Yuuta’s eyes froze the moment he saw the shadow figure standing in the distance once again.
The familiar fear immediately crawled back into his heart, making his entire body tense instinctively. Every time he encountered that mysterious figure, an indescribable uneasiness consumed him.
It wasn’t merely fear of the unknown. It felt... personal. As though the existence before him represented something deeply connected to himself.
Yet no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how or why.
His breathing gradually became heavier as he continued staring at the figure. Suddenly, the shadow took a slow step backward without breaking eye contact.
Then another. It wasn’t running away. It was retreating with purpose, almost as if it wanted Yuuta to follow.
Yuuta’s feet refused to move.
Every instinct inside him screamed at him to turn around and leave this place immediately.
The overwhelming fear continued whispering that chasing the figure would only lead him toward something terrifying. However, just as he hesitated, Isvarn’s words suddenly echoed inside his mind.
"Do you know how horrifying the world of Nova truly is? You should consider yourself fortunate that you haven’t encountered its true monsters yet."
The old dragon’s voice lingered within his thoughts, causing Yuuta to slowly clench his fists. He lowered his head for a brief moment before letting out a long breath.
"...How long am I going to keep running away?"
He quietly laughed at himself.
Until now, fear had always dictated his decisions. Every answer he sought had been placed before him, yet he had continued hesitating, waiting for someone else to reveal the truth. If this power truly belonged to him... if this place held the answers to his past...
"...Then I’ll take back what’s mine."
Without another moment of hesitation, Yuuta took his first step toward the shadow figure.
The instant his foot touched the ground, the figure stopped retreating.
Although its face remained completely hidden beneath endless darkness, Yuuta could somehow tell...
It was smiling.
Not with its lips.
But with its presence.
The feeling sent another chill through his body, yet this time he didn’t stop.
He took another step, then another, his eyes never leaving the mysterious figure.
The shadow resumed walking backward, matching Yuuta’s pace perfectly.
No matter how quickly Yuuta advanced, the distance between them never seemed to shrink. It was as though the figure wanted him to continue chasing it while making sure he could never quite reach it.
Frustration slowly replaced hesitation.
Yuuta suddenly broke into a sprint.
His footsteps echoed throughout the endless darkness as he charged forward, refusing to let the figure escape again.
Yet the shadow reacted immediately, turning and running deeper into the darkness without ever looking away from him.
The strange chase continued as though both of them were connected by an invisible thread, neither willing to lose sight of the other.
Despite running with everything he had, Yuuta couldn’t close the distance.
As the chase continued, the world around him slowly began to change.
The endless darkness gradually dissolved into thick gray mist that rose from both sides like towering walls.
The deeper he ran, the denser the fog became, swallowing everything beyond a few meters of his vision. Even so, Yuuta refused to look away from the shadow.
He had already made up his mind.
Whatever answers awaited him...
He would reach them.
But just as he finally felt close enough to grab the shadow’s shoulder, the mysterious figure suddenly slipped away into the thick mist ahead as though it had become one with the darkness itself.
Yuuta lunged forward without thinking.
Yet his hand grasped nothing but empty air.
Soon.... after chasing the mysterious figure for what felt like an eternity, Yuuta finally came to a halt.
His chest rose and fell violently as exhaustion finally caught up to him. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest while beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
No matter how desperately he had run, the distance between them had never shortened even once. It was as if the shadow existed beyond his reach, forever staying just far enough away to tempt him into continuing the chase.
Yuuta bent over slightly, resting both hands on his knees as he struggled to steady his breathing.
"...What’s wrong with him?" he muttered between heavy breaths.
"Why does he keep running away?"
The strange thing was...
The moment Yuuta stopped running...
The shadow figure stopped as well.
It simply stood there in the endless gray darkness, staring back at him without moving another step. Neither of them spoke. Neither of them looked away. The only thing connecting them was that unsettling silence and the feeling that this encounter had happened countless times before.
