Sasrir looked at me, his expression unreadable in the fading light. "Ready to face the Lord of the Dead?."
I nodded, sheathing the Azure Blade. The Wishing Star enchantment wasn't needed now. We knew where we were going. "Then let's not keep it waiting."
We shouldered our meagre supplies—my packet of meat, the Crucifix, our Memories—and began the final approach. The Saintess' statue grew larger with every step, marking the spot where we might die, or become one step closer to seizing our own Fates. One of the good things about this fight, we had reasoned, was that we could deal some damage and then retreat. The Bone Tyrant could heal itself by drawing upon the millions of skeletons in the catacombs, but the Unshadowed Crucifix would burn away its' soul, not just the body. If we could deal a certain amount of damage, retreat, and then come back after recovering, we could wear it down and then finish it off.
We weren't looking for a single confrontation like we had against the Steel Golem: that had been cocky foolishness. Take the easy route, the simplest route, the least painful route...Without an audience, we didn't need to be heroes or put on a show.
The journey to the Saintess's statue took longer than we'd hoped. About six hours. The most direct path was completely blocked by a massive coral shelf that had given up and collapsed. Typical. We had to backtrack and find a way around, which felt like adding insult to injury.
We did run into a trio of Scavenger Demons lurking in a side tunnel. They never stood a chance. Before they even knew we were there, Sasrir just… melted into the shadows around them. One second they were sniffing the air, the next, three shadowy blades erupted from their own darkness, and they just dropped. Clean, quiet, and efficient. No fuss.
"Show-off," I muttered as he reformed beside me, not even breathing hard.
"Efficiency is its own reward," he replied, his mental voice dry. "And it saves us the trouble of listening to them screech."
By the time we finally reached the base of the Saintess's statue, the artificial sun was already halfway down the sky. The long, deep shadows of the labyrinth were stretching out, making everything look even more sinister.
"Well, this is cheery," I said, looking up at the colossal stone woman. Her artisticaly carved body was now cloaked in darkness, making her look mournful instead of peaceful. "Feels like we're being watched."
"We are," Sasrir said matter-of-factly. "By everything. But the shadows are deep here. That works in our favour."
We were both still feeling pretty full of energy—well, as full as you can feel in this place. No point waiting. The deeper shadows would only help Sasrir.
"Alright, hitch a ride," I said.
He didn't need to be told twice. His form dissolved into a living darkness that flowed up my legs and torso, settling across my back and shoulders like a second skin. It was a seriously weird feeling. Cold, but not unpleasant. Just… there.
"Listener powers are active," his voice hummed directly in my skull. "The whispers here are… old. Full of grief. Be ready."
Finding a way in was the next headache. The base of the statue was a mess of collapsed coral, jagged rock, and what looked like sealed-up entrances. We spent a good twenty minutes circling it, poking at cracks, trying to find an opening that wasn't just a death trap.
"Could really go for a 'X Marks the Spot' right about now," I grumbled, shoving a loose piece of rubble with my boot.
"Perhaps ask your sword for a map next time," Sasrir quipped back. "It seems amenable to requests."
Finally, we found a narrow crack, half-hidden behind a fallen coral column. It was just wide enough to squeeze through if I turned sideways. Not exactly inviting.
"Ladies first," I said.
"After you," he shot back. "I'm already comfortable."
Grinning despite myself, I squeezed into the crack. It opened up after a few meters into a proper tunnel. And that's when the atmosphere changed completely.
We were in the catacombs.
The air was instantly different. Thick. Stale. It smelled of dry dust and something else… something ancient and cold. Like old bones left in a desert sun. Which, I guess, was exactly what it was.
The walls weren't coral anymore. They were rough-hewn stone, dark and damp. And the ground… the ground wasn't solid. It was a carpet of bones. Ankle-deep in some places. They crunched and shifted with every step I took. It was impossible to be quiet. The sound echoed faintly in the cramped space.
Skulls stared out from the walls, set into niches. Femurs and ribs were piled like firewood. It was endless.
"Cosy," I whispered, my voice sounding way too loud. "They really went for a theme, didn't they?"
"A theme of death," Sasrir observed, his tone clinically interested. "It is… thorough, if nothing else. This should be where the original denizens buried all the sacrifices for the a Crimson Sun, yes? They must have slaughtered tens of thousand over the years."
We walked. The tunnels wound and twisted, branching off into darkness. There were no markers, no signs. Just more bones, more dust, more silence. It felt like we'd been walking for an eternity, going in circles. My boots kicked up little clouds of bone dust with every step. The only light came from the faint glow of the Azure Blade, which made the shadows dance in a seriously creepy way.
After about ten minutes of this, my patience was gone. This was ridiculous.
"I'm done," I announced, stopping in the middle of a junction where four identical tunnels met. "We could be down here for days. We're wasting time."
"The essence cost is not insignificant," Sasrir warned, knowing exactly what I was thinking.
"It's a cost I'm willing to pay to get out of this bone-filled nightmare," I said, pulling the Azure Blade from its sheath. I focused my will, pouring my intent into it. *The Lord of the Dead. The shortest, safest path. Take us there.*
The Wishing Star enchantment flared to life. The milky light within the blade swirled violently before coalescing along the edge, pointing decisively down the left-hand tunnel. A noticeable pull of Essence flowed from me into the blade. Not a huge amount, but a constant, moderate drain. Worth it.
"Lead the way," I sighed, following the pointed tip.