The market buzzed around them with a life of its own — merchants shouting, carts rattling, the smell of spices thick in the air — but Lee Sung's mind was elsewhere. He kept glancing back over his shoulder, searching for the shadowy figures he had glimpsed earlier. Something wasn't right.
Akane noticed his distracted gaze. "Something wrong?" she asked, her tone casual, but the glint in her eye told him she was ready for a fight at a moment's notice.
"I saw someone," Lee Sung said quietly. "They looked... wrong. Like they knew who I was."
Akane frowned, her instincts sharpening. "Show me."
They moved through the crowd, their footsteps light and deliberate, until they found the alleyway where Lee Sung had first spotted the group. At the end of the narrow passage, partially hidden by the shifting marketplace tents, was a rough stone door — a hidden entrance set into the ground, almost invisible unless you knew exactly where to look.
Akane hesitated. "You sure about this?"
Lee Sung nodded grimly. "Yeah."
As they approached the hidden entrance, the atmosphere shifted. The air thickened with an ominous energy, and Lee Sung could feel Akane tense beside him. This was no ordinary hidden passage.
They cautiously descended into the darkness, the heavy stone door grinding shut behind them. A damp, musty smell filled the narrow corridor, and every step they took echoed eerily off the walls. Lee Sung's shadows flickered around him instinctively, sensing danger.
Then — footsteps.
Soft, deliberate, but unmistakably close.
Lee Sung and Akane exchanged a glance, both ready for a confrontation. They crept forward, turning a sharp corner, and there — standing in the gloom — was one of the shady figures from earlier. But up close, he was something more.
The man's eyes burned with unnatural golden light, and his presence felt overwhelming, like standing too close to a blazing furnace.
"Welcome, Lee Sung," the figure said, his voice smooth and venomous. "I've been waiting for you. My name is Helios, and I have received the blessing of the God of the Sun."
Akane stepped forward without hesitation, her posture fierce and defiant. "You're not going to hurt anyone else, Helios," she snapped. "Not while I'm here."
Helios's sneer deepened. "You're too late, Akane. My power eclipses yours."
Without warning, Helios raised his hand. A blinding burst of solar energy erupted from his palm, slamming into Akane and hurling her back against the stone wall. Lee Sung's heart lurched as Akane crumpled to the ground, dazed and struggling to rise.
"Akane!" he cried out, rushing forward — but Helios was already moving, another beam of devastating light blazing through the corridor.
Akane pushed herself upright, staggering. With a desperate effort, she intercepted the blast meant for Lee Sung, her body taking the brunt of the attack. She crumpled again, this time with a weak gasp, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Something inside Lee Sung shattered.
"You'll pay for this!" he roared, his shadows writhing and lashing out like living things. Fury fueled him, and he charged, summoning every shred of his necromantic power — but Helios met him with brutal efficiency. Solar blasts battered him, and blow after blow sent him crashing to the cold stone floor.
Lee Sung groaned, forcing himself up on trembling arms. Across the room, Akane, her body broken but spirit unyielding, locked eyes with him.
"Go, Lee Sung!" she rasped, dragging herself upright just long enough to grab Helios and wrench him backward. "You have to survive!"
Tears blurred Lee Sung's vision, but he obeyed. With a heart heavy with grief, he turned and ran, shadows cloaking him as he fled the chamber. Behind him, Akane's battle cries and Helios's roars of rage echoed through the twisting corridors.
He burst out of the hidden entrance into the chaotic marketplace, gasping for air. The crowd swirled around him, oblivious to the life-and-death battle raging below their feet.
As he stumbled forward, something brushed against his arm — a touch so faint it was almost imagined. Lee Sung turned and froze.
Standing before him was Akane's spectral form, glowing faintly like moonlight through mist. In her hands was a leather-bound journal.
"Lee Sung," her voice whispered, filled with sorrow and strength. "This journal contains the truth — about the artifact you carry, and the final four tests. You must survive. You must finish what we started."
The journal passed into his hands, solid and real, even as Akane's ghostly figure began to fade.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. And then she was gone.
Lee Sung stood motionless, grief and fury swirling within him. He clutched the journal tightly to his chest, a vow burning in his heart.
He would survive.
He would uncover the truth.
And Helios... Helios would pay.
No matter what it took.