Yuuta’s frustration slowly replaced the fear in his heart.
He had chased this thing without hesitation. He had ignored his instincts, faced his fear, and followed it into the unknown, yet it continued keeping its distance for reasons he couldn’t understand.
Finally, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer.
"Why are you running away from me?" Yuuta shouted.
His voice echoed endlessly through the strange world before gradually fading into silence.
The shadow figure didn’t answer.
It continued watching him without making the slightest movement.
Yuuta clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
"Stop running away."
His breathing was still uneven, but his voice carried far more determination than before.
"If you’re truly my power..."
"...then you belong to me."
For the very first time since they had met...
The shadow responded.
Its crimson eyes slowly narrowed, almost as though it were carefully judging every word Yuuta had spoken.
Several long seconds passed before it finally opened its mouth.
The voice that emerged sounded strangely familiar, neither old nor young, carrying an indescribable calm that sent another chill crawling down Yuuta’s spine.
"You are not ready."
Yuuta frowned.
Confusion immediately filled his face.
"...Not ready?"
He unconsciously took a step forward.
"What does that even mean?"
"Not ready for what?"
The shadow didn’t answer.
Instead, it slowly raised one hand before extending a single finger toward Yuuta.
Yuuta instinctively looked down at himself.
Me?
Why is he pointing at me?
He couldn’t understand.
His body was exactly the same as before. There were no wounds, no changes, and nothing unusual about his surroundings. Yet the shadow continued pointing in his direction without saying another word, almost as though it wanted Yuuta to notice something on his own.
Before Yuuta could question him again...
He heard it.
At first...
It was so faint that he almost mistook it for his imagination.
A low rumble echoed somewhere behind him.
It sounded distant.
Very distant.
Like thunder rolling across an endless sky.
Yuuta slowly frowned.
The sound continued growing louder.
The ground beneath his feet began vibrating ever so slightly. Tiny ripples spread across the gray surface while the strange mist surrounding him started swirling violently, as though something unimaginably massive was forcing the air itself to move.
A cold feeling spread through Yuuta’s body.
His instincts screamed at him.
Don’t turn around.
For reasons he couldn’t explain, every fiber of his being begged him to keep his eyes on the shadow figure.
Yet...
He couldn’t ignore the growing noise behind him.
Slowly...
Almost unwillingly...
Yuuta turned his head.
The moment his eyes landed on the scene behind him...
His entire body froze.
His breathing stopped.
His mind went completely blank.
The gray mist he had assumed was nothing more than a wall surrounding this world wasn’t a wall at all.
It was moving.
No...
It had always been moving.
It was an unimaginably enormous tsunami made entirely of gray mist, rushing toward him with unstoppable force.
The colossal wave devoured everything behind it as though existence itself was being erased. It stretched so high into the heavens that Yuuta couldn’t even see its peak.
If Mount Everest had been standing before that monstrous wall, it would have looked no larger than a pebble resting at its feet.
Yuuta stood rooted to the spot, unable to breathe, unable to think, and unable to move.
For the first time since entering this strange world...
He truly understood why the shadow had kept running.
The colossal wall of gray mist continued surging toward Yuuta with terrifying speed.
Every passing second made its true size even more incomprehensible. It wasn’t simply large. It was beyond anything his mind could process.
The closer it came, the more insignificant he felt, as though a single human was trying to stand against an entire world collapsing upon him.
The violent roar shook the endless darkness, and the pressure released by the approaching tsunami alone made it difficult for him to breathe.
Yuuta’s instincts screamed at him.
Run.
Without wasting another second, he spun around, intending to follow the shadow figure once more.
His heart skipped a beat.
The shadow...
Had disappeared.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of its existence remaining. The place where it had stood moments ago was now nothing but endless gray emptiness. Yuuta’s eyes darted around frantically, desperately searching for the mysterious figure, but it was nowhere to be found. It was as though it had never existed in the first place.
