A cool breeze of early spring played across the mountainside. Far below, hordes of monsters waged an endless war. The coming of perpetual spring had brought with it the unnatural spread of the lush flora atop the mountaintop oasis. Lush green covered the once frigid stone, while playful waves of yellow, pink, and blue flowers danced in the midday breeze. The everpresent snow was nowhere to be found, and even across the windswept plains of the Frozen Wastes, ice struggled to form.

Descending down the overgrown steps were Chilly, Chaeli, and a demure Teluria. The former were clad in full plate with heavy leather knapsacks packed full of provisions and spare equipment, while the High Elf was in a blue and white patterned summer dress that swished in the breeze. Teluria had rebuffed all of Chaeli’s attempts at armoring her properly with an amused patience of the long lived.

They arrived at the base in due time and paused before Mirror Lake beside a pensive Rahlin who stood in a parade rest while calmly appraising the foul waters.

“I can see what you mean by ‘situation’,” Chilly said with a frown.

During the last two weeks, Chilly hadn’t ever bothered descending on this side of the mountain. Leviathans were easy to kill but notoriously hard to collect any essences they dropped. As such, and because he had no interest in hunting weak enemies, Chilly had spent his time exclusively on the Frozen Wastes side of Mount Teluria, which meant that he had not laid eyes on the great mirrored lake in some time.

The waters were as perfectly still as ever, yet, instead of a sense of dark foreboding of hidden dangers beneath the surface, there was the eerie silence of the dead. Purple mist floated up from the surface and clashed in an endless wave of fizzing and pops with the consecrated ground protecting the small party. Most worryingly, the purple mist appeared to be winning, leaving only a small several meter wide bubble of golden protection.

“Oh, poor Grog,” Teluria whispered, staring at the miasma with a downcast expression.

“Some time after you cleansed Sooty and Teluria,” Rahlin nodded at the High Elf. “Chaeli here noticed that the borders to the chaos biome were spreading. It started off slow and we didn’t think much of it until by chance Gar-Khan sent Chaeli this way again and found the spread was accelerating.”

Chilly crouched beside the still waters and gently dipped his hand in.

His frown deepened as he felt the corrosion entirely separate from the biome-spanning desecrated ground effect that Pious Path was just barely keeping away. The damage was miniscule but even as he watched he felt the sizzle intensify and another system message popped into his vision.

He pulled his hand out—

—and shook off the remaining liquid.

“Twenty eight chaos damage per second per stack, and it purges the moment you step out of it,” Chilly said. “Does it have a maximum number of stacks?”

“Ten stacks,” Rahlin rumbled, “and not quite. It purges when you hit full life, or if you have a sufficiently targeted cleansing skill. It’s unpleasant and fairly manageable on it own, but with the Sap debuff and the desecrated ground it becomes...a right pickle to deal with. ‘Specially for the kids.”

“Cricky, five percent plus two-eighty is nasty. Hey Teluria? Could I use that thing you tried to teach me about to clear this mess or does it not work that way?”

“You cannot target a skill effect with a skill as it has no life pool to target,” Teluria said. “Perhaps if you were to find the source of this miasma you could learn to target it with Smoldering Embers.” She smirked. “How are you doing with practice, anyhow? Have you been able to direct your baelfire yet?”

“Yeah, about that...” Chilly said with a forced cheer, turning to Rahlin as Teluria hid a faint smile behind a raised hand. “What were you thinking to do here?”

“We were planning on takin’ the village to Sooty’s Hell.” Rahlin said. “The lightning biome’s also gained some legs, but its debuffs ain’t nearly as nasty as this here. People ain’t gonna be happy, but there ain’t much of a choice, ehh?”

“I mean,” Chilly said, “I think its fairly obvious what we gotta do. Just help the Chaos Guardian and this whole swamp will clear up in a day or two tops.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. Which means we gotta level you up some more. And that means getting the old lightning res set out.”

