Night fog descended slowly, like a curtain drawn by unseen hands.
It blanketed an ancient structure that stood far from civilization, in a stretch of barren land where even grass refused to grow. Its walls were cracked, etched with faint carvings worn down by time, as though the building had once held significance, before it was forgotten.
Inside, the air felt heavy, not merely from dust and age, but from something deeper.
Something unseen.
Yet perceptible to those sensitive enough to notice.
Three figures sat around a stone table at the center of the room.
Small candles were scattered unevenly across its surface, their flames trembling faintly whenever thin drafts slipped through the cracks in the walls. Shadows danced across the stone, stretching, shrinking, twisting, like living things trying to crawl out from another dimension.
Their faces were partially hidden beneath dark hoods.
No symbols.
No identity.
Only presence.
The first figure finally spoke.
"The seal…" its voice was heavy, hoarse, like someone who had held onto secrets for far too long. Its hand pressed against the stone table, fingers tightening as if sensing something invisible. "It's weakening."
No one responded immediately.
The second figure exhaled slowly, as if those words were something expected, yet still unwelcome.
The first continued, quieter now, but sharper.
"After the last ritual… the consequences are beginning to surface. The first crack has appeared."
"The first crack…" the third murmured softly, almost to itself.
The second figure finally lifted its head slightly.
"I warned about this from the beginning."
The voice was calm, but tension seeped through it.
"We interfered with something we do not fully understand. Freedom… from something sealed since the ancient era is not something we can touch without a price."
A pause.
Then, more quietly:
"But… it's happening faster than I expected."
The candlelight flickered harder.
Or perhaps that was only their imagination.
The third figure raised its head slightly.
Beneath the hood, there was only darkness.
"If that power truly breaks free…" it trailed off.
Silence.
The second figure let out a faint laugh.
"...ha."
Devoid of warmth.
"They have no idea what's coming for them."
A brief pause.
"And more importantly… no one knows this is our doing."
The words hung in the air like a blade that had yet to fall.
"The seal is weakening because of us," the second added, without hesitation.
No one denied it.
And that, made it heavier.
The first figure slowly withdrew its hand from the table.
Its fingers trembled slightly, though it tried to hide it.
The second leaned forward.
"Are you certain… this can be controlled?"
This time, no one answered.
The candle at the center dimmed for a moment, then reignited, weaker than before.
The first figure finally spoke again, voice barely more than a forced whisper.
"This is no longer about who we are…"
It raised its head slightly.
"It's about what will happen."
The third figure spoke, something colder now in its tone, something more accepting.
"We are merely pawns."
A pause.
"Something greater has already begun to move. We are only a small part of something we cannot stop."
Another pause.
"And if the seal truly collapses…"
"…we will be witnesses."
Silence filled the room once more.
But this time, it was different.
Heavier.
More real.
As if the world outside the structure itself was holding its breath.
In the Irinthal Forest, night was nothing like day.
If daytime belonged to birds and warm sunlight, then night belonged to shadows.
To things unseen, yet always present.
Inside a small wooden hut, Noc sat in the corner.
His hand still gripped an empty cup, long after its contents had been drained. His fingers didn't move, yet his grip was tight enough to whiten his knuckles.
His breathing was heavy.
Not from physical exhaustion, but from a mind that refused to slow.
His eyes were fixed on the closed wooden door.
Beyond that door, someone stood.
Augustus.
Still.
Unmoving.
Almost like a statue.
"…Who is he, really?" Noc muttered softly, barely audible even to himself.
He swallowed.
Something felt off.
No, unfamiliar.
"Is that really him…?" he thought. "Augustus Kael'dorn…"
The name itself felt heavy, even within his own mind.
He replayed every movement Augustus had made.
The way he stood.
The way he spoke.
The way he looked.
Too calm.
Too controlled.
As if not a single motion escaped his awareness.
"Someone like that…" Noc exhaled slowly. "There's no way he just wandered into a forest like this by coincidence."
His heartbeat quickened.
Fear?
Yes.
But not only that.
There was curiosity.
Something far more dangerous.
Noc leaned his head back against the wooden wall.
A faint creak followed as the aged wood bore his weight.
"But… what if he realizes I'm just pretending to be strong?"
The corner of his lips lifted slightly.
Almost a smile.
"If he really is Augustus Kael'dorn… what would he do if I showed him something different?"
That thought made his heart beat faster.
Not from fear.
But anticipation.
Yet his body betrayed him.
Fatigue crept in slowly, like fog seeping through cracks in his consciousness.
His eyelids grew heavy.
He tried to resist.
But failed.
His breathing slowed.
His grip on the cup loosened.
And slowly, Noc fell asleep.
Darkness.
Not ordinary darkness.
But emptiness.
Noc stood there, or at least felt like he stood.
No ground.
No sky.
No direction.
And in the distance, something existed.
A shape.
Indistinct.
Yet enough to make his heart race.
A voice echoed.
Not from one direction, but from all directions at once.
And strangely, it felt familiar.
"Not much longer…"
Outside the hut, Augustus stood still.
Thin mist coiled around him, moving slowly like a living thing.
His eyes weren't fixed on any single point, yet he perceived everything.
The wind.
The rustling leaves.
Subtle vibrations in the ground.
And something within the hut.
He couldn't hear Noc's words.
But he could feel them.
Tension.