"Damn it!"
Yuuta gritted his teeth.
He no longer had the luxury of searching.
The deafening roar behind him continued growing louder with every heartbeat, forcing him to abandon every question racing through his mind. Without looking back again, he threw himself forward and sprinted as fast as his legs would carry him. His footsteps echoed endlessly through the strange world while the monstrous wave relentlessly pursued him from behind.
The mist wasn’t merely flowing.
It was alive.
It twisted violently through the air like countless enormous serpents intertwining with one another. The gray clouds churned endlessly, releasing an overwhelming pressure that made Yuuta feel like nothing more than an insect fleeing before a natural disaster. Every breath he took became heavier as the terrifying wave rapidly closed the distance between them.
"No...!"
Yuuta pushed his exhausted body even harder.
His legs burned.
His lungs screamed.
Yet no matter how desperately he ran, the roaring behind him only grew louder.
Then...
The mist caught him.
A violent force slammed into his back with unimaginable power, instantly throwing his body off balance. Before he could even cry out, countless currents of gray mist wrapped around him like invisible hands and dragged him deep inside.
Yuuta struggled instinctively, throwing punches and kicking wildly in every direction, but nothing responded. His body was tossed around helplessly as though he had fallen into the middle of a raging ocean, unable to tell which direction was up or down.
Everything around him disappeared.
There was no sky.
No ground.
Only endless gray.
The strange current continued carrying him deeper and deeper until he completely lost all sense of direction.
After what felt like an eternity, the violent movement gradually came to a stop.
Yuuta slowly opened his eyes.
"...Where am I?"
His confused voice echoed softly through the endless mist.
"Why..."
"Why do these strange things keep happening to me again and again?"
He slowly turned his head, trying to understand his surroundings, but the thick gray mist stretched endlessly in every direction. It wasn’t like ordinary fog.
The mist possessed an almost physical presence, as though it were made from countless tiny particles packed together. Curious, Yuuta cautiously reached out with one hand.
The moment his fingers touched it, his expression changed.
"It feels..."
"...real."
The mist wasn’t something his hand simply passed through. It resisted him ever so slightly, almost like touching flowing water that had somehow become denser.
Tiny silver specks floated throughout the gray clouds, sparkling like countless stars scattered across the night sky. The entire place radiated an eerie beauty that was impossible to describe.
Beautiful...
Yet terrifying.
Yuuta couldn’t shake the feeling that he had wandered somewhere he was never meant to enter. Every instinct within him warned that he was prey standing inside a predator’s territory.
Although nothing appeared around him, the suffocating sensation of being watched refused to disappear. It felt as though countless unseen eyes were silently observing his every movement from somewhere beyond the mist.
Swallowing nervously, Yuuta forced himself to continue walking.
His footsteps were slow and cautious as he followed the only path visible before him. The deeper he ventured into the gray mist, the more his surroundings gradually began taking shape.
The first change appeared beneath his feet.
The empty darkness gradually faded away as an ancient stone floor emerged from beneath the swirling fog, allowing him to finally see where he was stepping. He instinctively lowered his gaze and slowed his pace.
The stone beneath him was uneven, covered with countless cracks that stretched in every direction. Time had clearly taken its toll upon it.
Many of the slabs had collapsed inward while others were chipped and worn, as though they had endured thousands of years without a single soul maintaining them.
Yuuta crouched down for a brief moment and ran his fingers across the weathered surface. The stone felt rough and strangely cold despite the surrounding mist.
Faded carvings could still be seen engraved into several of the broken tiles, although centuries of erosion had made them impossible to understand.
Everything about the place reminded him of the ancient ruins he had only seen in documentaries and history books. It didn’t feel like a dream at all. Instead, it felt as though he had unknowingly wandered into the forgotten remains of a temple... or perhaps a dungeon that had existed long before human civilization itself.
He slowly rose back to his feet and continued moving forward.