Chilly rolled his shoulders, an excited grin blossoming in anticipation, “It’s not so bad, I was getting cooped up here anyway. This just gives us an excuse to go beat up some monsters, and maybe free the Lightning Guardian while we are at it.”

Rahlin frowned, “Now, Sooty and Teluria are right fine folk, but I’m going to ask you to refrain from helping the Lightning Guardian. The lightning biome is currently the only thing holding back this chaos, and if the pattern holds, then you freeing that sprite is going to put us all on a timer.”

Chilly opened his mouth, then closed it with a snap as he considered. “I would like to free them, though. It isn’t right what is happening here.”

“That’s fine.” Rahlin replied, “but wait ‘til after you help out the Chaos Guardian, ‘cause the Telurians’ll only have two weeks - three weeks tops - before the chaos biome snuffs out all low level life in the dungeon.”

“Ah,” Chilly blinked, realizing the problem. “What about the Desecrator’s Shrine. Ghosty wasn’t violent when I was there and there weren’t any biome effects either.”

“It isn’t big enough to house us all. Besides, I figured you’d like to help ‘im as well, hmm?”

“Yeah, I would.” Chilly chewed his lip, considering the options. “Right, I need to go to the Shrine and say hi to the ghost. It can take a bit before I can understand them so best to start the process soon. Then, if you’re willing, we can go up to Kellington’s Boughs and see if we can power level without actually helping the Guardian. We’ll kill the boss if we can, go to Cankerton and free that Guardian. After that, we’ll collect the last of the Soul Fragments from the bosses and sometime in there we’ll free old ghosty. Sound good?”

“Hell yeah,” Chaeli crowed. “That sounds like an amazing plan.”

Chilly nodded and turned to the Dragonborn, “Rahl—”

A penguin appeared right in front of Chilly’s face and threw him a cross expression.

“...what?”

“You metal clad scalawag. Compliment the nice armor stick lady on her looks.” Nobody said, tapping its foot in impatience.

“You what now?” Chilly blinked, idly noting as his companions threw him patient but curious glances.

“Buffed steel, connected chain links,” Nobody waggled its eyebrows. “Large breast plate.”

“Uh...ok?” Chilly turned to Chaeli. “One of the penguins thinks your large breastplate is pretty and buffed to perfection.”

“Oh, thank you!” Chaeli ducked her head, a rose tint rising high on her cheeks.

“I think you might have an interdimensional suitor.” Chilly grinned and was about to turn his attention back to the topic at hand when he saw Nobody bashing its beak into the ground. Another penguin appeared beside the distraught penguin and fell over laughing.

“You just lost the game!” the new arrival managed to choke out as yet another penguin appeared and tried to console Nobody who was unsuccessfully trying to bury its head into the stone floor.

“I’m so confused,” Chilly said, looking back and forth between all the penguins - and surprisingly Teluria - who were all giving him disappointed looks. “What did I do?”

“Flames make you hot.” Mr. Warmage said while twirling both flippers beside its temples.

“Thanks...” Chilly pursed his lips sarcastically.

“Thanks for the chapter!” another penguin chirped cheerfully.

“Yeah....thanks for the chapter.” Chilly sighed, not entirely convinced the penguins weren’t laughing at him. He shook his head and turned to Rahlin.

“Rahlin, what do you think?”

“About the plan or Chaeli’s new boyfriend?”

Chaeli squeaked as her fading blush returned with a vengeance. Chilly shot the snarky git a glare, which only made the large Dragonborn chuckle mirthfully.

“Plan might need some details ironed out, but aye,” Rahlin said. “I’m with you. Gar-Khan can care for the village in the meanwhile.”

“Teluria?” Chilly turned to the High Elf, desperately ignoring the sea of penguins gesticulating wildly at him and Chaeli in turn.

“I will come, but I’m afraid I won’t be as much of a help as I could be since I am unable to level alongside you and your friends. All of us Guardians were level thirty prior to waking in this prison, and it is only through a powerful curse that our level is so reduced. It works similarly to how your skill boosts your level but in reverse. You can still gain experience from level nineteen monsters even though you read as a level twenty four, while I have long been at max level.”

