A Tumultuous Arrival
Kai's world twisted.
The moment he stepped into the portal, he felt like he was being ripped apart and rebuilt all at once. His vision blurred—shadows and light twisting, merging, separating—as if reality itself struggled to decide where he belonged.
Then, without warning—
He fell.
Gravity seized him, and before he could react—BAM!—his body crashed into hard, uneven ground.
His breath left him in a pained wheeze. A wave of dizziness washed over him, but he forced himself to focus.
A groan came from nearby.
Selene.
Kai twisted around. She was sprawled out a few feet away, clutching her ribs. Lyra was coughing, her hands trembling as she struggled to push herself up.
And Vale—
Kai's heart clenched.
He scrambled over to him, eyes scanning the gaping wound in his chest. Blood still seeped from the injury. Vale's breathing was shallow, his face pale.
"Damn it, Vale—stay with me."
Kai tore off a strip of cloth from his sleeve, pressing it against the wound. His fingers were shaking. He had seen injuries before, but this—this was different.
Vale had taken a direct hit from Darius.
A wound caused by a Sovereign's power.
And as Kai stared at it, a terrifying thought crept into his mind.
What if he couldn't heal?
A New Threat Looms
Before he could spiral deeper into panic, Selene staggered over. "Where… where are we?"
Kai finally took in their surroundings.
The air was thick—too thick—as if something unseen weighed down on them. The sky above was dark, shrouded in violet clouds, flickering with eerie blue lightning.
The ground beneath them was cracked, the earth ashen and lifeless.
There were no signs of civilization. No landmarks. No mountains.
Just an endless wasteland.
Kai's stomach sank.
"…This isn't any place I recognize."
Selene wiped blood from her lip. "It doesn't matter. We need to—"
A low growl rumbled through the air.
Kai's body tensed.
Selene froze.
Lyra's breath caught in her throat.
And then—they saw them.
Eyes.
Dozens of them. Glowing in the darkness. Watching. Waiting.
The shadows around them shifted. Twisted, monstrous figures began creeping forward from the darkness, their bodies writhing with unnatural motion. Their limbs were too long, their heads elongated and wrong.
Their maws dripped with hunger.
Selene cursed under her breath. "Kai—"
Kai stood.
His muscles screamed in protest, but he ignored the pain.
His mind was clear.
If these creatures were anything like what they looked like—they wouldn't let them leave alive.
His System flickered, finally stabilizing. A new notification popped up.
[Survival Quest Activated!]
[Objective: Last 10 Minutes Against the Nightmare Spawn]
[Reward: ???]
Kai exhaled.
No other choice.
They had to fight.
The Nightmare Spawn
The Battle Begins
The creatures lunged.
A blur of shadow and fangs rushed toward Kai, its glowing eyes filled with hunger. He reacted on instinct, twisting his body and barely dodging as the beast's razor-sharp claws slashed through the air, missing his throat by inches.
Selene fired an arrow of light, piercing through one of the creatures' skulls. It let out a horrid screech before collapsing into a puddle of writhing darkness.
But there were too many.
"Stay together!" Kai shouted, spinning his blade in a defensive stance.
Lyra thrust her hands forward, arcane runes glowing beneath her feet. "Infernal Bind!"
Chains of searing red energy erupted from the ground, snaring several of the creatures in place. They hissed and thrashed, but the spell held—at least for now.
Kai moved.
His body reacted faster than his thoughts, his System guiding his every action.
A creature leaped at him. He sidestepped, twisted his sword, and—SLASH!—severed its head in one fluid motion.
[You have slain a Nightmare Spawn. +10 XP.]
Another came at him from behind.
Kai spun—his foot snapping forward in a brutal kick—sending the beast crashing into the dirt. Without missing a beat, he drove his sword through its chest.
[You have slain a Nightmare Spawn. +10 XP.]
But for every creature they killed, two more took its place.
Selene cursed as she loosed another arrow. "We can't keep this up!"
Kai knew she was right. His arms burned, his breaths were coming faster, and the notification in his vision taunted him.
[Time Left: 6 minutes.]
Too long.
They wouldn't last.
A Desperate Gamble
Kai's mind raced. They needed an opening. Some way to turn the tide.
Then—
A flash of light erupted in his vision.
A new System Notification appeared.
[Special Ability Unlocked: Void Breaker]
[Effect: Unleash a shockwave of compressed void energy, dealing massive damage to all enemies within range.]
Kai's heartbeat surged.
This was it.
He gritted his teeth, feeling the raw power build inside him. The air around him crackled, dark energy swirling around his sword.
The creatures seemed to sense the danger.
They hesitated.
Kai smirked.
"Too late."
He slammed his blade into the ground.
BOOM.
A massive shockwave of pure void energy exploded outward, tearing through the creatures like a storm of destruction.
The beasts let out horrific shrieks as their bodies were ripped apart, dissolving into wisps of black mist.
When the dust settled—
Only silence remained.
Kai's legs buckled, but he caught himself.
Selene and Lyra stared at him, eyes wide.
"What… was that?" Selene breathed.
Kai exhaled. "Something new."
A final notification flickered in his vision.
[Quest Completed!]
[Reward Unlocked: ???]
Before he could react, a cold voice echoed in his mind.
"Interesting. I did not expect you to survive."
Kai froze.
Because that voice—
Wasn't his System.
A Voice in the Dark
An Unseen Presence
Kai's pulse quickened.
The voice that echoed in his mind was cold, detached—yet it carried an eerie sense of amusement.
Selene and Lyra noticed his sudden stillness.
"Kai?" Selene's voice was cautious. "What's wrong?"
Kai didn't answer immediately. His gaze swept the barren wasteland around them. The Nightmare Spawn were gone, reduced to wisps of darkness. But the feeling of being watched hadn't disappeared.
In fact—
It had intensified.
"You are different."
The voice came again—stronger this time.
Deeper. Closer.
Kai's fingers tightened around his sword. "Who's there?"
Lyra and Selene exchanged worried glances. "Kai, who are you talking to?" Lyra whispered.
"They cannot hear me."
The voice seemed amused.
"Only you, Kai Everwood."
A chill ran down his spine.
Whoever—whatever—this was, it knew his name.
Kai clenched his jaw. "Show yourself."
For a moment, silence.
Then—
The shadows moved.
A shape emerged from the darkness ahead, materializing as if it had always been there. A towering figure, clad in flowing obsidian robes, its face hidden beneath a deep hood.
But its eyes—
They glowed like molten silver.
Unnatural. All-seeing.
Selene and Lyra reacted instantly, weapons raised, but—
They didn't move.
They were frozen in place.
Their bodies stiff, eyes wide in panic, struggling against an invisible force.
Kai's breath hitched.
He tried to step forward—but couldn't.
It was as if space itself had locked around him.
"Fascinating," the figure mused, tilting its head. "Even in this state, your will resists."
A low chuckle.
"You are far more... interesting than I anticipated."
Kai gritted his teeth. "Who are you?"
The figure studied him.
Then, in a voice that sent a cold dread through Kai's bones—
"I am the one who watches. The one who waits."
The air thickened with unseen power.
"And you, Kai Everwood… have just become part of my game."