The air rippled, and from the widening gate poured not just beasts....but shapes far too human.
Pale figures in tattered royal garb, eyes hollow and glowing faint blue, stepped into the courtyard.
Joon froze. "…Those are...."
"Ghosts," Yena finished grimly, her voice tight. "And not ordinary ones."
The masked figure swore under their breath. "Palace shades. Spirits bound to serve forever. This just became a death wish."
The nearest shade's lips moved, the voice cold and layered with a dozen whispers.
"Return what was stolen… or your blood will pay."
A gust of icy wind swept through, making Yena's talisman papers snap like flags.
Joon set his stance, but his grip trembled. "They're not attacking yet. Why?"
"Because," the masked figure said, chain rattling, "they're waiting for the gate to finish opening. Then nothing holds them here."
From deep inside the gate, something vast and slow stirred....a shadow with too many eyes.
The courtyard temperature plummeted.
Yena glanced between the gate and Joon. "We have to close it. Now."
"How?"
She swallowed hard. "By sealing it from inside."
Joon stared at her as if she'd lost her mind. "Inside? That's suicide."
"Maybe," Yena admitted, "but letting that thing out is worse."
The masked figure yanked their chain free from a ghost's grasp, sparks of talisman fire burning through spectral fingers. "If you're going in, you have minutes.....maybe less....before it fully manifests."
A sudden scream echoed overhead...a palace guard, dragged into the air by an unseen force and flung into the gate's dark mouth.
The shades wailed in unison, their voices like breaking glass.
Yena's heart pounded, but she met Joon's eyes. "You trust me?"
He didn't answer with words. Instead, he seized her hand and pulled her toward the swirling darkness.
"Then we do it together," he said.
The masked figure cursed again and followed, tossing talismans over their shoulder to slow the shades.
The gate's threshold shimmered like the surface of a black lake.....and swallowed them whole.
Inside, there was no ground. Only endless, shifting mist and the faint thud of a monstrous heartbeat.
The mist curled around them like living smoke, whispering in voices that weren't their own.
Joon tried to pull Yena closer, but his grip passed straight through her arm.
He froze. "Yena…?"
She turned, and her face flickered...first hers, then someone else's, then nothing at all.
"I'm here," she said, but her voice was layered, as though three people spoke at once.
A figure stepped out of the fog....a man in imperial robes, but with eyes like shards of moonlight.
"Welcome home, Crown Prince," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "And you've brought… her."
The heartbeat grew louder, shaking the air. Shapes moved in the fog.....soldiers, servants, children.....all with empty eyes and twisted smiles.
Yena's knees buckled as visions slammed into her head: the prince's coronation drenched in blood, the palace gates buried in ash, and the man before them sitting on a throne of bones.
She gasped. "Joon… that's not a ghost."
Joon's jaw tightened. "No. That's my father."
The fog thickened, coiling at their feet like chains.
The man.....Joon's father.....took a slow step forward, his robes whispering over the ground.
"Still defying me, my son?" His voice was calm, almost tender, but the air grew colder with each word.
"You're dead," Joon said through clenched teeth.
A soft chuckle. "And yet, here I stand. Death is a small inconvenience when the throne still needs a ruler."
Yena's breath quickened. She could feel the pull of his presence like a tide, tugging at her spirit.
"What do you want?" she demanded, though her voice wavered.
The former emperor's smile deepened. "What's always been mine. My kingdom. My bloodline. And you…" His gaze locked on Yena, sharp enough to slice the air. "…you will help me claim it."
Joon stepped in front of her. "Over my dead body."
The emperor's eyes gleamed. "That, my son… is exactly the plan."
The wind howled, tearing through the courtyard like a living thing. The moonlight fractured into shards as dark clouds clawed across the sky.
Joon's grip on his sword tightened, the knuckles whitening.
"Leave," he growled.
The emperor's ghost didn't move. "Strike me, and you strike yourself. You carry my blood, boy. Every wound you give me will be yours."
Yena's hands trembled around the talisman. She whispered, "It's a binding curse… he's telling the truth."
The ground beneath them shuddered. From the shadows, pale, skeletal hands erupted, clawing for their ankles. The air reeked of rot.
Joon slashed at them, but each strike sent a burning pain through his own limbs. He stumbled, teeth gritted.
