Chapter 66: The Shadow That Follows
The fire crackled softly, its dim light flickering against the rough stone walls of the abandoned fortress they had taken shelter in. Sai sat near the edge of the glow, his back resting against a broken pillar, eyes half-lidded but nowhere near sleep. His body ached from the fight with Valeria, but exhaustion wasn't the reason he was awake.
It was the silence.
A silence **too deep, too heavy.**
Ezren sat nearby, sharpening his dagger with slow, practiced strokes. Lena was curled up beneath her cloak, breathing evenly but tense even in sleep. Kael, ever the sentinel, sat at the opposite end of the fire, his greatsword resting against his shoulder, golden abyssal eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
And Valeria?
She was still bound, leaning against the cold stone wall, her silver hair falling over her face. Though she had been stripped of her weapons, she sat straight, posture rigid despite her injuries. Sai knew she was awake.
Watching.
Waiting.
He exhaled, tilting his head toward her. "Something on your mind?"
Valeria's golden eyes flickered in the firelight. "You should be dead."
Sai smirked. "A lot of people keep saying that."
She didn't smile. "The Abyss should have taken you. No one comes back from that."
Sai's fingers idly spun one of his daggers. "Guess I'm special."
Valeria's gaze didn't waver. "You don't even understand what you are, do you?"
The casual amusement in Sai's expression faded just a little.
Ezren glanced up briefly, but didn't speak. Kael tensed slightly, though he kept his gaze fixed on the entrance of the fortress.
Sai studied Valeria for a moment. "And let me guess, you do?"
Valeria exhaled, rolling her shoulders as much as her restraints allowed. "I know enough to be afraid of you."
The fire crackled between them.
Sai let her words sit for a moment before replying. "And yet, you're still here."
Her gaze darkened. "Not by choice."
Sai's smirk returned. "Exactly."
---
### **A Warning from an Enemy**
Valeria shifted slightly, her bindings keeping her movements limited. "You don't realize it yet, but you are already losing yourself."
Sai's expression remained unreadable. "That so?"
Valeria's jaw tightened. "Do you even remember how you fought today? How the Abyss moved for you?"
Sai narrowed his eyes.
"You used it like it was yours to command," she continued. "But it wasn't obeying you. It was testing you."
Sai stayed silent.
Valeria leaned forward as much as she could. "You think you rejected the throne. That you walked away from the Abyss. But the Abyss doesn't work like that." Her golden eyes glowed faintly. "It doesn't need you to sit on a throne to make you its ruler."
Sai's fingers **tightened** around his dagger.
For a brief moment, the flickering light of the fire seemed **dimmer.**
Lena shifted in her sleep. Kael's grip on his sword twitched slightly. Ezren stopped sharpening his dagger, his abyssal eyes flickering toward Sai.
Sai exhaled slowly. "So what are you saying?"
Valeria's voice was quiet, but **certain.**
"You've already started becoming something else."
Silence stretched between them.
Then—**a distant sound.**
Faint. Almost imperceptible.
But Sai's instincts screamed.
He was **being watched.**
---
### **The Silent Stalker**
Sai's head turned slightly toward the entrance of the fortress. The shadows **shifted** just beyond the firelight.
Not moving.
**Waiting.**
Kael noticed it too. His fingers clenched around his greatsword. "We're not alone."
Ezren exhaled softly, barely above a whisper. "Took them long enough."
Sai didn't respond. He had already risen to his feet, his movements slow and deliberate. The air **felt wrong.**
Too still.
Too quiet.
Valeria watched him carefully, her expression unreadable. She had felt it too.
Then—**the shadows moved.**
A figure stepped forward from the darkness.
Sai's stomach **tightened.**
He had fought countless enemies before—hunters, abyssal creatures, the Hidden Order. But this?
This was different.
The figure wasn't just cloaked in shadow. **It was part of it.**
A being of pure darkness, shifting like liquid smoke, its form humanoid but **unnatural.** Its face was hidden beneath a mask of polished black metal, smooth and featureless. No eyes. No mouth.
And yet—**Sai felt it watching him.**
His system **flared.**
**[Unknown Entity Detected.]**
**[Threat Level: ???]**
Sai's breath slowed. "You're not with the Hidden Order, are you?"
The figure remained silent.
Then—it **spoke.**
A whispering voice, layered and distant.
**"You walk a path that is not yours."**
Sai's fingers twitched. "Yeah? And who decides that?"
The figure took a slow step forward. The shadows around it **followed.**
**"The Abyss is not yours to defy."**
Sai's jaw clenched. He wasn't sure what this thing was, but he knew **one thing.**
**It wasn't here to talk.**
---
### **The First Strike**
The figure **moved.**
Faster than anything Sai had ever seen. One moment it stood at the entrance, the next—**it was right in front of him.**
Sai barely dodged as a **shadow blade** slashed through the space where his head had been. The force of the attack **shattered the stone behind him.**
Sai flickered backward, his daggers already in his hands.
Kael was moving, his greatsword swinging in a brutal arc—**but it passed straight through the figure like mist.**
Lena's chakrams followed, slicing through its form, but they hit **nothing.**
Ezren narrowed his eyes. "Not physical."
Sai exhaled sharply. "Perfect."
The figure's head tilted toward him.
Then—it **vanished.**
Sai barely had time to react before a **sharp, searing pain** erupted in his side.
He gasped, staggering as the figure reappeared behind him, its shadow blade **dripping with his blood.**
Sai's vision flickered. The wound **burned.**
Not just pain.
**Something else.**
Abyssal energy **corroding his body.**
His system flashed.
**[Warning: Unknown Corruption Detected.]**
Sai gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stand.
The figure's whispering voice echoed once more.
**"You should not exist."**
Sai exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His daggers **burned with abyssal fire.**
"Yeah, well. Too bad."
Then—**he attacked.**
The shadows erupted.
And the true fight **began.**