The Shadows Loom

Author's Note:

I'd like to take a moment to thank 

"TheGamE_ChangerR"

 for the powerstones and also the three amazing people who added my book to their collections! Your support means so much to me and keeps this story alive. Thank you for being part of this journey of mine and Leo's. We've got a lot more ahead, so stay tuned!

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Leo's breath hitched as he stepped into the biting cold air outside the facility. Walking out alive felt like some kind of victory—but he knew this wasn't over. Not yet. The faint glow of the Tier 6 pill still sat heavily in his pocket, radiating heat as though it could sense his unease. His heart pounded behind a steely expression, masking the turmoil within. Beside him, Mike staggered slightly, still shaken from Ms. Frost's interrogation

Neither of them spoke as they crossed the threshold of Red Dawn's shadow, passing through the facility's silent and foreboding gates. It wasn't freedom, not truly. Leo could still feel the invisible leash tugging at his neck. The Core was stashed securely back in his bag, but it felt heavier now, as if Ms. Frost's unnerving smile lingered on it, etched into its surface like one of the runes they'd seen in Sector 12. 

"She let us walk out," Mike muttered weakly, breaking the silence. His voice was bitter and disbelieving. "Why?" 

Leo didn't respond immediately. His gaze was locked on the horizon, scanning the jagged ruins around them for any signs of movement. The area was desolate—Sector 14, long abandoned after the surge of mana beasts. Even without visible threats, his nerves buzzed like live wires. 

"They're not done with us," he finally said, his voice low. "The Core… it's still exactly what they want. Keeping us alive gives them leverage. This wasn't mercy—it was calculation." 

Mike snorted, though the sound lacked a real humor. "Why do I feel like we didn't walk out ahead? I don't know, man. I feel like we're playing a game where everyone knows the rules but us." 

"We are," Leo replied grimly. 

Mike stumbled again, catching himself on a broken slab of concrete. His breaths came shallow, and the exhaustion from their ordeal was finally catching up to him. Leo hesitated, then pulled out the Tier 5 pill Ms. Frost had handed over. 

"Take this," he urged, holding it out to his friend. 

Mike met his gaze, frowning, hesitant. It was clear he didn't trust anything that had come from her gloved hands. "You really think it's safe? That witch doesn't do favors." 

"She doesn't," Leo admitted, "but if she wanted us dead, we wouldn't have walked out in the first place. We need to stay alive long enough to figure out what they're planning." 

After a long pause, Mike took the pill and swallowed it. Almost immediately, the faint glow of mana surrounded him, warm and rejuvenating, and the lines of pain eased slightly from his face. 

"You're sure good at pretending you understand things," Mike muttered as he stretched his sore limbs. But his tone softened when he added, "Thanks, man." 

As they moved further from the facility, the tension between them grew unspoken, hanging in the air like a storm cloud. 

Mike finally broke the silence, his voice taut with suspicion. "Leo, I've been thinking... Ms. Frost wasn't just interested in the Core. She was interested in *you*. Why? What did you do?" 

Leo paused mid-step, glancing sidelong at his friend. "What are you trying to say?" 

"I'm saying that maybe you're *not* telling me everything." Mike's brows furrowed as he steadied himself. "This whole thing feels wrong—the Core, the way it let us be dragged us into this, and Ms. Frost acting like your secrets are more valuable than anything else. If we're going to survive, I need to know what you're hiding." 

Leo's jaw tightened. Heat rose in his chest, though not anger—fear. This was exactly the conversation he hadn't wanted to have, and Mike's words cut deeper because they weren't wrong. 

"I don't have all the answers, Mike," Leo said, his voice was deceptively calm. "I grabbed the Core back in Sector 12 because it called to me. Something pulled me toward it. And ever since… I don't know. I've felt like it's connected to me somehow." 

"Connected? What does that even mean?" Mike asked, exasperated. 

"I don't know!" Leo snapped, his frustration finally breaking through his careful mask. "I didn't ask for this. But if you want to turn around and walk away, go ahead!" 

Mike fell silent, his expression dark but unreadable. After a moment, he muttered, "You know I'm not walking away. I'm in this mess with you." 

It wasn't forgiveness, but it was enough to keep them moving forward together—for now. 

As they moved further away from Red Dawn's territory, the ruins around them grew eerily quiet. The wind howled in soft bursts, carrying with it the faint scent of decay. 

"Do you feel that?" Mike suddenly asked, his voice was very low. 

Leo nodded without replying. The air had changed—thicker, heavier, and cold in a way that seeped past skin and sank into the bones. 

Just as he was about to suggest picking up the pace, the ground beneath them trembled, a faint ripple like something far below was stirring. 

Mike froze, his eyes wide with alarm. "No way. That's impossible." 

Leo narrowed his eyes. "What?" 

"You remember the notice about the Abyss Beast yesterday, right? How there was only supposed to be one of them? The one that made it into Sector 9?" Mike's voice wavered, but he kept moving, his eyes scanning the ruins ahead like a hunted animal. "They called it Nithael, the Voidclaw. That thing was supposed to be captured, neutralized, done with. But this…" He gestured at the claw marks gouged into the nearby stone rubble, faint but unmistakable. "This doesn't look like 'neutralized.' This feels like it's injured—injured but still alive."

