Cold water dripped somewhere in the darkness.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
Elios' eyes opened slightly.
Pain hit him immediately.
Not from wounds.
From inside.
His entire body felt unbearably heavy, like something had crawled beneath his skin and settled there.
For several seconds—
he couldn't move.
The cave ceiling above him looked distorted, his vision still slightly unstable from the overload.
The black flow was gone.
At least visibly.
But Elios could still feel it.
Inside him.
Quiet.
Waiting.
"…Tch…"
He slowly pushed himself upward, his muscles trembling slightly from exhaustion.
The chamber around him was destroyed.
Cracks stretched across the walls.
Stone debris covered the ground.
The creature's corpse still remained near the center of the chamber.
But something else caught his attention.
The silence.
No movement.
No growls.
No distant sounds.
Nothing.
Almost like everything deeper in the cave had stopped moving.
Elios narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then slowly stood.
Pain shot through his body immediately.
He ignored it.
His gaze fell toward his arm.
The wounds from earlier fights had partially healed already.
Not fully.
But far faster than normal.
"…This is getting worse…"
The words came out quieter than expected.
Not fear.
Realization.
Elios looked toward the deeper passage ahead.
Darkness waited there.
Heavy.
And for the first time—
he didn't feel the urge to continue deeper immediately.
Not because he was scared.
Because something inside him was exhausted.
Mentally.
Emotionally.
The cave no longer felt like a place of revenge.
It felt like a place that was slowly consuming him.
Elios stood silently for a few moments before finally turning away.
And began walking back.
Toward the surface.
The cold night air hit his face the moment he stepped outside the cave entrance.
Elios stopped immediately.
The outside world felt… strange.
Too open.
Too quiet.
Too normal.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the moonlight.
And for a brief moment—
everything looked unfamiliar.
The trees.
The wind.
The sky.
Almost like he had forgotten what the surface looked like.
"…How long was I down there…"
He didn't know.
Days probably.
Maybe more.
Elios began walking toward the village slowly.
The closer he got—
the more people noticed him.
Villagers froze midconversation.
Children stopped moving.
Doors quietly closed.
No one approached him immediately.
Not because they hated him.
Because they didn't know what they were looking at anymore.
Elios noticed the stares.
But felt strangely detached from them.
Almost numb.
An old man slowly stepped aside as Elios walked past.
Fear.
Elios saw it clearly in his eyes.
And somehow—
that bothered him less than it should have.
"…Tch…"
He kept walking.
The black flow didn't appear outwardly.
But something about him had changed visibly.
His eyes.
His presence.
The way he moved.
People could feel it instinctively.
Like standing near something dangerous.
Elios finally stopped in front of his house.
The lights inside were still on.
For several seconds—
he didn't move.
Then slowly opened the door.
The moment he entered—
Mira looked up first.
And froze.
"…Brother…?"
Her voice sounded small.
Uncertain.
Elara turned immediately afterward.
The relief on her face appeared instantly—
then disappeared just as quickly.
Because the person standing at the doorway…
didn't feel completely like Elios anymore.
Covered in blood.
Silent.
Emotionally distant.
Eyes colder than before.
Elios noticed it immediately.
That hesitation.
That fear.
And for the first time—
something inside his chest hurt more than the wounds.
"…I'm back."
His voice came out quiet.
Almost unfamiliar.
Mira slowly approached him.
But stopped halfway.
Just halfway.
Elios noticed that too.
Silence filled the house heavily.
Elara finally spoke softly.
"…You should rest."
Not:
> "What happened?"
Not:
> "Are you hurt?"
Just that.
Like she already understood something had changed.
Elios lowered his gaze slightly.
"…Yeah."
He quietly walked past them toward his room.
The moment the door closed behind him—
the silence inside the house became unbearable.
Mira slowly looked toward Elara.
"…Mom…"
Elara didn't answer immediately.
Her eyes remained fixed on Elios' closed door.
"…That's still your brother."
But even she sounded unsure.
Inside the room—
Elios sat quietly against the wall.
Moonlight spilled faintly through the window beside him.
His breathing remained steady.
But his mind wasn't.
The creature.
The whispers.
The distortion.
The black flow.
It all replayed endlessly inside his head.
Then—
his vision flickered slightly again.
For the briefest moment—
the moonlight looked dark.
Elios' eyes widened slightly.
The vision disappeared immediately.
Silence returned.
But now—
he understood something terrifying.
Black Veil wasn't only affecting him during battle anymore.
It was staying with him.
Even here.
Even now.
And somewhere deep inside himself—
Elios realized something else.
Part of him…
wanted to return to the cave already.
End.