Leo was lying on cold, damp grass when his eyes slowly opened.
For a few seconds, he simply stared blankly at the darkness around him. His breathing felt heavy. The air itself was unnaturally cold — so cold that every breath burned faintly inside his chest.
A sudden feeling of panic crawled through his body.
Leo quickly pushed himself up and looked around.
"...I was at the 6th Division base," he muttered under his breath, confusion and unease mixing in his voice. "How did I get here...?"
He looked toward the sky.
Black clouds covered everything above him. Not a single star was visible. The clouds didn't move at all… as if time itself had frozen. The atmosphere felt wrong. Heavy. Suffocating. Almost as if the darkness itself had weight.
Then Leo slowly turned around.
The moment he saw what stood behind him… his breath caught in his throat.
A gigantic tree towered over the empty land.
It looked ancient. Unnatural.
Its massive trunk twisted violently in different directions, like the body of some dead creature left to rot for centuries. Thick branches stretched outward like giant skeletal arms, disappearing into the darkness above. The leaves moved slightly with the wind…
…but there was no sound.
No rustling.
No movement.
Only silence.
An unnatural, endless silence.
Leo slowly stood up, unable to take his eyes off the tree. His footsteps felt strangely muffled against the wet grass as he moved closer.
The roots beneath the ground were enormous. Thick and distorted, almost resembling veins spreading through the earth.
He stopped directly in front of the trunk.
Then, slowly, he raised his hand and touched it.
The moment his skin made contact—
A freezing sensation rushed through his entire body.
Leo's eyes widened slightly.
It didn't feel like wood.
It felt alive.
As if something beneath the bark had moved for a brief second.
Leo immediately pulled his hand away. His heartbeat began rising faster.
"This tree…" he whispered while looking upward, "it's way too big…"
Then something suddenly caught his attention.
His expression froze.
The tree had no shadow.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
The grey light from the sky still existed. The clouds still covered everything above him. Yet the tree cast absolutely no shadow at all.
A cold feeling slowly crawled up Leo's spine.
He hesitated for a second before reaching toward the tree once more—
THUD.
The sound of something heavy falling behind him echoed through the darkness.
Leo's entire body stiffened instantly.
His breathing became uneven.
For several seconds, he couldn't bring himself to turn around. Fear pressed heavily against his chest.
Then slowly… he took a deep breath and turned.
There was nobody there.
Only an old rusted sword stabbed deep into the ground.
Leo frowned.
"That wasn't there before…"
The sword looked ancient. Its blade was covered in rust and dark stains that almost looked like dried blood. Yet despite its appearance… something about it felt wrong.
It felt like it was calling him.
Without realizing it, Leo slowly began walking toward it.
"I shouldn't touch this…" he muttered nervously. "But… why does it feel like I have to…?"
His hand slowly reached toward the handle.
The moment his fingers wrapped around it—
The sound of rapid footsteps suddenly echoed somewhere nearby.
Leo froze.
Fear immediately returned to his body.
And then his eyes slowly lowered toward the ground.
His shadow was gone.
Leo's throat went dry.
He instantly looked forward—
—and his body completely froze.
It felt as if an invisible force had locked every muscle in place.
Standing before him… was something horrifying.
An entity made of living darkness.
It had no face.
No eyes.
No visible features.
Its entire body looked like a moving void. Thick black aura leaked from it endlessly, making the air around it feel unbearably heavy. The space surrounding the entity slowly distorted, dissolving into darkness itself.
But the most terrifying thing about it…
…was its silence.
It didn't breathe.
It didn't move.
It simply stood there.
Like death itself had taken form.
Then suddenly—
The entity rushed toward Leo at terrifying speed.
Leo tried to move—
But his body wouldn't respond.
Panic exploded inside him.
Unable to do anything else, he tightly shut his eyes.
And then—
Silence.
A few seconds later, Leo slowly opened one eye.
Then the other.
His expression changed instantly.
Everything was gone.
The tree.
The sword.
The entity.
All of it had disappeared.
Now he was standing in water.
Dark water reached his ankles, stretching endlessly in every direction. There was no sky. No ground. No sound except faint ripples moving across the black surface.
Only darkness.
Endless darkness.
Leo slowly took a step forward.
The sound of water echoed unnaturally far into the void.
"I can finally move…" he whispered softly.