“So you are level thirty, but read as a level twenty-one because of this curse? How do we cure it?”

“The curse is an aura. Perhaps slaying the Desecrator would work, but a surefire method would be just to leave this dungeon.”

“Ahh, and Sooty?”

“He will remain with the villagers. At level twelve he would be more of a hindrance than a help.”

Chilly, Chaeli, Rahlin, and Teluria set out not long after. Instead of crossing Mirror Lake and traveling through the fire biome to reach the Desecrator’s Shrine, they followed Chaeli around the edge of Mirror Lake. The Lifeblood Corrosion quickly hit ten stacks on all of them, but with the help of Pious Path, they were able to comfortably out regenerate the degen. After some walking, Chaeli led them to an unassuming divot in the ground with a single meditating penguin sitting on a nearby stone.

Chilly waved at the penguin but it didn’t respond. Chaeli walked to the divot and disappeared into what looked like - on closer inspection - a well hidden tunnel.

Chilly was surprised at the notification since the Bone Pits were directly adjacent to the Shrine itself. To think that if he had just braved the Bone Pits instead of the Fire Biome he would have met the Telurians far sooner.

“Welcome back,” Nalhcal the penguin called from behind. Chilly tossed the penguin a nod and followed his party deeper.

The tunnel ended abruptly into a cylindrical cavern with a layer of bones on the ground. No monsters came out to meet them, though it was tough to tell if there were never any monsters in this pit, or if Chilly’s baelfire attuned domain had vaporized the few low leveled monsters before the party could see them. If Chilly recalled correctly, this zone had monsters at around level seven.

They continued on, Chaeli leading the way and after several empty pits arrived at a longer tunnel that began sloping upwards. They followed it until the purple miasma across the floor abruptly ended. With smiles, the group stepped across the barrier and breathed sighs of relief when the Lifeblood Corrosion’s incessant niggling vanished.

“Man its been so long since I’ve been here last,” Chilly smiled, reveling in the familiar area, but then paused as he heard a loud crack followed by an extended hiss. “What was that?”

The others shrugged as three penguins rushed from up ahead. The first of which was an excited penguin holding down a dapper hat made of a simple dark wood, yet retained its flexibility.

“Chilly!” the penguin gasped, taking off its trim cap to reveal a whimsical cowlick. “I was right!”

Chilly held up a fist for the others to pause as another crash shook the tunnel followed by a long hiss. “About what?”

“Nanomachines son.”

Chilly narrowed his eyes at the penguin in annoyance. “Explain, if you would.”

The last of the group of penguins shuffled forwards. While normally, Mr. Chaos was exuberant, now the penguin was reserved, holding its wooden sword with nervous hands and hunched shoulders.

“Some magic here...” Mr. Chaos gulped. “It can hurt us.”

A jolt of fear ran down Chilly’s spine. “Are you positive?”

All three penguins nodded and Chilly clenched his jaw.

“Right,” Chilly said, his hand rose halfheartedly to scratch at his clean shave before falling back down, its mission unfinished. “Right. We are going to be careful guys. Rahlin and I are up front, Teluria you are ranged support and Chaeli. Vanish. There is some super dangerous magic up ahead.”

“Is there now?” Rahlin raised a brow as another crash shook the tunnel. He clenched his fist, and a shimmer of steel-gray rippled over his red scales and a corona of fire encompassed his clenched fists. The others made similar preparations before they collectively stalked forwards.

Another powerful crack and hiss followed just as they poked their heads out of the tunnel.

The Shrine was mostly unchanged. Hundreds of candles littered the floor and the walls with a small resting area off to the side. The ladder to the Annex and the wooden door to the Mausoleum that Chilly had so fondly abused in his early levels were still there, as well as the seven plinths arrayed before the titanic door with the skull of some giant elephant embedded in its center.

