The rain had stopped by the time they emerged.
Up through broken tunnels and collapsed stairwells, Kai led them in silence, their bodies aching, their minds haunted by the chaos they had just escaped. The labyrinth was gone now—obliterated from beneath the city. What remained was a strange quiet, as though the earth itself was holding its breath.
Above ground, the city looked the same. But Kai knew better. Something had shifted. He could feel it—like the air had learned his name.
Not Kai.
Shade.
Felda emerged behind him, clutching her side where a chaos blade had grazed her. "No one's waiting for us," she said, almost surprised.
"I wouldn't be too sure," Ciro replied, his eyes scanning the skyline. "Look over there."
A few rooftops away, a silhouette moved.
Gone in an instant.
Kai said nothing. He felt them before he saw them—eyes, watching. Whispers already dancing in alleys. Shade had become real. Not a rumor. Not a trick of the Guild's broken tongue.
Now a myth walking the streets.
"Keep hoods up," Kai said. "We split here. Fade into the city."
Liam stepped forward, still pale from the magic that had almost taken his life. "Boss, what about regrouping? Supplies? Shelter?"
Kai's eyes were distant. "Later. For now, we scatter."
Felda gave him a long look, sharp and unreadable. "And you? Where will you go?"
Kai's voice was flat. "Home."
No one argued.
They vanished, each melting into the underbelly of the city like ghosts returned from a war no one knew had been fought.
Kai walked.
Alone.
The sky had begun to bruise orange by the time he reached the edges of the district he once called his own. It hadn't changed. Same rusted pipes crawling along concrete walls, same broken lamps flickering over alleys soaked in old secrets.
But it felt different now.
He was different now.
He kept his hood low as he passed the familiar noodle stand where the old man used to curse at kids for stealing bread. He was gone now. The shop was boarded. Forgotten.
Just like the boy Kai used to be.
He turned down a narrow street, counting the broken bricks in the sidewalk from memory. His old apartment was still standing—barely. Fourth floor. Shattered window. A crack along the eastern wall like a scar. He climbed the stairs slowly, ignoring the complaints of his bones.
Inside, dust coated everything.
His mother's old chair. The broken shelf he never fixed. The cot he used to share with his sister before she got sick and the Guild turned her away for being "useless."
He stood in the middle of the room and breathed.
The silence was heavier than anything he'd faced in the labyrinth.
He sat. Removed his cloak. Let the cold air touch the skin beneath his armor.
And for the first time since the awakening, he let himself feel the weight of it all.
The Grimoire sat in his pack, humming with forbidden power. The dagger at his hip had taken lives—creatures and men alike. He'd spoken words no human should know. Bent chaos to his will.
And it had listened.
At what cost?
The system chimed faintly in his mind.
> \[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
> **You have altered world trajectory.**
> Risk Level: Unstable
> Public Perception: Growing Fear
> Guild Alert Level: Yellow → ORANGE
> YOU ARE BEING WATCH.
He closed his eyes.
He wasn't just rising.
He was becoming something others would hunt.
A myth was powerful. A myth could move people. Terrify them. Inspire them.
But a myth was also dangerous.
And hunted.
He stood, moving to the small corner where a cracked mirror still hung. His reflection stared back—gaunt, bruised, changed. Eyes no longer soft. Now sharp. Like knives.
"Shade," he whispered. "Is this what you wanted?"
The system responded.
> \[INTERFACE RESPONSE]
> Power without restraint invites ruin.
> Continue forging legacy?
He didn't answer.
The rain had returned, lightly tapping the broken window.
His hands clenched.
He had power now—more than he'd ever imagined. He had followers, or the beginning of them. Felda. Eren. Ciro. Even Liam, though hesitant. And the city was beginning to whisper his name like it was prophecy.
But the Guild hadn't moved yet.
Why?
Because they didn't believe it?
Because they were afraid?
Or because they were waiting?
He would need to move carefully now. No more reckless assaults. No more ego-driven vengeance. Not if he wanted to survive long enough to reshape this world.
