A thick cloud of ash filled the air like a dense fog. The shadows that once reigned in that space had vanished, banished by the weight of true darkness.

  It was truly an abyss, a deep pit where no light escaped, hidden from the eyes of any living being. Except, of course, for its own inhabitants.

  A whisper echoed across the floating isnd, like a silk dress rustling across pristine stone. Small clicks, unintelligible murmurs, a vibration in the stagnant air. Tiny signs of a corrupted life that broke that eternal silence.

  Even so, the isnd continued to descend, oblivious to the horrors that now roamed its surface. For that fortress had only one purpose: to reach the bottom of the abyss, where a dying shadow awaited its destined encounter.

  A scream resounded throughout the chamber, while heavy footsteps made its surface vibrate. The growls, filled with madness and rage, assaulted the darkness for long seconds until even their perpetrator seemed to have had enough.

  Silence fell once more, but the hunters who now inhabited the tower continued their search, looking, waiting, yearning to find something more than the corruption in those halls.

  A monstrosity, a creature with dozens of eyes, tentacles for a mouth, and eight crab-like feet, approached where the blood of one of their companions had been spilled. Its eyes twitched, as if its breath emanated from them, but finally, it snorted angrily.

  Its footsteps continued, heavy, slow, unhurried, until they vanished among the ashes that danced in the air.

  Saint watched it with a heavy heart. That being was a Great Monster, a creature infinitely more powerful than she. In the past, she had fought the mere shadow of a sovereign, but under entirely different circumstances. That being had been weakened by madness, far from its grasp, and with an elemental weakness too great. If she were to confront that being, she would die instantly.

  She had no doubt… Moving as slowly as she could, she shifted her position to another corner hidden by the great building. Although she was no match for those beings, she still possessed her former master's favorite skill… hiding and praying not to be found… Well, she preferred to call it strategic concealment.

  Here, amidst the ash mists and the thick yer of true darkness, she was nothing more than a speck of dust in the air. Even if a sovereign were there, it would be impossible for him to locate her.

  Therefore, it should be completely undetectable when combined with Weaver's mask…

  Should… that was the question.

  Her eyes, which had remained closed throughout the journey, trembled in its shadow. Even if only for a brief instant, she had been found, exposed, and consequently, hunted.

  A wound in her soul was palpable in her spectral form, a tear that refused to heal. Whatever dwelled in those depths was not only powerful, but also the antithesis of her very nature.

  A Greater Daemon… but a very special one, constructed from what appeared to be tangles of darkness and ash, like a corpse crumbling and reforming with wails of horror.

  It wasn't a living being, and she wasn't even sure she could call it corrupted. It was profane, so repulsive that it made her very soul tremble. Not out of fear, but as a natural reaction to danger.

  She was being hunted; of that she had no doubt. Ever since she entered that mist, she had been stalked, but luckily, locating her seemed as arduous a task as she had expected, and not only that… A howl echoed in the distance, followed by the unmistakable sound of flesh being torn apart.

  Her greatest advantage was that this creature seemed equally reviled by the inhabitants of that thicket. This had given her the advantage to outwit and mislead it while leading it into simple traps with other predators.

  She only had to endure, she only had to live, she only had to reach where that dying shadow awaited her.

  The whisper of the wind enveloped her, while the cold edge of death tore at her soul.

  …

  Four days had passed since the ebony tower had ventured into that mist, allowing the horrors that dwelled within to invade its surface.

  One by one, those creatures ventured forth, searching, exploring, and waiting for any sign of the radiant spark of life, but as time passed, the pce was silently purged by their blood.

  Such creatures were not fools; they were aware that a more malevolent creature walked among those rocks, but how could they ignore such an opportunity?

  Driven by this instinctive thought, they walked to their deaths as their corrupted existences were extinguished by the mere whim of a being.

  But the unease stemmed from that abomination of darkness and ash. He was aware, on a level of pure corruption and instinct, but he was aware nonetheless. He was being mocked, used to rid himself of other threats, but he didn't care.

  The only thing that held value in his mind was that familiar feeling of the children of the Nether. He had to kill her, crush her, tear her limb from limb, and corrupt that spark of divinity that demon had so profanely produced against the divine.

  A tangle of erratic thoughts swirled in his mind, leaving only unbridled rage. He couldn't stop; he had to find her and end the demon's legacy.

  His mother had given the order, a simple signal to kill everything connected to the demon of the underworld, and although both his mother and his enemies seemed to have vanished, a morbid obsession refused to embrace Shadow's mercy.

  His entire body tingled, sensing a change. The tower itself seemed to tremble, leaning to one side, as the ash that filled the air was forcibly blown away.

  A cold feeling of being watched settled over him, a feeling that some higher power tried to suppress, but the creature was stubborn, and that ancient mark was too weakened to contend with his own rage.

  The thick yer of ash was swept aside, allowing the shadows and the true darkness to interact for the first time in millennia. Separated from each other like a thin veil, they had been allowed to maintain a bance that shattered in an instant.

  Both the shadows and the darkness collided violently, as if the mere act of approaching caused both forces to tear each other apart. A whirlpool formed on their surfaces as the very air became unbreathable.

  Even so, the creature did not hesitate. He advanced with heavy strides, making the ground crunch beneath his feet. He was certain; that daughter of the demon walked amidst the chaos. His own senses could sense his presence… only far more confusedly than they should have been.

