Darkness.
Not the ordinary kind that followed extinguished torches.
This... This swallowed light itself. The prison corridor disappeared.
Stone. Iron bars. Faces.
Even the faint glow of enchanted crystals embedded in the walls—
Gone. For one impossible heartbeat...
No one moved. The cold arrived next. It seeped through armor.
Through cloth. Through skin. Rin felt it settle deep inside his chest.
A drop of water echoed somewhere far below.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound seemed impossibly loud. Metal shifted.
Someone tightened their grip around a spear. Another soldier inhaled sharply before forcing himself silent.
No footsteps. No breathing. Only the prison... Listening.
"...Torches!"
One of the guards finally shouted. Flint struck steel.
Again. Again. Nothing.
"No fire?"
"My magic—"
Another voice. Panicked.
"It won't ignite!"
Selara reacted immediately.
"Formation!"
Armor clattered as soldiers instinctively moved. Shields raised. Weapons drawn. Facing... Nothing.
Vorak stepped directly in front of Ji-ho's cell. The giant warrior planted his axe against the stone floor.
"If something comes...It won't reach him first."
Ji-ho didn't answer. He simply stared into the darkness.
Lucien lifted one hand. Golden light blossomed from his fingertips.
Usually... His holy magic illuminated entire halls. Now...
It flickered weakly. Like a candle trapped inside a storm. The glow expanded barely a few feet before trembling violently. Then shrinking again.
Lucien frowned.
"...Impossible."
Sweat formed along his temple.
"I've never seen holy light reject me."
The small sphere pulsed. Bright. Dim. As if something unseen kept pressing against it. Rin swallowed. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen.
Beside him—
He felt movement. Not heard. Felt. A warm hand touched his shoulder. Firm. Steady.
Before Rin even realized what was happening—
Kaelith gently guided him backward.
One step.
Two.
Until Rin stood safely behind him. The Demon General never spoke. Never looked back. His sword remained lowered. His attention stayed fixed on the darkness ahead.
As though protecting Rin had been the most natural decision in the world. Rin blinked.
"...General?"
No answer. Kaelith simply stood there. Between Rin... And whatever might emerge.
Lucien noticed. Selara noticed. Even Vorak's eyes shifted for a brief moment.
None of them commented. There wasn't time. Silence stretched. Too long. Too quiet.
Then—
Ji-ho spoke.
"...Don't look."
His voice barely rose above a whisper. Nobody moved. Rin frowned.
"...Look at what?"
Ji-ho's breathing became uneven.
"The darkness."
His fingers dug into the prison floor.
"As long as you don't...you will stay alive..."
He shut his eyes tightly.
"...don't stare at it..."
Another pause. Long enough for everyone's heartbeat to become deafening.
Then—
"It looks back."
No one answered. No one wanted to. Something about those words...
Felt wrong. Not frightening. Wrong.
As though the world itself disliked hearing them. Rin suddenly became aware of an overwhelming urge.
Look. Just once. Just into the darkness ahead. Maybe there was nothing.
Maybe—
No. He clenched his eyes shut instead. The feeling vanished almost instantly.
"..."
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Cold air drifted through the corridor.
A whisper followed it. Too soft to understand. Too distant to identify.
Almost... Like someone speaking from behind an impossibly thick wall.
Then—
Light. One torch reignited. Another. Then another. Orange flames returned one after another until the prison corridor looked exactly as it had before.
Stone walls. Iron bars. Cold air. Nothing else. Selara immediately scanned every corner.
"No casualties."
Lucien checked the enchanted seals.
"Untouched."
Vorak inspected Ji-ho's cell.
"No intrusion."
The guards exchanged confused glances.
"...What happened?"
Nobody knew. Ji-ho slowly opened his eyes. His face had gone pale.
But whatever he had expected... Apparently hadn't happened. He looked relieved.
Rin exhaled for what felt like the first time in minutes.
"...That was awful."
Only then—
He realized something. His right hand... Was gripping fabric. Black fabric. His eyes slowly followed the sleeve upward.
Arm. Shoulder. Kaelith.
"..."
"..."
"...Oh."
The Demon General looked down. Then at Rin's hand. Then back toward the corridor. Apparently unconcerned.
Lucien politely cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
Vorak suddenly became very interested in a random crack in the wall.
Selara inspected absolutely nothing with extraordinary concentration.
Two nearby soldiers exchanged whispers.
"The General protected him."
"No."
The other soldier frowned thoughtfully.
"I think the human protected the General."
"...What?"
"He grabbed him first."
"..."
"...That's true."
Within seconds...
More whispers spread.
"I saw it too."
"Maybe they're close."
"I heard the General personally escorted him yesterday."
"Really?"
"I heard he smiled."
"No."
"Impossible."
"I swear."
Rin's face slowly turned red. Very red. He released Kaelith's sleeve so quickly it almost looked painful.
"I can explain."
Nobody asked him to. Which somehow made everything infinitely worse.
Silence. Then—
Kaelith answered with complete seriousness.
"You were frightened."
"...I absolutely was."
Rin immediately pointed accusingly toward the now perfectly ordinary darkness.
"It was being weird."
Nobody argued. Even Lucien quietly nodded.
"...It truly was."
One of the guards muttered,
"I've served twenty years. I've never seen darkness behave."
Another answered,
"I hope I never do again."
The tension finally began to dissolve. People laughed. Quietly.
More from relief than amusement. As everyone started leaving the prison... A familiar blue flicker appeared beside Rin.
"...Oh no."
The screen struggled to exist.
Pieces of it blinked in and out.
Letters appeared... Disappeared... Returned upside down... Then corrected themselves.
SYSTEM RECOVERY...
Recovering...
Please stand by...
...
Story Integrity: CRITICAL
Timeline Stability: UNKNOWN
Main Character Mental Stability:
...acceptable.
"...Rude."
The window ignored him. More text appeared.
Romantic Progress:
Somehow still increasing.
Rin stopped walking.
"...Excuse me?"
The numbers climbed another point.
"...How is THAT your priority?"
For several seconds...
Nothing happened. The screen froze. A loading circle spun. Then finally—
Because statistics matter.
Rin stared.
"...You're broken."
Another pause.
Correct.
"..."
Unfortunately.
"..."
Working on it.
The blue window flickered once. Twice. Then vanished again. Leaving Rin standing alone in the corridor...
Wondering whether the unstable System... Or the darkness...
Had frightened him more.