The shadows scattered.
One moment they were there—silent, watching.
The next, they were gone.
Dissolving into the darkness as if they had never existed.
I was alone.
The silence returned, but it was no longer calm.
It felt… wrong.
The ground beneath me trembled again.
A deep, dragging sound echoed through the space—slow, heavy, unnatural. Like something massive was being pulled across an endless surface.
My heartbeat quickened.
"What… is that?" I whispered.
No answer.
Only the sound.
Closer.
Closer.
The darkness ahead shifted.
Not like before.
This time, something was inside it.
Moving.
I took a step back.
Then another.
Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run—but my legs felt slow, unresponsive, as if they didn't fully belong to me yet.
The sound grew louder.
And then—
I saw it.
At first, it looked like a distortion. A broken shape within the darkness. But as it moved forward, it began to take form.
A tall, twisted figure.
Its body was made of shifting black fragments, like pieces of shadow stitched together. Its limbs were too long, bending at unnatural angles.
And where its face should have been—
There was nothing.
Only a hollow crack.
Like a tear in reality itself.
I froze.
My breath caught in my throat.
The creature stopped.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then—
It turned toward me.
Even without eyes…
I knew.
It had seen me.
A crushing pressure filled the air.
My chest tightened as if something invisible was pressing down on me.
Then a voice entered my mind.
Cold. Broken.
"An… om… a… ly…"
The word came out distorted.
Like it was learning how to speak.
My body reacted before my mind could.
I stepped back.
The creature twitched.
Then—
It moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Run."
The word echoed in my mind.
The shadow's voice.
My legs finally obeyed.
I turned and ran.
The ground stretched endlessly beneath me, but I didn't look back. I couldn't. The sound behind me was enough—the scraping, the shifting, the unnatural movement closing the distance between us.
It was chasing me.
My breathing became uneven.
My chest burned.
"Why is this happening…?" I gasped.
No answer.
Only the sound.
Closer.
Too close.
I risked a glance behind me.
Big mistake.
The creature was already there.
Right behind me.
Its twisted arm stretched forward, extending unnaturally, reaching—
I stumbled.
My foot slipped.
And suddenly—
I fell.
Pain shot through my body as I hit the ground.
I tried to get up, but my arms trembled.
Wouldn't respond.
The creature stopped just a few steps away.
It didn't attack immediately.
It watched.
Or maybe…
It studied me.
The hollow crack on its face widened slightly.
"Not… sup… posed… to be… here…"
Fear gripped my entire body.
"I didn't choose this…" I whispered.
The creature tilted its head.
Then stepped closer.
Slow.
Certain.
Its arm lifted.
Dark fragments gathered around it, forming something sharp—like a blade made of broken shadows.
This was it.
I was going to die.
Again.
Suddenly—
A sharp flash cut through the darkness.
The creature jerked violently.
A tearing sound echoed.
Then—
It was thrown backward.
Its body crashed into the void, breaking apart before slowly pulling itself back together.
I lay there, stunned.
"What…?"
A figure stood between me and the creature.
Human.
Or something close to it.
Tall. Still. Unshaken.
For the first time since I arrived, I saw someone who wasn't made of shadows.
He didn't look at me.
His gaze was fixed on the creature.
"He's not yours," he said calmly.
The creature let out a distorted sound.
"Anomaly… must… be… erased…"
The man didn't move.
"Then try."
The air around him shifted.
Something gathered—pressure, energy, something I couldn't understand.
The creature lunged.
Fast.
Violent.
But the man moved faster.
One step.
One motion.
The darkness around his hand condensed into a sharp edge.
And in the next instant—
The creature split apart.
Silence.
The fragments scattered.
Then slowly faded into nothing.
Gone.
Just like that.
My mind struggled to understand what I had just seen.
The man stood still.
Then he turned.
His eyes met mine.
They weren't normal.
No fear.
No hesitation.
Only certainty.
"You're new," he said.
It wasn't a question.
I swallowed.
"Y-yes…"
He stepped closer.
Each step felt heavy—not physically, but… deeper.
Like the space itself was shifting around him.
He wasn't like the shadows.
Not like that creature.
Something about him felt—
wrong.
Or maybe…
too real.
"Listen carefully," he said.
His voice turned colder.
"This place doesn't forgive weakness."
My throat went dry.
"What… is this place?"
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then—
"The Soulbound Arena."
The name settled into my mind like something ancient.
Like I had always known it.
"In this place," he continued, "souls fight, suffer… and disappear."
My chest tightened.
"Why am I here?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked past me.
Into the darkness.
As if watching something far beyond my understanding.
Then he said—
"You're not supposed to be here."
A chill ran down my spine.
"I didn't choose this…"
"I know."
Too fast.
Too certain.
That scared me more.
I hesitated.
Then asked—
"What are you?"
For the first time—
He smiled.
Not warm.
Not kind.
But knowing.
"Someone who stayed longer than he should have."
The air around him grew heavier.
Unstable.
"Remember this, Anshu."
My name.
Again.
"If you can't fight…"
His eyes locked onto mine.
"…you won't exist."
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
I opened my mouth to speak—
But he was gone.
No sound.
No movement.
No trace.
Only darkness remained.
And me.
Standing alone…
in the Soulbound Arena.