The forest was quiet — too quiet.
After the Second Vein awakened, the shadows in Kael had grown... restless. They moved even when he didn't. They listened to sounds that didn't exist. They whispered when he was trying to sleep.
"They're louder now," Kael murmured, staring into his palm. "Like they want something."
Lyra glanced at him from across the clearing.
"You unleashed something raw," she said. "Power without understanding is just... a curse with fancier teeth."
Kael smirked faintly. "That sounds like a line from a sermon."
"It was," she replied. "My mother's last words."
He turned to her sharply — but she was already walking ahead.
🌫️ The Road to the Forgotten Sanctum
Their path took them through an abandoned canyon trail, lined with obsidian stones etched in lost languages.The journal Kael recovered had led them here — the supposed location of the Whispering Relic, an artifact tied to the Shadowblood lineage.
"You sure this is safe?" Lyra asked.
"Absolutely not," Kael replied, stepping onto the stone circle.
The ground trembled.
A soft hum filled the air. The circle lit up with glowing runes.
And then — the stone opened.
Like a mechanical flower, the earth peeled apart in massive slabs, revealing a deep stairway that led into blackness.
"Why is it always stairs," Lyra sighed.
🕯️ Below the Surface
The descent was endless.
Walls were lined with fossilized roots, ancient skulls embedded in the rock. Kael's breath grew cold. Shadows slithered along the walls — not his own.
At the bottom lay a temple chamber, untouched by time.
At its center stood a floating black orb, covered in silver runes, surrounded by a shattered circle of bones.
Kael stepped forward, drawn to it like a moth to flame.
"Wait—" Lyra warned.
Too late.
He touched it.
⚡ Flash Vision: The First King of Shadows
Kael stood in another world — ash-filled skies, a burning palace, and a man in black armor with violet eyes... sitting on a throne of corpses.
"You carry my curse," the man said."But you haven't earned my name."
"Who are you?" Kael asked.
"I am the First. The one they locked away.""They feared the curse. They called it a plague. They called me a demon. But I... I was a king."
"What do you want from me?" Kael asked.
The First King smiled.
"Not me. The question is — what do you want from yourself?"
💀 Back in Reality: The Guardian Awakens
The relic shattered.
From the bones on the ground, a guardian creature reformed — massive, skeletal wings, a face made of obsidian shards, and a chest filled with pulsing red fire.
It roared. The temple shook.
"Why do we keep waking ancient things?!" Lyra yelled, drawing both daggers.
Kael stepped in front of her, shadows wrapping around his fists like gauntlets.
"Because the past won't stay buried."
The guardian lunged.
Kael met it head-on, clashing with it mid-air, the impact sending shockwaves through the chamber. Lyra zipped between the columns, slicing the guardian's legs, distracting it while Kael attacked its core.
"The fire in its chest!" she shouted. "It's the source!"
"Then I'll blow it out."
Kael summoned the full power of his Second Vein — shadows spiraled into a giant lance that he hurled into the beast's chest.
BOOM.
The explosion shook the chamber. Stone cracked. The guardian collapsed in a mess of ash and bone.
🧱 Aftermath: The Memory Room
As the dust cleared, a hidden door opened behind the relic pedestal.
Inside, a glowing mural appeared on the wall. It showed seven figures, each with the Shadowblood mark — and each holding a different weapon: flame, frost, thunder, bone, shadow, blood, and time.
"These are..." Kael whispered, "...the Seven Veins."
Lyra touched one of the images — the figure of time.
"These aren't powers," she said. "They're paths. Which means..."
"...I have to choose," Kael finished. "Or they'll choose for me."
Far away... in Thorne's tower
The Hollow King opened his eyes.
His chains broke.
The glass in every window around the empire cracked simultaneously.
"He touched the First King," the Hollow King said."And now... I remember everything."