The mist was heavier than usual.
It clung to the trees like a second skin, thick and pale, wrapping around the bones of the broken forest just outside the ruins of Lethmoor Temple. Silence ruled here—not the kind born from peace, but the kind that followed slaughter.
Kaizen stepped forward, his boots crushing burnt leaves beneath him, the sound unnaturally loud in the dead air. Behind him, Squad Umbra moved with weapons half-raised, their eyes twitching to shadows that weren't there.
"This place feels wrong," muttered Eilric, knuckles tight on his hilt. "The fog's not natural. I can't even hear birds."
"There haven't been birds here for years," Ayaka said softly. "Not since the fall."
"Still," said Kaizen, eyes locked ahead. "Stay close. We move together."
The temple rose in front of them—half-sunken into the earth, devoured by ivy and time. But even in its decayed state, the carvings along the broken walls pulsed faintly, like veins under skin. Symbols of the old Veinborn Order. Familiar… but distorted.
Kaizen paused. A flicker of memory stabbed his brain—this exact place, but clean. Golden. Voices chanting. A woman crying.
He blinked—and it was gone.
"Did you see that?" he asked quietly.
"See what?" Ayaka responded, watching him sharply.
"…Nothing."
They entered the ruins.
---
Inside, the air was colder. Stone walls wept moisture, and their footsteps echoed in impossible directions—one step forward, and it sounded behind them. Squad Umbra took defensive positions.
Torches flared. The light danced wildly, like it was alive. The corridor ahead forked in two.
Kaizen looked left. Then right. His heartbeat slowed unnaturally, thudding once… then silence… then again.
A voice whispered:
"Wrong way, Shard King."
He spun. No one had spoken.
"Did anyone say something?" he asked.
No response.
They split into two teams—Kaizen and Ayaka went left, Eilric, Lysa, and Gren took the right.
---
The corridor twisted more than it should. Every turn looked like the last. Every torch seemed identical. Kaizen's sense of direction dissolved.
"Ayaka, how far have we—"
Ayaka wasn't behind him.
Kaizen froze.
Just stone. Empty hallway.
He turned, backtracking, calling her name.
"Ayaka?"
No answer.
He retraced his steps… but every path led forward, deeper, longer, like the temple was moving with him. Mocking him.
Then came the whispers again. Closer now.
"You left her behind."
Kaizen clenched his jaw. "Shut up."
"You always leave them."
"Shut up!"
He punched the wall. It cracked, crumbled—and revealed a mural beneath.
It showed a man—himself—surrounded by corpses. His veins glowing black. A crown of bone on his head.
At his feet: Ayaka, dying. Reaching.
Kaizen staggered back. "This is fake."
The mural changed.
Now it showed Nerovar, tall and thin, his eyes voids, hand outstretched over Kaizen's head like a puppeteer.
Kaizen's reflection stared at him from the wall.
And smiled.
---
Meanwhile — Right Wing Corridor
Eilric, Lysa, and Gren walked silently.
Then… a voice.
"Gren?" It was a child's voice.
Gren stopped. "Did you hear—"
A small figure stood at the end of the hallway. A boy.
His dead brother.
Lysa screamed. Eilric drew his blade. But Gren ran toward the child, eyes wide.
"Jacob?!"
The boy smiled.
And his face melted.
Gren dropped, screaming.
Lysa turned—and Eilric was gone.
Only fog remained.
---
Kaizen — Chamber of Glass
Kaizen stumbled into a wide chamber filled with mirrors—old, cracked, warped. Each reflection showed a different version of himself.
One was burned. One was bleeding. One was laughing hysterically.
And one…
…one had Nerovar's eyes.
"You shouldn't have come here," that reflection said.
Kaizen backed away.
"You think you're strong. But you've only seen fire and blood. Not the mind. Not the truth."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be."
Kaizen's reflection stepped out of the mirror.
And attacked.
---
The fight was brutal. Mirror-Kaizen moved like him—but cleaner. Sharper. Without hesitation.
Every time Kaizen struck, he felt like he was hitting himself. And it hurt.
"You are a construct," the clone hissed. "Made to be broken."
But Kaizen pushed forward. Memories surged—Ayaka's voice. His mother's scream. The promise of vengeance.
With a roar, he shattered the reflection with a final blow—glass raining down around him like snow.
Breathing heavy, he dropped to his knees.
The mirrors were gone.
But the voice wasn't.
"You passed the first gate."
Kaizen looked up.
From the darkness, Nerovar's voice slithered forward like a blade.
"Next time, I'll show you your future."
---
Final Scene
Kaizen stumbled out of the ruins.
He found Eilric—bloodied. Lysa—shaken. Gren—dead-eyed and silent.
Ayaka was already outside, waiting. How she escaped… Kaizen didn't know. She didn't either.
No one spoke on the walk back.
But all of them… carried the same expression.
Fear.
Of what they saw.
Of what was real.
Of what waited in the fog.
---
Final Line (Cliffhanger):
"Nerovar didn't need to kill them. He just needed to show them what they could become."