The mission was over, but the unease was just beginning.
Sefu stood before the trio—Korir, Plelk, and Novick—face half-shadowed by the moonlight slicing through the broken rooftop above.
"You were supposed to scout. Instead… you woke something."
No one spoke.
An emergency gathering—rare, and deadly quiet. Sefu knelt before three thrones, veiled in divine cloth and blood-red light.
A deep voice thundered, ancient and tired:
"The Eclipse Crown's remnants have stirred. And with them... came the Specters."
The Council of Toma had awakened the protocol for an Abyss-Level Threat.
Sefu didn't flinch.
"I suggest we send the trio again. It's time they see what it truly means to face fear."
A canyon where screams echoed but no one was ever seen. The ruins of Varudan Keep were now active—flashing lights, craters scorched into the sand. And within them…
Two Specters.
Azareth the Reversal – A man with the ability to reverse pain, transferring damage dealt to him back tenfold upon his enemies. His body glows with cracked white lines, and he talks only in riddles.
Nareen the Mirror Scar – A tall, silent woman who uses a distorted version of Shadow Extraction, pulling darkness from others' shadows to manipulate their own bodies against them.
Korir stepped forward in the wasteland. Plelk raised his arms, murmuring already.
Novick squinted. "They're not just strong… they're wrong."
Azareth smiled with teeth like glass. "You bring light... into our silence?"
He walked through Plelk's Air Barrier like it was water. With a twist of his finger, Korir's shoulder cracked—the pain from Novick's earlier strike against a rock transferred to him.
Korir: "Tch—his ability redirects damage... from anywhere?"
Nareen, meanwhile, made her move—Plelk suddenly felt his hands twist against his will. His own shadow reached up, binding him to the earth.
"She's using my shadow… to fight me…"
Korir activated Timeshift. Everything slowed.
But his body… began to freeze.
Azareth smiled wider. "You're quick. But time means nothing when the damage you deliver becomes your own."
A Moment of Clarity
Novick screamed at Korir. "DON'T STRIKE HIM! Think!"
Plelk groaned. "Reverse it—force him to hurt himself somehow!"
Korir inhaled sharply, then did something unthinkable—
He used Timeshift to accelerate his own foot and slammed it against a rock behind him. Blood gushed.
Azareth laughed, "Foolish—why hurt yourself—"
But Korir smiled back, darkly.
"Because I made me the source. Your ability doesn't protect you from yourself…"
Azareth's leg cracked—he coughed black.
At the same moment, Plelk finally unleashed Hydro Sphere Cage, forcing Nareen's shadow to retract. Novick delivered a flurry of ultra-speed punches to her pressure points, buying just enough time to break the technique.