Kael stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders as he flopped onto the bed. "That's it for me. Eat, sleep—perfect way to end the day."
Max rubbed his eyes, swaying slightly where he stood. His breathing slowed. "Yeah… I'm suddenly getting really tired."
Ash shifted, a cold unease settling in his chest. His fingers curled against his palm. Too sudden. Too unnatural. His gaze flicked between the others. "Guys… you don't think it's weird that we're all feeling this at the same time?"
Max's half-lidded eyes snapped open. His breath hitched. His fingers twitched as he forced his hand up to his wrist. "Scan body."
A mechanical voice hummed to life.
"Body scan complete. You have been poisoned by a potent sleeping herb. Removal is impossible—body suit inactive."
Max's muscles tensed. His knees nearly buckled. A curse slipped past his lips, the weight pressing down on his limbs like thick chains. "Damn it… We've been poisoned."
Kael blinked slowly, his mind drifting in and out of focus. "Huh?" His head lolled slightly, lips parting, but the next words never came.
Ash clenched his jaw. His pulse pounded against his skull. "I knew they couldn't be trusted." He forced a step forward, his legs dragging like they no longer belonged to him. "But nooo, you guys didn't wanna listen."
His voice was sharp, but his body was failing. The room tilted. Each breath felt heavier than the last.
Max gritted his teeth, his fists trembling at his sides. "We've only got a few minutes before it fully kicks in." His vision swam, but he turned toward Ash, a flicker of desperation breaking through the haze. "I don't know if it'll work… but right now, we need that."
Ash's sluggish thoughts barely kept up. His body swayed. His eyelids drooped. "Need what?"
His voice came out softer than he wanted. His control was slipping.
————
The inn's wooden door groaned open, its hinges straining against the weight of time. A man stepped inside, his boots pressing against the creaking floorboards as his gaze swept across the unconscious figures sprawled across the room. A slow smirk curled his lips.
"Good. They're out."
Another figure followed, his shoulders tense. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. "Are we really doing this?" His voice barely carried over the dim glow of the lanterns.
The first man's eyes flickered, a shadow passing over them. "Unless you wanna send your own kid down there instead."
Silence thickened the space between them. Then, a slow, reluctant nod. "No choice, then."
Footsteps echoed as more figures emerged from the darkness—three men, their forms cutting through the dim light. One, a massive figure with arms like stone pillars, crossed them over his chest as he studied the sleeping trio.
"They'll do," he muttered. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, hoisting Kael onto his shoulder as if lifting a sack of grain.
The others followed suit, moving swiftly and without hesitation. Max's limp form slumped over one man's back, while Ash was hefted up, his body shifting slightly as they moved.
Through the narrow halls of the inn, down a winding corridor, they reached a stone wall. One of the men pressed his palm against the surface, and with a deep, grinding noise, the slab shifted aside, revealing a passageway descending into the earth.
The air grew colder with every step. Moisture clung to the rough walls, the wooden beams overhead groaning under the weight of the settlement above. Crystals embedded in the rock pulsed with a faint, sickly light, casting jagged shadows that flickered like ghostly figures.
Ash's eyelids fluttered. His body felt like it was sinking, weighed down by invisible chains, but his mind clawed its way toward consciousness. His vision blurred, colors blending into shifting silhouettes.
'Where the hell are they taking us?'
Then, beyond the wavering haze, he saw it.
A door loomed at the end of the tunnel, massive and uneven, as though hammered together in a desperate rush. Layers of stone and rusted metal reinforced its surface, but the cracks still showed. Thick chains hung from its frame, some snapped, others corroded, their links barely holding together.
A deep vibration rumbled beneath them, not the tremor of shifting earth but something slower, deliberate. Something alive. Something breathing.
The door groaned open.
Standing at the threshold, Old Man Mark watched them with an expression as unreadable as the void beyond him.
But behind him—
A hole.
