Building K’s basent at five in the morning felt like sothing out of a scary film - just bare walls, shaky lighting.
Rostova stood near a heavy vehicle, dressed in battle clothes. With her were two people she knew. Leon couldn’t na their faces and had zero interest in trying.
You showed up," she said like it was unexpected.
"You said it was important."
"Important. Right." Rostova gestured to the others. "This is Sergeant Kade, demolitions specialist. And Dr. Yuki Chen, field dic. They’re cleared for classified operations."
Kade had a build like heavy machinery, probably C-Rank, rooted in earth. Not tall, but Yuki carried herself tight, voice low, jittery vibes leaking out. One looked unshakable.
"We’re going into an Eclipse Zone," Rostova said flatly.
"Ford six hours ago near the eastern barrier. Started as C-Rank. Now it’s reading D-Rank minimum, possibly higher. Spatial distortions increasing. Ti dilation effects detected."
Leon’s gut sank. "Stretching ti?"
"Hour inside might be three hours out here. Or vice versa. We don’t know yet." She pulled up a holographic map. The Eclipse Zone looked like a wound in reality, pulsing, expanding slowly. "Command wants reconnaissance before committing a full response team. We go in, assess threats, tag any civilians still trapped, get out."
"And if we run into whatever’s causing the corruption?"
"Then we run faster." Not joking. "Your job is simple, Vale. Use those shadow senses of yours. Detect threats before they detect us. You’re our early warning system."
"I’m bait."
"You’re reconnaissance." She handed him a combat knife better quality than the academy standard. "And Vale? If sothing in there offers you power, offers you answers, offers you anything you say no. Eclipse Zones warp minds. Make you see things. Want things. Stay sharp."
They climbed onto the vehicle. Kade took the wheel. While Yuki went through the ds, his fingers trembled. In the rear seat, Leon stayed quiet, pushing away thoughts of his drained energy.
[ SHADOW ESSENCE: 12/100 ]
Twelve markers. Just shy of a single [Shadow Step], should crap hit the fan. rging wrecked his timing - total bad luck.
"First Eclipse Zone?" Kade said, staring ahead.
"Yeah."
"Advice? Don’t trust your senses. Space doesn’t work right in there. Up might be down. Left might be inside-out. Your brain will try to make sense of it and fail." He took a corner hard. "And whatever you do don’t touch the boundary walls. People who do tend to... stop. Just stop existing in aningful ways."
"That’s comforting."
"Wasn’t ant to be."
The eastern barrier stood there, huge, made of thick concrete and glowing force fields. Past that was the Eclipse Zone, clear to see even far off. Space twisted near it, kind of like sumr haze, but icy. Off sohow.
They moved past a soldiers’ roadblock. Guards let them go by, faces tense. All folks recognized Eclipse Zones. Most had seen friends vanish there.
The vehicle halted a hundred tres from the edge. Closer now, things got uglier. Leon peered through inside lay a warped scene, like a forest mixed with buildings mashed up in so awful dream after being crushed together.
"Check comms," Rostova said.
They tried out their radios. Though there was static, the connection stayed strong. At least temporarily.
"We stay together. Maximum three hours inside, then we extract regardless of findings. Yuki, you’re middle position. Kade, rear guard. Vale, you’re with on point." Rostova chambered a round in her sidearm. "Anyone gets separated, ergency beacon imdiately. Questions?"
Leon had roughly a grand. Didn’t ask any folks.
They got close to the edge. Leon’s [Eyes of the Night] kicked in without warning, revealing stuff he wished stayed hidden.
[ WARNING: EXTRE DARKLINE CONCENTRATION DETECTED ]
[ ECLIPSE ZONE CLASSIFICATION: UNSTABLE ]
[ SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: CALCULATING... ]
The system fell silent. It didn’t offer any numbers. Sohow, that felt heavier than a flat-out rejection.
"On my mark," Rostova said. "Three. Two. One. Mark."
They stepped through.
Reality broke.
Leon’s gut twisted hard. The pull of gravity spun sideways, flipped upward, jagged at angles it shouldn’t know. His sight split - three views overlapping, none matching what the others showed.
After that, things evened out - well, kind of.
They were standing where a road used to be. The structures leaned oddly, shapes so strange they made your eyes ache.
The sky looked dark purple, almost black, glowing from a strange moon not like our usual one. Instead, this thing had odd shapes on it. The shapes shifted slowly. They seed to stare right at you.
"You good?" Rostova’s words ca through fuzzy, even though she was standing just beside him.
"Explain what’s fine," Chen mumbled.
Kade just grunted.
Leon used [Shadow Glide] without thinking, liking how the dark made him feel protected. But these shadows acted strange clinging, almost grabbing at him. So he pushed back, fighting their tug every step.
[ SHADOW DENSITY: EXTRE ]
[ ESSENCE ABSORPTION POSSIBLE ]
[ WARNING: UNFILTERED ABSORPTION MAY CAUSE CORRUPTION ]
Sure thing, it’d happen just like that.
"Movent," Leon whispered. "Three o’clock. Fast."
A shape darted up the wall - spidery, yet off. More limbs than makes sense. Sharp, jagged lines everywhere. As it shifted, the air warped nearby, as if rewriting the world piece by piece.
Rostova lifted her arm. Right away, nobody moved.
The thing moved on maybe it didn’t see them, or just wasn’t interested.
They pushed further in. As they went, the layout twisted distances shifted without warning, trails circled round sohow, a spot that seed close needed way more walking than expected. Leon’s gear tried mapping again and again but crashed each ti, screen flashing warnings nonstop.
"There," Yuki pointed.
