While the gears of supernatural politics moved slowly on the surface of Kuoh, something much darker was stirring in the depths. Hundreds of meters underground, hidden from the public eye, a secret underground laboratory belonging to the Kirijo Group operated in complete secrecy.
Cold lights illuminated the sterile, metallic corridors, where scientists dressed in white suits and dark glasses worked. Containment chambers filled the rooms, housing twisted, distorted creatures... the Shadows.
At the center of it all was an elderly man, with a severe face, empty eyes, and near-total baldness: Kouetsu Kirijo. Founder and leader of this forgotten project, Kouetsu had dedicated his life to one thing: bringing about a prophesied event known as The Fall.
—No more containment —he growled that morning in front of his group of researchers—. Today... we advance to the next step. Today... humanity begins its judgment.
Around him, most of the scientists nodded without question. Some out of fear, others out of faith. But not all.
Hidden among the technicians and supervisors, a middle-aged man with square glasses and a tired face watched in silence. Eiichiro Takeba. A veteran scientist, brilliant researcher... and one of the few within the project who knew they were playing with something that shouldn't be touched.
He knew he couldn't speak. Any sign of opposition would put him in the crosshairs. But he also knew the end was near.
That day, however, something went terribly wrong.
One of the chambers, the deepest one, containing a large Shadow, began emitting an abnormal magical resonance. Alarms blared. The system collapsed. The creatures became violently agitated. Kouetsu, far from being scared, smiled.
—This is it! The catalyst! The Fall begins now!
But his euphoria was short-lived. The containment failed. The magical pressure became unstable, and a devastating explosion tore through the central wings of the laboratory.
BOOOM
The entire sector where Kouetsu and his team worked was destroyed in seconds. Dead instantly.
A few corridors away, Takeharu Kirijo, Kouetsu's son and leader of the external laboratory, felt the tremor while reviewing reports. A shockwave pushed him against the wall and the lights flickered. Smoke began seeping through the automatic bulkheads, and without wasting time, Takeharu fled, knowing something had gone terribly wrong.
But in one of the affected laboratories, trapped under the rubble, was Eiichiro Takeba.
With a broken arm, heavy breathing, and blood running down his forehead, Eiichiro powered on an emergency terminal. He knew he wouldn't get out. He knew the explosion would spread. But he could still do something.
In front of the camera, clenching his jaw, he began to speak.
—Takeharu... if you're seeing this, it's because I didn't make it out. Listen well.
—Kouetsu... was wrong. The Shadows... must not be destroyed without control. The largest ones... are connected to a phenomenon he sought: "The Fall."
—But if they are eliminated carelessly... that is what triggers it. It's not the summoning of the Shadows... it's their total eradication that opens the path to that disaster.
Smoke began filling the room. The system flickered.
—Please, take care of my daughter. Yukari... she knows nothing. Don't let her get involved in this...
He sent the file with a private key to Takeharu's computer. Once sent, Eiichiro rested his head against the workbench and closed his eyes with resignation.
A final flash illuminated the laboratory.
BOOM
The rest of the complex collapsed.
Hours later, at the Kirijo mansion, Takeharu received the notification on his device. Upon seeing Eiichiro's message, his face tensed. He stood up immediately, his expression filled with determination.
—The Fall...? —he whispered—. No...
Takeharu Kirijo's study was in complete silence. Only the faint hum of monitor fans and the constant blinking of lights on the equipment kept the atmosphere alive. The blinds were closed, and the air smelled of old paper, ink, and contained tension.
In front of him, reports from the last few days were projected: anomalous movements in the Kuoh subsurface, electrical malfunctions, spikes in psionic energy, and, most importantly, the partial destruction of the hidden laboratory where Kouetsu Kirijo conducted experiments with the creatures known as "Shadows."
Eiichiro Takeba, one of the few who disagreed with the Project, had died in the explosion. But before that, he managed to send one last message.
Takeharu had played it several times, listening carefully to every word:
"They must not kill the largest ones... something changes in the structure... things... get out of control. Takeharu... these creatures... are not what we think. We don't know what one more mistake will trigger."
Takeharu turned off the message. He removed his glasses and rubbed his face with both hands. The word "Fall" didn't appear in the message, but what Eiichiro said... made him think of something bigger, more dangerous than mere failed experiments.
—This... is not sustainable —he said quietly—. If the Shadows can destabilize the world... then I need answers. And warriors.
He turned on another monitor. A graph showed brainwave fluctuations of certain secretly monitored subjects, including students from Kuoh Academy. A common pattern was beginning to emerge: certain individuals showed atypical neural activity during midnight. Something that could only have one explanation.
Takeharu leaned back in his chair. His thoughts revolved around a theory that Kouetsu had vaguely mentioned: a lost hour... between the end of one day and the beginning of the next. An hour where only certain beings remained conscious.
—What if that theory is true...? What if that "Dark Hour" is about to manifest? —he whispered to himself.
That thought was enough to make a decision.
He stood up with determination and walked to his safe hidden behind a wooden panel. Inside, he took out an old briefcase with the Kirijo Group symbol and a seal that had remained intact for years. He opened it with a biometric code. Inside were only two things: an experimental Evoker and an incomplete list of possible candidates with "Persona potential."
—We can no longer afford to observe. It's time to act —he said firmly, gripping the Evoker.
That same night, as the skies of Kuoh grew heavy with clouds and a strange silence took over the streets...
It happened.
The hands of all clocks stopped at the same point. The world turned a dead, greenish hue. Shadows lengthened. Ordinary people fell into capsule-like coffins. And those who possessed something special—a spark not yet awakened—remained standing, confused, trapped between realities.
