"Some things… should never exist. Not because they're too dangerous… but because they understand the world far too well."
— Classified Note from Data Sanctum, Verse 0
10.39 P.M. Data Sanctum's Hidden Base
Selene flipped through the files again, her eyes dull with fatigue.
"Ugh… still nothing about the Black Shadow." She muttered under her breath.
"Coffee?" George, the deputy commander, asked as he walked in holding a steaming cup.
"Thanks."
Just as Selene was about to take the cup, her gaze caught on a particular phrase in one of the reports. It read: "The Shadowless Demon."
"The… Shadowless Demon?" The young priestess immediately shifted her attention from the coffee to the text.
"What's wrong?" George raised a brow.
"Who is the Shadowless Demon?" the eighteen-year-old asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about. Why even ask?" George, in his thirties, replied casually.
"I've studied countless archives… yet I've never once heard this term."
Her eyes sharpened, demanding an answer.
"It's a name from the Spirit War era. Just a myth, really—" George scratched his brown hair.
"No way!" Selene snapped. "This could be our only lead!"
Without another word, she sprinted toward the main console and began feeding the data into TAC-9, the organization's supreme AI system, to run a similarity check against the Black Shadow profile.
The entire facility fell silent as the AI processed. The lab's temperature seemed to plummet as if an ancient forbidden frost spell had sealed the air itself.
On the massive metallic wall loomed the insignia of Protocol Zero.
"Confirmed. The entity resembles the legend of the Shadowless Demon."
The cold, mechanical voice of TAC-9 echoed.
"What!? Resembles—!?" George's jaw tightened.
"Something about this feels… wrong." Selene whispered.
Then TAC-9 displayed a classification code:
[N.E.P.] :: Null-Entity Protocol
"Loading Shadow Demon Infiltration Data – Latest Frame."
The AI's voice rang out again, emotionless yet deeply unsettling.
"An existence that cannot be processed…"
"Movement Type: Zero"
"Mana Wave: Zero"
"Location: Everywhere"
"Multiple Locations: Confirmed"
The report made everyone's blood run cold.
"That's impossible… that violates every law of magic!"
Selene Varnis — the priestess and covert operative — shouted, her face pale.
George stayed stoic, though sweat trickled down his temple.
"A being with no mana… no magic… like that kid — yet it blocked a rune-coated bullet with just two fingers!?"
"If it doesn't use magic… then what does it use?" someone muttered.
Before anyone could answer, a soft voice broke the silence.
"What if… it was once human?"
The question slipped from a female magic analyst, barely above a whisper — yet it silenced the entire hall.
And then—
[ALERT – Data Sanctum Security Breach]
[!! ALERT] Spiritual-vision detection disrupted by external interference.
[!! ALERT] Unauthorized entity has entered Core Room.
"Trace it, now!" one of the magi-tech researchers yelled in panic.
But before they could respond, a voice oozed through every speaker in the facility. Smooth, deep… mocking.
The Dusken Shade had joined the conversation.
"Enjoying your little peek behind the curtain?" the voice teased.
"How did you get in!?" Selene demanded.
"Your security's laughable. For a so-called secret organization… you really should try harder."
"Are you insane!? This is the highest security tier in existence!"
George snarled, fury and fear mixing as sweat beaded on his brow.
"You still don't get it, do you? No matter how flawless the plan, there's always a crack to slip through."
"Who the hell are you!?" Selene steadied herself, her voice firm.
The shadow chuckled.
"What a stupid question. Do you really think I'd answer that?"
And then — suddenly — he appeared. Not in the flesh, but through a puppet seated casually on a nearby chair.
"But… I'll give you a hint."
Selene's eyes widened, though the rest were still trying to comprehend the scene.
"I am simply… what you fear most."
The words sucked the air from the room.
"That's not a hint at all!" Selene snapped.
"Never trust the path. Never trust the hand. Remember that."
And just like that, he vanished — leaving behind nothing but a steaming tea set and a single folded paper.
Selene picked it up with trembling hands.
On it, written in an elegant script:
"Crimson roses bloom, to lure the tempest near…
Azure petals weep, steadfast yet unclear…
Purest whites endure, unwavering through the years…
Onyx blossoms rise, to herald endless fear…
— F.N."
The moment her eyes traced the last line—
CRACK—BOOM!
The servers exploded in a violent chain reaction. Fire and shrapnel consumed the sanctum. Screams echoed. Blood and smoke mingled in the icy air.
"Get the wounded out! Notify Commander karvell—NOW!" George barked, pulling survivors from the wreckage.
10.48 P.M. Nine minutes after the Dusken Shade's breach
Selene stood frozen amid the devastation. Burnt server husks littered the ground, blood smeared across the fractured walls.
And yet—the paper in her hand remained pristine. Not a scorch mark, not a drop of blood.
It was warm. Warm, as if placed by human hands only moments ago.
