Morning arrived beneath a sky shrouded in dark gray clouds. Darkness had just vanished.
The sun was nowhere to be seen. Thick layers of clouds rolled slowly overhead, heavy and unmoving, as if pressing down on the land itself.
A cold wind swept through the air, carrying the scent of damp earth and ash, whispering through trees and over empty ground.
Far away from the demon base. Far from fire, blood, and the chaos that had broken out at night.
Somewhere, the ground suddenly rippled.
It was subtle at first, like water disturbed by a falling drop. Then the soil itself warped, shadows twisting unnaturally as darkness pooled in a single spot.
The black shadow thickened, deepened, spreading outward in a perfect circle.
From that darkness, something began to rise. A human body emerged. It was a young man. Beside him were two weapons.
