The village of Nevrak lay nestled between two ridges of mist-cloaked hills. A crooked path led Cain and Laurifer through the twilight fog, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and rot. Birds no longer sang here. No leaves rustled. Even the wind dared not pass.
Cain tightened his cloak, his steps silent against the gravel. Though his expression was stoic, his senses were sharp, alert.
"This place is wrong," Laurifer muttered in his mind. "It reeks of old corruption… not the kind born from war or neglect, but something deeper. Arcane."
Cain nodded, his eyes scanning the shuttered windows and broken signs. Nevrak had once been a farming village, according to Laurifer—small, humble, self-sustaining. But now, it was a skeleton of itself. The buildings were warped, leaning like drunkards. Doors stood ajar, yet not a single soul moved within.
They passed a well in the center of town. Flies buzzed above it. Cain paused.
A child's doll hung from the pulley—its eyes gouged out, its cloth limbs stained with something black.
"Essence corruption?" Cain asked aloud.
"Not Essence… something older," Laurifer replied, his tone grim. "This is spirit-bound decay. Something here was sealed, and it's begun to rot from within."
Cain drew closer to the well and extended his hand over the edge.
A sudden whisper curled up from the darkness. Not wind. Not voice. A sound that spoke directly to his spine.
His shadow flared.
From beneath him, a red eye opened—Hellfang.
The direwolf growled low, sniffing the air. Flames flickered across his fur, illuminating the ground. His voice growled directly into Cain's mind through their bond: "Master… danger... underground."
Cain stepped back, eyes narrowing.
[Shadow Constitution Activated.] [Beast Summoned: Hellfang – Mid Ruler Realm.]
He looked to Laurifer internally. "Should we investigate now?"
"Not yet," came the reply. "Scout the village first. If the corruption's reached the roots, entering the underground could collapse the entire area. If there are survivors… they need saving first."
Cain nodded and pressed onward. He moved house to house, testing doors, calling out softly—but no response came. No villagers. No corpses. Just silence.
But then he entered the mayor's home.
The interior was untouched. Dust coated the surfaces, but it lacked the wild decay of the other homes. A fire had once burned in the hearth. A kettle still rested on a cold stove. Cain frowned.
Something shifted behind him.
He turned.
A woman stood there—grey-haired, dressed in plain brown robes, eyes wide.
But they were empty.
Not blank with fear. Empty.
"Help… us…" she whispered.
Cain blinked.
And then she was gone.
No trace. No footstep. No noise.
Laurifer's voice hissed. "That wasn't a spirit. That was a memory echo… the village is trying to speak through its own death."
Cain descended into the cellar of the house. There, he found it—the source.
Carved into the stone was an ancient seal, a circle of twisted runes pulsing with faint green light. In its center was a rusted knife stabbed into what appeared to be a cracked stone heart.
[System Alert: Unknown magical artifact detected.] [Warning: Presence of Nether-class corruption.]
Cain stepped closer, and the runes flared. A pressure like drowning hit him.
Hellfang snarled and leapt between Cain and the seal, growling.
Cain reached into his essence.
[Skill Activated: Essence Perception.]
The entire village shimmered in his sight—threads of corrupted energy spiraling from the heartstone outward, entwining the buildings, looping into the land. The seal was a failed prison.
"Something was buried here," Cain whispered. "Something that's waking."
Laurifer confirmed it grimly. "This village was a sacrifice. A containment field. These people were guardians... or victims. Either way, we must end this before it spreads."
Cain extended his hand over the seal.
[Skill Activated: Synthesis – Scan Mode Enabled.] [Analyzing artifact… Estimated origin: Pre-Essence Era. Classification: Netherbound Curse Engine.]
"Can I destroy it?" he asked.
"Not yet." Laurifer's voice was sharp. "We need a purification anchor. Otherwise, breaking that seal will release whatever lies beneath."
Cain nodded. "Then we find the anchor."
Suddenly, a scream pierced the village. A real one.
Cain bolted out of the house. Down the street, a boy—no more than ten—was stumbling out of a barn, his legs bleeding, eyes wide with terror.
Behind him, shadows slithered.
Cain didn't hesitate.
He vanished.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Blink.]
Reappearing before the boy, Cain scooped him into his arms and spun. Hellfang lunged past him, slamming into the advancing shadows.
Flames lit the night.
Cain leapt onto a rooftop with the boy and looked down. The shadows took form—villagers, dozens of them. But their faces were blank, mouths open in silent screams. Puppets of the seal.
He turned to the boy. "Your name?"
"S-Syl," the boy stammered. "I-I hid… in the hay… th-they changed…"
Cain's eyes hardened. "You did well, Syl. Stay with me."
As Hellfang tore through the shadowed villagers, Cain prepared himself.
Nevrak was more than cursed. It was a wound, a sealed wound, and someone had torn the stitches.
He'd have to sew it shut again—permanently.
---