The morning sun broke pale and silent over the eastern city, but no warmth touched the streets. It felt like a ghost town pretending to live — the same stillness that had haunted Shadow's every step since he first entered this cursed place.
He sat quietly in the inn's common room, his hood pulled low, listening. No laughter, no chatter, no sound of merchants setting up their stalls. Only the faint echo of synchronized footsteps outside. Rena descended the stairs, adjusting her coat with a scowl.
"They're still out there," she said. "Every street's crawling with patrols. It's like the city's watching us."
"Not like," Shadow replied softly. "It is watching."
Sera came next, rubbing her eyes, her bow slung over her shoulder. "Then what now? We can't stay locked in here forever."
Shadow rose, slinging his bag over one shoulder. "We move. Quietly."
They stepped into the morning haze — and froze.
A crowd had gathered in the square. Dozens of townsfolk stood motionless, faces blank, eyes glassy with faint blue light under their lids. They formed a perfect circle around the inn, blocking every path out. The silence was suffocating until one of them, a man with a butcher's apron, lifted his cleaver and spoke in a hollow, dead voice.
"—Eliminate… intruders…"
More voices joined, a chorus of monotone whispers that sent chills crawling down their spines.
"Eliminate… intruders… Eliminate…"
Then the guards appeared from the alleyways — not one or two, but dozens. Their armor gleamed faintly with azure residue, their weapons drawn and pulsing with mana.
Lena's hand trembled as she summoned her staff. "They're under control. Every single one."
Shadow's tone remained calm, but his eyes flickered with calculation. "They've been dosed with Azure Veil. This whole city's a hive."
The crowd began to move, slow but unstoppable. Rena clicked her tongue, drawing her sword. "We're surrounded. Any bright ideas?"
Shadow turned his gaze toward the small metallic cube secured at his belt — the strange relic he recovered from the hidden facility. It pulsed faintly, responding to his intent. "Yeah," he said quietly. "We run."
He tossed the cube onto the cobblestones.
The moment it hit the ground, its surface split apart with mechanical precision. Segments unfolded, spinning and merging until it expanded into a dark metallic crawler, its sleek frame glowing with blue circuits that thrummed with mana. The air shimmered around it as the machine powered up — half-hover, half-beast, capable of moving faster than any steed.
"Get in!" Shadow barked.
They jumped aboard as the first controlled guards rushed forward. Shadow grabbed the front grip, channeling mana into the cube's control core. The engine roared to life with a deep, resonant hum, and the crawler shot forward in a burst of light, smashing through the barricade of flesh and armor.
Sera fired arrows behind them; Rena cut down soldiers that leapt onto the vehicle. Blue blood splattered across the hull as the city flashed by in chaos. The crowd did not scream. They did not bleed right. They just fell, twitching, like broken dolls.
A sharp alarm split the air. Energy bolts rained down from the rooftops. One struck the crawler's flank, cracking the mana barrier.
"Shadow! The core's destabilizing!" Ryn shouted.
"I know!"
He turned sharply toward the industrial district. "Hold on."
The crawler surged forward, sparks flying as it tore through the streets. Ahead, a drainage tunnel loomed — narrow, pitch-dark, but deep enough. Without hesitation, Shadow drove straight into it.
The impact threw everyone forward as they crashed through the metal grates and plunged underground. Water and steam erupted, the tunnel walls glowing faintly with the machine's dying lights. They came to a violent stop, half-buried in debris and dust.
For a moment, no one moved. Only the sound of water dripping echoed.
"…Everyone alive?" Shadow asked, voice low but steady.
"Barely," Sera muttered, coughing.
They climbed out of the wreck, bruised but intact. The crawler's frame flickered weakly before collapsing back into the cube form, its energy spent. Ryn picked it up and handed it to Shadow.
"Guess that's one way to travel."
Shadow didn't reply. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, scanning the tunnels. The air was heavy — too heavy. He could feel eyes watching them even here, far below the city.
They walked for what felt like hours, guided by faint mana light from Rena's palm. The tunnel twisted deeper, where the scent of rot and metal thickened. Then, from the corner ahead, a faint whisper.
"Don't shoot… please…"
The team froze.
A small barricade made of pipes and crates blocked the passage. Behind it, dim light flickered, revealing gaunt faces and shivering figures. Survivors — maybe ten at most. Adults, teenagers, even a few children. All thin as bone, skin marked by strange burns of faint blue.
One older man stepped forward, limping, his arm bandaged with filthy cloth. "You're not with them… are you?"
Rena lowered her sword slightly. "Them?"
"The mage… and the butcher," the man rasped. "They run this city now. Everyone else is… gone."
Shadow stepped closer, his voice low and calm. "Tell me what happened."
The man swallowed hard, then nodded. His words came broken, trembling.
"They took our children first. Said it was for treatment. Then the men who resisted. The mage — Sunoct — he used them to make that blue dust. They say it sharpens mana… but it eats the soul. The bandit lord, Anorus, brought the victims. He gets paid in gold and power. The mage gets his results. And the Holy Land turns a blind eye."
He lifted a trembling hand, showing a small glass vial. Inside, faint blue powder shimmered in the dark.
"They call it the Veil. One breath… and you stop dreaming."
Lena covered her mouth. Sera looked away, trembling with anger. Rena's hand clenched around her sword hilt until her knuckles turned white.
Shadow's eyes never left the vial.
"How many?"
"Hundreds," the man whispered. "Maybe more. The tunnels lead to the labs… but no one who goes in comes back."
Silence fell over them. Even the air seemed to still.
Shadow looked down at his gauntlet. Its metal surface pulsed faintly, reacting to the mana residue in the air. He could almost feel it whisper — a resonance born of fury.
He spoke at last, his tone quiet but sharp enough to cut through the dark.
"Then we'll make sure no one comes back this time either."
Rena met his gaze and nodded. "We destroy it all."
Sera stepped forward, wiping her eyes. "Even if it means the whole city burns?"
Shadow's expression didn't change. "If this is what they built on human lives… then yes."
The survivors lowered their heads. Some wept softly. Others whispered prayers to gods that had long stopped listening.
Above them, faint mechanical echoes stirred — the sound of sentinels patrolling the tunnels. The hunt was already beginning again.
Shadow turned toward the sound, his silhouette merging with the darkness once more.
"Rest if you can," he murmured to the survivors. "When the fire starts, you'll know it's over."
And then he vanished into the shadows, preparing for the storm that would follow.