The abyss yawned before them, an endless void stretching beyond sight. The walls, unnaturally smooth, glistened under the dim crystal light, as if something had carved through solid earth with raw, unrelenting force. The air pulsed, thick with something more than just damp and decay. It felt… alive.
Ash's breath came shallow, his stomach twisting. He didn't need to see it to know. Something waited down there.
Old Man Mark stood at the edge, his face unreadable. "Good," he muttered. "Just in time. It was about to wake."
One of the men shifted, his grip tightening on Max. "How long will three of them last?"
Mark's gaze lingered on the pit. "Three weeks. Maybe less. The thing feeds when it wants."
A heavy silence. Then, a slow nod. "Let's start."
Mark lifted a hand, pointing at Kael. "The one with the red stripe. First."
Ash's breath hitched. 'Kael.'
The man holding him hesitated, his arms tightening around the unconscious boy. His jaw clenched, a flicker of guilt crossing his face.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, voice barely audible over the distant rumble rising from the pit. "But if it's not you… it's my son."
He stepped forward, lifting Kael over the edge.
The earth trembled.
A deep, guttural noise rumbled from below, a vibration that clawed up through the stone and into Ash's bones. Dust rained from the ceiling. The chains hanging from the door rattled like restless ghosts.
The man holding Max stepped forward next.
Ash's pulse roared in his ears. His body still felt sluggish, but his mind sharpened, cutting through the haze. 'Kael is strong. But not like this. If he wakes up too late—'
His body moved before his thoughts could catch up.
A sharp twist—elbow snapping backward. The man holding him staggered. Ash wrenched himself free, feet slamming onto the stone. His legs wobbled, exhaustion clinging to him like lead, but he stood.
Mark's eyes flashed. "He's still awake—throw him in!"
Ash turned, locking eyes with him. His voice, cold and steady, cut through the air.
"You better pray I don't come back alive." His fingers curled into fists. "And if anyone touches my brother—" His gaze darkened, burning. "I'll make sure you regret it."
For the first time, Mark hesitated.
Ash didn't.
He glanced at Max.
Then, without another word—
He jumped.
The wind howled past his ears, darkness swallowing him whole. The pit stretched deeper than it seemed, its walls flashing past in jagged streaks. His body plummeted, weightless, but his mind—
His mind pulled back.
Back to the inn.
Max's spoke.
"You know…" Max yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I was afraid of this." His tone, usually light, had an edge to it. "I don't know exactly how your speed works, but I think it's messing with your body."
Ash frowned, blinking against the exhaustion dragging him under. "Messing how?"
Max hesitated, his eyes sharp despite the sleep clinging to them. "I think… you're aging faster the more you use it."
The words hit like a strike to the gut.
Ash forced himself upright. "What? That's not—"
"Now's not the time to argue," Max cut in, voice firm. "Right now, we need that speed of yours."
Ash met his gaze. Even tired, Max's expression was serious.
"Activate your ability right before you sleep," Max muttered, blinking slowly. "Maybe… it'll make you fall asleep faster…"
Ash hesitated. "And if it—"
A soft snore answered him. Kael was already out.
Max let out a slow breath. "If you don't do this… we might all die."
Ash exhaled, his decision clicking into place.
He activated his ability.
"[Activating skill: phantom's stride]"
The world blurred—his pulse surged—then—
Blackness.
And now, as he plunged through the abyss, memories folding into the present—
Ash's mind pulsed with a single thought.
'I guess he was right.'
The words barely formed before something else surfaced—a memory, sharp and clear.
[Phantom's Stride]
Type: Active Skill
Category: Empowerment
A technique that severs the chains of time, allowing the user to move beyond mortal constraints. The world slows to a dreamlike pace, while the user's body moves with ghostly speed—untouchable, unseen. To those who witness it, the wielder becomes a flickering shadow, striking before their presence is even registered.
Burden:
To walk the path of phantoms is to tread upon fleeting embers. Each use draws upon an unseen thread of vitality—unraveling in ways imperceptible at first, yet inevitable in time. The body, though swift, does not escape the toll, for even shadows fade when stretched too thin.