Few candles where lit, and the campfire was dark and cold, as if the Guardian had neither the time nor the energy to keep the room lit. Indeed, instead of lighting the candles, the ghost stood before the great doors with both hands raised as if holding back a great force.

The doors shuddered, eliciting a crash and dropping dust from the ceiling, as the ghost was pushed back before he rushed back and shoved his shoulder into the heavy wood. A pained rictus distorted his ethereal face, as tendrils of his ghostly matter snaked out of his arms with a long extended hiss before they dug into the surface of the door to provide him more grip.

“What the hell,” Chilly exclaimed, flabbergasted by the sight before him. The doors to the Desecrator’s Chambers shuddered again, as if there was some titanic force on the other side attempting to get out. The ghost tumbled back, and a tiny slit appeared between the two doors before the ghost rallied and slammed the doors shut once more.

“Holy shit, the Desecrator’s trying to escape, we gotta help him.” Chilly shouted, rushing forwards only to freeze as the ghost snapped his haggard face to stare at him with hate filled eyes.

“What in damnation have you done!” The Guardian roared, as another great crash shook the room.

“Me?! I didn’t do anything!” Chilly squeaked. “I’m just trying to help!”

“Help! You call shattering the seals helping? Fool, get out of my sight.”

The Guardian lifted a hand and a cold blue radiation shot out and shot towards Chilly’s chest with a hiss. Aegis Aurora flared a kaleidoscope of greens and blues and consumed the projectile before it could impact.

Teluria stepped forwards, placing a gentle hand on Chilly shoulder. “Bannon, its me, Teluria. Chilly freed me and Sooty, and he is right now on a quest to free Mia, Grog, and you. It’s alright, we can trust him.”

“And how did that work out for you last time,” Bannon the Ghostly Guardian sneered.

Teluria flinched, “that was different. Fel Nacharis tricked us all. Besides, even if Chilly wanted to do what Fel Nacharis did, he wouldn’t be able to. Look at his holy-aligned skill.”

“Skills don’t kill people,” Bannon spat, shuddering under another room shaking crash. “People kill people, and this ridiculous human is most certainly a person.”

Chilly looked down at his chest, then back up to the ghost. The Guardian wasn’t the most polite person, but neither had Sooty or Teluria when he had first met them. Though for those two he had the benefit of the penguins summarizing the intent behind the words. He didn’t know why this guardian was able to speak while the others were unable to, and he didn’t really understand what was happening with the shaking doors. Presumably the four bosses that he killed were the seals, but if that was the case then how come this hadn’t happened during the entire time that the other people had been killing the bosses nonstop?

Questions circled around his mind like starving wolves, but for now, they could wait.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to help.” Chilly pipped up, “You don’t look so good, and I’m pretty sure that you were level sixteen before. I didn’t know I was messing up, or how I broke the seals, but I’m sorry that I did. It wasn’t my intention. Is there anything that I can do to make it right? I don’t want to free the Desecrator any more than you do.”

“You know nothing of what I want,” the Guardian snarled as he was launched back from the door. “But if you are so altruistic then give me your blessings. Perhaps I can fix this before you muck it up any more.”

Blessings? Chilly blinked processing that turn of phrase for a moment before he remembered. He pulled up his interface, and scrolled to a mostly unused section.

Active blessings:

He had received each blessing from absorbing the Desecrator Soul Fragment upon first killing a boss. They hadn’t been that impactful, and had mostly slipped his mind over the last few weeks. The 10% increased movement speed had been nice, but he had quickly gotten used to it, and the increase was small enough that it hadn’t changed his day to day life in a significant way. Likewise with the blessing of Tyranny. While 10% increased damage was welcome it wasn’t a game changer in the same way that a piece of gear was. The last two blessings were barely worth mentioning.

“Sure you can have them,” Chilly said. Compared to losing a jewelry slot, or having to challenge two unique bosses at the same time, this was trivial. “How do I pass them to you?”

