nodes and solved puzzles. If I had actually been able to use my time magic-”

“Stop that.” Kai’s voice cut through her self-pity, sharp but not unkind. “You weren’t useless. You think I could’ve fought five elementals while also juggling every node and puzzle? I’d have been torn apart by the second round. You kept us moving forward. We would’ve failed without you.”

Vepice blinked at him, uncertain.

He sighed, adjusting his posture and giving her a tired half-smile. “Look… your chronomancy will come when it’s ready. It’s not like normal magic. You can’t just force it. Time magic… it’s something ancient. Dangerous. Even the gods seem to be careful with it. Maybe it’s good you’re not using it yet.”

Before she could reply, the sound of stone grinding against stone cut through the chamber.

The door they’d entered through slammed shut behind them, heavy and final.

At the same time, the curved walls began to move.

Slowly, steadily, closing inward.

Kai marvelled at how the completely seamless walls managed to constrict and close in on them.

A deep rumble filled the air as the floor vibrated beneath their feet.

Kai tilted his head back, staring at the narrowing space, and let out a long, weary sigh.

“Oh, great. This cliché. Haven’t seen something like this since before I reincarnated.”

Vepice’s eyes widened as the walls crept closer. “We’re not going to-”

“Die? No, we’re not,” Kai cut her off, already walking to the farthest wall. He rolled his shoulders, strengthening magic crackling faintly through his veins as he planted his feet.

“You might want to stand back.”

“Wait, you’re just going to-”

“Punch through it? Yeah.” His lips twitched in the faintest smirk. “I need something to hit right now anyway.”

He braced, drew in a breath, and threw his fist forward. The impact cracked the wall with a deep thud. He pulled back and hit it again, harder, the echo booming through the chamber. Dust rained from the ceiling. Each strike sent a pulse of force rippling up his arms, but he kept at it, his mana surging into his muscles until his veins burned.

The walls continued to close, now halfway to crushing distance.

Kai grit his teeth, drew more mana into his fist, and slammed it forward one last time. A deafening crack echoed, and the wall finally gave way, shattering into fragments that clattered into a dark, yawning hallway beyond.

Kai shook out his aching hand, exhaling. “There. An exit.”

Vepice stared at the broken wall, then at him. “You… just punched your way through a dungeon.”

“Yep.” He rolled his shoulders, already stepping through the hole. “Trap rooms are created by people who don’t know how to build walls strong enough to stop me. Let’s keep moving before this place tries something even dumber.”

She followed, still clutching her bandaged arm but smiling faintly despite herself.

Behind them, the two closing walls finally met with a thunderous slam, sealing the chamber off entirely as the pair disappeared deeper into the dungeon’s winding halls.

The hallway stretched on for what felt like forever. No flicker of torchlight, no glow of ambient mana beyond the faint pulse of Kai’s conjured orb. The air grew colder the deeper they went, the silence so complete it felt wrong, as though the sound itself had been drained from the air.

Kai thought he heard it first. A whisper. Not from ahead, not from behind, but… beside him, brushing past his ear like a breath.

“…idiot…”

He stopped walking, frowning. “What was that?”

Vepice tilted her head. “What was what?”

A second whisper, softer but sharper. “…pathetic… worthless…”

This time, Kai turned, glancing over his shoulder, and froze.

For just a heartbeat, Vepice’s mouth moved in a scowl, her voice a low hiss.

Pathetic.

But when he blinked, her lips weren’t moving, and her face was neutral, calm as she walked.

His brow furrowed.

‘Illusions. This dungeon really wants to play games?’

The whispers grew louder with each step until they stopped sounding like whispers and started sounding like voices that were full, angry, and familiar.

Shapes formed in the shifting gloom ahead with faces he knew.

His mother appeared first, standing in the middle of the hall with arms crossed and her jaw tight, her cold glare searing through him.

“You were a mistake, Luke. You never did anything right. Couldn’t even die with dignity, could you?”

Kai’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t stop walking. “You’re not real.”

Next, Kleo and Firra materialized, their forms hazy and trembling like mist, their voices bitter.

“You’re a monster, Kai. Every soul you take just proves it.”

“Everything you touch dies. Do you even care anymore?”

That hit him a little harder.

He pushed through them, their hands reaching but never touching, the sound of their words like needles in his ears.

Then Willam appeared, clear as day, clutching a parchment and smiling slyly as a group of inquisitors stood behind him.

“They’ll pay me so much for you, Tensen. Always knew you’d get me killed, one way or another. Might as well make it worth my while.”

Kai bared his teeth, shoving past. “You’ll have to do better than cheap projections, dungeon.”

The last illusion hit harder.

Vepice. Her face pale, her eyes filled with quiet resolve as she turned her back to him.

“I can’t do this, Kai. You’re… too much. I’m leaving.”

He stopped mid-step. That one felt real.

Her tone, her posture, everything. It dug into something deeper than the others had.

And she was supposed to be right beside him.

But when he blinked, she was gone. Just another trick.

He turned around, and she was nowhere to be seen.

By the time he reached the end of the hallway, the whispers had built into a low, droning chorus, every failure and betrayal he’d ever known murmured into his ears at once. His teeth ground together as he pushed forward.

At the far side, Vepice wasn’t beside him.

She was on the ground, curled into a trembling ball, screaming through choked sobs. Her hands clawed at her head as though trying to dig something out.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I left the forest! Please, don’t hurt me! I didn’t mean to leave, I didn’t-!”

Kai crouched beside her, gripping her wrist firmly. “Vepice. It’s not real. Focus on me.”

Her glassy eyes met his for a fleeting moment before darting to something invisible over his shoulder. “Please, Master, don’t-!”

“Enough.”

Kai’s patience snapped. He grabbed her by the arm, yanked her upright, and half-dragged, half-carried her through the last stretch of the hallway.

The moment they crossed the threshold into the next chamber, the whispers cut out. The phantoms vanished like smoke, leaving only the sound of their uneven breathing and the faint hum of the mana-infused stone walls.

Vepice clung to his sleeve, shaking. Her eyes darted around as if expecting her visions to reappear at any moment.

Kai placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. “Hallucinations. This place is trying to break us before we get to the core. Don’t let it.”

She swallowed hard, still trembling, but nodded. “I… I saw him. My old master. I thought I’d never…”

“You’re not there anymore,” Kai cut in, voice even. “You’re here. With me. Whatever this dungeon throws at us next, we handle it together.”

She nodded again, tighter this time, and steadied her breathing.

The chamber ahead was dark, silent… but Kai could feel something. The air carried the weight of mana, heavier than any room before it. Something was waiting.

And it was no illusion.

Kai stepped cautiously into the room and stared into the darkness.

“Who dares disrupt my slumber?”

The ground shook as thunderous thuds bounced off the walls of the chamber.

Glowing red eyes appeared and the scales of a giant creature came into view.

“It’s a…”

“Dragon!” Vepice finished.