Leo felt his stomach twist at the mention of the name. He remembered the official broadcast, too—the cold, clipped language of the inner-city enforcers assuring everyone that the breaches had been resolved. But now, with every dragging step through the ruins of Sector 14, the quiet words of that announcement echoed in his head, laced with subtle evasion he hadn't caught before.

"They never actually said they killed it, did they?" Leo muttered, more to himself than to Mike. "They made a big deal out of 'containing the crisis' and 'removing the immediate threat.' But something about that announcement…" He trailed off, his eyes darting to a nearby pile of crumpled steel beams, bent inward, like a powerful force had folded them. A wave of unease settled over him.

"That announcement only cared about Sector 9," Mike interjected, his voice sharp and bitter now. "They didn't give a damn about what happened after. They locked down the situation just enough to secure the inner sectors, kept the 'official reports' neat and tidy, and then left this..." He gestured broadly at the eerily empty streets around them, his expression dark. "This mess. Injured or not, they didn't care because it's out here—beyond their jurisdiction. Out here, it's someone else's problem to deal with—or ignore."

Leo's grip tightened on the strap of his bag as he scanned the desolation ahead. "So if this really is Nithael, then where the hell has it been this whole time?"

Mike's voice dropped to a whisper. "Maybe hiding. Or maybe waiting. And now, it knows we're here."

For the first time, Leo noticed the faint drag marks in the broken dirt around them. Long, uneven streaks, half-covered by debris but still visible if you looked closely enough—evidence of something that had crawled, struggled, and bled its way through this sector. His gut churned.

"We're in its territory, Leo," Mike said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "The Voidclaw never stopped hunting. It just moved farther out. And now it knows we're here."

"But it doesn't hunt randomly, does it?" 

Mike's face paled, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Not unless it senses something… something powerful. Something it can use."

Both their gazes slid toward Leo's bag, where the Core pulsed faintly, almost imperceptibly. 

"Oh, no," Leo muttered under his breath. And then the ground trembled again, harder this time. 

A low, unnatural sound broke through the air, something between a growl and a void-like hum. It reverberated in their chests, making it hard to breathe. Then, out of the shadows of the broken ruins ahead, they saw it. 

*Nithael, the Voidclaw*, emerged slowly, its dark, rippling form blending and fracturing with the air around it. Its shape resembled that of a massive panther, but its fur wasn't fur at all—it was void, constantly swallowing light and space, folding in on itself. Its eyes shone with an eerie, otherworldly orange—the kind of glow that wasn't light but the absence thereof. 

"So... there it is," Mike whispered, his voice barely audible, trembling as his wide-eyed gaze locked onto the dark figure beyond the rubble.

Leo didn't respond. He was too busy calculating and searching for options, any options. 

The creature emerged from the shadows, its void-riddled form rippling like broken glass. It moved silently, predatory, orange eyes glowing like twin embers.

Then, it twisted.

For a moment, its form shimmered and fractured, splitting into two identical beasts. The clone peeled away, yet their movements remained eerily synchronized, like two parts of the same mind.

"It just split," Mike choked, stumbling back.

Leo's fists clenched as the beasts began to circle them, one moving left, the other right. "It's not two," he muttered, his voice tight. "It's one—one monster in two bodies."

The Voidclaws growled in unison, a sound that vibrated the ruins beneath their feet. The circle tightened.

"Run," Leo hissed, already grabbing Mike's arm and pulling him back. 

Mike didn't argue. They broke into a sprint, feet slamming against stone as the beasts let out an ear-splitting screech and launched into pursuit. Behind them, the air itself warped and cracked where the beasts' presence passed, reality bending in their wake. 

The Core pulsed harder in Leo's bag. He could feel it, pulling at him, straining as though reacting to the beasts' presence. 

Their sprint led them to an intersection of collapsed buildings. Dead ends loomed in two directions, and the Voidclaws were closing in fast. The air grew colder as the beasts' heavy steps reverberated closer. 

Mike doubled over to catch his breath, panic written all over his face. "We're not gonna make it," he wheezed. 

But Leo refused to give in. He gritted his teeth, hand brushing over the Core inside his bag. "We have to make our own way." 

As *Nithael* materialized out of the shadows again, its void-riddled form stalking forward with terrible elegance, Leo made a decision. A stupid one. 

He pulled the Core from his bag, its faint glow intensifying as his grip tightened. 

"What are you doing?!" Mike shouted. 

"No idea!" Leo shot back. He closed his eyes, focusing on the Core, willing it to do *something* even though he didn't know what he wanted to do. The glyphs on its surface began to shine faintly, resonating with the air as if answering his desperate plea. 

*Nithael's* growl turned into a roar, the sound shaking the ruins as its companion flanked it. 

The light from the Core erupted suddenly, bathing the area in a blinding flash. 

When Leo opened his eyes, the world was spinning, his vision blurred from the burst of energy—but the Voidclaws were still there, stalking forward, seemingly unfazed. In fact, the burst of light had only enraged them. 

"Run!" Leo shouted, shoving Mike forward even as the beasts' predatory eyes locked onto him. 

And then the darkness surged forward—the beasts lunging with an impossible speed, void's energy twisting space itself into chaos.