CHAPTER 2 – The Collapsed Zone
1100 Words
“Everything that can’t be explained gets dumped here. Including the truth.”
The sky above the Collapsed Zone was gray, like it had grown tired of holding onto hope. The ruins of an old fortress jutted upward like broken teeth, surrounded by thorny shrubs and shattered magic stones scattered among the debris.
This place used to be a southern royal defense outpost, but after the Third Arcane War, the location was sealed off and marked as “forbidden.” Unstable energy, failed experimental creatures, and malfunctioning magic artifacts had created a spatial distortion that made anyone who entered either lost… or gone forever.
And now I’m here.
With Aria.
Our mission: uncover who’s been spying on this zone for the enemy faction.
“Don’t stray too far from me,” Aria said flatly, activating a small crystal light in her hand. The glowing orb floated in midair, illuminating the path ahead.
“I’m not the one scared of the dark…” I muttered.
“I know you like hiding. But here, sometimes shadows bite back.”
I glanced at her but said nothing. Behind her cold tone, there was something off—a subtle tension. Like she—who’s normally composed on every mission—was suppressing something deeper.
We walked through a stone corridor lined with strange carvings. Symbols I’d never seen in any history or arcane studies class.
“This wasn’t just a fortress, was it?” I asked.
Aria nodded. “It was once a laboratory. Voidwalker experiments were conducted here. They tried to replicate power… like yours.”
I stopped. “You know about the Voidwalker?”
She looked at me straight. “I know more than you think, Reno Arkan.”
My heart pounded. I wanted to ask more, but a loud noise from the west stopped us cold. Like stone being struck violently… followed by the screech of metal scraping.
We exchanged glances.
Aria nodded. “Let’s go.”
We crept toward the source of the sound, down a corridor growing darker by the step. Aria’s light crystal began flickering, as if disturbed by the chaotic energy around us.
And then we saw it.
A creature—not human, not beast. More like a fusion of broken armor, dangling arcane wires trailing from its back, and glowing red eyes like burning coals.
“Sentinel K-09…” Aria whispered.
The creature stood in the middle of a wide chamber, scanning for something.
“An autonomous guardian from the Third War era. It should be deactivated.”
“Doesn’t look too retired to me…” I whispered back.
Aria slowly raised her hand. “We can avoid a fight. I’ll draw its attention left. You sneak right and find the source of the Void signal—”
CRAACKKK!
Without warning, the floor beneath us collapsed.
I fell, swallowed by dust and debris, my body slamming hard into the floor below.
“Aria!!” I shouted.
No reply.
My vision blurred. I slowly pushed myself up. I was sore, but still intact. I activated Void Step—and vanished. Just for a few seconds. To hide my tracks. To avoid being traced.
Metallic footsteps echoed above.
The Sentinel was hunting me.
“No way back up…” I muttered. “Gotta find another way.”
I wandered through an even older, more decayed lower corridor. Mold-coated walls, leaking pipes, and flickering lights. Then I saw it—a steel door marked with the Nocturne emblem.
My throat tightened. Nocturne. The secret organization known for manipulating dark magic experiments. Enemy of all nations… and hunters of power like mine.
The door creaked open.
And inside—
A girl stood.
Not Aria.
Her hair was ghost-white, her eyes blank, and behind her loomed the silhouette of a massive, toothy shadow.
“…Are you Project 09?” I asked.
She turned. Her expression didn’t change. “I don’t know who I am. But I was ordered… to erase you.”
Suddenly, the shadow fused into her body—
And she vanished.
Just like me.
“No way…” I whispered.
I activated Void Step.
We both disappeared.
Two shadows chasing each other through a void. No light, no sound. Only breath and instinct.
Then—WHAM!
A blow struck my back hard. I slammed into the wall.
“How are you matching my steps…?” I asked, coughing.
“I was made… to replace you,” she replied flatly.
I looked into her eyes—and felt a wave of sadness. This girl had no will. No name. Just a hollow shadow of my own power.
But I couldn’t lose.
I was alive.
I had reasons to fight.
I sprinted toward her, activating Void Echo—a decoy shadow technique to mislead opponents.
As she struck the illusion, I moved behind her, pressed my back to hers, and whispered:
“Sorry…”
I used a new skill—Silent Blitz—and landed a strike to her vital point, knocking her unconscious.
But she was still breathing.
“I won’t kill you. Not because I’m kind. But because… I know what it’s like to be a shadow.”
As I emerged from the underground room, I found Aria again—bloodied, but standing. Around her, the Sentinel lay in ruined pieces.
“Are you—?” I began.
“I survived,” she said simply.
“And you?”
I nodded slowly. “I met Project 09.”
Aria fell silent. “Did you kill her?”
I shook my head. “I freed her.”
She stared at me for a long moment. And then—for the first time—she smiled faintly.
“Good,” she said quietly. “The world doesn’t need more nameless shadows.”
We returned to the North Post gates as the sun dipped low. The sky was turning golden-orange. A day full of chaos—but I knew… this was only the beginning.
Zeke was already waiting, looking panicked. “WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?!”
I answered, laughing. “Field trip. Brought back some trauma and a souvenir monster.”
But when I turned to Aria, her gaze had grown serious.
“Reno… you need to start learning who you really are. Your power… is older than this world.”
I stared at my hand. I could still feel traces of Void clinging to my skin.
All I ever wanted was to stay unseen.
But maybe—
Maybe I was meant to be seen.
One day.
When the world is ready to face its final shadow.
[To Be Continued…]
- Writer
