Darkness swallowed him.
There was no light, no sound—only the rush of cold wind spiraling downward. The fall felt endless until Matt slammed onto a hard surface that cracked beneath his weight. Stone, ancient and dry.
He groaned, coughing dust from his lungs. The Shadowsidian Blade flickered with faint red pulses, its edge humming softly. In the dim light, Matt saw carvings around him—walls of obsidian stone, inscribed with glowing glyphs and battle etchings.
He was in a tomb.
But it wasn't meant for the dead.
It was meant for the forgotten.
Matt limped forward, the sword guiding his path. His memories came in shards—flashes of fire, his mother's scream, a hand reaching down into the pit, sealing him inside. But now… he was back where it began.
In the center of the chamber stood a pedestal. Upon it: a mask of obsidian, cracked but still pulsing faintly. He stepped closer, touched it.
Void Sigil Resonance detected.
Pain lanced through his skull.
---
The vision came like a bullet to the brain.
He stood in golden armor. A battlefield of gods lay before him. His voice roared commands as legions moved like rivers of steel. Then—betrayal. A blade through his back. The five Imperial Paladins staring down at him, eyes void of mercy.
"You were too human," Monshin had said. "Too flawed."
Amiya's scream. A flash of light. And silence.
---
Matt collapsed. The chamber walls pulsed.
VOID milestone unlocked: Whisper Rift.
He gasped, feeling something inside him tear—and something else settle in its place. A voice. The Void's voice.
"Now you remember. Now you rise."
Bootsteps echoed.
Matt turned just as a figure emerged from the shadows. Dark armor, twisted and hunched—this one was different. A Tier II Phantom Knight.
It raised a serrated greatblade and hissed.
"You were supposed to stay dead."
Matt rose, his blade igniting with darkness and red lightning.
"No." He smiled.
"I was supposed to finish what you started."