"HEEEELP...!"

Rio's screams echoed across the entire plaza. But there was no one left who could save him.

The transformation swept over him with terrifying speed. Stone crawled up from his forearms, raced across his shoulders, and swallowed his neck inch by agonizing inch. Rio clawed at his own flesh until it bled, but his efforts were entirely in vain. Flesh turned to stone could no longer be harmed.

"Surya! What do we do?!" Dimas screamed in sheer panic.

Surya gripped the Ancient Ash Sword even tighter. "I... I don't know."

And he genuinely didn't. The Relic, which had continuously whispered guidance into his mind until now, had gone utterly silent. Not a single sound echoed from it, as though even the ancient weapon refused to interfere.

Rio was still screaming, his hands clawing toward his friends. "P-please... don't leave me..."

No one moved. Not out of a lack of compassion, but out of paralyzing terror. They had just been forced to confront a horrifying reality: here in the Shadow World, there were threats far more terrifying than mindless monsters.

Fifteen seconds later, Rio's screams cut off. His entire body froze solid. His eyes remained blown wide, his mouth still half-gaping. But now... he was nothing more than a stone statue, just like the thousands of other residents who populated this forsaken city.

Silence reclaimed the group. Mr. Yusuf slowly covered his face. "Innalillahi..."

Rina wept softly. Surya could only stare at Rio’s petrified form, his mind consumed by a single, terrifying question: What on earth was that tower?

"Get out of the plaza."

The Relic’s voice finally returned, quiet yet laced with intense caution. "This place... isn't safe."

Surya nodded instantly. "We're leaving."

No one argued. They moved at a brisk pace, abandoning the plaza without a single soul daring to look upward. Only when they had put considerable distance between themselves and the central square did the suffocating atmosphere ease slightly.

Now, only ten of them remained. Ten. Their numbers continued to dwindle, with no sign that this waking nightmare was anywhere near its end.

Night fell. Or perhaps... day had never truly existed in the Shadow World to begin with. It was nearly impossible to track the passage of time; the sky remained perpetually overcast, the air forever biting cold.

Surya and his surviving group ultimately chose to seek shelter inside a stone house that remained structurally intact. Its door was warped and rotting away, but the outer walls still offered solid cover.

"At least we're safe in here," Dimas whispered, slowly shutting the wooden door.

Everyone slumped down against the interior walls. No food. No water. No one had the energy to speak. Exhaustion and terror slowly eroded what remained of their sanity.

Surya sat near a window, the Ancient Ash Sword resting across his lap. His gaze was hollow. He tried once more to conjure memories of his childhood. But the result was the same: absolute emptiness. The harder he forced his mind to search, the more his head throbbed with a splitting pain.

"I'm actually losing parts of my memory..."

The Relic’s voice murmured quietly. "That is the price an heir must pay."

Surya clenched his fists. "Does every power demand a toll?"

"Yes."

"The greater your strength..."

"...the more you must sacrifice."

Surya fell silent. He finally understood why the man in the black cloak from his vision had called the legacy a curse. Power here was never free.

Suddenly—

Crunch...

A strange sound drifted in from outside the house. Everyone froze.

Crunch...

Crunch...

It sounded as though something heavy was pacing across the rooftop.

Mr. Yusuf gripped a splintered piece of wood. "A monster?"

Dimas peered through a crack in the window frame. "I don't see anything."

Yet the heavy footsteps continued, circling slowly around the perimeter of the house.

Crunch...

Crunch...

Rina started crying again. "I'm scared..."

Surya stood up. His instincts shrieked that something was deeply wrong. He cracked the wooden door open just a fraction. The street outside was entirely empty. No people. No visible monsters. Only stone statues standing in mute vigil.

"Strange..."

The Relic's voice piped up suddenly. "Do not trust your eyes."

Surya frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The thing hunting you..."

"...is invisible."

Before Surya could press for answers—

CRASH!!

The rear wall of the house violently caved inward. Stone debris exploded through the air, and everyone shrieked. Yet... there was nothing there. Just a massive, gaping hole in the masonry.

