The city of Velastra was not built for peace.
Its towers, forged from steel and crystalized mana, reached skyward like fangs, cutting through the pale morning haze. Beneath, streets overflowed with the rhythm of survival—merchants shouting, hunters returning bloodied, and the ever-present hum of barrier engines that kept the portals at bay.
Nathan walked among them unnoticed, his hood drawn low, shadows still whispering faintly at his feet. Each step felt heavier since he had left the Abyss. The world seemed brighter, too bright, as if reality itself rejected the essence now fused within him.
He stopped in front of the Hunter Registration Bureau, the headquarters of all guild communications in Velastra. A massive building adorned with floating sigils, guarded by ranks of automated sentinels and mana shields. His old ID—Rank F, expired, obsolete—wouldn't even open the front gate.
But as he approached, the gates flickered, then opened by themselves.
The sentinels froze. Their sensors glowed red, then blue, then black, before shutting down entirely.
Nathan muttered under his breath, "So even machines can sense fear."
Inside, the hall was alive with noise—hunters reporting missions, guild envoys shouting over quotas, adventurers comparing monster cores. But the moment Nathan entered, a strange silence rippled through the crowd.
One by one, heads turned. Conversations died.
Even among the bravest, the scent of the Abyss made them uneasy.
From the upper balcony, a familiar voice broke the tension.
"Well, well. The man who disappeared into a portal and crawled out breathing."
Kael descended the staircase slowly, his armor polished, his expression neutral. Behind him trailed two officials from Zealand Guild and a representative of the Knight Order, the second-ranked guild. Their presence here meant only one thing—politics.
Nathan didn't bow, didn't speak. He simply stood there, his expression unreadable.
Kael reached the bottom step, his blue eyes glinting. "You made quite an impression. My scouts reported… anomalies. Energy readings off the scale. Portals reacting globally. You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"
Nathan's tone was even. "The portal's core wasn't empty. It was alive."
That silenced the hall even further.
Kael's jaw tightened. "Alive?"
Nathan nodded. "And it chose me."
The Knight representative, a man clad in silver armor engraved with the sigil of a sword and flame, stepped forward. "No one chooses to wield that kind of power. If what you say is true, you're carrying a threat to the entire continent."
Nathan's gaze sharpened. "Then perhaps the continent should stop depending on portals it doesn't understand."
Whispers rippled across the hall. A few hunters backed away. Even Kael's calm expression faltered for a moment.
Selena appeared at the far end of the room, her presence as composed as ever. "Enough." Her voice carried an authority that silenced even Kael. She approached slowly, each step deliberate. "Nathan isn't lying. The Abyss is conscious. What he brought back is older than any of our guilds."
Kael turned to her sharply. "And you didn't think to inform the Council?"
"I did," she replied coolly. "They refused to believe me."
The Knight representative exhaled through his nose. "Then let's make something clear. Whatever this 'core' is, if it begins to destabilize the balance of the portals, Zealand or not—we will end it."
Nathan looked at him, unblinking. "You can try."
The air thickened.
Kael raised a hand, signaling restraint. "Enough bravado. The Council of Guilds is convening in three hours. They want to see you, Nathan. Personally."
Selena shot him a warning look. "That's not a request. It's a trap."
Nathan smirked faintly. "Traps are useful. They show you who's afraid."
Kael's lips twitched, something between amusement and wariness. "Then come prepared. Because after what you did down there, the world isn't afraid of the Abyss anymore. It's afraid of you."
---
The Council Hall sat at the city's highest point, a dome of glass and sigilstone overlooking the skyline. When Nathan entered, he could already feel the tension bleeding through the walls. Twelve guild banners hung from the ceiling, each representing the dominant forces of humanity.
At the center, seated on an elevated dais, was Lady Arathiel, the Guild Master of Zealand. The strongest Hunter alive. Her power radiated like a silent sun, suffocating yet graceful. Her silver hair fell like light, her eyes a mirror of galaxies.
"Nathan," she said softly, her tone impossible to read. "You've made quite a disturbance."
He met her gaze without flinching. "You already knew something was sleeping in those portals, didn't you?"
Arathiel's smile didn't falter. "We knew… possibilities. But you woke it. That changes everything."
The other guild masters murmured among themselves.
A man in crimson robes from Alkham Guild leaned forward. "We've detected energy spikes near every major portal since your return. The rifts are resonating. Your power is destabilizing the seals."
Nathan folded his arms. "Or maybe the seals were never stable to begin with."
A silence followed, sharp and accusing.
Arathiel finally rose from her seat. "What you carry is beyond human comprehension. The Shadow Core's awakening may lead to the destruction of our world—or its rebirth. Either way, it must be contained."
Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Contained. You mean controlled."
Her expression hardened slightly. "Words matter little when reality bends. You have two choices: join Zealand under supervision… or become a target for every guild on the continent."
Selena, standing near the entrance, spoke before Nathan could answer. "That's coercion."
Arathiel didn't deny it. "It's survival."
Nathan took a step forward, shadows stirring faintly under his cloak. The guards reached for their weapons, but Arathiel lifted a hand, stopping them.
He spoke slowly, each word cutting through the silence.
"You're afraid of what I might do. But you should be more afraid of what's coming. The portals aren't expanding because of me—they're reacting. Something's pushing from the other side."
The council erupted into chaos—murmurs, shouts, accusations. Arathiel, however, remained silent, watching Nathan with an intensity that could shatter glass.
Finally, she asked, "And you've seen this… thing?"
"I felt it," Nathan said quietly. "A will older than light. It called itself the Abyssal Emperor."
The entire chamber froze.
Selena whispered, "That's impossible. That's just a myth—"
"No," Nathan interrupted. "It's real. And it's waking up."
Arathiel's expression turned solemn, her calm mask cracking for the first time. She turned to the council. "We suspend all portal operations immediately. Summon every S-rank Hunter. We're entering a pre-cataclysm protocol."
Chaos erupted again, but Nathan's attention drifted inward. His connection to the Core pulsed faster, resonating faintly with the energy beneath the city. The portals were already stirring.
Arathiel's voice reached him again, calm but edged with warning. "Nathan. If what you've said is true, then you've just become the most important—and the most dangerous—man in existence."
Nathan looked up at her, his voice steady.
"Then you'd better decide quickly which one I'll be to you."
---
Hours later, night fell over Velastra.
Nathan stood alone atop a skyscraper, the city's lights burning below like constellations trapped under glass. The wind whispered through his coat.
Selena joined him quietly, her presence grounding the storm in his mind.
"So," she said softly, "you've managed to terrify the most powerful people alive. What's next?"
Nathan didn't answer immediately. His gaze was fixed on the horizon—where faint rifts of light shimmered in the sky. Portals, hundreds of them, flickering like stars out of rhythm.
"They think they can control this," he said at last. "But control is just fear wearing armor. What's coming can't be contained."
Selena's tone softened. "And you? Can you?"
Nathan's hand clenched unconsciously. The Shadow Core pulsed in his chest, warm and alive. "I don't know. But I'll learn."
She smiled faintly. "Then I'll make sure you don't forget who you are in the process."
Nathan turned to her, the faintest trace of humanity flickering behind his gaze. "Then stay close, Selena. Because from now on, every shadow we walk through… might be watching us back."
Far below, one of the city's main portal stabilizers flickered—and then went dark.
The world exhaled, unaware that the countdown had already begun.