The instant his shield rasped free, the chamber seemed to recoil. The skull’s eyes burned in the dim light, and shadow poured from its mouth like smoke spilling from a furnace. It wrapped around him in coils, whispering with each curl as it sank into muscle and bone, amplifying every motion with dreadful power.

The air thickened as the glow of the glyphs fought against his encroaching aura, but the darkness spread, dragging across the stones in a widening circle. Sparks sizzled along the floor, bolts of black lightning snapping like serpents as the shadows expanded outward.

The drab-faced men who had rushed into the chamber staggered. Their knees buckled as the necrotic weight slammed into them, legs shaking against the crushing pull that threatened to grind them into the ground. Daggers slipped in clammy hands as they fought to stay upright, their faces still bland, unremarkable, and somehow infuriatingly empty.

The doppelgänger—“Aedrianna”—had no time to flee.

The lance came up under her chin, the three-pronged head lit with crackling arcs of lightning. The shadows clung to her skin as the points pierced upward, searching for bone. Her amethyst eyes widened, flickering again to pink hair, the illusion faltering with every surge of his power.

Then steel met flesh.

The scent of ozone and scorched meat filled the chamber as the blow landed, the sound echoing off the ruined stone. She convulsed against the strike, blood spilling hot down her throat as the shadows gnawed at the wound. Yet even as her body gave way, she began to laugh.

A wet, gurgling sound, equal parts mirth and death rattle, spilling out in fits as her legs gave beneath her. The laugh did not stop as she fell, her blood gushing across the stone, drawn unnaturally toward the room’s center. The glyphs drank it eagerly, their faint glow brightening into a steady, hungry pulse.

The amulet at her throat flared, burning bright, as though another sacrifice had been claimed.

The two drab men buckled against his aura, still fighting to rise, reaching feebly for their dropped weapons. One snarled, straining against the shadows, while the other was already on his knees, eyes locked blankly on the ground.

The chamber hissed with power, the air alive with energy not entirely his own. The glyphs glowed brighter, and her gurgling laughter echoed even after her body had fallen silent. The glyphs on the amulet around her neck lighting up weakly. 

The hush of Edwin’s domain lasted only a heartbeat longer before the sound of frantic steps broke it. Another drab-robed figure stumbled into the chamber, his plain face twisted in panic. Behind him came the heavy thunder of claws.

A Mana Beast — larger than the one Edwin had already slain — lurched into view. Its white-blue fur was matted crimson, a deep gash tearing across its chest, blood spilling freely with every step. Foam flecked its jaws, eyes glowing feral green as it barreled after its prey.

But they did not make it far.

The shadows of Edwin’s domain surged outward again, oppressive and crushing. The drab man collapsed mid-stride, knees buckling as the aura forced him down. His dagger clattered uselessly from his hands as he hit the floor, unable to rise.

The beast crashed down on him in an instant.

Teeth split flesh with a wet crunch as the creature tore him apart, shaking his body like a rag doll. The other two men — already half-broken under the weight of the aura — could do nothing. Their legs folded, bodies collapsing as the beast wheeled on them. Jaws closed again, claws raked, and in moments the chamber was a blur of blood and shredded limbs.

The violence burned itself out as quickly as it had begun. The beast staggered, its massive frame heaving. It turned at last toward Edwin, its ruined chest glowing faintly as if fire burned within. Its eyes locked on him in a final glare—feral, unblinking—before its legs gave way.

The body collapsed, the sound echoing through the ruin. Blood streamed outward, finding the carved lines in the stone.

The glyphs drank deep.

Light surged across the chamber, flaring too bright, the glyphs pulsing with a ravenous energy that felt almost alive. The bodies of the dead began to deteriorate, as if being devoured by the temple. Leaving only the pendant the pink haired woman had been wearing. For an instant, the entire ruin seemed to draw breath, as if the stone itself were inhaling in preparation for something dreadful. 

And then—nothing.

The glow lingered, but no revelation came. The silence that followed was heavy, oppressive, almost mocking in its anticlimax. But now that all of that had come to an end, The quiet of the jungle made itself known again. The cub that had pressed itself against Edwins neck whined as it stared at the center of the room. No trace of its kin left. Everything had happened so suddenly, There'd hardly been a moment to react. But perhaps what would be more concerning, would be that the noise he'd heard earlier from outside, seemed to have died down. 

[center]┍━☽【❖】☾━┑[/center] 

Aedrianna gasped as the war steed reared high, its scream splitting the air. Hooves lashed out in a frenzy, forcing her to duck and roll just in time to avoid being crushed between its fury and the looming figure behind her—a broad-shouldered man with black hair and cold grey eyes.

The noise shattered the uneasy stillness outside the temple. Every head snapped toward her—the drab-faced men, the pink-haired woman with the glowing amulet.

Damn it.