Ash exhaled. His fingers curled into fists. 'So that's what the burden means.'
No time to hesitate.
No choice.
He activated the ability again.
"[Activating skill: phantom's stride]"
The world twisted.
The air thickened, turning sluggish, syrup-like. Sound stretched, warping into something distant, something unreal. His heartbeat slowed, but his body—his body was weightless.
Time shattered into fragments.
Ash twisted midair, boots scraping the pit wall. With the grace of a phantom, he pushed off, momentum carrying him downward like a streak of shadow cleaving through the dark.
That's when he saw Kael.
His brother drifted below—limbs limp, body completely unguarded.
Ash's pulse surged. His muscles burned, screaming under the strain, but he ignored it. He forced his legs to move, his vision tunneling in on Kael's collar.
Almost there.
Now.
Fingers closed around fabric.
Time snapped back.
A deafening impact—bones jolting—lungs compressing—his knees slammed against stone, the force sending a violent tremor through his body.
He held on.
"[vein energy 75 %]"
Breath ragged, Ash lifted his head. His surroundings swam into focus—
And the breath left his lungs.
Bones.
Everywhere.
Pale remnants of the dead covered the cavern floor, stretching out into the shadows. Some lay scattered, brittle and broken. Others remained eerily intact, as if untouched by time.
Skulls—too small, too delicate—grinned up at him, hollow sockets gaping like silent accusations.
A sickness curled in his gut. His breath hitched, but the realization slammed into him all the same.
These weren't the remains of warriors.
They were children.
A dull ringing filled his ears. His stomach churned, but he couldn't look away.
This wasn't just a sacrifice.
It was a system. A ritual.
A routine.
The air turned heavy.
A low, guttural tremor rippled through the cavern, rolling over Ash's skin like a distant earthquake. Dust trickled from the ceiling, tiny grains of sand shifting as if something—something massive—was disturbing the very foundation of this place.
Then, a sound.
A deep, wet hiss.
Like something breathing—something alive.
Ash's grip on Kael tightened. His instincts screamed, but he already knew. They were not alone.
The darkness in front of him wasn't just empty space. It was moving.
A slow, sickening shift—almost imperceptible at first. The walls of the cavern seemed to slither, the shadows stretching, shifting, taking form.
Then, from the abyss, it emerged.
First came the head—if it could even be called that.
A gaping, circular void, lined with layers of teeth that spiraled inward like a vortex of jagged needles. The flesh around its maw pulsed, twitching as thick, black saliva dripped from the tips of its fangs. Each drop hit the cavern floor with a hiss, burning through the brittle bones scattered below.
Then came the rest.
A colossal body, segmented like an insect's but plated with rough, sand-colored armor. The thick ridges of its exoskeleton jutted outward in jagged, unnatural angles, as if the creature had been forged from the stone itself. The sheer length of it stretched beyond the darkness, disappearing into the cavern's depths.
And it was still moving.
Slithering forward—slow, deliberate.
The ground pulsed beneath its weight, the earth itself trembling as each ripple of movement sent a sickening vibration through Ash's bones.
Then, the smell hit him.
Rot.
Not just decay, but something older—something festering.
Ash's stomach twisted.
This wasn't a beast. This was a gravekeeper.
A predator that had gorged itself on the remains of countless others.
The worm let out a deep, hollow growl, a sound so vast it felt like the cavern itself was inhaling. The force of it ruffled Ash's clothes, sending another avalanche of dust and bones cascading from the ceiling.
It knew they were there.
Ash's breath turned shallow.
His mind raced, his instincts clawing for an escape—but there was none. The cavern walls stretched endlessly in every direction, and the only way out was past the thing blocking their path.
Then, the worm lunged.
BOOM.
The ground beneath him detonated.
A shockwave of dust and shattered bone burst outward, the sheer force of the impact sending deep fractures through the cavern floor.
Ash blurred to the side—just in time.
