Extra's POV: My Obsessive Villainous Fiancee Is The Game's Final Boss

The entrance to the Gravegrove stood ahead of them like the mouth of a beast with gnarled trees rising high, bearing twisted branches that looked more like claws than limbs.

Even in light of the day, it was dark within. The light above struggled to pierce the dense canopy of the grove.

The moment Ren, Lilith, and Thorn stepped across the invisible boundary into the grove, the air thickened. Damp, cold, and heavy, like walking into the lungs of something long dead.

"This place reeks of death." Thorn muttered, flexing his fingers as his bone arm vibrated slightly with power.

Lilith took the lead, her soul energy glowing faintly around her like a protective shroud. Even though she couldn't use it outside her body, it was more than great for protecting her body.

"Stay close." She glanced back at them. "We don't know how fast they come."

Thorn gasped theatrically, turning to Ren. "Is she worried about me?"

"You wish." Lilith muttered under her breath, paying him no mind.

"You just sealed your fate." Ren whispered to him. "You'll be the first of us to die if this turns out to be a horror movie."

"A horror what?"

"Don't worry. You can't understand."

Thorn stood for a second, staring at Ren as he walked ahead before shaking his head. "Both crazy. Husband and wife." He chuckled to himself before jogging to catch up with them.

They moved cautiously through the grove, weapons in hand. The ground beneath their feet squelched with every step, thick mud sucking at their boots.

Twisted trees lined the path, their roots coiling above and below ground like snakes lying in wait.

Then, the first skeleton erupted.

It burst from the soil, ribs snapping open like a bear trap. Its arms flailed as it latched onto Ren's ankle, pulling with unnatural strength.

Ren shouted and blasted it with a burst of kinetic force from his bracers, sending shattered bone flying. "They're under us! Keep moving!"

The ground began to churn. Dozens of bony arms clawed up from beneath, some already half-formed skeletons, others just hands and jaws gnashing in the sludge.

The grove groaned around them, the trees creaking, and somewhere deeper in, something massive stirred.

"We have to march through!" Ren yelled. "Don't stop moving or you'll get pulled under!"

Lilith led the way, glowing a bright blue with her soul energy. Her throwing knives whistled through the air as she moved, shattering rising skeletons before they could fully form.

Thorn swung wide with his bone arm fashioned into a blade, cleaving through the groaning dead. For every one they put down, two more clawed their way out of the earth.

The path twisted unpredictably, and trees seemed to shift around them, branches reaching low like arms trying to snatch them.

Thorn grunted, one hand gripping Ren's shoulder to keep steady as a bony claw hooked into his thigh. He hacked at it, gritting his teeth. "We're being herded."

"I know." Ren hissed. "Something's guiding them. The boss monster."

As if summoned by those words, the earth ahead of them cracked open.

A massive skeleton rose from the mire, twice the size of the others, its bones blackened like they'd been scorched by hellfire.

Moss clung to its ribs, and old armor fused to its body shining with green light. Its skull was split with glowing lines, and from its back grew the roots of the trees around them.

It held a rusted but massive glaive made of wood, and when it spoke, the grove echoed with its voice.

"Why do you trespass, walkers of fire and blood?"

Ren stepped forward, panting. "We're just passing through. We don't want a fight."

"Then you should not have come."

The skeleton charged.

Lilith roared, launching forward to meet the strike. Their weapons clashed in a shockwave of sound.

Ren moved to flank the boss, while Thorn parried off the waves of lesser skeletons trying to break their formation.

Ren darted left, pushing off the ground with bursts of Push resonance, weaving between roots. With a roar, he landed a strike to the boss's spine. It shuddered but didn't fall.

Thorn leapt high, twisting mid-air, and slammed his bone fist into the creature's exposed hip. The crack of impact rang out, staggering the thing.

But it retaliated fast, swinging its glaive in a wide arc that forced all three to scatter.

"Split up!" Ren shouted. "We break its focus!"

Lilith zipped through the air in a streak of blue light, flanking from above. Her knife found the creature's clavicle and she drove it deep.

The skeleton screeched, whipping its roots upward to slap her away. She twisted, dodging most of them, but was clipped and sent flying into the mud.

Ren launched forward with another Push, this time aiming his bracers at the back of its skull. The force of kinetic energy struck true, shattering bone.

Thorn took the chance. From the flank, he surged forward with both fists. His bone arm reformed into a jagged pike, and he rammed it straight through the monster's heart.

A scream like grinding stone erupted from its mouth. The roots snapped and thrashed as the boss monster buckled.

Ren joined Thorn, both hammering into the weakened joints, breaking knees, ribs, elbows.

Lilith returned, her soul energy now glowing brighter than ever. She climbed up to the monster's shoulders, gripped its eye holes and pulled.

With a loud tearing sound, its skull was separated from its shoulders.

The skeleton collapsed.

The roots around them groaned, shivered, then froze.

The grove quieted.

The three of them stood there, gasping, covered in mud and bone fragments. But there was no time to rest.

The trees began to twitch again, ever so slightly, as if it were still sensing their presence.

"Everyone in one piece?" Ren asked, checking over his shoulder.

Lilith nodded, catching her breath. Thorn gave a thumbs up, though his expression was tight.

The trees began to open, as if accepting their passage.

Beyond the last row of trees, the golden light of the sun shimmered. The exit.

They didn't wait.

They marched forward.

But as they passed the final roots, a sudden shift in pressure hit them. The grove's final act.

From the branches overhead, dozens of spike tipped tendrils lashed out. An effort to take them out just when they thought they were out.

Lilith cut through three in a single stroke. Ren blasted two away with a sweeping kinetic burst. Thorn snarled, his bone arm extending like a whip, grabbing one and yanking it from the tree.

The light of the exit intensified.

With a final push, the three burst through the grove's edge. The moment they crossed the threshold, the trees groaned, before growing still.

Sunlight bathed them.

Real, clear, golden sunlight.

They had survived the Gravegrove.

Barely.