"Four roses…" she whispered, her voice trembling.
"A clue… or a curse?"
Her thoughts spiraled, searching for meaning.
"Could it… be linked to Fayros Darneth!?"
11.02 P.M. Emergency Ward, Data Sanctum
Bodies lined the beds, their spirits fractured beyond repair.
AI recovery systems limped at 40% capacity.
As George worked desperately to keep a top-tier analyst alive, a warning flashed across a monitor:
" [CODE_01–SHADOW F.N.] Detected nearby. Accessing Encrypted Frame…"
"What!? No — stop it! It'll overload—"
"Get rid of it! NOW!"
But before they could react, the hologram flared to life—
WHOOSH!
It wasn't surveillance footage.
It was a memory.
Someone's stolen memory.
And in that memory—
A boy with jet-black hair stood upon a frozen lake.
Around him bloomed four roses in a storm of snow. Behind him stretched a shadow without end.
"The null one… has returned."
"The world has failed to erase him."
The words chilled them to their cores.
George turned sharply to Selene, horror in his eyes.
"That thing… maybe it's not a demon at all."
Selene's lips trembled as she spoke:
"No… It might be something worse. A past that isn't truly the past… but a reflection of a soul—shattered and in agony."
"A past no one accepted… and no one forgave. Not even itself."
— Subconscious Realm —
Fayros walked across a field of eternal night.
Each step crushed brittle petals beneath his feet.
Ahead, beneath a twisted tree draped in black roses, sat a boy with his back turned.
"Still don't remember? Figures… You were the one who sealed me away, after all."
The voice was Fayros's—yet it belonged to that boy.
Deep. Worn. Haunting.
"W… What do you mean!?" Fayros stumbled forward.
But with every step, the trees around him withered and died.
As if approaching the truth meant killing the memories.
"Sometimes… truth is too cruel to bear. So humans run, hiding behind beliefs of their own making… even when those beliefs are nothing but illusions."
The boy turned his head at last.
One eye — blood-red — gleamed through the shadows. The other drowned in a piercing glare that Fayros couldn't endure.
11.29 P.M. – Back in Reality
Fayros jolted awake.
Sweat drenched his body, though the air-conditioning hummed softly.
He rose slowly, staring at the mirror.
For the briefest instant—his reflection's eyes burned crimson.
He blinked.
Normal again.
But a faint smirk lingered in the glass—one that wasn't his.
"Nightmare?" Lira's sleepy voice drifted from the bed.
"Not sure if it was a dream or a warning. Either way, don't worry about it."
"Don't tell me not to worry! You're my roommate!" she pouted.
"Judging by your sleep patterns, Mr. Fayros, I suggest immediate rest."
TEA-0—Lira's AI maid—chimed in.
"Thanks." Fayros muttered, avoiding Lira's gaze.
Midnight — Nexus Dormitory, Special Zone
Lira was already asleep, but Fayros still couldn't close his eyes—not after the dream he had half an hour ago.
"Can't sleep, sir?" T.E.A.0 asked quietly, observing him.
The boy said nothing. He walked over to the fridge and opened it.
A blast of cold air escaped. Inside were some meat, vegetables, and a few large bottles of water.
Fayros shut the fridge with a sigh of boredom.
He then turned to his Nexus Tab, flicking it open.
A transparent holographic screen shimmered into existence, displaying countless tabs and functions.
He began searching for information on the ice spell he had somehow used this morning—with just a snap of his fingers.
But… there was nothing.
His brows knitted as the search results stayed blank.
"Not even a similar match…?" he muttered to himself.
The Nexus Tab vibrated softly and displayed a single line of text:
'The term you searched for does not exist within the system's domain of understanding.'
The message froze him in place. His eyes stayed locked on the screen.
"…A spell outside the scope… even of Nexus?"
T.E.A.0 remained silent for a while, her internal systems running calculations she didn't quite trust herself to make.
"Master Fayros." she spoke softly at last.
"If the Nexus holds no record of that spell… then perhaps it was never something humans created to begin with."
Fayros snapped his head toward her, disbelief and fear flickering in his dark eyes.
"W… what do you mean by that?"
"It may be something… that has never belonged to any system at all."
Just then, the Nexus Tab flickered strangely—just for an instant — before stabilizing.
Fayros reached out to close it, but—
'access granted.'
The screen bloomed with an arcane diagram unlike anything he had ever seen.
Strands of glowing glyphs overlapped, writhing as though alive.
Every curve bent unnaturally, yet radiated an uncanny sense of precision.
As he stared, a strange thought clawed at him —
I've seen this before…
But he couldn't recall where.
Then the system displayed:
origin : null
protocol : [INERTIA.EXE]
file owner : ERROR!
"Error!?" His pitch-black eyes went wide.
"Perhaps a cup of tea to calm you, sir." T.E.A.0 interrupted gently, pouring tea into a porcelain cup.
"...Yeah." he muttered, reaching for it.
