The moon was low in the sky, casting a pale glow across the ravaged landscape. Kaiza's breath came in sharp, strained gasps as he stumbled through the desolate wilderness. Every step was agony, his body still trembling from the brutal fight with the creature in the cavern.The pain from the gash in his side throbbed with each movement, but it was nothing compared to the weight that pressed down on his soul.Mina walked beside him, her face pale, eyes haunted by the horrors they had just endured. She had been strong throughout the battle, her resolve unwavering, but Kaiza could see the fear in her eyes now, the shadows of their journey creeping into her soul."You don't have to keep going, you know," Kaiza said, his voice rough, almost a whisper. He hadn't meant to say it, but the words spilled out before he could stop them. "We can turn back. You don't have to do this anymore."Mina didn't respond. She kept walking, her eyes forward, fixed on the dark horizon as if she saw something b

Kaiza’s mind was a blur as the darkness consumed him. His senses were overwhelmed by the oppressive weight of the void, and yet, despite the overwhelming silence, he could still feel it a presence, watching, waiting.Every fiber of his being screamed for him to move, to find Mina, to escape this nightmare, but his body refused to obey. He was trapped, suffocating in the very air that had once seemed to promise a way out. His chest heaved in desperation as the darkness pressed in tighter, but then something changed. A flicker of light pierced the oppressive blackness, barely visible at first, but then growing steadily brighter, blinding in its intensity.For a fleeting moment, Kaiza wondered if he was dreaming or if he had already crossed into some other realm. The light grew brighter, pulling at him, tugging at him as if by an invisible thread. Slowly, painfully, Kaiza felt himself moving toward it, though his limbs felt leaden. Every step he took seemed to take every last bit of ene

Kaiza's heart pounded as darkness consumed him whole. He had been here before, in this suffocating place where nothing made sense and every step plunged deeper into a void threatening to swallow him whole. This time, it was different. He was not alone.Mina. Still, he sensed her presence within him, but he couldn't see her face. It's a thin and faint line that shines like dying stars in eternal darkness. This is where one could sense it: the fearful confusion, mixed with most acute pain and anguish. Everything inside of his chest churns with every one of his pulses, reminding him of what was to happen.He did not want to lose her not again."Mina!" he cried, his voice husky, and staggered forward through the dark. His whole nature urged him on, told him to rush free from this terrible gloom that oppressed him; but it clung to him, alive as some slimy animal, its wet embrace closing around his knees, dragging him back. It was not only the curse that was upon him that did this—it was th

The blinding light engulfs Kaiza, overwhelming his senses, burning his eyes and his throat as he manages a desperate gasp for air. He feels himself being pulled in all directions as if the fabric of reality is ripping apart. He can hear the growl of the creature, far away now. A growl almost of frustration and disbelief. But one thing holds firm amidst the chaos.Mina.It was as if a thread was threaded through the light itself, drawing him toward her. Every cell in his body screamed to move in that direction, to sprint toward her and keep her from whatever horrors were waiting for them both.But the light was growing, expanding, a blinding, celestial force threatening to consume everything in its path. Kaiza's heart thundered in his chest. Was this the end? Had he failed her already? The light pulsed around him like the beat of a heart, and he was caught in its rhythm—too weak to resist, yet too determined to let go.Then, with a sudden shift, the light faded. The world around him sn

The creature lunged at them at a speed impossible to track. One moment, it was standing just a few feet away; the next, its clawed hand was inches from Kaiza's throat.Instinct took over. Kaiza dived to the side, his body slamming into the cold stone ground, the claws of the creature scraping air where his neck had been moments before. The ground shook beneath him as dust and debris swirled in the beast's attack aftermath.He pushed himself up, heart racing, every muscle in his body coiled like a spring. Damn it, this thing is fast. But he wasn't going to back down. Not now. Not when Mina's life was on the line."Mina!" he screamed, his voice crackling with desperation, but she said nothing. She simply remained standing there, her body rigid as if petrified into place, eyes fixed on the creature, face unmoving, almost as if in a trance. The same trance that had claimed her before.Kaiza's eyes swapped between the beast and Mina. What in the fuck is happening? Why isn't she fighting ba