Not if he wanted to keep them alive.
He sat again, this time slower. His body was already beginning to scar in strange ways. Magic left a mark, and his blood wasn't like it was days ago.
He opened the Grimoire.
The pages flickered with dark runes, reshaping themselves as though alive.
A new spell had appeared.
\[Soulmark: Command Sigil]
{Bind a follower. Brand their soul with your will.}
They obey. Or burn.
*Cooldown: 48 hours*
*Cost: 1 Soul Shard*
He stared at it for a long time.
And closed the book.
He wouldn't use it.
Not yet.
A knock rattled the door behind him.
Three sharp taps.
Then silence.
He moved quietly, blade in hand, senses ready.
Another knock.
Then a voice.
Female. Familiar.
"I brought food."
He froze.
That voice hadn't touched his ears in over a year.
He opened the door slowly.
His sister stood there, soaked from rain, a bag in her hand. Her eyes widened when she saw him — older, harder, but still Kai.
"Didn't think you'd still use this place," she said, stepping inside without waiting.
He closed the door.
She set the bag down and turned. "You're alive. I thought you were dead."
Kai didn't answer.
"Or worse," she continued. "I heard stories. Whispers. A shadow walking the alleys. A killer who used to have your eyes."
Still, he said nothing.
She walked up to him, looking into his face with defiance. "Tell me it's not true."
He looked away.
"Tell me, Kai."
He spoke softly. "I'm not the same. I can't be."
Her voice broke slightly. "What did they do to you?"
"They didn't," he said. "I did it to myself."
A long silence.
Then she sat, the bag still unopened.
"You're going to burn," she said.
He nodded. "Maybe."
She looked at him again. "Then at least don't burn it alone."
He almost smiled.Let's go, then.
The small room hadn't changed, yet it felt like a battlefield—two versions of Kai clashing in silence.
His sister sat quietly by the old window, sipping lukewarm tea from a chipped mug she must've found under the shelf. Her eyes moved slowly, absorbing the space. "You never fixed that crack."
"I liked it," Kai murmured.
She turned to him. "Because it reminded you things were broken?"
He gave her a look that held both warning and affection.
She didn't flinch. "You were always like that. Holding onto damage like it gave you shape."
He turned away.
They sat for a while in silence, broken only by the soft rustle of the rain outside and the echo of boots on distant alleys.
Eventually, she spoke again. "They're saying you're not real. That 'Shade' is just fear in a cloak. A story to keep the Guild up at night."
Kai stood, pulled the Grimoire from his bag, and opened it. The air in the room chilled as its pages shifted again, ink swimming across the parchment.
His sister tensed. "What is that?"
"Something I should have destroyed. But it gives me what I need."
She stood slowly, hands trembling. "You're using chaos magic."
Kai didn't answer.
She stepped closer, voice rising. "Kai,no, this isn't just rebellion anymore. You're becoming the thing we used to fear. I looked into your eyes and didn't recognize the boy who used to cry when I got sick."
He didn't look at her. "He died."
"No," she snapped. "He changed. But he's not gone. I'm not letting you pretend this is some glorious rise. You're not ascending. You're being swallowed."
He shut the book.
The silence that followed wasn't peaceful. It was tight. Fragile. Full of all the truths neither of them wanted to say.
She finally whispered, "Please don't make me watch you disappear."
Kai looked down at his hand — marked with a new sigil that had burned itself into his palm after their last battle. A sign of his pact with chaos.
"I don't have the luxury of being Kai anymore."
She stepped back, her shoulders trembling.
"But…" he continued, softer, "if I'm to be Shade… then I'll build something worth the cost. I won't just destroy. I'll replace. Rebuild. Protect what little I have left."
"You can't protect anyone if you lose yourself," she said.
Kai placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then I'll find the line. Or die trying."
A knock interrupted them.
Then another. Lighter. Rhythmic.
Three slow, deliberate taps.
Kai tensed. His hand moved toward the dagger at his waist.