But as his fingers brushed the cup—
The tea turned scarlet.
It seethed and surged violently, spilling like molten blood across the table and down to the floor.
"Wha—!?" he shouted in horror.
The crimson flood only swelled, boiling and spilling, until the floor was drenched in blood-red liquid.
When Fayros looked up to call for T.E.A.0's help —
He froze.
The android was gone.
In her place, he saw his classmates —drenched in gore, screaming in agony amidst a grotesque carnival of crimson slaughter.
And in the center of the carnage… stood Kaen.
Untouched.
Unscathed.
Silent.
He only smiled faintly at Fayros —
before closing his eyes and slowly disintegrating into ash, scattering like dust in the blood-soaked air.
"KAEN!!!"
Fayros's scream tore his throat raw as he lunged forward, desperate to grasp him.
Kaen — the boy who mocked him, teased him relentlessly—
Yet was still the first to ever speak to him when no one else would.
The boy with no shadow collapsed to his knees, drowning in despair and disbelief.
And then—
"…Awake yet?"
The voice was calm, cold — but it was his own voice.
"...The shadow?" His voice trembled in terror.
When he turned, it wasn't the familiar silhouette of blackness.
It was a boy with crimson hair—blood-red, deeper than Kaen's fiery hue.
And his eyes—two burning scars of hell.
"I asked—are you awake yet?" The crimson-haired figure spoke again, his tone sharp enough to draw blood.
"W… what do you mean!?" Fayros shouted.
Another figure emerged — white-haired, red-eyed, with a face identical to the crimson boy's.
"It means—are you done running from your pain?"
The white-haired boy's voice slammed like nails into a coffin.
"Pain!?" Fayros echoed, trembling.
A chuckle rang out.
"Kehehe… That's right~"
He spun toward the sound —
A boy with azure hair and violet eyes floated cross-legged in the air, trembling faintly though trying to look smug.
Fayros's chest constricted.
They all bore his face.
Every single one of them.
"W-What the hell are you!? Why do you all have my face!? What do you want from me!?"
"Shut up."
The crimson boy's voice was quiet, yet carried slaughter and malice thick enough to drown the soul.
"Wake up already. You don't want to suffer anymore, do you!?" the white-haired one barked.
But before Fayros could answer—
"If you don't want pain… then wake the hell up! Remember it already, damn you!!!"
The azure-haired boy's voice cracked as he sobbed.
And while Fayros shook in bewilderment, the crimson-haired boy leaned close to his ear — and whispered.
"Wake up… Black Rose."
The words burrowed into his marrow like nails.
Something about them — familiar.
So agonizingly familiar it felt like a mountain of a billion bricks crushed his soul.
So heavy he wished he could sink into the earth and vanish.
And then—
For the first time in his life, tears spilled from Fayros's pitch-black eyes.
"Master Fayros! Please wake up!" T.E.A.0's voice pierced through the darkness.
"Fayros! Wake up!!" Lira's desperate call followed.
His senses snapped back.
He was in his room.
The Nexus Tab still glowed.
The tea was its usual pale color.
"What… what happened to me?" His voice was a threadbare whisper.
"Y-you… you didn't have a pulse." Lira stammered, tears quivering in her eyes.
"No pulse? Then why am I alive…?"
His chest ached—like something crushing his heart.
"…But if I can still feel pain… then I'm still here, aren't I?"
"If you were dead, you wouldn't be TALKING, idiot! Use your brain for once!"
Lira turned away sharply, flinging herself back onto the bed with a frustrated huff.
Fayros sipped the tea quietly.
But then… a smile crept across his face.
Slowly.
And it wasn't his smile.
It was cold.
And hollow.
"Master Fayros…" T.E.A.0's voice came softly from behind, laced with hesitation.
"I've analyzed your vitals. Your heartbeat is stable… but your brainwaves show no correlation to your cognitive patterns."
"…What?" His voice shook.
"My brainwaves… don't match my thoughts!?"
"Yes… It's as if… two individuals reside in one body."
Fayros froze.
Completely still.
Hands trembling as if screaming silently in agony.
At last, he forced his lips to move.
"…Then… who… is the other one?"
T.E.A.0 said nothing.
She only turned away.
The silence shattered with Lira's sleepy murmur.
"I like red and white… they're pretty."
The blonde girl shifted in bed, voice barely a whisper.
"…And you… you like blue and black roses, don't you…"
She smiled faintly in her sleep, sinking deeper into her dreams.
Then—
The Nexus Tab flared with a chilling prompt:
[User ID conflict detected: 2 entities present]
Resolve conflict? [Y/N]
Fayros's breath hitched.
His eyes quivered with raw dread.
And then — T.E.A.0's voice again.
But this time… warped, as though something alien had crawled inside her.
"…That data… was locked… by someone who is not you, Master Fayros.
The system cannot identify him.
But he has always… been inside you."