Sounds echoed from deeper in the keep. The shrieking from the chapel had drawn attention from throughout the entire keep.

Nero looked toward the stairwell leading up. That was where he needed to go. But between here and there, damnation was waking. Every creature that lay resting in the ruins was aroused from dormancy, the scent of fresh blood and chaos exciting their evil nature.

He gripped Gungnir tighter and began running toward the stairs.

The stairwell was narrow and steep, spiraling upward like a path towards a broken heaven

Nero didn't think much as he climbed quickly.

The first attack came when he was halfway up the first flight of stairs

A Mourning Hollow dropped from above with its clawed fingers extended, aimed at his soft throat. Nero twisted and thrust upward without hesitation. Gungnir caught it mid-fall and pinned it against the stairwell wall. The creature thrashed, black ichor pouring down the spear shaft onto Nero's hands. He wrenched the weapon free and kicked the dying Hollow off the stairs into the darkness below.

Two more emerged from a side passage he had not noticed. The walls here were honeycombed with small openings and spaces where stone had collapsed or been deliberately scratched out. The Hollows used them like tunnels, moving through the bones of the keep.

Nero barely had room to maneuver. He slammed the butt of Gungnir into the Abomination's face, shattering teeth and bone. The second raked claws across his shoulder before he managed to drive the spear through its eye socket. He grabbed its body and threw it to its death as he fought for balance.

He continued climbing.

The third floor was more open than the levels below, but the ceiling had collapsed almost entirely. Massive stone slabs lay scattered across the floor at severe angles, creating a maze of broken architecture and shadow. Sunlight filtered through the destruction, illuminating drifting clouds of dust.

Nero barely took a step when the attacks came from all sides simultaneously. Abominations burst from behind fallen pillars and beneath overturned stones.

Nero threw Gungnir into the nearest cluster of Hollows. The spear tore through three of them before embedding in a stone slab. He sprinted toward it, leaping over debris, calling the weapon back as he ran. Gungnir ripped free and flew back to his hand, and Nero used the momentum to spin and sweep the blade through two Hollows that had closed in behind him.

The fight became a running battle through the ruined floor. Nero could not stay still as remaining stationary meant being surrounded. He moved constantly, using the broken architecture as cover and obstacles, forcing the Hollows to come at him in smaller numbers.

He vaulted over a fallen beam and drove Gungnir down through a Hollow emerging from beneath. The spear punched through its skull and into the floor below. Nero released it, rolled forward under a claw swipe, and kicked another Hollow in the chest hard enough to send it stumbling backward into its companions.

Three more converged from the left. Nero called Gungnir back to his hand mid-roll and came up swinging. The spear caught all three across their torsos in a single horizontal sweep. Black ichor sprayed across broken stone.

A section of ceiling above him groaned and began to collapse.

Nero threw himself sideways as tons of stone crashed down where he had been standing. The impact sent dust billowing outward in a choking cloud.

He could not see.

He instantly activated Heretic Eyes.

The world exploded into clarity.

Ein Sof flows appeared as glowing threads through the dust. He saw the Hollows moving toward him, their corrupted energy blazing like dark stars. Nero moved through them like a ghost, Gungnir striking precisely where their movements would take them.

An Abomination lurched at him with its terrifying mouth open. Nero growled viciously and grabbed its skull with his bare hand. Gungnir twirled in his grip as he stabbed it through the base of its jaw, right through its head.

With a cruel kick, its body shot backwards into the crowd of twisted creatures, leaving its head, trachea and spine impaled onto the spear.

Nero tore it off from the spear and shot it like a projectile at a Hollow creeping up on the wall behind him. The severed head shattered against the being's skull, causing it to explode into pieces as well.

The fighting continued.

Nero deactivated Heretic Eyes and rolled behind a fallen pillar as blood began trickling from his nose.

'I'm reaching my limit.' he thought as he took a moment to gather himself.

The dust started to settle.

Bodies lay scattered across the floor. But more were coming. He could hear them in the walls and on the floors below.

The entire castle would be the battleground.

Stone cracked loudly somewhere to his right. Nero turned as a massive section of wall bulged inward and then exploded outward in a shower of debris. Hollows poured through the new opening, scrambling over each other in their frenzy.

Nero threw Gungnir with everything he had.

The spear flew through the opening, impaling multiple Hollows before embedding deep in the wall beyond. Nero did not call it back immediately. Instead, he sprinted toward a partially intact stairwell on the far side of the room.

The Hollows gave chase, abandoning caution entirely. The heavy stench of blood filled them with blinding madness as they roared like senseless zombies, trodding down on themselves as the eagerly chased after him.

Nero reached the stairs and began running as fast as he could. Behind him, the floor gave way under the weight of too many bodies moving at once. Stone crashed down into the level below, taking Hollows with it in a cascading collapse.

He did not stop to look back.

The fourth floor was mostly intact but smaller. A single large room with narrow windows overlooking the forest far below. The ceiling here was solid, reinforced with heavy beams that had survived whatever destruction had claimed the lower levels.

Nero stumbled into the center of the room and finally called Gungnir back to his hand. The spear shot into his grip with a low hum, dripping with ichor.

Footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

"Oh, come on!"

Multiple Hollows emerged into the room.

The windows behind him shattered inward as more Hollows climbed through from outside, having scaled the exterior walls.

Nero was surrounded completely now.

There was nowhere left to run.

He gripped Gungnir with both hands and settled into a low stance.

"Crap!"

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