Deep within Noctharis Castle, in the wing where the rulers, emperors, and high-ranking lords slept behind enchanted doors, the night changed.
The corridor lights flickered once.
Twice.
Then dimmed to a sickly blue.
Rain hammered the stained-glass windows, and thunder rolled across the island like a beast awakening beneath the sea.
A scream tore through the hallway.
Not a human scream.
A scream of someone being hunted.
The sound echoed through the stone corridors, growing farther away, then suddenly closer again.
BANG!
A crimson emergency sigil flared to life on the wall.
The red safety button had been pressed.
Instantly, alarms began to ring.
Blue flames erupted from the braziers lining the hall, bathing the entire wing in ghostly fire.
Smoke crawled across the ceiling.
Guards rushed toward the main safety chamber where the higher-ups were gathering.
"Protect the nobles!"
"Seal the doors!"
"No one enters without permission!"
Inside the monitoring room, members of Organization X watched the security screens in tense silence.
One of them whispered,
"Something is inside the royal wing."
The room fell silent.
Then—
The lights died.
Total darkness swallowed the chamber.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
Only the distant crackle of blue fire.
And then—
SLASH.
A wet sound cut through the darkness.
The lights flashed back on.
A guard stood frozen for one heartbeat.
Blood burst from his throat.
He collapsed.
Screams erupted instantly.
The lights flickered again.
SLASH.
Another guard fell.
Again.
SLASH.
A third body dropped to the floor.
Blood spread across the marble, reflecting the blue flames like liquid shadow.
Panic exploded through the chamber.
"Where is he?!"
"I can't see him!"
"Back away!"
The lights stuttered.
The survivors looked upward.
A figure crouched on the ceiling.
Blue eyes burned in the dark.
A blade gleamed brighter than the flames themselves.
For a single horrifying second, the figure smiled.
CUT.
The lights vanished again.
Screams filled the room.
Nobles stumbled over one another, robes dragging through blood as they fled toward the inner doors.
Warriors drew enchanted swords.
Spears trembled in shaking hands.
They were facing an enemy they could not see.
An enemy that seemed to exist between the flashes of light.
Organization X barked orders through the communication crystals.
"Send every remaining guard to the chamber!"
"Now!"
Heavy footsteps thundered through the corridor.
Dozens of soldiers advanced in formation, shields raised, blades drawn.
Blue fire reflected from their armor.
The castle itself seemed to breathe.
The cameras turned desperately from one corridor to another, trying to capture the attacker.
Static hissed across every screen.
Lightning exploded outside.
The entire fortress shook.
For an instant, every window turned white.
In that flash, the guards saw him.
A figure wrapped in moving shadow.
Darkness clung to him like living smoke.
He walked slowly through the blue flames, each step leaving blood behind him.
The soldiers stopped.
No one wanted to be the first to move.
A captain raised his sword with trembling hands.
"GET READY!"
The figure kept walking.
Blue eyes fixed on them.
"It's him!"
The shadows around the figure twisted violently.
The blade rose.
Thunder crashed directly above the castle.
And then—
BOOM!