Leon opened his eyes… and he was still alive.
His breath hitched as he realized, in that same moment, that he had not died. However, what he saw before him did not belong to the world he knew.
He stood in the midst of a vast black space—a pure, boundless darkness without edges. Yet, in the distance, a massive island appeared. It was completely devastated, with pillars of ash rising from it like the breath of an ancient nightmare.
In the heart of that island sat a giant, shattered sphere, as if something had tried to tear it apart from the inside. Atop the remnants of that sphere stood a figure, arms outstretched toward a blood-red sky where flaming meteors fell like volleys of celestial wrath.
Above the island, there were creatures…
Flying monsters with twisted limbs and white eyes, devoid of all meaning.
Leon had never seen anything like this before.
His first feeling was terror.
The second was incomprehension.
The third… was helplessness.
In that moment—as if someone had forcibly pulled his soul—Leon woke up again.
He opened his eyes and found no darkness. Instead, he was exactly where he had been with Zeldris, Lloyd, Frank, and Kai.
But everyone was alive.
Everyone… except Lloyd, who was not among them.
Leon stared at their faces one by one, shock trembling in his eyes.
"What is happening…? How are we not dead?"
He whispered to himself, pressing his hand firmly against his head as if to ensure his skull hadn't cracked.
"How does this cursed island work…?! What is going on…? Who am I?!"
His voice dropped, then suddenly rose like the cry of a wounded animal:
"Why did we come back to life?! How did we return?!"
Zeldris placed a hand on his shoulder and asked with concern, "Leon… what's wrong with you?"
Leon looked at him, and for the first time, weakness was clearly visible on his face. It was the face of a man unraveling under pressures he could no longer endure.
"I've started to lose my memory completely…" he said in a broken voice. "I'm forgetting my work… my family… everything. I want to die. I feel like I'm in hell… What is happening?!"
Then he screamed, tears falling against his will:
"This island is toying with us! Why did they choose us?! Why me?! How did we come back to life?!"
Zeldris stepped back, his gaze filled with confusion. "When did we die? Have you lost your mind? Everyone has been asleep since Lloyd was buried."
Leon froze.
Then… he began to laugh.
A short laugh… then deeper… until it turned into a maniacal cackle. Tears streamed down his face, and his voice cracked.
"Do you mean… that it was a dream?! All of it… never happened?! Damn it… damn it! I want to go back! I want my life! I want to die!"
His voice grew louder and louder until Kai suddenly woke up.
"What's wrong with you, man? Have you gone insane?!"
Leon turned to him with wide eyes. "Why are you acting like nothing happened?! As if Lloyd didn't die! As if we didn't die! As if we didn't enter an island where monsters and demons appear…"
His voice faded into the heavy air, as if the island itself was listening… and smiling.
In that moment, Leon burst into laughter—but it wasn't a laugh of joy; it was the laugh of a man who had collapsed internally and had nothing left but his voice.
He said, laughing harder, his voice breaking between a fit of madness and a breakdown:
"This is impossible… what is the point of being alive? Why am I living? What is the purpose of my staying? I should die… I shouldn't even be on this planet. Aren't we supposed to be dead?!"
He raised his head toward the sky, barely visible through the trees, as if searching for an answer from a void that could not hear.
"Does this mean everything that happened was a dream? And if it was a dream… is my whole life a dream? Am I living inside an endless illusion?!"
His voice began to weaken, and his features crumbled.
"I feel my memory disappearing… everything is vanishing… as if I've become a void. I don't know what's happening… this place we're in… it's entirely fictional."
Then he whispered, as if the thought itself terrified him:
"What if we have been dead for a long time… and only now we are being punished for what we did in our lives?"
Kai and Zeldris exchanged glances in heavy silence.
Then Kai said, trying to keep his composure, "Look… we don't know what you dreamed about. But we are also suffering from memory loss. And we haven't moved from this spot since Lloyd was buried. You were definitely dreaming, Leon."
At that, Leon suddenly stopped laughing. It was as if the sound had been cut off from within him.
Tears burst forth without warning. He said in a broken voice, staring into the void:
"I assumed something…"
Then he turned slowly toward Frank, who was sleeping motionless, and said in a low voice full of doubt:
"Lloyd… might be alive."
A heavy silence fell.
Leon then raised his eyes to Zeldris and spoke with a tone that no longer held madness… but a terrifying certainty:
"And perhaps… there really is a traitor among us, Zeldris."
The forest grew silent again, as if holding its breath… waiting for what would be revealed next.