The emperor stepped closer, his form rippling like smoke. "Kneel, Joon. Save her. Save yourself."
"Never."
Yena's voice cut through the chaos. "Then I'll break the curse!" She raised the talisman, chanting a prayer older than the palace itself.
The emperor's eyes widened....not with fear, but hunger. "Yes… give me your power, shaman."
The moon vanished behind the clouds. The courtyard went black.
The darkness was absolute. No moon, no stars....only the rasp of breath and the sound of something dragging across the stones.
"Yena?" Joon's voice was low, searching.
"I'm here," she whispered back, but her tone was strained....like every word cost her strength.
A chuckle slithered through the blackness. The emperor's voice was closer now, as if he spoke directly into their ears.
"You think the dark hides me? I am the dark."
Joon swung his blade toward the sound. Steel met nothing but air. Yet a sharp sting lanced across his ribs, warm blood soaking through his robes.
Yena's fingers brushed his arm. "Don't move. I can feel where he is...." Her words cut off with a strangled gasp. Something yanked her into the void.
"YENA!"
Joon lunged blindly, heart hammering. A faint glow appeared ahead.....Yena's talisman, clutched in her hand, flaring weakly. Her face was pale, her lips moving in rapid chant, but shadowy tendrils coiled tighter around her.
The emperor's silhouette materialized behind her, whispering in her ear.
"You will break, little shaman. And when you do… I will take your heart first."
Joon's pulse roared in his ears. He could barely breathe. But he took one step forward, then another.
And in that suffocating dark, his eyes began to burn with a light of their own.
The air trembled.
Joon's vision sharpened....every wisp of shadow, every curl of malice became clear as glass. The pain in his ribs dulled, replaced by something primal and cold.
The emperor froze mid-whisper, his head turning slowly toward Joon.
"…Ah. So the cursed heir finally wakes."
The shadows around Yena faltered, hissing as if burned. She gasped, the talisman in her grip flaring brighter in response to the strange light in Joon's eyes.
"I'm done running," Joon said, his voice deep, edged with something not entirely human. "You've haunted me my whole life. Tonight, it ends."
The emperor's lips twisted into a grin. "Then come, boy. Show me if your curse is strong enough to kill a god."
Joon raised his blade....not in fear, but in challenge.
And for the first time, the darkness recoiled.
Somewhere behind him, Yena whispered, "Joon… your eyes…"
They glowed like molten silver.
The first strike shook the chamber.
Joon's blade clashed with the emperor's shadow-forged sword, the sound ringing like shattered glass. Sparks of silver and black spiraled into the air, tearing rifts in the darkness.
The emperor moved with inhuman speed, every slash of his weapon trailing smoke and whispers.
"You are nothing without your curse, boy," he spat, pressing Joon back.
Joon's reply was a fierce grin. "Then I'll make it my strength."
A surge of silver light erupted from him, forcing the shadows to the walls. The cursed mark along his neck burned like fire, but instead of weakening him, it poured raw power into his limbs.
Behind them, Yena began chanting...her voice weaving through the chaos, each word a thorn in the darkness. Talismans burst to life, slamming onto the walls, sealing escape routes.
The emperor snarled. "You dare bind me?"
"I dare end you," Joon roared, and drove forward with a strike that split the air.
The emperor staggered back, the edge of Joon's blade having sliced through the shadows that clung to his form.
For a moment, the chamber fell silent.
Then....
A low, wet crack echoed as the emperor's spine arched unnaturally. His skin rippled, split, and from the seams poured writhing black tendrils. His eyes, once gold, became pits of molten red.
"You… think you've seen my power?" His voice now layered with a thousand whispers.
The talismans Yena had placed began to burn, their paper curling in flames not of this world. She bit her lip until it bled, forcing more power into her chant, but the room's air grew thick, suffocating.
The emperor's body swelled, shadows forming jagged wings that scraped the ceiling. A crown of bone jutted from his brow.
"This is the form your ancestors feared," he snarled, stepping forward. Each footfall cracked the marble. "And it will be the last sight you ever see."
Joon gripped his sword tighter, the silver light flickering against the crushing weight of the darkness. "Then I'll be the last thing you remember."
The chamber trembled. The final battle had truly begun.