Death, darkness, and despair.

    A cataclysmic shift had overtaken the world, shrouding it in a suffocating veil of dark smoke—that devoured all that stood in its way. The smothering miasma carried a palpable weight, pressing down on the land with a suffocating sense of death and despair.

    Inside this darkness, life had warped beyond recognition.

    Shadows, monsters, and the wicked prowled, their grotesque forms relishing the new, corrupted terrain.

    Unlike many, the smoke was their ally, their camouflage, and their sanctuary.

    Around every corner, shadowy figures stirred like whispers of the damned—drifting aimlessly.

    But that aimless gesture would change very quickly—at any sign of vitality or spirit energy, devouring even the faintest spark of goodness with a ravenous hunger. Under the shroud of the dark smoke, their shapes were formless but deliberate—gliding through the void like predators born of nightmares.

    Anyone who found themselves within this dark smoke would fall into the pit of despair.@@@@

    Despair would grip them before any monsters could reach them.

    Being inside the dark smoke drained one of their sanity and coupled with the howling winds mixed with the guttural growls and eerie calls of the monstrosities lurking in the haze, the draining rate doubled. It doesn’t matter how strong one’s will is, inside this dark smoke, it was only a matter of time—before their minds were corrupted and they went insane.

    Spirit energy was weakened here.

    Any sign of it, the darkness seized upon it with the swiftness of an arrow, snuffing it out instantly.

    Many years ago, this was the world of the living.

    Now, it had become a tomb—a playground for the damned.

    Despite that, a group of twenty people could be seen walking inside this dark smoke.

    All of them are wearing dark blue light armor with the crest of a horned lion on their chest plate, signing that these people came from the same kingdom or the sort. On their heads were two straight blue horns that jutted out from their foreheads and their eyes were completely glowing with blue light.

    One of them, however, was wearing a different outfit than the rest.

    He looked more like a priest than a knight.

    Instead of the dark blue armor, he was draped in a deep blue hooded cloak.

    Both of his hands were clasped together—deep blue tattoos that branched on his arms were humming with sea blue spirit energy. Levitating exactly above this priest was a glowing orb of blue light, and this orb seemed to be a source that empowered the barrier protecting them from the dark smoke.

    "Old Reginald, how long until we arrived?" the leading person of the group, a dashing and regal man with deep azure hair asked.

    He stopped and turned to look at the priest.

    Upon hearing this, Reginald’s eyes hummed with spirit energy and gazed ahead.

    Once his power was activated, he saw a column of green light ahead.

    Its light was strong enough to pierce through the dark smoke.

    "Patient, Master Franklin. Just a few miles more," Reginald answered—politely. "I can already see the Obelisk of Life ahead. If we keep our pace steady, we should arrive in about an hour or so. Be patient, there’s no need to rush"

    Despite the warning, Franklin was already impatient.

    "What are we scared of anyway? Nothing is here, we could pick up our pace" He said stubbornly.

    Even though Reginald wanted to say something more, telling Franklin that going faster wouldn’t be a good idea and could be very dangerous, he already picked up his pace. Having no other choice, Reginald also quickened his pace.

    A few minutes later.

    "Master Franklin, slow down," Reginald called. "I’m struggling to keep the detection rune working!"

    "Take down the detection rune," Frankly commanded, ignoring Reginald altogether. "Focus only on the barrier, strengthen it with every ounce of spirit energy you have. We’re close anyway, we could rest at the Obelisk of Life"

    Sighing exasperatedly, Reginald could only comply and took down the detection rune.

    Once he did that, the streaming aura that expanded from the barrier, covering several hundred meters in radius hummed—and disappeared. Now, the group was going forward almost blindly, Reginald was the only one who could see through the dark smoke.

    Despite the knight’s logical reasoning, it was false.

    ’If it couldn’t then it wouldn’t have messed with our sense of direction,’ Reginald pondered inside.

    Just then, Franklin commanded, "We’ll keep moving slowly, don’t provoke it!"

    Nodding their heads in a union, the group began walking away from the Voidal Monarch as it walked around the barrier like a ghost. It didn’t seem to be hostile, and the group began to believe that it could not sense their spirit energy.

    Any Voidal Monarchs would kill them instantly if they sensed spirit energy.

    Since it didn’t attack, it must not be sure that they were spirits.

    But Reginald’s thoughts diverged sharply from the others, he has a completely different view about this new Voidal Monarch, ’There’s a chance they’re right but to me, it seems like it’s waiting for something. It hasn’t attacked, not out of hesitation, but because it’s waiting for the right moment’

    Fearing for the worse, Reginald went over to Franklin.

    "We should leave the group and run," He whispered. "We won’t go through this without casualties"

    "What are you saying?" Franklin barked. "No, we’re staying together!"

    Just then, Reginald’s eyes flared open when he saw other creatures approaching their bubble.

    Several hundred pairs of glowing red eyes were approaching slowly, flat on the ground.

    It didn’t take long before Reginald realized that they were black snakes with polished scales.

    Crack!

    A cracking sound echoed that made their hearts skip a beat.

    Both Franklin and Reginald glanced back to the Voidal Monarchs and saw a crack in the barrier.

    The Voidal Monarch tilted its head ever so slightly, an evil, deliberate motion as if questioning whether they really believed they were safe within the barrier. Seeing this, the knights froze. But then, without a warning, its shadowed finger made a single, elegant tap, shattering the barrier into glimmering shards and exposing them to the dark smoke.

    In an instant, the dark smoke surged like a living tide, consuming them in a suffocating embrace.

    Feeling the influence of the dark smoke, the knights gasped as their minds began to falter, the oppressive void pulling their thoughts into oblivion. But their agony was mercifully brief. Shadows moved—with serpentine precision, snakes, black as midnight, struck their necks with venomous grace.

    Spirit energy drained from their bodies and in moments, their vitality devoured completely.

    What remained were husks—mere skin and bone, crumpling lifelessly to the cold ground.

    As another serpent strikes, Reginald reacts.

    Reginald grabbed Franklin, pulling him out of harm’s way, and wrapped the cloak tightly around them both. In a flash, they vanished from sight—their presence erased from the unfolding massacre. Desperate cries followed them, knights calling out in terror.

    "Please! Don’t leave us!"

    "Save us! Master Franklin! Old Reginald!!"

    All of them pleaded not to be abandoned but it was already too late.

    Moments later.

    Reginald and Franklin pierced the dark smoke and arrived at a clearing.

    In front of them was the bustling sight of a city, the dark smoke didn’t reach this place.

    Several people wearing the same armor as the knights from before approached them—and when they realized that one of them was Franklin, they wasted no time to help them. Coming from behind, pushing the people to the side was another person in armor.

    However, his helmet has a plume on it—stating that he was of a higher rank.

    "What happened?" He asked, looking at Franklin and Reginald. "Did you find the Obelisk of Life?"

    "No..." Franklin answered, still shaken up. "But we came across a Voidal Monarch to the west"

    Upon hearing this, the person’s expression darkened.

    "That makes all the Obelisk of Life near us..." He muttered gravely. "Then there is no other choice, we are going to need to make our move on the Narsa House. I’ll report this to Lord Garvain. No matter what, the Arcalen House will survive"