Night draped itself over the dying kingdom like a funeral veil. What little moonlight remained was pale and fractured, spilling over a land that still tried to remember its own name.
A silver-blue portal bloomed open above the ruins of a forest road. From its trembling edge stepped two silhouettes: one tall and composed, the other shorter, a dark-coated figure whose mechanical arm gleamed faintly.
[System Notice: Mission #1 – Commence World Descent][Objective: Protect Target – Elara Valefort. World collapse in 72 hours.][Skill Acquired: Shadow Traverse – Allows host to move unseen across mortal perception for 10 minutes.]
The light of the portal folded in on itself and vanished. Only silence remained.
Nex stood still for a moment, the wind combing through his hair. A noble world, he thought. Built on devotion and drowned by it.
Alfred crouched beside him, one eye flickering with a scanning pulse. "World energy is thin, my lord. Mana field decaying. City center two kilometers ahead—fortified but unstable."
Nex's gaze traced the distance. A castle rose faintly beyond the mist, surrounded by fractured banners and a dying moat. "You'll sweep the outer districts," he said. "Mark every living cluster. I'll go inside."
Alfred nodded once. "Understood. I'll keep the channel open."
Then Nex moved. The shadows themselves seemed to bend around him as he invoked the new ability. The world blurred, and for ten minutes he was a ghost gliding through the relics of human glory—streets of cracked stone, lamplight reduced to embers, the smell of iron and prayer.
The duke's manor stood untouched by fire but hollowed by fear. The gates hung open. Nex passed through the courtyard, his boots making no sound on the marble. Paintings of saints watched from the walls, their eyes dimmed by dust.
He climbed a staircase where the candles still burned, faint but steady. Someone is here, he realized. Still clinging to order.
At the corridor's end lay a door carved with snow-lilies. A faint divine residue lingered on its frame—refined, noble, old blood. He stepped inside.
The chamber smelled of frost and parchment. Books stacked neatly on a desk, a sword resting against the wall. The bed's silken sheets were undisturbed. Nex swept the room with his gaze, feeling the whisper of another's aura—a disciplined, pure energy that reminded him of winter sunlight.
[System Scan: Source of divine signature – Human (Female). Lineage: Valefort.]
He turned toward the balcony, studying the night beyond. The world below was breaking; he could hear distant thunder that wasn't weather.
A soft click of the door behind him.
Nex pivoted smoothly.
A woman stepped in carrying a small lantern. Silver-blonde hair cascaded over a dark-blue gown. Her eyes were the color of clear ice and wide with shock.
Their gazes met; the lantern fell from her hand and clattered to the floor. "Who—"
Her scream never formed. Nex crossed the room in a heartbeat, his hand rising instinctively to cover her mouth before the sound could escape.
For a second the world stilled. The faint light painted both their faces in blue and gold.
She froze against the wall, her heart pounding beneath his palm. He was close enough for her to see the strange violet gleam in his eyes—calm, unreadable, beautiful in a way that frightened her.
"Don't scream," he said quietly. "I'm not your enemy."
Her voice trembled beneath his hand. "Then… who are you?"
Nex tilted his head slightly. "A passerby the gods forgot."
The words carried no warmth, yet no malice either. She studied him—the unbuttoned white shirt revealing the line of his chest, the faint silver markings along his wrist, the aura of something not human.
"You shouldn't be here," she whispered when he finally lowered his hand. "The city is under siege. If the guards find you—"
"They won't," he replied simply. His eyes wandered over the room once more, confirming every escape route.
She stepped away but didn't run. There was curiosity fighting fear in her expression. "Your accent… it isn't of this kingdom."
"I've traveled far." His tone made the words sound final.
Outside, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Guards.
Elara looked toward the sound, then back at him. "Please, leave. They'll kill you."
Nex regarded her for a heartbeat longer—long enough to memorize the strange steadiness in her eyes, the faint blue light that surrounded her like frost. A noble soul still standing while her world dies, he thought.
He turned toward the balcony. "Stay quiet. Forget I was ever here."
Before she could respond, he was gone. The curtains stirred; a shadow crossed the moonlight and vanished into the garden below.
"Lord Nex." Alfred's voice crackled softly through the comm-link. "Scan complete. Population collapse—ninety-six percent. Structural mana failing. I detect strong energy at the royal chapel, eastern quarter."
Nex paused beneath the skeletal branches of a tree, looking back at the manor's window where faint light still flickered. "I've found the source we're meant to protect," he murmured.
[System Notice: Target Located – Elara Valefort.][Compatibility: 98 percent.]