Suspicion.
And something deeper.
"…Interesting," he murmured softly.
He closed his eyes briefly, not to rest, but to perceive more clearly.
And then, something changed.
The air grew heavier.
The mist, once drifting, stilled.
Then, it appeared.
The figure stood a few steps in front of him.
It did not walk.
It did not arrive.
It simply, was.
As if it had always been there, only unseen.
Augustus opened his eyes slowly.
Without showing surprise, he met its gaze.
The figure spoke.
"Why did you come to this forest?"
The voice was deep.
Heavy.
Carrying an unnatural echo no human voice should possess.
Augustus lowered his head slightly, not in submission, but acknowledgment.
"I followed my instincts," he replied calmly.
He raised his gaze again.
"After hearing the legend of you destroying Sil'thurah… my instincts told me I had to come here."
His eyes locked onto the figure.
"I felt… I might be able to break through the limits that have restrained me for so long."
Silence followed.
The figure stepped closer.
No sound.
Yet the distance closed.
And now, it was clear.
It was Noc.
His eyes, if they could even be called eyes, pierced through Augustus, as if stripping away every layer.
Evaluating.
Measuring.
"…Interesting," Noc said softly.
"I can help you."
The words were simple.
Yet heavy.
"Break your limits… far beyond anything you've ever imagined."
Augustus did not answer.
He waited.
And as expected, there is one condition.
Noc stopped directly in front of him.
"You must swear loyalty to me."
The mist stirred faster.
"You will become my subordinate."
The air grew colder.
Sharper.
Noc leaned slightly forward.
"This world… may collapse."
His tone was calm.
Too calm.
"I need you to help me preserve it… alongside me."
He raised his hand slowly, gesturing toward something unseen.
"If you agree… there is one seat left."
Silence.
"One place… under my domain."
Augustus remained still.
"And I will give you time… to consider."
The mist shifted again.
But now, it felt different.
As if something had already changed.
Augustus stood between fog and shadow.
His thoughts raced.
Yet his face remained calm.
The choice was clear.
But not simple.
If he refused, he might die.
Or worse.
If he accepted, he would step into something he could not fully understand.
Something he might never leave.
One empty seat.
One place.
Under something, that did not even name itself.
Augustus exhaled slowly.
His eyes remained fixed on Noc.
"…An interesting offer," he murmured.
But within his mind, he already knew one thing.
This was not merely a meeting.
This was the beginning.
Of something far greater.
And whatever he chose, the world would never be the same again.
Augustus remained still.
The mist curled slowly around them.
For a moment, he exhaled.
Long.
Measured.
Then, he spoke.
"I am a wandering blade."
His voice was calm.
Unshaken.
"I followed my instincts to this place."
A pause.
His gaze did not waver.
"But I am not a knight who kneels easily."
Silence.
The mist stilled.
Valdryss trembled faintly.
Yet Augustus did not reach for it.
Not yet.
"But…"
A slight shift in his breathing.
Subtle.
"…I am curious."
The word lingered.
Heavy.
"I want to know."
Another step forward.
Not aggressive.
Not submissive.
"Just how far your strength truly extends."
A pause.
Sharp.
"Because there are few left… worthy of standing against me."
Silence fell.
Deep.
Thick.
Then, something changed.
Not from Noc.
Not visibly.
Not deliberately.
But something shifted.
The air grew wrong.
Not heavier.
Not colder.
But unacceptable.
As if the world itself rejected what stood before him.
Valdryss reacted first.
A violent tremor.
Far stronger than before.
A low, broken resonance escaped the blade.
Not in warning.
Not in readiness.
But fear.
Pure.
Unfiltered.
Augustus's pupils narrowed.
His body did not move.
But his instincts screamed.
"This is not…"
The thought fractured.
Incomplete.
Because it could not be formed.
Because it did not belong.
The mist collapsed inward.
Not toward him, but toward that presence.
And for a single moment, just one, everything aligned.
Not clearly.
Not fully.
But enough.
Enough to understand something simple.
Something absolute.
"If he wished…"
A pause in his thoughts.
"…I would already be gone."
No clash.
No exchange.
No movement.
And yet, the outcome was already decided.
His breath caught.
Just slightly.
The first imperfection since he arrived.
"Erenwald…"
The name surfaced instinctively.
The strongest opponent he had ever faced.
A man who stood at the edge of what could be called human.
And yet, no.
The conclusion came instantly.
Without doubt.
"He would not last."
Not against this.
Not against something that did not even acknowledge resistance.
Silence returned.
But it no longer felt neutral.
It felt settled.
Augustus slowly lowered his head.
Not abruptly.
Not forcefully.
But undeniably.
Not in defeat.
But in recognition.
"…I see."
A breath.
Steady again.
But different.
"I misjudged the distance between us."
His grip loosened slightly.
Valdryss fell still.
As if even it had accepted something.
"I will not challenge what I cannot reach."
Another pause.
Then, quietly:
"I will stand below it."
The words were not forced.
Not coerced.
Chosen.
Deliberately.
And for the first time, Augustus Kael'dorn did not see a rival.
He saw something else.
Something beyond opposition.
Something that did not require victory.
Only acceptance.
"…Then," he said softly,
"If that place still exists…"
A final breath.
Measured.
"I will take it."
Silence.
And in that silence, something unseen, acknowledged him.