The moment the gate closed behind them, the noise of the city disappeared.
The lower district felt cut off from everything else. The air was colder here, thick like it had been sitting still for too long. The buildings leaned inward, broken and empty, their windows dark like blind eyes.
Kael walked forward without stopping.
His steps were quiet against the cracked stone road.
Behind him, he could hear others moving. Some rushed ahead. Some stayed back. No one spoke.
No one wanted to be the first to admit they were afraid.
The silver haired boy walked beside him.
Not too close.
Not far either.
Just… there.
"You feel that?" The silver haired boy asked.
His voice was lower now. Less show. More focus.
Kael nodded once.
He could feel the shift from the moment he past through the portal.
It wasn't something you could point at.
It was a pressure.
Like being watched from too many directions at once.
The silver haired boy exhaled slowly.
A faint heat shimmered around his hand for a second. His Ember Mark reacting, ready.
"Good," he said. "Thought it was just me."
Kael didn't reply.
He knew of the mark, everyone in this realm had one. It just needed special circumstances to awake, like death.
Yes, the bearer needed to die to awaken a mark. not death exactly but the death of emotion. The emotion that made you human; at least one of them had to be stripped away.
He didn't have one. At least not one that he knew.
His attention shifted.
A sound.
Soft, Like the thrumming of an electric engine.
Both of them stopped at the same time.
The street in front of them stretched narrow and empty, lined with broken doors and collapsed walls. Nothing moved.
But the sound came again. It sounded like a crackle, then a heart beat.
The silver haired boy tilted his head slightly.
"Not subtle."
Kael stepped forward. The silver haired boy followed solemnly behind, his right hand on the hilt of his sword, the ember mark on his forehead glowed faintly.
Beyond the broken walls and buildings, a faint crack crackled with purple electric arcs. It was the veil.
The crack extended from the ground up like the maws of chaos. An opening to death.
Kael moved towards the daunting crack, his steps slow and steady. The silver haired boy followed, his steps matching Kael's like a shadow.
They walked through the chasm, the resistance was negligent.
The Veil was a chasm that separated the mortal realm from the demon realm. Hundreds of years ago, it suddenly cracked. The anomalies barred behind the chasm suddenly poured out plunging the mortal realm into chaos. The Ashen Order was formed then. They were the Judges of this fallen world.
The soil was a gradient red and black, pools of blood littered the floor from the entrance.
The stench of iron filled the air and their lungs.
Kael walked in front of the silver haired boy, his eyes took in the sight of the demon realm and thought it beautiful. The broken buildings and charred walls held a certain charm in his eyes.
The thing in his chest sighed... satisfied with the environment filled with carnage.
As they walked deeper into the hazy world...
Something dropped from above.
It hit the ground between them with a wet, heavy sound.
It looked like a body drenched in blood, or was it not... ?
It moved.
The thing pushed itself up, its limbs shaking as if they didn't fit right. Its face… still human. Barely.
Eyes wide.
Mouth open.
"Help…" it whispered.
The silver haired boy didn't move.
Kael didn't either.
The thing twitched.
Its neck bent too far to one side.
Then it smiled.
"Too late."
It lunged.
The silver haired boy reacted first.
Flame burst from his arm in a sharp flash, his Ember Mark igniting. He stepped forward and struck fast, his flame coated blade slicing through the air with force.
The flaming sword hit the creature's side.
Hard.
The impact threw it across the street.
It slammed into a broken wall and cracked it.
But it didn't stay down.
It stood again.
Faster this time.
Stronger, like the impact fueled its strength.
"Yeah," The silver haired boy muttered. "That things not dying easy."
The creature rushed them again.
This time, it split.
Two forms.
Both moving.
The silver haired boy cursed under his breath.
"Annoying."
Kael moved. His figure blurred with his motion.
He stepped into the space between them as the two creatures closed in.
One from the left.
One from the right.
The silver haired boy went for the left.
Kael took the right.
The silver haired boy's flame burned brighter now, his strikes heavier. He met the creature head-on, driving it back with raw force.
Each hit left burns across its body, but it kept moving, its limbs twisting, ignoring pain.
Kael's fight was quieter.
The creature lunged at him, claws aimed for his throat.
He shifted slightly to the side.
Just enough.
The claws missed.
Kael's hand came up and caught its wrist.
For a second—
Everything slowed.
The creature froze.
Just like the one in Edrin.
Its expression changed.
Confusion.
Fear.
"…you," it whispered. Its voice grating and almost unrecognizable.
Kael's grip tightened.
Something moved beneath his skin.
Not visible.
The creature's body jerked.
Like something inside it had been pulled.
The silver haired boy noticed.
Even while fighting his own.
"What did you—"
His sentence cut off as his opponent slammed into him, forcing him back.
"Focus," Kael said quietly.
Then—
The thing in his hand broke.
Not torn apart.
It just… collapsed, like ash.
Like whatever held it together had been taken away.
Darkness slipped from its body and vanished.
Kael let go.
The ash flew in the wind. It didn't get the chance to hit the ground.
Still.
For a moment, he stood there.
Breathing steady.
Face calm.
But inside—
That thing stirred again.
Stronger now.
"…more," it whispered.
Kael clenched his jaw.
Stop.
Across from him, The silver haired boy finished his fight with a final burst of flame.
The second creature burned, its body twisting before going still.
Silence returned.
The silver haired boy exhaled.
Then looked at Kael.
Really looked this time.
"…You didn't burn it," he said.
Kael didn't answer.
The silver haired boy stepped closer.
His eyes sharp.
"You didn't cut it either."
Still no response.
The silver haired boy's gaze dropped briefly to Kael's hand.
Then back up.
"…What did you do?"
Kael met his eyes.
"Does it matter?"
The silver haired boy held his gaze for a long second.
Then—
A slow smile spread across his face.
"…Yeah," he said. "It does."
His heart thumped in his chest. His competitive spirit had been roused.
"Because if you're hiding something," The silver haired boy continued, "I want to see how far it goes."
Kael didn't react.
But something about those words…
lingered.
"I'm Dain Arclight... " The silver haired boy extended his right hand to Kael.
"Kael Virmont" He didn't take the outstretched hand.
A scream echoed in the distance.
Both of them turned.
Farther down the street, shadows moved.
More than one.
And not small.
Dain cracked his neck slightly.
"Round two."
Kael stepped forward.
This time, Dain moved with him.
Closer.
Like a natural instinct.
As they advanced, the air grew heavier.
The pressure stronger.
Three figures stepped into view.
Taller.
More stable.
Their movements less broken.
Sinborn.
Their eyes locked onto Kael first.
Then shifted to Dain.
One of them smiled.
"Well," it said softly.
"Two."
Dain grinned.
Flames flickering along his arm again.
"Try to keep up," he said.
Kael's didn't respond.
Then—
They moved.
This time, they didn't split.
They fought together.
Dain attacked first, his flames pushing the nearest demon back. Kael followed immediately, stepping into the opening Dain created, striking before the creature could recover.
No words.
Just instinct.
Dain's power forced space open.
Kael filled it.
Again.
And again.
The second demon tried to flank them.
Kael shifted.
Dain turned.
Their movements matched, like they had done this before.
They hadn't.
But it didn't matter.
Because neither of them wanted to fall behind.
And neither of them would.