"Stupid," he muttered, picking a stubborn burr off his worn linen robe.
He adjusted the tattered baseball cap on his head, a relic from his pre-Shadowbane life.
"No more spiritual retreats. Back to the concrete jungle. Time to find some people who won't try to purify you, or imprison you, or just scream and run away. This is going to be easy. Definitely."
He rolled his eyes, the vast, empty mountain scenery mocking his sarcasm.
Leaving Eldrin's sanctuary had been a strange experience. The crisp mountain air, once biting, now felt almost… normal.
The Lumina energy that made his Shadow Brand throb was gone. Instead, he felt the familiar hum of the city he was nearing.
The Heart of the Eclipse inside him felt calm, like a quiet beast instead of a raging terror. Eldrin's rituals, painful as they were, had worked.
But the peace was temporary. Noxius was still out there.
He slipped back into Colombo with the practiced ease of a phantom. The city was a different beast now. Graffiti with crude drawings of corrupted monsters defaced walls.
News vendors shouted headlines about
"unprecedented energy surges" and "quarantine zones."
The air itself felt heavier, thick with an almost imperceptible dread. His sharper senses, honed in the mountains, detected subtle energy signatures.
These were flickering bits of Aethelgard power that weren't Game Born. Remnants.
"Someone else is out there," he whispered, feeling a faint, almost ghostly energy near Galle Face Green.
"Not official. Not a common Awakener. Too… deliberate."
He used Shadow Step in quick, silent bursts. He weaved through the late afternoon crowds, a blur of dark clothing.
He found her near a withered banyan tree. The tree had unhealthy brown leaves and was surrounded by a faint, sickly green glow. It was a minor Corruption node.
A woman, no older than he was, knelt beside it. She wore faded clothes, but her hands shone with a soft blue light as she tried to bring life back to the withered bark.
She wasn't a Game Born. Her power was subtle, a gentle flow of restorative energy. A Lumina healer type?
He watched for a moment. Her attempts were futile. The green aura pulsed, pushing back against her blue light. She clenched her teeth, frustration etched on her face.
Suddenly, the withered tree convulsed. From its gnarled trunk, a smaller, twisted creature of Corruption emerged.
It had root-like features and glowing green eyes. It lashed out at the woman.
She cried out, rolling back, her blue light flaring defensively, but it was too weak to stop the creature. It lunged.
Kenji didn't hesitate. This was his chance.
He moved. Not with the explosive fury of Death's Embrace. Instead, with controlled, surgical precision. He was a shadow, a whisper, too fast for the corrupted root-beast to follow.
Shadow Step! He materialized directly between the woman and the creature, a blur of dark intent.
The root-beast paused. Its green eyes flickered with confusion as it sensed a strange, powerful darkness.
Dark Slash! But not a wild swing. A focused, contained strike. Shadowfang materialized in his hand, a violet blur. The blade tore through the root-beast's form, severing it cleanly.
The creature shook and then turned into black smoke. It left behind a faint smell of decay.
The woman stared, her eyes wide, her blue light trembling. She turned her gaze from the fading smoke to Kenji.
He stood there, sword in hand, his mask hiding his face.
"You… you're him. The Phantom Protector." Her voice was a shaky whisper.
"But your power… it's… dark." She eyed Shadowfang with a mixture of fear and awe.
Kenji dematerialized Shadowfang, letting the blade fade. He didn't drop his guard. He needed her help, but trust was a fragile thing.
"It's not just dark," Kenji said, his voice low, deliberately controlled.
He raised his hand, letting the fainter but still visible, Shadow Brand show on his palm.
"It's the dark. The Heart of the Eclipse itself. Contained. Barely."
He paused, letting his words sink in. He could see the disbelief warring with recognition in her eyes.
"You're… you're saying you're a vessel for the Blight?" she asked, her voice incredulous.
"That's… impossible. The Lumina texts spoke of such a thing only in prophecies of doom. No one could contain it. It would consume them."
"It tries," Kenji admitted, a grim humor in his voice. He glanced at the withered tree, then back at her.
He took a controlled breath.
"My name is Kenji. And Lyra, the sentient core of Aethelgard's lore, confirms it. Shadowbane tried to absorb the Heart of the Eclipse to control it. He failed. And now I'm the next anchor. I'm the only one who can truly fight Noxius, because I'm the only one who understands the enemy from the inside out."
He gestured around at the subtly blighted landscape.
"This isn't just random monster appearances. This is the Corruption. Spreading. And your power and healing are a key piece of the puzzle."
The woman, Elara, slowly stood, her hand still glowing faintly.
"My power… it's weak. Just minor restoration. I was a novice Lumina Cleric in the game. It's barely enough to heal a paper cut now." Her voice was filled with self-doubt.
"It's not about raw power, Elara," Kenji stated, a hint of his frustration showing.
He paced a few steps, his dark form a stark contrast to her gentle light.
"It's about what your power does. Your healing. Your purification. That's what battles the Corruption at its core. You're trying to heal the outside. I'm trying to contain the inside. We need each other."
He stopped, turning to face her fully.
"The official Enforcers? They're using brute force. They don't understand the Blight. They can't cleanse it. They can only contain it temporarily. But we can. Together."
Elara looked away from the dark figure and towards where the corrupted creature had disappeared.
Then, she looked at her own hands, which still glowed faintly. She took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping slightly before squaring.
"The prophecies… a shadow and a light… working together to contain the world's heart. It sounds like madness."
She met his gaze, her blue eyes filled with a dawning resolve.
"But it's better than watching the world rot. And you… You saved me. You're not just a phantom. You're… real."
Kenji felt a small, unfamiliar warmth in his chest. Comrade. The first one.
"Good," Kenji said, nodding. He pulled up his system. A new, faint energy signature, distinct from Elara's, pulsed across the city.
It was erratic, elusive, a signature of someone who avoided detection.
"There's another. A Rogue. A true master of shadows, perhaps. Someone who knows the hidden paths of this city. Someone who hates being found as much as I do."
He looked at Elara, her light power a stark contrast to his own darkness.
"We go after him next. We find him, and we convince him. Because even with your light, and my… contained darkness, we're still not enough. Not against Noxius."
Elara glanced at the barren, slightly tainted landscape around them. Then, she looked at Kenji's determined, masked face. A flicker of hope, faint but persistent, ignited in her eyes.
"Lead the way, Shadow-Vessel," she said, her voice firmer now, a spark of defiance in it.
"This madness… it just might work. And if it does… it'll be a story for the ages."