The Dark Hour had begun.
And deep within, the Shadows awakened... for the first time outside the laboratory.
The night was passing peacefully at Daniel's house... until something changed.
A mental scream woke Daniel violently.
—Daniel, wake up! Something's wrong!—
It was Ddraig, his tone laced with an urgency he rarely used.
Daniel opened his eyes quickly... but what he saw froze him.
Hikari, Hibiki, Alya, and Sakura were not lying beside him. Instead, four dark coffins, of rough stone with metallic glints, floated slightly above the futon.
His heart stopped. He jumped back, falling to the floor, his breathing became erratic.
—W-what... is this? —he murmured with a trembling voice.
The air was denser, charged with a heavy, cold energy. It was as if time itself had stopped.
He turned sharply and saw Tamamo, deeply asleep, oblivious to the phenomenon. He quickly crawled to her and shook her forcefully.
—Tamamo! Wake up! Tamamo, wake up!
Her eyes snapped open and her ears perked up like springs.
—Huh? What... what's happening... Daniel-sama? —her voice trembled. She barely processed the surroundings and her supernatural instinct did the rest: her tails bristled and her body shook.
—This isn't normal! What's going on...?!
Daniel held her in his arms while trying to stay calm.
His gaze turned to the coffins. Then to the surroundings. Then to his hand.
No wounds. No active magical signs.
Everything... was stopped.
—It can't be... —he murmured as he slowly stood up.
—Daniel-sama? What's wrong? What do you know?
Daniel gritted his teeth.
—There's something... something I had read about... a phenomenon...
—What phenomenon?
Daniel didn't respond. He still wanted to deny it.
But he needed proof.
He took a flashlight from the drawer... nothing. It didn't work.
He tried to turn on the light... nothing.
He looked at his phone... no signal, no power, no life.
Everything... dead.
In the hallway towards the bathroom, another coffin. Raynare, probably, had been caught just before being trapped by this... "state."
Tamamo, trembling, followed him closely, her hands firmly grasping his arm.
—Daniel-sama... is this magic? Is it a spell...?
—No —he replied in a low voice—. It's something older... something... terrifying.
He opened the main door.
What he found outside sealed his conclusion.
The sky was dark green, as if submerged in a haze. The moon, full, had an unnatural glow. Everything was stopped. No sound, no movement. The streets were empty, cars were frozen, streetlights were static.
But most disturbing was the silence. Not a common one, but a deep one, as if the entire world had stopped breathing.
Daniel felt a chill run down his spine.
His eyes opened with recognition, horror... and a dangerous dose of certainty.
—The Dark Hour —he finally whispered.
Tamamo blinked.
—The what?
Daniel clenched his fists.
—I don't know how it's possible... but if this is what I think, we're in serious trouble. No one else can move... only us. And if this is as I remember it...
—What happens?
—We are not alone.
The icy wind blew strongly. Very, very far away, a strange noise echoed.
An unnatural echo. Like the roar of something that shouldn't exist.
The Dark Hour had begun in Kuoh.
And Daniel and Tamamo were its only witnesses.
The Dark Hour showed no mercy.
The air was heavy. The world, frozen.
And Daniel and Tamamo were the only ones moving in that sea of frozen time... or so they thought.
A viscous, wet noise, belonging to no known living being, pulled them from their moment of contemplation.
From the dark corners of the street, from among the shadows cast by buildings distorted under the emerald moon, they began to emerge.
Shadows.
Grotesque figures, with amorphous bodies and white masks as their only recognizable features. They crawled, slithered, floated...
There were dozens.
—Daniel-sama... —Tamamo clung to him with a mix of terror and combat instinct—. That's not magic! They are creatures... of pure hatred!
Daniel frowned, flexing his fingers.
Ddraig spoke calmly from within him.
—They are not demons, nor magical beings. They are older. They represent the unconscious. Be careful, partner.
One of the Shadows lunged at them.
Daniel didn't hesitate.
He advanced decisively and, in a single motion, channeled his Armament Haki into his fist and struck the creature's masked face directly.
The impact was brutal. The Shadow recoiled, shrieking as its body fragmented and evaporated into pure darkness.
—They're vulnerable! My attacks work! —shouted Daniel.
Tamamo, nodding, conjured a series of talismans and fired a burst of sky-blue spiritual fire. Several Shadows writhed and fell, reduced to dark dust.
—My magic affects them too! They're not immune!
They fought back-to-back, Tamamo creating barriers, firing fire and light spells, while Daniel, empowering his body with Haki, destroyed Shadows with precise, violent blows.
The synergy between them was almost natural. As if they had trained together all their lives.
And then, the last enemy fell, dissolved into the air.
Silence returned.
Daniel was breathing heavily, Tamamo was panting as she looked around.
And suddenly, Tamamo stood still.
—Tamamo? What's wrong?
She didn't respond, only raised a trembling hand, pointing into the distance, toward the horizon.
Daniel, still catching his breath, followed her gaze.
And then he saw it.
Where Kuoh Academy should have been, there was now a tower... a monstrous spiral of steel, stone, and darkness.
Twisted, alive... as if born from the collective unconscious itself.
Tartarus.
Daniel took a step back.
—No... it can't be...
Ddraig fell silent. Tamamo also said nothing.
Only the echoes of the ethereal wind seemed to want to say something...
Something like a distant whisper, cold and full of hopelessness.
"Nyx..."
Daniel felt a deadly chill run down his back.
No one had spoken that name.
And yet... now it was closer than ever.
The Fall...
Had begun.