The creature's gaping maw slammed into the space he had been standing, splitting the earth open beneath its weight. Spiraling fangs clamped down on nothing but air, the sickly slurp of its saliva sizzling against the exposed stone.
Ash barely had a second to react before it came again.
Another lunge—faster.
The air pressure alone felt like a tidal wave, crashing against him as the worm's monstrous bulk twisted and snapped forward.
"[Activating skill: phantom's stride] "
Ash vanished.
Or at least, that's what it looked like.
His form flickered between the swirling dust, a mere shadow slipping through the gaps of reality. The worm struck again, each missed attack sending violent tremors through the cavern, shaking the underground chamber like a living nightmare.
Bones scattered like shattered glass.
The walls cracked, deep fissures forming as if the cavern itself was on the verge of collapse.
Ash moved on instinct, weaving between the creature's relentless assault. His lungs burned. His muscles screamed. Every flicker of movement tore at his body, but he didn't stop.
He couldn't stop.
Because Kael was still in his arms.
And he wasn't waking up.
"Wake up, dammit!" Ash growled, shaking him mid-dash.
No response. Nothing.
The idiot was still out cold.
Then, a whistle.
Not a sound—a warning.
Ash dropped low just as the worm's tail came crashing through the cavern with the force of a falling mountain. The air itself seemed to snap, bones and debris exploding outward like shrapnel.
Ash felt the shockwave slam into his back, nearly sending him tumbling forward.
No more dodging.
This thing wouldn't stop.
He needed space.
Now.
Ash whirled and bolted toward the wall.
His boots slammed against the stone, momentum driving him upward. Each step was a blur, the cavern stretching beneath him as he ascended higher—higher—until the air thinned and the battlefield below became a distant, writhing nightmare.
At the peak of his climb, he kicked off.
The rock shattered beneath the force, cracks splintering outward as his body shot into the air.
Suspended in the void, he twisted.
His gaze locked onto the abyss below.
And the horror waiting for him there.
The worm's body coiled beneath him, its movements impossibly calm.
Ash's stomach sank.
This thing wasn't panicking. It was waiting.
Studying him.
Like a predator watching prey squirm before the final strike.
A slow dread seeped into his veins.
Ash gritted his teeth.
How the hell was he supposed to fight something this big while carrying dead weight?
Kael had to wake up. Now.
A flicker of movement—then, without warning, Kael's eyes snapped open.
For a moment, there was only confusion.
His gaze darted around, pupils dilating as the world blurred past him. The rushing wind howled in his ears. The cavern walls flickered by in streaks of shadow and stone. His body felt weightless—his limbs caught in a freefall.
Then, his attention landed on Ash.
Holding him.
Like a damn princess.
Kael's breath hitched.
Then—
"LET GO OF ME!"
Ash smirked. And did exactly that.
Kael barely had time to process before the warmth around him vanished.
The sudden rush of gravity yanked at his stomach, sending him plummeting. His arms flailed wildly as panic clawed up his throat. The cavern's vast emptiness swallowed him whole, the wind tearing at his clothes, his heart hammering against his ribs.
Then, instinct kicked in.
His body twisted mid-air, forcing stability back into his descent. His breathing steadied, but the lingering shock remained, adrenaline spiking through his veins.
Above him, Ash hovered effortlessly—arms crossed, a smug grin stretched across his face.
Kael's blood boiled.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he barked, still catching his breath.
Ash didn't answer.
He just pointed.
Kael followed his gaze—
And the air in his lungs froze.
Below them, the darkness stirred.
A mountain of flesh and armor shifted in the abyss, its ridged form slithering with unsettling grace. The cavern trembled beneath its bulk, each ripple of movement sending tremors through the void.
Then—its maw twitched.
Rows of serrated, saw-like fangs glistened in the dim glow, still wet from its last unfortunate meal. The stench of rot thickened, crawling up Kael's throat like bile.
His stomach turned.
His pulse roared in his ears.
"Where… are we?" His voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper.
Ash's smirk widened.
"Hell."
The worm stirred.
And the darkness lurched toward them.