The next seven days passed quietly.
Nothing interesting happened.
No new awakenings. No strange events. No threats or discoveries.
Naeem spent his time focused entirely on training—refining his teleportation, sharpening his control over the shadow kunai, and building stamina for longer sessions. His bond with the shadow element had deepened. It felt like an extension of his body now—faster, smoother, stronger.
But still... something felt off.
27th March
It was a sunny day, clear and warm.
Naeem sat alone on a large rock beside a gently flowing river, not far from the Ruins of Lucifer. The sound of water filled the silence, birds chirped in the distance, and a soft breeze rustled the trees.
It was peaceful.
Too peaceful.
The kind of peace that doesn't last.
The kind of peace that feels like the moment before a storm.
Naeem's heart had been pounding since morning. An unshakable tension clung to him, as if the world was holding its breath.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
The sound was sharp against the quiet.
He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen.
It was his sister.
Naeem picked up the call.
His sister's voice came through, trembling and broken with tears.
She was crying—helpless, terrified.
"Help us!" she screamed. "They've surrounded us! A group of people—they're attacking! Your brother-in-law and Masid are trying to hold them back but… they're losing. Please, Naeem… come quickly… Save us!"
Then the line went silent.
Naeem stood frozen for a moment, the phone slipping from his fingers.
His mind went blank.
And then—
He ran.
Faster than ever before. His legs moved on instinct, shadow energy surging through him as he vanished and reappeared in bursts across the ground. His heart pounded like a war drum.
He had to get there. Now.
It had all started three days ago.
A viral video—posted by a popular YouTuber—changed everything.
In the clip, the YouTuber pointed a real handgun at his friend's hand and fired.
The bullet struck…
…and shattered.
It disintegrated the moment it touched his friend's skin—like hitting a wall of invisible force.
His arm was completely untouched.
No injury. No blood. Not even a bruise.
And just like that, the world shifted.
Panic spread like wildfire.
If normal weapons couldn't harm people anymore—what could?
That's when the rebellions began.
Not peaceful protests.
Violent uprisings.
Within days, chaos erupted across the country. Mass murders. Targeted assassinations. Genocide.
More than 150 politicians were slaughtered.
Over 200 government officials—executed.
Cities burned. Law collapsed. The system broke.
Now, it wasn't just about power.
It was about survival.
Fueled by rage and desperation, Naeem moved faster than ever before.
Shadow energy surged through his veins like lightning.
He crossed more than 60 kilometers in under six minutes, shadows bending and folding around his body as he blinked across the land.
He was close—so close.
His sister's house was just seconds away.
And then he saw it.
A burning figure stood on a sky like land, glowing with a fierce fire aura. Before him floated a massive fireball, swirling with deadly heat.
In the distance, Naeem's eyes locked on his brother-in-law, desperately trying to shield the house—arms trembling, body barely holding together.
Beside him stood Masud—the landlord—hands glowing, trying to shape something from the earth, a shield maybe… or a trap.
But they were too late.
The fireball launched.
Time slowed.
Naeem screamed, pushing every ounce of energy to reach them—but he was just a moment too late.
The fireball struck the ground.
An explosion of light, heat, and flame erupted.
Everything was gone.
The house.
The people.
His family.
Silence followed.
Something inside Naeem shattered.
Not just rage this time.
Something deeper. Something colder.
Hope.
His body trembled—not from exhaustion, but from something else. Something broken.
And in that moment… he changed.
With quiet fury, Naeem shadow-stepped, disappearing and emerging silently from the very shadow of the fire wielder.
There were three enemies in total—standing together, unaware of the death that now stood behind them.
Without hesitation, Naeem reached forward and grabbed the fire user's neck.
The man struggled, clawing at Naeem's hand, his own grip burning into Naeem's skin.
The pain was sharp—but Naeem didn't flinch.
Instead, he summoned a Shadow Ball in his free hand and drove it directly into the man's skull.
Boom.
His head exploded into dark mist. The lifeless, headless body collapsed instantly.
The other two enemies reacted quickly—both lunging toward Naeem with their powers activated.
Naeem's hands shot forward.
"Shadow Lock."
Two kunai hit their shadow, locking both attackers in place. They froze—paralyzed—but only for a moment.
Naeem took that second to summon his shadow dagger and hurled it straight into the first enemy's forehead.
Direct hit.
The second attacker had already aimed—a jagged rock bullet flying toward Naeem's head.
Naeem tried to dodge.
He was fast—but not fast enough.
Crack!
The rock bullet struck his arm—shattering bone and blasting part of his hand into blood.
He screamed in agony and dropped to one knee.
The enemy smirked, thinking it was over. He let his guard down.
But Naeem was not finished.
Through the haze of pain, he shadow-traveled again—this time appearing silently behind his final target.
The man turned in shock, too slow to react.
Naeem summoned one last Shadow Ball.
With all his might—he unleashed it.
A blast of darkness enveloped the attacker's body.
When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left.
The battlefield went still.
Naeem stood among the wreckage, breathing heavily, his wounded arm trembling, his heart heavier than ever before.
But the fight was over.
And he was still standing.
The adrenaline faded.
Naeem could feel it—his dopamine levels dropping fast, leaving behind a hollow emptiness. His vision blurred slightly. His breathing became uneven.
Then he noticed—his hand was still bleeding.
The pain was distant at first, but growing sharper by the second. He felt dizzy… lightheaded. The world tilted.
His eyes drifted to the headless corpse of the fire user lying nearby, blood pooling around the body.
A dark thought surfaced.
A desperate instinct.
Without hesitation, Naeem staggered toward the body. He dropped to his knees beside it and gritted his teeth. Then—he forced his hand into the chest cavity of the corpse.
Warmth. Resistance. And then…
Thump.
He gripped the heart.
And pulled it out.
The moment was surreal.
A moment of madness.
But Naeem didn't stop.
He bit into the heart and swallowed the flesh.
The taste was metallic, raw—and burned with heat unlike anything he'd felt before.
A surge of energy erupted inside him—foreign and wild. It coursed through his veins like fire and lightning combined. He could feel something new forming… something powerful.
It was fire.
Energy that could burn through anything. Power that could cauterize, destroy, or even heal.
He focused.
A flicker of flame sparked in his palm—hotter than anything he'd ever created before. His aura now pulsed with red, fire dancing with darkness.
With trembling control, he brought the flame to the bloody stump whare once his hand was.
The pain was immediate.
Unimaginable.
He screamed as the fire seared his flesh, closing the wound with brutal heat. The scent of burning skin filled the air.
Five seconds… six…
The bleeding stopped.
The fire dimmed.
And the pain gave way to silence.
(Oh, you're wondering how Naeem even knew eating the heart would awaken new powers? Simple. Every time he summoned energy, it started from the heart—then surged to the brain. That rhythm told him: the heart was the source… or at least, the first gate.)
But that was all Naeem could take.
His body trembled violently.
His strength gave out.
And without another word, he collapsed beside the still-burning body of his enemy.
Darkness claimed him.