A structure. Not as warped as the rest. Inside, past cracked glass, shapes shift - soone’s moving around.
"Survivors," Kade said.
"Or what’s left of them." Rostova approached cautiously. "Vale, anything?"
Leon stretched out his shadow sense. The structure seed... dead. Not quite. Empty inside. As if a force had carved out everything living, keeping only the shell.
"I don’t think..."
The screaming started.
Not coming from the structure. But from every side. Surrounding him completely. A noise that ripped into Leon’s mind, setting his jaw tight and blurring what he saw. Not just a single cry. More like countless voices. Maybe even millions. Shouting the exact sa thing again and again - using tongues older than people ever were.
RUN!" Rostova took off without checking if anyone followed.
They ran.
The Zone stirred. Structures slid sideways. Earth heaved, smooth like waves. Dark shapes peeled off walls, moving fast - real shadows, after them, driven by need so strong Leon nearly tasted it.
[ HOSTILE SHADOWS DETECTED ]
Check extraction needed? Yes or no
Later, machine. Not right now - seriously.
Yuki got yanked - slamd into the ground as dark vines pulled her back. Kade spun around, palms buzzing with orange light, ready to unleash a burst. That flash flared across the Zone, shoving the gloom aside for just a second.
Yuki shot to his feet, blood dripping from several slashes - sharp, clean edges, like razor wounds. Get out! Just move!
They slamd open the door, rushing into....
Silence.
Nothing moved. The shrieking stopped - sudden, like a switch flipped. Inside a round room. In the middle, a figure rested on a seat built from warped steel and old bones.
Leon’s blood froze in his veins.
It seed human, Skin so pale, like sunlight was a stranger to it. Features sharp, almost too neat, as if nature hadn’t made ’em. Dressed odd, old-tiy style Victorian? Dark silk hung heavy, pinned with silver bits. Then those eyes... red they were, slow-darting, watching without effort.
"Well," it murmured tone sweet yet sharp - "guests arrive now, eh? Quite unexpected
[ DARKLINE SIGNATURE: VAMPIRE ]
[ CLASSIFICATION: MARQUIS-CLASS ]
[ THREAT LEVEL: EXTRE ]
[ RECOMNDATION: FLEE IMDIATELY ]
Rostova lifted her gun. "Back off everyone, move slow."
The vampire smiled. Didn’t move from its throne. "Commander Eva Rostova. Decorated officer. Fourteen years of service. Currently operating a covert rescue network for awakeners the Federation deems... problematic." Its eyes flicked to Leon. "And you. The little shadow that’s been making such interesting ripples."
Leon froze. He couldn’t gasp for air. Right there sa figure from his dreams. The guy behind the Blood Thrall? That was Marquis Kain.
"You’ve been extracting my scouts," Kain continued, still smiling. "Tainting my corrupted beasts with your greedy little system. I was curious. Now I’m intrigued." It leaned forward. "Tell , child. Do you know what you’re becoming?"
"Leon, don’t answer," Rostova warned.
"He doesn’t know." Kain laughed. "Of course he doesn’t. The system only shows you what you need to survive. Not what you’re ant to beco." It stood, movents fluid and wrong. "You’re a Monarch’s vessel. A throne-heir. There are nine of you scattered across the world, each carrying a fragnt of the old powers. You just happen to have the Shadow throne."
Nine. His thoughts spun wild - eight more out there just like him.
"The Crimson Moon didn’t awaken you, child. It called to what was already inside you. Sleeping. Waiting." Kain spread its hands. "I could kill you now. Should, perhaps. One less competitor for what’s coming. But where’s the fun in that?"
It brushed against the breeze. Then, reality wavered a bit. Behind it, a gap appeared outta nowhere.
"Grow stronger, little heir. Consu more shadows. Beco what you’re ant to be." Kain stepped toward the portal, then paused. "Oh, and your family. The twins, was it? Lily and Maya? Such bright smiles. Would be a sha if sothing happened to them."
Leon lunged forward on instinct. The Shadow Step flared up, draining what little energy he had left. Behind Kain - he blinked into place, blade lifted.
The vampire caught his wrist without looking. "Good. Instinct over reason. You’ll need that." It released him, shoving him back. "We’ll et again when you’re ready. When you’ve collected enough shadows to be worth my ti."
Kain moved into the gateway - then it shut behind him.
The seat broke into dust.
The whole Zone started falling apart.
"OUT!" Rostova grabbed Leon. "Everyone out NOW!"
They sprinted while everything broke down nearby. Structures lted away. Cracks split the earth open. Shouts ca back - sharper, filling every space, echoing through Leon’s mind.
They shot past the edge.
Feel actual grass underfoot. Breathe fresh air, crisp and clean. Experience normal gravity - finally sothing predictable.
Behind them, the Eclipse Zone collapsed crackling like shattered glass mixed with distant rumbles, while faint murmurs hissed through the air.
Then silence.
The four collapsed, breathing hard. Right away, help showed up paradics first, then cops. Leon just stared, too dazed to make sense of what they were asking.
All he kept thinking ’bout was what the vampire said.
Nine throne-heirs.
Shadow throne.
Your family.
Rostova grabbed his shoulder. "What you saw in there stays classified. Understood?"
Leon nodded numbly.
Still, it was too late. Kain had found out about the girls. Found their location. As for Leon....
His shadow reached far over the grass - deeper now, eager.
[ DARKLINE ESSENCE ABSORBED: 15 ]
[ SHADOW ESSENCE: 12/100 → 27/100 ]
Hold on. Nothing was taken by him. The place gave it freely. Tainted energy slipped in - just being near was enough.
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