With every step he took, more of the gray mist gradually disappeared, revealing pieces of the hidden world around him.
Massive stone walls slowly emerged from the fog on both sides, stretching far beyond his vision. They were just as ancient as the floor beneath his feet, covered with cracks, broken pillars, and countless strange symbols that had long since faded into the rock.
The ceiling remained hidden within the lingering mist above, making it impossible to tell whether he was walking inside an enormous cave, an underground sanctuary, or some forgotten palace buried beneath the earth.
Yuuta’s heartbeat grew faster.
The deeper he ventured inside...
The more this place felt real.
He cautiously took another step.
Then another.
Nothing happened.
Seeing that everything remained quiet, Yuuta unconsciously relaxed and placed one more foot forward.
The instant his boot touched the ground...
It found nothing.
"Huh...?"
Yuuta instinctively looked down.
His face instantly lost all color.
The ancient stone floor had suddenly vanished beneath him, replaced by an enormous staircase descending into endless darkness.
He had unknowingly stepped beyond the edge of the platform without even realizing it.
"...Ah."
The realization came too late.
His body tilted forward before gravity completely took over.
"Oh, shit!"
"Fuuuuuck!"
Yuuta tumbled headfirst down the ancient staircase.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs as his body slammed against one stone step after another.
Pain shot through every part of his body while he continued rolling uncontrollably down what felt like an endless flight of stairs.
Somehow, his survival instincts reacted faster than his panicking mind. He quickly tucked his head against his chest, wrapped both arms around it, and curled his body into the tightest ball he could manage, desperately trying to protect his neck from breaking against the unforgiving stone.
"Shit...!"
"What the hell is this place?!"
Every curse that left his mouth was interrupted by another painful collision. His shoulders struck the stairs. His back slammed into another corner. His hips bounced violently against the uneven stone as he continued rolling downward without any way of stopping himself.
The staircase seemed impossibly long, making every second feel like an eternity while his entire body begged for the torture to end.
After nearly a full minute of tumbling through the ancient ruins...
His body was suddenly thrown forward.
Crash!
Yuuta slammed heavily onto a solid stone floor before finally coming to a stop.
"...Ouch..."
He lay there motionless for several seconds, groaning in pain while trying to remember whether all of his bones were still intact.
Every part of his body ached, and a painful throbbing pulsed through the back of his head. Slowly rubbing the sore spot with one hand, he let out a long breath before forcing himself to open his eyes.
The moment he did...
He froze.
The gray mist was gone.
Completely gone.
For the first time since entering this mysterious place, his surroundings were perfectly clear.
Yuuta slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, his crimson eyes widening as they wandered across the enormous chamber surrounding him.
The room was unimaginably vast, supported by towering stone pillars covered with intricate carvings that reached high into the darkness above.
Ancient braziers lined both sides of the chamber, though none of them burned with fire anymore. Dust blanketed every surface, giving the impression that nobody had entered this place for countless centuries.
"...A temple?"
Yuuta whispered unconsciously.
His voice echoed softly through the silent hall.
"What... is this place?"
"And why..."
"Why does everything feel so real?"
"This was supposed to be a dream, just like the Soul Realm. But everything around me felt far too real. It made me wonder... had I somehow entered another nightmare?"
His heart continued pounding inside his chest as he slowly stood up and looked straight ahead.
Standing before him was an enormous stone gate unlike anything he had ever seen.
It towered over the chamber like the entrance to another world.
Strange symbols covered its entire surface, intertwining into intricate formations that defied any language Yuuta recognized. At the very center of the gate rested a gigantic emblem carved directly into the stone.
It resembled an octopus.
Its countless tentacles spread across the entire door, twisting around the mysterious symbols as though they were protecting whatever lay beyond.
Yuuta stood there speechless.
A cold shiver slowly traveled down his spine as he stared at the ancient gate.
"...Where..."
He unconsciously swallowed.
"...Where exactly am I?"
To be contiuned....
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