At that moment, Lloyd saw himself in a dark, empty place—an absolute blackness containing no light, no features, not even a sense of direction. No earth, no sky… only a black void swallowing consciousness.
Suddenly, a golden light appeared at the end of that void.
Lloyd stopped for a moment, then began to walk toward it, as if an invisible force was pulling him without resistance. When he arrived, he realized the source of that light was a golden stone, suspended in nothingness, pulsing with an eerie glow.
Lloyd reached out and touched it.
In that instant, his eyes widened in terror. The stone began to crumble slowly, and then suddenly… it exploded.
The particles of the stone scattered, piercing Lloyd's hand as if entering his body by force. Lloyd let out a scream of agony and terror—a scream that tore from his depths—and suddenly, he woke up.
He opened his eyes to find himself tightly bound to a chair.
Before him stood a dark-skinned girl wearing a military uniform, suggesting she belonged to an organization or a government. Behind her, a guard stood at the door, watching in silence.
The girl sat in the chair opposite him and said with deadly coldness:
"You are accused of four cases on this island."
Lloyd's heart stopped for a beat.
She continued without changing her tone: "The first case: performing actions for a criminal organization aimed at destroying the island and the Point of Order."
Then she added: "The second case: your unjust killing of many people… and your killing of a number of children."
She completed: "The third case: your threat to the stability of the Point of Order."
Lloyd's eyes widened in shock, and he felt the air vanish from his lungs. He tried to speak—but suddenly… everything returned to black.
He found himself once again in the black void, with the golden stone before him. The stone exploded once more.
Lloyd snapped his eyes open.
He was lying on an ordinary bed… in an ordinary room. He stood up quickly, shock completely taking hold of him. He rushed out of the room, remembering his previous encounter with the Shadow, but ignored the thought as if it no longer mattered.
When he went out, he found Clara in front of him. She said with mocking coldness:
"Do you know that I want to kill you? Your face is very provocative."
Lloyd looked at her with a strange calmness and said, "Yes… you have every right to say that. But where is Zack?"
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him: "Hey man… I want to talk to you for a bit."
It was Zack's voice.
At that moment, Lloyd turned and saw Zack standing behind him. Lloyd sighed deeply, as if his chest carried an unbearable weight, then said in a low voice:
"Zack… can we go somewhere with some privacy?"
Zack answered calmly, "Alright… we can go."
Clara found the matter strange, but she paid it no mind and headed toward Myra's room. As for Lloyd, he went with Zack until they entered Zack's room.
As soon as the door closed—everything changed.
Zack's form transformed before Lloyd's eyes into that dark entity… the Shadow.
Lloyd's eyes widened in shock, his body freezing in place. The Shadow smiled a terrifying, dark smile and said in a voice that pierced the nerves:
"Lloyd… how would you like me to send you to that empty black space again?"
Lloyd said with a shock mixed with terror, "Wait… were you the cause of that dream? But… why are you helping me?"
The Shadow gave a faint laugh, then said:
"I want you to know… to discover your power… and to train it."
He stepped closer and continued: "You have already received your power. But you do not know how to use it… nor how to bring it out."
Lloyd said with clear tension, "But… what was the meaning of seeing the dark-skinned girl who was accusing me of four cases? And wait… what is the fourth case?"
The Shadow's dark smile widened further, and he said in a cold tone:
"You will know everything in due time, Lloyd. That was… a passing vision."
Then he continued in a voice like a chant, bearing a heavy omen:
"Do not be deceived by your thoughts… for this is a vision,
In the unseen depths of fate, its lines are written.
It defines destiny… so listen, Lloyd,
These are not merely passing thoughts like drifting clouds."
With a single movement, the Shadow opened a black portal, dark and bottomless. Before Lloyd could scream or resist—the Shadow threw him inside.
The portal closed.
At that moment, Lloyd found himself suspended within the void. No ground beneath him, no sky above, and no direction for the mind to grasp. The blackness was thick, suffocating, as if it were a living substance wrapping itself around consciousness itself.
The darkness was not an absence of light, but the presence of something deeper… something watching.
Then—the Shadow appeared.
He stood before him, his features blurred, but his smile was fixed—a smile that carried not just mockery, but a promise of harm. The Shadow spoke with harsh coldness, like one delivering an order that accepts no debate:
"Listen to me now."
Lloyd felt the words were not just spoken, but planted inside his head.
"I will have you go to the City of Monsters on this island."
Lloyd's breathing quickened, but he did not interrupt.