But then—
The water level suddenly began rising.
Slowly.
Silently.
From his ankles… to his knees.
Then higher.
Soon the water reached his waist.
Then his chest.
Leo's breathing became uneven.
The darkness around him deepened further.
And within moments…
The water reached his neck.
Leo tried backing away, but there was nowhere to go.
Then suddenly—
The endless shallow water transformed into a massive ocean.
Violent darkness stretched infinitely around him as Leo's body slowly began sinking beneath the surface.
He tried to swim.
Tried to move.
But his body refused to respond.
It felt unbearably heavy.
As if something beneath the water was dragging him downward.
Slowly…
Deeper…
Deeper into the darkness.
His black hair floated weightlessly around him as bubbles escaped from his mouth. Above him, faint ripples distorted the little light that remained.
Then—
Leo saw it.
A faint light in the sky above the ocean.
For the first time, the darkness around him weakened slightly. The water began glowing faintly under the pale light.
Leo looked around desperately.
The endless darkness slowly began fading away.
Hope flickered faintly inside his chest.
Then suddenly—
A whisper echoed near his ear.
"Feeeeellllliiiixxxxx…"
The voice was extremely soft.
Almost impossible to hear.
Yet it felt disturbingly close.
Leo's eyes widened.
And instantly—
The light vanished.
The ocean darkened again.
Everything around him was swallowed back into darkness.
Leo's body continued sinking deeper into the black abyss.
Until finally…
He slowly closed his eyes.
Leo's eyes snapped open violently.
He immediately sat up, breathing heavily.
Sweat covered his entire body. The back of his shirt was completely soaked, as if he had just been pulled out of water.
"...Damn…"
"What happened to you?"
The sudden voice beside him dragged him back to reality.
Leo turned his head.
Ray sat near the window, casually drinking tea while morning light filtered softly into the room.
Leo took a deep breath.
"Nothing…"
Ray quietly took another sip.
"Get ready," he said calmly. "We're heading somewhere with Chris."
"Where?" Leo asked while rubbing his forehead.
Ray shrugged.
"No idea."
A few minutes later, Leo stood inside the washroom, splashing cold water onto his face repeatedly.
He slowly looked up toward the mirror.
His long black hair hung over his tired eyes.
"It was just a dream…" he whispered.
Then his gaze shifted downward.
His left hand was trembling slightly.
Leo immediately grabbed his wrist tightly.
"It was only a dream…"
But even he didn't sound convinced.
After changing clothes, Leo picked up his black katana and attached it near his waist before leaving the room alongside Ray.
The corridors of the 6th Division base felt unusually silent.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed through the dimly lit hallway.
As they turned near the end of the corridor, they spotted Chris and Skye walking toward them.
Both looked serious.
"We're going to town," Chris said immediately. "There's been a problem."
"I'll explain on the way."
Soon, all four of them sat inside a carriage moving through the empty roads.
"The cult members have arrived," Chris finally said.
Leo and Ray's expressions darkened instantly.
"So soon…?" Ray muttered.
Chris nodded slowly.
"And they already made their move."
Not long after, the carriage entered the town.
The streets were unnaturally quiet.
Most shops were closed.
The few people outside looked terrified.
Then the carriage stopped in front of an old roadside diner.
The moment Leo stepped down—
He froze.
Blood.
Dark red blood covered the ground beneath his boots.
And it led directly inside the diner.
The smell hit them immediately.
Heavy.
Metallic.
Rotten.
Leo's throat tightened as all of them slowly walked inside.
The moment Ray and Leo saw the interior—
Both stopped dead in their tracks.
The diner looked like a slaughterhouse.
Bodies were scattered everywhere.
One corpse had been torn completely in half, its organs spilling across the floor. Severed arms and legs lay scattered between broken chairs and shattered tables. Blood covered almost every wall, dripping slowly onto the wooden floor beneath.
A man had been pinned against the wall using a massive blade through his chest.
His mouth was still open.
Frozen in silent agony.
Another body hung halfway from the ceiling fan above, twisting slightly whenever the fan creaked.
The lower half of the corpse was missing entirely.
Blood continued dripping from above.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Ray's face darkened.
Even Skye looked disturbed.
But the most horrifying thing…
There were barely any signs of resistance.
No major destruction.
No prolonged fight.
It looked as if every single person inside had been butchered within seconds.