“Crown of Blood, Shadow of Death”

The Laboratory of Horror

The flesh still clung to the walls. Blackened, burned flesh. The metallic stench of scorched blood drifted through the wreckage, thick like smoke.

Void stood amidst the massacre, his black coat drenched in the darkness he had created. The hall, once a secret research lab of the Blood Chain, had become a temple of death.

His work. His judgment.

Shattered tanks, filled with a nightmarish cocktail of chemicals and human remains.

Inside them had been people. People with resonance powers. Or what was left of them.

The experiments had left no trace of mercy.

•Lidless eyes, always open, even after death.

•Arms and legs, replaced by machines, just to test how long a human body could survive without a pain threshold.

•Cells with beings that were no longer human.

Void looked at the corpses.

No fear. No hesitation. Just silence.

The scientists who had created these horrors lay around him – their bodies grotesquely twisted, as if the darkness itself had passed judgment on them.

He hadn't just killed them.

He had given them what they had taken from others.

Their last moments had not been quick.

And the fire consumed their sins.

Void straightened. His mask—a polished, black shield—reflected the infernal scene.

"Prime Eden will be cleansed."

His words were quiet. No roar. No arrogance.

Just a statement.

And then he disappeared into the darkness.

The Message to Vex

Vex sat on his throne of cold metal, watching the holopad flicker before him. The live transmission from the lab was lagging, but he didn't need more than the last five seconds.

He saw how his men died.

Not in battle. Not by bullets or blades.

But like insects swallowed by something larger than them.

Something primal. Something that knew no rules.

Void.

Vex exhaled slowly. His right hand, Zephyr, stood tense like a predator ready to strike.

"He destroyed everything," Zephyr said.

"I see it."

Silence.

Outside, beyond the high windows of his hideout in the heart of the slums, the city was quieter than usual.

People whispered.

And that was worse than screams.

Void had crossed a line.

Vex rose. He wore no crown. But he didn't need one.

His gang, the Blood Chain, was his kingdom.

And no one—not even a phantom from the shadows—would destroy it.

"Call everyone," he said at last. His voice was calm. Too calm.

Zephyr hesitated. "Everyone? That means war."

Vex's smile was ice-cold.

"The war has already begun."

The Fire Spreads

Void vanished into the night, but the shadows of Prime Eden carried his name forward.

The slums were no place for hope, but tonight they had something new.

Faith.

•"He is real."

•"He brings justice to the guilty."

•"Void is the hunter we need!"

A man knelt in a dark alley, a shadowy mark on his skin—a sign that he had survived the attack.

Not because Void had spared him, but because he had proven himself innocent.

The legend grew.

And Vex knew it.

He understood what faith meant. He knew that faith was stronger than fear.

Void did not want a cult.

But that didn't matter.

The people had already decided.

In his territory, he was untouchable.

Where he was worshipped, Vex could not reach him.

And that made him more dangerous than any enemy before.

But Vex was not a man who accepted the untouchable.

Vex's Revenge: The Destruction of Sanctuaries

Three hours after the attack on the lab.

"The first troops searched the districts. No one has seen him."

Vex listened as his men reported. His gaze remained fixed on the streets.

"How many?"

"Twelve dead in the last few days. All executed. No survivors who accused Void."

Vex thought for a moment.

He knew how Void operated. He was no coward who hid.

He was a force of nature, always hunting for the next sin to erase.

And Vex knew how to trap a hunter.

But this time, it wasn't about setting a trap.

It was about control.

"We destroy his sanctuaries," Vex finally said.

Zephyr blinked. "What exactly do you mean?"

"The places where his followers find refuge. Where his legend grows."

The Sign in the Flames

Vex burned down three abandoned churches.

Sanctuaries for the weak.

Places where Void was worshipped.

But he didn't make it simple.

The fires were public, brutal—a spectacle.

People were dragged into the streets.

Those who didn't flee in time were burned alive.

The message was clear.

"I will destroy everything you think is safe.

You are not untouchable."

The Echo in the Night

Void watched the burning churches from the darkness.

It was a sign. A challenge.

He knew that the Blood Chain was hunting him.

He knew that Vex would not come himself.

But that didn't matter.

Because he had already found his next target.

The night swallowed the city.

The shadows grew.

And the war between Void and Vex had only just begun.