SILENTLY.
Sophia barely blocked in time.Even the impact made no noise.
"This is bad… I can't hear anything…"
She strained to listen—
But there was nothing to hear.
Then she realized:
I don't need sound.I need rhythm.
She closed her eyes.
Felt the air pressure shift.Felt her heartbeat steady.Felt the floor under her shoes vibrate when the Shade moved.
It flickered again.
Sophia rotated her staff—
And struck it squarely in the chest.
A shockwave of silent force shattered it.
Sophia opened her eyes, smiling faintly."No sound needed."
The corridor cleared.
Rhys walked alone down the shifting corridor.
The whispers faded.
The walls straightened.
Everything turned—
still.
No sound.
No illusions.
No monsters.
Just silence.
Too much silence.
His weakness, the dungeon knew well:
He lives by motion.
By reacting.
By reading the flow of battle.
But here—
Nothing moved.
Not even the air.
A shape formed ahead.