His sister backed away, eyes wide.
The knocking continued. Familiar. Repetitive. Like code.
He moved to the door, pressed his back to the wall, and opened it in a sharp motion—
No one.
Only a small box sat on the floor.
Wrapped in dark cloth.
He bent down, inspecting it. No traps. No aura. But something pulsed inside.
He brought it in slowly, unwrapping it on the floor.
Inside: a single obsidian ring, inlaid with a flickering rune that shifted like oil in water. Beneath it, a note.
> **To Shade.**
> *We see you. We admire. But beware.*
> *Power breeds pursuit.*
> *This gift accepts one soul. Mark them. Bind them. Or cast it aside.*
> *Choose well. You are not the only myth rising.*
His sister leaned over his shoulder. "What is it?"
Kai lifted the ring. It was heavier than it should've been. The rune inside pulsed with hunger. Need.
> \[ITEM ACQUIRED: RING OF OBEDIENCE]
> Artifact Class: Cursed
> Function: Binds a soul to yours
> Cost: Blood or Loyalty
> Warning: Use may attract attention from entities beyond the veil.
He closed his eyes.
More tools. More power.
More risk.
He set the ring down and stood, suddenly exhausted.
"Get some sleep," he told her.
She watched him. "And you?"
He hesitated. "I have to meet someone."
---
An hour later, in the lower docks where torchlight never reached, Kai stood beneath a rotting archway carved into the stone — a place where the city forgot its name.
A shadow stepped from behind a broken column. Hooded. Armor of mismatched plates. A sword stained with old blood.
Kai recognized the posture.
Eren.
"You came," Kai said.
Eren grinned. "I never left."
Kai stepped closer. "You did well. You survived."
Eren scoffed. "You say that like it wasn't your plan. We both know you picked us for a reason."
Kai didn't argue.
"I heard the name's spreading," Eren continued. "The Guild's on edge. They've upped patrols. Trying to draw Shade out."
"And yet you contacted me," Kai said.
Eren's grin faded. "Because I want in. For real. Not just following orders. I want to be part of what you're building."
Kai studied him. "Why?"
"Because I've been a pawn all my life. Tossed around. Kicked when convenient. You?" Eren's voice hardened. "You're not playing their game anymore. You're writing your own board."
Kai let the silence stretch.
Then pulled the ring from his pouch.
Eren looked at it, eyes flickering with suspicion.
"What is that?"
"An oath," Kai said. "One I can enforce."
Eren stared at it. Then nodded. "If it means I never have to crawl again—give it to me."
Kai handed it to him.
The moment Eren slid the ring on, his eyes flared with violet fire. He gasped, knees buckling. A dark rune seared itself into his neck ,not visible, but Kai could see it. A thread. A tether.
> \[NEW FOLLOWER ACQUIRED: EREN VALE]
> Status: Bound by Will
> Loyalty: 74%
> Obedience Threshold: Stable
> Note: Soul-Bonded. Insubordination triggers backlash.
Eren stood slowly, blinking.
"You good?" Kai asked.
Eren grinned. "Never better."
A shadow shifted behind them.
Felda stepped out, arms crossed.
"You sure you want him first?" she asked, voice neutral.
Kai turned to her. "Would you wear it?"
Felda shook her head. "Not until I see where this road ends. But I'll walk beside you. For now."
Kai nodded. "That's enough."
They moved, the three of them vanishing into the dark. Each step echoing deeper into the city's nervous system.
And far above, in the tallest spire of the Guild's Sanctum, High Marshall Veyra stood before a dozen gathered officers.
"Shade is no longer a rumor," she said. "He has followers. Magic beyond protocol. And an unknown source."
A projection shimmered behind her—grainy, shadowed—of Kai cleaving through chaos beasts with unnatural precision.
"We locate. We isolate. We eliminate."
One officer hesitated. "And if we can't?"
Veyra turned to him, her eyes cold as stone.
"Then we burn the city down until he has nowhere left to hide."