Dark Prologue – Whispers from the Void
[Item Brief]
Relic Core Shard: A fragment from El Diablo's remains, radiates cursed mana. Believed to resonate with Void Entities.
Obsidian Codex: An ancient book bound in cursed leather. Used by the Unknown Civilization to transmit orders across dimensions.
Entity Code-000: Known as "The Whisperer" – a being of pure void thought, sealed beyond the edges of reality.
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Location: Aether Abyss, Hidden Layer – Void of Order
"The seal weakens."
The words weren't spoken, but they echoed through the shadows nonetheless. The Aether Abyss was a place beyond dimensions, where time folded over itself like a dying star. In its depths floated monoliths of obsidian, covered in runes from a forgotten language.
Inside the largest monolith, an obsidian chamber pulsed with crimson light.
Entity Code-000 – The Whisperer – coiled in silence. Its form had no shape, no physical boundary. A thought, an echo, a hunger with sentience. Chains of divine energy bound it to the Abyss, forged in the final battle by the World Tree and the Seven Ancients.
But now... the chains trembled.
A flicker of mana, tainted and angry, seeped through the cracks of the seal.
Another voice answered, this one more familiar. Raspy, metallic. Human-like, but not.
"We have acquired the Demon Howl's echo. The fragment was found."
A tall figure walked into the darkness. His face was hidden behind a fractured mask of white bone. His robes shimmered like a corrupted starfield. On his shoulder sat a mechanical crow with one red eye.
"Master Vagor is still alive," he added, tone flat. "The reincarnated Solvers gather."
The Whisperer did not reply.
Instead, it began to think. Its thoughts bled into the chamber like dark rain.
"Then we must break the gate sooner."
A surge of cursed mana slammed into the chamber's walls. The chained runes flared.
"Their progress accelerates," said the masked figure. "The one known as Lee Yujin has already unlocked a third-tier divine skill. The Vagor boy follows."
The Whisperer's voice was a whisper not heard by ears, but souls.
"Then we plant the seeds inside Circle. The Cult must awaken."
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Location: Circle – Artificial Island, Lower Ring Dormitories
Far from the abyss, on a quiet night, a janitor mopped the floors of an unused classroom.
Or so it seemed.
The man's eyes were black – too black. His movements were too fluid, too careful. Beneath his uniform was a crest: a spiral broken by a single blood-red eye.
He paused at the window, looking toward Star Academy's tallest tower.
"He returns soon. Yujin..."
His reflection in the window flickered, showing something else entirely—a creature with long fingers and a smile of razors.
"We'll be ready."
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Location: Unknown – Desert of Silent Skulls
In a ruined temple buried beneath a desert sky, an elderly man scribbled inside the Obsidian Codex. Blood dripped from his fingers as he wrote in a language long banned by the World Council.
"Phase II begins at dawn."
He dipped the pen again.
"Awaken the Hollow Cadre. Release Subject Delta from his bindings. We target the Forge in the Sky first. Then... Circle."
The air behind him rippled. A female figure appeared, skin pale as death, eyes glowing red.
"And what of the divine eyes?"
"We blind them," the old man whispered. "We blind them with betrayal."
---
Location: Circle – Student Council Chamber
Back at Circle, the Student Council president – Reina Lysandra – stood quietly, staring out the glass wall of the high-rise chamber. She was alone. Or so she believed.
Her comm device buzzed.
"Target: Lee Yujin. Observation Level: Omega."
She frowned. "Again?"
The message repeated: "Omega."
She turned, only to find a scroll sitting on the council desk. It hadn't been there before. A red ribbon tied it shut.
Her heart skipped.
She didn't know yet.
Not yet.
That
one of the Council members... wasn't who they claimed to be.