“Not—” the doors shuddered, “—to me. Touch the plinths to provide the blessings.”

Chilly looked at his companions, but they just shrugged. He walked up to the first plinth and touched it.

Empty Simulacrum Cage

Imbue Blessing?

Chilly mentally acquiesced.

A sense of loss filled him as a mote of brilliant cerulean traveled from behind his sternum, past his chestplate, and floated over the top of the plinth. It rested there, bobbing faintly as ethereal threads slithered up from the cold stone and attached themselves to the bottom of the soul.

“Ahhh....that’s the stuff,” the Guardian said.

“You’ve gained a few levels,” Chilly remarked. Another crash reverberated and the Guardian was launched back but a significantly shorter distance this time.

“Some of my power returns, young hero,” the Guardian smirked. “Quickly, pass on the rest of your blessings.”

Chilly nodded but paused as a penguin with a japanese festival mask carved in the shape of a Siamese cat appeared with a crack beside the next plinth.

“Your soul rises while your feet walk down.”

Chilly froze with a hand above the plinth. Usually the penguins spoke in riddles an incomplete thoughts, but he rarely had trouble understanding the underlying intent. Here however, he had no idea what the penguin was getting at. Perhaps a divergence of paths? Whatever it was it sounded...prophetic.

“What are you waiting for!” The Guardian roared as another titanic crash threw him across the room.

Chilly shot the penguin an apologetic glance, “I’m sorry I don't...”

Mr. Harvester shrugged, “Thanks for the chapter, meow.”

Chilly gave the penguin one final glance before passing all the blessing onto the plinths.

His damage and speed dropped a small amount, but it wasn’t such a great loss at the end of the day.

The door crashed again but this time, the Guardian didn’t even budge.

“Will that be enough to keep the Desecrator in?” Chilly asked, scanning the room but the penguin with the cat mask was gone.

“Perhaps, but this is a grand opportunity,” Bannon grinned, as a smoky tendril extended from his finger and began lighting the candles one by one. “Low-leveled though you may be, if you bring me the remaining three blessings I will be strong enough to directly fight the undead beyond these doors myself, and then I can finally be free of this eternal cage.”

“That was the plan,” Chilly said, then raised a hesitant hand. “Just doubling checking that killing the other bosses won’t screw you over in any way?”

“It may temporarily weaken me, young hero, but when you bring back their souls I will be able to use this facility to drain them of power and shatter the bars on this cage for good.”

“Good, then we’ll be off then?” Chilly turned to his party. Rahlin grunted, while Teluria looked deeply worried while staring at the ghost.

“Whatever you think,” Chaeli nodded eagerly. “Let’s go.”

Chilly nodded and bid the ghost goodbye. They stepped out and began making the journey to Kellington’s Boughs.

Teluria lagged behind, shooting frequent perturbed glances back. Chilly approached after her dozenth glance and gave her a reassuring shoulder pat.

“What’s worrying you, Teluria?”

“Bannon...he’s different. Hostile, and...bloodthirsty.”

“Don’t worry Teluria, both you and Sooty were a little off while you were Guardians of the dungeon. It might just be the case that Bannon is the most affected because he is right next to the Desecrator. You’ll see. When we free him, he will revert to the way he was before, and as a bonus we’ll be out of here to boot.”

Teluria smiled at him and sped up to catch up to the others. Chilly on the other hand, paused for a moment, staring back in the direction of the faint crashes that hadn’t stopped despite the Guardian’s empowerment.

There was nothing overtly wrong with what happened, in fact it had turned out surprisingly well, but...but the penguins had worried him. It wasn’t the first time that the penguins had spoken in prophecy, but it certainly was the first time they had seemed personally scared. Something in the Shrine or perhaps the Desecrator himself could harm them, and that terrified Chilly more than any direct harm to his own person.

He could recover from a beheading after all.

He would much rather empower Bannon than join the fight and risk the penguins.

What would happen if they got hurt?

Would they leave him alone?