"And this… is a mission from me."
The Shadow paused for a moment, as if enjoying the weight of the next sentence.
"I want you to kill the members of the Masters of Order organization."
Something trembled inside Lloyd.
"This organization intends to control the island, and has already taken control of some areas within it."
The Shadow drew closer, until Lloyd felt the void itself shrinking.
"And I myself… will help you."
Before Lloyd could ask or refuse—the Shadow reached out and touched Lloyd's chest.
In a single instant, everything vanished. The void vanished. The Shadow vanished. The sense of time vanished.
And the monster appeared.
It was giant, armored, its body like a mass of living metal; its eyes were glowing, and its breath shook the earth. It wasn't just a monster… it was a standing disaster.
Lloyd froze in place. He couldn't scream. He couldn't run. He couldn't think.
In one motion, the monster raised its foot and crushed Lloyd without mercy.
Everything ended. A sharp pain… then nothing.
Lloyd opened his eyes again inside the dark void. He was there once more. The Shadow… was laughing. A cold, long laugh, as if feeding on the collapse.
"For hell's sake…" he said as he approached. "You die that quickly?"
Then he added with lethal sarcasm: "Don't worry… you won't die as long as I am by your side."
Lloyd raised his head slowly, looking at him with eyes devoid of surprise. He said in a tired voice:
"You know what? I want to go back to the headquarters."
The Shadow was silent for a moment. Then he said with terrifying simplicity: "No."
He approached and gave him no time to object. "Let's redo what we did."
Once again, he touched Lloyd's chest.
Lloyd returned to the same place. The giant armored monster was there, as if time had not moved.
But this time—Lloyd was not alone.
A voice came inside his mind, the voice of the Shadow, clear, direct, without permission:
"How about you give me your body for a while?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
In a single moment, everything changed. Lloyd's skin turned pale, losing its human color, turning into a sickly, faded hue. From his head grew a dark, sharp horn, as if carved from solid darkness. His right hand was engulfed in a cracked blackness, as if the veins themselves had turned into fissures in a living night.
Then… he smiled.
A smile that was not Lloyd's. A dark, terrifying smile, devoid of any trace of humanity.
He lunged toward the monster.
Just one strike… was enough to shake the earth. The monster tried to defend itself, raising its armored arm, but the force rushing toward it was illogical. Its body disintegrated, shattered, crumbling as if it were nothing but a heavy illusion.
At that moment, on the southern edge of the area, someone noticed a slight explosion in the northern direction. He pulled out his phone quickly, his voice tense:
"Northern Unit 2145, an explosion has occurred in the northern sector. Find the source of the explosion immediately."
As for Lloyd… or what remained of him—he continued on his way coldly.
His steps were steady, without hesitation, without fear, without feeling. Until he reached the Cave of Gold.
There were guards protecting the place. One of them saw him and shouted loudly:
"Hey, you! Stop right there! This is a restricted area!"
He did not stop. He only reached out his hand.
In a single moment, the four guards were all killed—no screaming, no resistance, as if death itself had simply passed them by.
He entered the cave. From the moment he stepped inside, a monster attacked him. Its weapon pierced his body, stabbing him directly.
For a moment—confusion appeared. Not in the Shadow… but in the body. Lloyd—or rather, the Shadow controlling him—was shocked.
But rage came faster. He roared in a booming voice:
"Black Rose!"
His hand extended, multiplied, distorted, and then he struck the monster with immense force. But the monster held its ground.
And it struck back.
The blow was terrifying. The Shadow was sent flying backward, crashing into the cave wall, nearly being hurled out of it entirely.
But he held on. He raised his left hand, his voice filled with rage:
"First Shadow Sword!"
The sword appeared in his hand. A black sword, sharp, as if the void itself had been polished into a blade.
He attacked. The strike was so violent that a massive explosion occurred, shaking the entire cave, filling the place with fog and dust.
But—amidst the fog—the Shadow felt a powerful blow. Just one blow, but it was enough to knock him out of the cave completely.
He screamed in hysterical rage: "Curse your body, Lloyd!"
His eyes turned completely white. Another horn grew out. His left hand turned black. Half of Lloyd's face turned a pale, dead black.
He rushed toward the cave once more before it could close. The ground shattered beneath him. The cave entrance expanded terrifyingly.
And inside—the monster was killed.
But the body… could not endure.
Lloyd collapsed.
He fell to the ground.
And in a single moment—he returned to the black void.
He was there again.
The Shadow stood before him, completely cold, as if everything that happened… was nothing.