The black-haired man pulled back a step, wary of the stallion’s thrashing hooves as they hammered against the earth. Dust and broken roots flew with each strike, the beast’s crimson eyes fixed on him with savage defiance. Then he spoke, voice sharp and carrying, directed not at her but at the pink-haired woman.

[COLOR=Green]“The bait didn’t take. This one—”[/COLOR] his gaze flicked to Aedrianna, sneering, [COLOR=Green]“—and some man in armor tripped the switch before the male could find it. He’s in there with it. Go make sure he dies. I’ll bring this o—”[/COLOR]

He never finished.

A blur of white and blue burst from the underbrush with a bone-jarring impact. The great beast slammed into him, driving him into the dirt. They rolled across the ground in a violent tangle of claws and limbs, the man’s shout lost beneath the beast’s roar.

The world erupted into chaos.

The drab men who had stood listless moments before suddenly charged, sprinting straight for Aedrianna. Mana swelled at her call, shadows pooling beneath her in five perfect points, forming the shape of a star. From that darkness rose five snarling wolves, their eyes glowing as they bounded forward, intercepting the oncoming men with snapping jaws.

Aedrianna didn’t wait to watch. She bolted toward the temple entrance, heart hammering with a single thought: Edwin.

But the pink-haired woman was faster. She lunged out of the shadows, colliding with Aedrianna in a tangle of limbs. They hit the ground, rolling violently, hands tangling in hair, nails raking at flesh. Aedrianna hissed, yanking hard until she finally shoved the woman off with a desperate heave. The stranger’s head cracked against the edge of a moss-slick stone, the sound sharp, and she crumpled to the side.

Aedrianna scrambled upright, breath heaving, a spell half-formed on her lips. But before she could cast, rough hands seized her arms. Two drab-faced men wrenched her back, dragging her away with mechanical strength. She kicked, thrashed, fury spitting from her lips—

A wolf struck.

One of her conjured beasts slammed into the men, its shadowy form burning their flesh where it touched. Their grip collapsed, skin sloughing away in smoking streaks. Aedrianna stumbled free, falling to her knees as they howled.

Her eyes snapped up just in time to see the white-blue beast roar in pain. The black-haired man—bloodied, mauled, but alive—drove a dagger deep into its chest, ripping downward with brutal strength. Blood gushed from the wound, splattering the ground as the beast staggered back. Its eyes flared brighter, wild and glowing, foam thick at its jaws.

It locked onto movement—one of the drab men, fleeing in terror from the last of her wolves. The beast shrieked and lunged, chasing him into the temple’s dark maw.

And then silence fell.

The cries of the dying men ceased. The roars of the beast vanished into the ruins. Even the stallion had gone still, its ears pinned back, nostrils flaring.

Aedrianna staggered to her feet, chest rising and falling in sharp breaths. The pink-haired woman was gone.

Her gaze lifted—and her blood ran cold.

The black-haired man was walking toward her. His movements were steady, unhurried, as though the gaping claw marks across his chest were of no consequence. Her wolves stepped forward in unison, a wall of snarling shadow between them, but her hand still rose, a single finger leveled. At its tip, mana curled, coalescing into a trembling wisp of starlight.

[COLOR=Pink]“Don’t come any closer.”[/COLOR]



Her voice was steel, and for an instant, he froze. His hands lifted, palms open in mock surrender.

Then the amulet at his throat flared.

The twisted grin that spread across his lips was sharp, terrible, made worse by the blood already drying on his face.

[COLOR=Green]“Go ahead,”[/COLOR] he sneered, eyes gleaming with sick delight. [COLOR=Green]“Shoot me down.”[/COLOR]

[center]┍━☽【❖】☾━┑[/center]
[b]Present[/b]

When Edwin  would eventually step out from the shadow of the temple, the ruin behind him still whispering with echoes of violence, he would find no reprieve waiting outside.

The clearing bore the look of carnage. Blood streaked the moss, smeared across broken stones and trampled earth, spattered in arcs that spoke of desperate struggle. Yet there were no bodies

Only two figures remained.

His war steed, sides heaving, crimson eyes still bright with adrenaline. And Aedrianna.

She stood just beyond the beast, her hair disheveled, streaked with dirt and damp from the jungle. Blood stained her lip and brow, though none of it seemed grave—marks of being thrown, struck, dragged. Her clothes were torn at the shoulder, dust and moss clinging to her travel coat. She looked as though she’d been through the thick of a brawl but had endured.

Her arm was raised, finger leveled toward the treeline. At its tip glimmered a pale orb of starlight, mana coalescing into form. She looked rigid, locked into the spell, her posture tense as if bracing for release.

But her eyes were wrong.

They were unfocused, distant. Not tracking, not seeing. Though her body remained ready, her gaze was cast somewhere far away, as if fixed on something that wasn’t there.

And indeed, there was nothing.

The jungle lay quiet before her finger. No enemy, Only shadows, foliage, and the oppressive stillness after violence.

Yet Aedrianna did not lower her hand. The starlight at her fingertip pulsed