The sky split.
Not with lightning.
Not with fire.
But with something… wrong.
A tear.
A crack in reality itself.
And from it—
Darkness poured down like liquid night.
Rael stood frozen.
His chest burned.
The mark on his arm—the one he thought was just a scar—
Was glowing.
No.
Not glowing.
Reacting.
"Impossible…" whispered the old guardian.
His voice trembled.
Rael had never seen that before.
"You were only supposed to unlock one realm…"
The old man stepped back.
Fear in his eyes.
"But that… that is not a realm."
The ground began to shake.
The air grew heavy.
Like something massive had just awakened.
Rael looked up.
And for the first time—
He felt it.
Not power.
Not energy.
But something far deeper.
Authority.
A voice echoed.
Not from the sky.
Not from the earth.
But from inside his mind.
"You have crossed the boundary…"
"You have awakened the Forbidden Realm."
Rael's vision blurred.
Flashes filled his head—
Destroyed worlds.
Fallen gods.
Endless silence.
Then—
A figure.
Standing in darkness.
Eyes glowing crimson.
Looking directly at him.
"You are not meant to exist."
Rael staggered back.
"No… what is this…?"
The guardian dropped to his knees.
"Seal it… NOW!"
Too late.
The crack widened.
And something stepped out.
Not a beast.
Not a god.
Not even human.
It had no face.
No form.
Just a shifting silhouette made of darkness itself.
And when it moved—
Reality distorted around it.
The temperature dropped instantly.
Rael couldn't breathe.
His body refused to move.
The entity turned toward him.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
And then—
It smiled.
Without a mouth.
"Finally…"
Rael's heart stopped.
"A vessel."
The mark on his arm burned violently.
And before he could scream—
Darkness consumed him.