The endless sands stretched before them, reflecting the sun’s heat like a sea of golden light. The dry wind carried dust through the air, making the distant horizon blurred and uncertain.
Vierd and Rain walked in silence, their steps sinking into the shifting dunes. Neither spoke, but both knew—what had happened earlier was anything but normal.
Despite the exhaustion settling into his body, Vierd’s mind was elsewhere.
On the stone in his hand.
He gripped it tightly as he walked, feeling its pulse. Not like a living heartbeat, but an ancient resonance, as if the stone was reacting to something in this world.
He wasn’t the only one who noticed.
"That thing…" Rain said in a quiet voice, his red eyes fixed on the stone. "It doesn’t seem stable."
Vierd didn’t look at him. His voice was calm but sharp.
"It’s none of your concern."
"I’m not concerned," Rain replied flatly. "But I’ve seen what something like that can do to an entire world."
Vierd didn’t answer.
But in Rain’s words… there was a frightening truth.
After two hours of walking, something changed.
Not the weather—something else.
Something unnatural.
Rain was the first to stop.
"Do you feel that?" he murmured.
Vierd slowed his steps, then closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on the air around him.
The atmosphere… was different.
It wasn’t just desert wind.
It was charged, as if an unseen force was breathing beneath the sands.
Then, they heard it.
"You… have returned at last…"
A whisper.
But it wasn’t coming from one direction.
It was everywhere.
Vierd’s grip on his sword tightened.
Rain turned his head slightly, his crimson eyes narrowing.
"This place… isn’t normal."
Before either of them could speak again—
The sand moved.
In an instant—
It was as if the desert itself had split open.
From beneath the dunes, pale gray forms began to rise.
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Creatures without solid bodies—like distorted shadows trying to take shape.
They were tall, their features fragmented, their bodies appearing as echoes of something long dead.
And there were dozens of them.
Rain took a step back, though his expression remained unreadable.
"Do you know what these are?"
Vierd narrowed his eyes.
These weren’t the same creatures from the Gate.
"They’re not like the entities we fought before…" he muttered.
One of the wraiths drifted forward.
And then, it spoke.
"You have taken… what must never be taken…"
Vierd didn’t need an explanation.
He already knew.
"The stone."
These creatures weren’t here by chance.
They had come for it.
But before he could think further—
The shadows moved.
One of the wraiths lunged at Vierd, its claws extending like transparent blades.
But he was ready.
His sword flashed, slicing clean through the creature.
The blade passed through its form as if cutting air—
Yet, the wraith recoiled, its shape trembling.
"Not completely intangible…" Vierd muttered. "But not entirely solid, either."
Rain didn’t wait.
He raised his hand—but instead of fire or lightning, a pale gray energy formed at his fingertips.
And then, in a quiet, commanding voice, he spoke.
"Disappear."
A wave of ashen energy surged forward—
Striking one of the wraiths.
In an instant—it was erased.
Vierd glanced at him.
"What did you just use?"
Rain didn’t look at him.
His tone remained calm.
"Remnants of my world."
There was no time for more questions.
The wraiths attacked all at once.
Vierd moved swiftly, his blade slicing through the enemies that came too close.
Though his strikes weren’t enough to fully destroy them, they disrupted their forms, weakening their ability to reform.
But there were too many.
For every wraith he struck down, another emerged.
Rain continued unleashing his ashen energy, dissolving enemies in flashes of gray, but—
Vierd noticed something.
"His power… isn’t limitless."
They had to end this quickly.
One thing was certain—these creatures weren’t attacking them without reason.
Earlier, they had said something important:
"You have taken what must never be taken."
Vierd looked down at the stone in his hand.
"If they’re connected to this stone… then maybe…"
There was no other choice.
He gripped it tightly—and instead of suppressing its energy, he let the shadows within him connect to it.
And in that moment—
He saw something he was never meant to see.
He was no longer in the desert.
Before him was a different city—
Not like the dead ruins he had escaped from.
This city was still standing—
But it was surrounded by a strange, blue light.
And at its center—
A stone.
Not the one he carried—but something far larger.
Then, he saw him.
A man stood before the stone.
A tall figure, draped in black robes, his face obscured by shadows.
But one thing was clear—
His eyes were golden.
Vierd’s breath caught.
"Who… is that?"
Before he could process what he was seeing—
The vision shattered.
And he was back in the desert.
Vierd understood now.
These creatures weren’t guarding the stone.
They were trying to reclaim it.
Because they feared what would happen if someone else used it.
He exhaled.
"It’s over."
His eyes flashed—and in a single motion, he channeled his power through the stone.
A pulse of dark energy erupted outward.
The wraiths froze.
Then—
They vanished.
Vierd dropped to one knee, his body drained.
But he didn’t feel defeated.
Because now—
He had learned something new.
This stone… is not just a source of power.
It’s a key to something far greater.
Rain watched him in silence.
Then, in a quiet voice, he said—
"You saw something, didn’t you?"
Vierd didn’t answer right away.
Then, finally—he stood.
And in a low, steady voice, he replied.
"Yeah… and I think this is only the beginning."
Under the unforgiving sun, amidst endless sands, the two continued walking.
Their journey—
Was far from over.
