Midnight.
The skies above Velmire District boiled with thunder. Static rippled through the clouds like a heartbeat from some forgotten beast.
Inside the base, alarms screamed.
Sid Arkwood stood in the deployment chamber, heart pounding as red warning lights painted everything in pulses of blood.
He wasn't alone.
Beside him stood three figures in armored black, each bearing a unique crest.
A voice crackled over the intercom:
> "Confirmed Rune site at Sector 12B. The key fragment is active. Possible Class-B Hollow.Squad Delta — deploy immediately."
A heavy door slid open.
The air beyond was cold. Smelled like smoke and rotting metal.
"Let's go," said a calm, deep voice.
Lucien, tall and cloaked, stepped forward. His eyes shimmered faintly silver.
He was marked — blessed by Baros, the Herald of Stillness.
Reinhardt followed, grinning. Huge, scarred, with gauntlets made of bone and rusted steel. His core burned with the demon Krannor the Siege Maw.
Last came Kael, twin blades humming with lightning. A vessel of Evara, the Winged Judge.
Sid walked behind them — the rookie, the unknown.
> "Stay close," Lucien said. "Do not engage unless ordered."
> "Right," Sid muttered.
> "And if something speaks your name," Kael added, "run."
---
The scene outside was chaos.
A neighborhood blackened. Streetlights melted. Buildings pulsing with dark glyphs. At the center — a swirling rift, and from it, a creature of nightmares:
The Umbra Hollow.
It was shaped like a wolf, but twisted — limbs too long, spine jagged, mouth split in four directions.
It roared.
Reality trembled.
Reinhardt cracked his neck.
> "Time to wake the dead."
He slammed his fists to the ground.
Spinecrush Rebellion.
From beneath, black bone spires erupted — impaling the Howler's limbs, holding it down for a heartbeat.
Lucien stepped forward.
Timeglass Aegis.
A dome of pale light formed, slowing everything inside by seconds.
Kael vanished in a flicker of stormlight — then reappeared midair, blades crackling.
Stormpierce Fangs.
He slashed downward. Sparks lit the night.
But the Howler shrieked, shattering the dome. Spikes of shadow burst outward — impaling Kael midair.
> "KAEL!" Lucien yelled.
Reinhardt tried to shield him — too slow.
The beast lashed out — tearing through Lucien's barrier.
Everything blurred.
Sid froze.
His breath caught.
They were dying.
> "Call it," whispered the voice inside.
"Call the flame. Or watch them fall."
His vision went black.
---
A moment later, Sid stood.
Not Sid.
Not quite.
His right hand pulsed with shadow fire.
Blackbind Flame.
Chains of cursed fire lashed outward, wrapping around the Umbra Hollow, locking it in place.
The creature howled — and screamed again when the chains bit.
The ground cracked beneath Sid.
His eyes flickered black and violet.
Then — a whisper from inside:
> "Yes. Just a little more…"
But he stopped.
He clenched his fist — and pulled back.
The chains snapped tight — and the Riftling exploded in a blaze of unnatural light.
Silence.
Ash fell.
Lucien groaned. Kael bled but stood. Reinhardt whistled.
> "Not bad for a rookie," he muttered.
Sid collapsed to his knees, panting.
Lucien stepped closer, staring at him — not with judgment, but realization.
> "That power…"
> "It sealed a Class-B," Kael said. "I saw it with my own eyes."
> "You're not a trainee anymore," Reinhardt said.
Sid didn't answer.
Because in the ashes, something remained:
A piece of the fragment of Nightroot pulsing faintly.
Watching.