"Brother... Brother..."
A soft voice called out.
The young man slowly opened his eyes, sitting on a simple, pristine white chair. One of his eyes shimmered like a galaxy.
They were surrounded by a garden beside a palace—a dazzling white castle adorned with countless kinds of plants.
His pupils... held something imprinted within, like a rotating 5-pointed geometric core or a cluster of star-shaped power axes.
It resembled a spinning 4D hypercube, endlessly shifting and reshaping with no end in sight.
"Brother... You're slacking off here again, huh?" The clear voice of a white-haired girl echoed beside him.
The young man in white slowly turned and replied in a calm tone. "Well, this place... is peaceful."
"You've been thinking about Sofia, haven't you?" The girl with silver hair teased.
"N-No, not at all."
He turned his face away, a faint blush barely visible on his cheek, just enough for his sister to notice.
"Aha~ Lying like that isn't good~"
"I was just dreaming... a short dream, but it felt so long..."
The black-haired young man gazed up at the sky, then took a quiet sip of tea.
"Enough! Let's put that aside for now, Galatea."
He stood slowly and turned away, his face as expressionless as ever.
Galatea, the white-haired girl, whispered softly, barely audible, her violet eyes trembling as she watched him walk away from the garden.
"Do you still think you have no heart, Brother?"
A gentle breeze blew, causing her simple white dress to sway lightly. The young man didn't answer, disappearing into the palace, leaving only silence for her to ponder.
Galatea stared at his retreating shadow, not replying.
It was as if that question had been sent across time itself.
Present Day, 08.34 A.M., Nexus Academy Lockdown Classroom
Riu stared at Fayros with confusion.
"So... what exactly are you?"
"How should I know?" Fayros snapped back.
Marine decided to ask. "Then who were those powers just now?"
The atmosphere immediately turned heavy with tension.
Everyone looked at Fayros as if his answer could mean life or death.
Fayros met Marine's eyes briefly before lowering his gaze.
"I don't know..."
"Don't know!?" Riu frowned.
"What do you mean, suddenly showing up with weird powers, shaking the whole room, then saying you don't know?"
Fayros said nothing, clenching his fists tightly. Something seemed to be struggling inside him.
"Don't tell me... you're one of those 'experiments' Nexus is hiding?"
"Or a spy from the shadows?"
"Some kind of human mimic?"
Whispers spread throughout the room like an unstoppable plague.
"This is dangerous, Professor Felicia! He could kill someone!"
"Last night I dreamed of those eyes... they... spoke to my mind."
"I don't want to be in the same room as that bastard anymore!"
Iris held Fayros's hand tightly, while Max tried to shield him.
Lira tried to regain control. "W-Wait, everyone!"
But the situation was out of control—even the princess couldn't calm them.
"Calm down, damn it! If it's like this... I'll burn you all to ashes!" Kaen shouted.
His outburst silenced the room.
Professor Felicia spoke slowly but firmly,
"Blaming Darneth is easy... but aren't you all still alive because of him?"
Her words made Riu's side hesitate, swallowing hard.
Then Fayros looked up.
"It's fine if everyone thinks that way..."
"I... will leave on my own."
"Fayros... wait!" Marine called out, but he didn't look back.
The boy walked out of the Lockdown Classroom silently—not out of defeat...
But because he was afraid of the answers he didn't yet know.
Only the soft sliding of the automatic door echoed louder than everyone's beating hearts.
The room was silent, cold, and eerie—like Fayros's presence still lingered there.
No one moved or spoke—except for her... Lira.
She noticed a drawing on the floor, dropped by the black-haired boy.
Lira picked it up, eyes wide, violet-pink shining with trembling light.
It was a drawing of all of them—her, Max, Iris, and Kaen—all smiling together.
But in the lower left corner...
Fayros had drawn "himself," standing apart from everyone else.
Facing away, hidden under the shadow of a large tree, his face unseen.
Then, she saw the message from Fayros:
Thank you for letting me be a part of this... even if only for a while.
I am a shadow, so... don't look for me.
Fayros Darneth
Lira's hand tightened, her lips quivering slightly.
The silence in the room was still eerie, but inside her chest, a fire blazed like a thousand suns.
"Fayros..."
A single tear fell onto the paper.
It seeped slowly over the word "Thank you," as if fate was mocking all life.
"Don't think everyone will just leave you..."
She stood up, looking at Riu and the others who remained stunned.
Her violet-pink eyes changed.
They bloomed cold and determined, like a flower changing seasons.
"Even if no one else does... I will find you."
Clutching the drawing tightly, she looked toward the sunlight streaming through a blood-stained window.
That light was blinding, like the moment he walked away without even looking back.
In her mind, only one question remained unanswered...
Like someone else... who had once watched his shadow like this before.
08.40 A.M. , Secret Base of the Data Sanctum Organization
[Notification: REASOPER is dead.]
The alert from TAC-9 rang out sharply in the dim room bathed in faint blue light.
"Hmph... whatever. That guy was just a worthless pawn." George said calmly, a sly grin curling on his lips.
The organization's hacker called out to the middle-aged man.
"Deputy Commander! We've got the footage...!"
"B-but..." The young hacker swallowed nervously.
"But what?" George asked evenly, his eyes narrowing with a deadly glint.
"It's just that… the Mana-less kid didn't die. Even though he was stabbed in the neck—"
Grab! The sound of a shirt being ripped echoed sharply.
"What did you say!? REASOPER just stabbed him in the neck... and that damn wolf in sheep's clothing is still alive? Damn it!"
George's eyes burned with fury as he slammed the hacker roughly onto the floor.
Cough, cough "And more importantly... it looks like the shadow is directly connected to Fayros."
The young hacker tried to catch his breath and steady his voice.
"Also, three unknown men appeared out of thin air... the cameras couldn't capture them at all."
The man gulped, his face pale, sweat dripping down uncontrollably.
"Like spirits… but not spirits…"
George turned his back, swallowing hard, trembling all over, trying to stay composed.
"Is that so...? Fine. But don't forget... that shadow is an unidentified lifeform that's watching us all the time…"
"More importantly... our AI already reported that its shape resembles the legendary 'Shadowless Demon' from the old kids' tales…"
He passed by hundreds of researchers before stopping in front of Commander John Carvel.
George stood quietly, showing respect for the authority.
"How's the mission objective?" John asked firmly.
The brown-haired deputy commander answered quietly but clearly.
"REASOPER's test was a success... That kid is as dangerous as we suspected."
"As for the students in that classroom, excluding the princess..."
"We managed to silence only 13 out of 30."
John rubbed his chin lightly with a playful smirk.
"13 to 31, huh? Doesn't divide evenly… Heh."
"And Selene?"
The man in his thirties furrowed his brows, recalling events to answer the commander.
"Selene successfully eliminated Brenia, the one connected to the Mana-less kid..."
George sighed deeply.
"But for some reason, she refused the payment."
"Even though we agreed I'd pay for her sister's treatment... if she succeeded."
Both George and John sighed heavily together, baffled why the priestess refused even a single coin as agreed...