  As a being born of true darkness, even if tainted by corruption, he should be able to find those who carried his element… but he couldn't. Frustration caused him to lose his mind for a few moments, and when he finally came to, he was deep within the shadows, beyond Shadow's gaze.

  His senses themselves seemed dulled, as if a cloth were trying to envelop them completely. Even the darkness emanating from his body seemed unable to fight more than a few meters.

  Everything was silent…

  But he wasn't alone…

  His arm moved like a blur, letting the ash of his body twist like a whip. The next second, the stone figure was instantly pulverized.

  The creature remained still for a second, uneasy. This wasn't…

  His thoughts were cut short as his instincts kicked in. The stone beneath his feet crunched as he propelled himself hundreds of meters forward in a second. The arrow fired directly at his head shattered into dust upon impact with his body, failing to slow his advance in the slightest.

  Once again, his limbs encountered little resistance as they pierced the stone warrior. But this time, the pce did not fall silent. Before the stone fragments could fall to the ground, another arrow was fired from his head.

  Once again, he attacked, only to find his enemy in a different direction, at a different point. Frustration clouded his mind as more and more faceless attacks assailed him, all to no avail. No life extinguished.

  From his mouth, a shower of ash was spat out, pulverizing everything around him. He waited for something, a new attack, a soft sound, or a cry of pain, but all he received in return was silence… and darkness. He was disoriented, not only because his senses were dulled. He had lost his sense of up and down, completely isoted from the world. For the first time, he felt truly blind, but that didn't stop him; instead, his movements became faster, more ferocious.

  At the slightest change in his surroundings, he reacted, unknowingly drawing closer and closer to his target, and that was his biggest mistake.

  The shadows seemed to tremble with terror. The very air seemed to be heavy with a premonition unreted to the cshing wills.

  The ash creature hesitated at st, suddenly aware of what chasing a mouse through the darkness could mean. But it was too te.

  The sun had risen again in the abyss, and with it, the fmes of his deity erupted like a tidal wave. There wasn't even time for a scream.

  A blinding fsh illuminated the entire pce, pushing back the darkness and giving weight to the shadows. For the first time, perhaps in history, a ray of light pierced that eternal bckness, allowing its embers to burn everything in their path.

  The creature writhed with heart-rending screams, not of pain or confusion, but of visceral fury. All its senses were overloaded, overwhelmed by centuries of eternal darkness and silence. It moved erratically, destroying everything in its path.

  When the fmes finally ceased consuming it, its body was already recovering at a frenetic pace, but its eyes, glowing like dying embers, searched everywhere.

  There was no trace of the shadows, nor of its attacker, only a bck tower crashing against the mountain and a trace of Shadow's dying will fading away. Its feet pressed against the rock, propelling itself across the terrain in search of its aggressor. It no longer cared about being subtle, about exposing itself to the predators waiting for their opportunity; it only wanted to end this once and for all.

  Then he stopped. His fury was repced by apprehension at the path he had taken. Before him, a dark chasm splitting the deepest part of the abyss was visible. He knew it; in that pce, such fissures were common, but for that very reason, he kept his distance from such things. That chasm was nothing less than a festering wound in the Shadow realm.

  For an instant, he hesitated, paralyzed by the weight of death. If he ventured in there, his very existence would begin to decay, for his own existence had been extinguished millennia ago.

  But such doubts sted only a fraction of a second. His decision had been made long ago. His job was to hunt all those abominations, and he wasn't going to let one escape.

  Then, he jumped.

  The fall seemed to st for hours, though it was only a few minutes. The very air seemed to change as the sky and the earth inverted. Contrary to expectations, he didn't remain silent, but crawled from the sand, like a dead man returning to life.

  Instantly, he felt his body being rejected by the dominion of the dead god. His very existence struggled against being shattered and reduced to particles. Even so, he persevered. He rose and tried to locate that sensation, that thread that would guide him to his prey.

  But in his haste to seize his target, he made another grave mistake. He forgot that he was alone in that world.

  An arrow exploded in his chest, scattering darkness and ash into the air. He moved, more out of instinct, dodging the second and third, but a fourth pierced his leg.

  His senses instantly detected his attacker, a shadow. It moved like a hunter among the dunes, constantly changing position at a speed comparable to his own.

  He moved instantly, ready to tear apart the impertinent shadow, but the arrows rained down one after another, heavier than they should have been.

  The arrow lodged where his heart should have been throbbed with sovereign authority. His movements showed only a hint of dey, but it was enough to be riddled with arrows in a few seconds.

  He tried to reform, to force the arrows out. But the authority bound to them did not allow him to recover. Finally, he fell silent, losing sight of the hunter.

  Where was he? Where?

  Then, his head exploded. The ash lost its cohesion, and darkness spilled out like putrid blood.

  The shadow of the huntress kept the figure in view for a long time before approaching and retrieving her arrows. The st one, shining with a golden hue, embedded itself in a fragment of a soul. One unlike any other. Withered, dying in Shadow's presence, it remained like an empty shell… save for a divine spark that refused to completely disappear.

  The huntress hid again, her fingers tracing the edge of the crystal, her eyes searching for something hidden in the vast desert.

  A new hunt began.