The air tasted of ashes and fate. He adjusted the collar of his coat, eyes narrowing toward the distant chapel.
So this is where the first thread begins, he thought. A woman of frost and ruin.
He moved silently down the path, the first hint of dawn smudging the horizon.
The manor shrank behind him until it was only a silhouette against the dying moon. The streets were silent except for the wind dragging loose banners across the stone. He walked without hurry; even the night seemed unwilling to draw attention to him.
In his ear, Alfred's calm voice carried faint static. "I'm triangulating energy spikes, my lord. The largest one's centered on the eastern chapel. Everything else is fading fast. The world's heartbeat is slowing."
Nex's eyes lifted toward the clouded horizon. "So the collapse quickens."He paused at a ruined fountain where water no longer flowed. A few coins still rested at the bottom, their surfaces blackened. Wishes left unanswered, he thought.
[System Notice: Environmental decay at 72 %. Remaining stability – 71 hours 42 minutes.][Secondary Objective – Gather intel on local leadership.]
He drew a slow breath. "The duke still lives, then. The manor's heartbeat hasn't vanished."
Alfred replied, "Confirmed. Life signs in the central wing—five, maybe six nobles. The rest of the estate's empty."
"Good. Keep watching them."Nex's gaze returned to the balcony he had left behind. The faint glow of the lantern had been restored. A figure—small, upright—stood there for a moment, looking out into the darkness as though searching for something.
A low murmur escaped him. "So you still stand, Lady Valefort."
For the first time since his arrival, the faintest curve touched his mouth—something between amusement and curiosity. A spirit that refuses to bow. Perhaps that's why fate marked you.
He turned and walked on. The air shimmered faintly around him as his shadow ability faded; the night accepted his return to visibility without protest.
The city opened before him like a graveyard built from light and memory. Temples glowed with failing divine sigils. Market stalls stood abandoned, fruit turned to dust. Each breath carried the taste of endings.
Nex passed an alley where a single child's toy lay beside a door; he paused long enough to set it upright again. "Even decay deserves dignity," he murmured.
Alfred's signal flickered. "Lord Nex, residual mana in the east is volatile. If that relic goes unstable, the collapse accelerates."
"Then that's where we'll be by morning."
He stopped at the edge of a bridge. The river beneath had turned to silver mist, flowing upward instead of down. Reflected in it was a glimpse of the stars—yet they looked closer than they should, like eyes watching through cracks in the sky.
[System Note: Dimensional stress detected. Recommend extraction within seventy hours.]
Nex ignored the warning. "Seventy hours will do."
He rested one hand on the hilt of his katana. The weapon vibrated softly, attuned to his intent. "Shadow Traverse performed as expected. No flaws," he noted quietly to himself. "Efficiency—one hundred percent."
[Skill proficiency increased: Shadow Traverse → Lv. 2][New passive unlocked – Silent Footing: Host's movement produces zero audible sound within a three-meter radius.]
The system's light faded from his vision. Alfred's tone brightened. "Congratulations, my lord. A level-up on the first night—impressive as always."
Nex allowed a faint hum of approval. "Power without reason is waste. We'll need both soon."
He turned his eyes back toward the manor one last time. The lantern on Elara's balcony had gone dark. "Sleep while you can," he said under his breath. "When dawn comes, the world will ask more of you than dreams."
He reached an abandoned watchtower before sunrise. The air was sharp, metallic. From here he could see the entire dukedom—sprawling, cracked, the edges of reality already fraying. In the distance, the eastern chapel's spire still burned with cold light.
He leaned against the railing, studying the horizon. A collapsing stage, he mused. Every world, the same script: gods, pride, ruin. And now I walk in as the final line.
For a long while he said nothing. The silence around him felt almost reverent.
Alfred's voice interrupted gently. "I've completed the scan. At the rate of decay, sunrise will reveal structural breaks across the city walls. Recommend rest, my lord."
"Rest?" Nex let a soft breath escape that could have been a laugh. "Perhaps later. There's a relic to find."
He looked east again. The first color of dawn touched the clouds—thin gold over the sea of ash. Somewhere within that light, Elara Valefort was still awake, perhaps wondering whether she had imagined the stranger in her room.
Nex closed his eyes briefly. When the world falls, people show their truth. Let's see what hers is.
The faint hum of his system answered.
[Mission status: Active. Target proximity – confirmed. Awaiting next directive.]
The night finally exhaled, giving way to day. Nex stepped down from the tower and disappeared into the waking city, leaving behind only the whisper of his name carried on the morning wind.