The air felt heavy—charged with tension so thick it pressed against my skin.
The soldiers stood ready to fire, Lian's breath trembled with confusion, and Mira's aura pulsed like a storm on the verge of breaking.
And I stood in the middle… the bridge between two worlds that were never meant to meet.
Lian raised her hand slowly, signaling the soldiers to lower their weapons, but her eyes stayed locked on Mira and the fading rift behind her.
> "Rayan… what is going on? Who is she? And what did she just come out of?"
A decade of unanswered questions burst from her voice all at once.
Before I could speak, Mira stepped forward, her gaze cold and assessing, as if determining whether Lian was a threat worth eliminating.
> "Do not touch him. He returned with me, and I will not allow anyone to take him."
Her tone was sharp—carrying the echo of arcane authority from the other world.
The soldiers reacted instantly, raising their weapons again as the ground trembled faintly beneath Mira's gathering shadow energy.
I moved before anyone could act.
Stepping between them, I spoke in a tone that allowed no argument:
"Enough."
The energy in Mira's hand dissolved reluctantly.
Lian lowered her weapon as well, though her eyes never left the sorceress.
She took one step toward me—just one—and surprisingly, that single step made my heartbeat tighten.
> "Rayan… you disappeared for ten years. We didn't know if you were alive. And now you return—with someone who tears open the air behind you?"
I lowered my gaze slightly.
How could I explain the worlds I had crossed?
The beasts that killed me and the powers that rebuilt me?
The training that had shattered and reforged everything I once was?
After a slow breath, I answered:
"It's a long story… but I'm not the person you used to know."
Mira spoke before Lian could respond, her voice filled with pride:
> "Of course he isn't. He carries the Shadow Seal now. He is beyond all of you combined."
Lian froze.
Behind her, the soldiers whispered nervously:
— Shadow? Like a power artifact?
— Is he dangerous?
— Should we fire?
The way they looked at me made it clear:
My return was not a blessing to them.
I lifted my hand—not as a surrender, but as a warning.
I released a thin thread of shadow energy into the air.
A dark mist spiraled around me—silent, alive, pulsing with power far beyond human limits.
Several soldiers dropped to their knees, unable to withstand the pressure.
Even Lian stepped back, her eyes wide with shock and fear.
> "Rayan… what have you become?"
I extinguished the shadows immediately, not wanting to frighten them more.
"Someone who came back… to end what the Gate started."
Before Lian could respond, the city's alarms erupted again.
A holographic screen flashed into existence from her wrist device, displaying a red warning symbol.
> "Unidentified entity approaching—Class A threat emerging near your location."
Mira smirked.
> "Seems your world hasn't learned how to defend itself yet."
Lian's expression hardened.
> "Rayan… can you fight?"
I turned toward the source of the distortion in the distance—dark lightning splitting the sky, shadows gathering like a beast awakening.
I clenched my fist.
"I didn't survive ten years
in the other world… just to stand by and watch."
The first battle of my return…
was about to begin.