"Where's the monster?!" Dimas whipped around frantically. Nothing could be seen.

Then—

"AAAAAAAHHH!!"

One of the survivors suddenly hoisted into mid-air, his throat violently snapping back as if being choked by an invisible hand. He clawed desperately at the empty air. "Help!!"

Surya bolted forward, swinging his blade in a sweeping arc. Swwish!

The steel cut through empty air, connecting with nothing. A few seconds later, a sickening crack echoed through the room. The man's neck broke, and his lifeless body was tossed carelessly onto the floor.

Everyone froze. That monster... was completely invisible.

"Get out!" Surya roared. "This house isn't a shelter!"

They bolted back out into the street. But the strange, creeping footsteps followed them.

Crunch...

Crunch...

Sometimes to the left. Sometimes to the right. Sometimes pacing directly behind their heels. Yet... never once revealing itself.

Surya forced his racing mind to stay calm. An invisible monster... doesn't mean it isn't there.

He dropped his gaze to the street. Then his eyes widened.

"The ash..."

The creature itself was transparent, but every time it moved, the layer of fine ash on the ground shifted. Just a fraction. Barely perceptible.

So that's how it is... Surya offered a grim, faint smile. He was starting to understand. His curse stripped away his memories, but in exchange, his powers honed his observational instincts to a razor-sharp edge. The microscopic details that once slipped past him were now blindingly clear. Dust. Footprints. Vibrations. Shifts in the air current. They all wove together into a legible pattern.

"To the right!"

The group instantly followed Surya’s lead. A split second later—

CRASH!!

A building collapsed directly onto the exact spot they had been standing a moment prior.

"There..."

Surya could now map out the creature's position. Not by seeing its physical form, but by reading the wake it left behind.

"Relic."

"Can you help me?"

The sword hummed softly. "Guide me."

Surya took a deep breath. His eyes tracked the shifting ash. The beast moved with blistering speed, but its movement trail had a rhythm. Now!

Surya lunged. He thrust his sword straight into the empty space.

Sraaaakk!!

Suddenly, dark blood sprayed from thin air, accompanied by a horrifying, piercing shriek.

"KIEEEEEEEKKK!!"

For a brief second, the monster's form flickered into view—a four-legged beast with a transparent, glass-like body, a jaw that split all the way to its chest, and dozens of tiny, blinking eyes carpeting its spine. Then... it vanished again.

"Got it!"

Surya didn't let up. He pressed the attack, tracking the shifting ash. One slash. Two. Three. The creature began to lose its footing.

"It's behind you!" Dimas yelled.

Surya spun around, bringing his blade down in a clean arc.

CRAAASSSHH!!

This time, the black steel cleaved the creature straight down from its head to its chest. The beast let out a final, agonizing shriek. Its transparent body solidified completely, spiderwebbed with dark cracks before shattering entirely into floating flakes of ash.

Silence. The monster was dead.

The surviving members stared at Surya in utter awe. "You... you actually killed it."

Surya shook his head slowly. "No. I just read its pattern."

Yet deep inside his chest, a heavy dread settled over him. He was beginning to realize something grim: his curse didn't just steal his memories. The more recollections he lost... the sharper, more lethal his survival instincts became.

That realization made his chest feel tight. Will there come a day... when I become a supreme warrior who completely forgets who he is?

As the tension began to drain from the air, Surya suddenly frowned. He looked over the group, counting heads one by one. Nine. No. Ten.

"Wait..." Weren't there only nine left?

He counted again. Dimas. Rina. Mr. Yusuf. Five other survivors. Himself. And...

A man in a black coat standing with his back turned to them.

Surya froze. "Who is that?"

Everyone exchanged glances. Their faces drained of color.

"No..." Dimas swallowed hard. "Just now... that person wasn't with us."

The man in the black coat slowly rotated his head. His movements were jerky, entirely unnatural. And then... he smiled. A smile far too wide to ever belong to a human face.

The Relic in Surya’s hand vibrated violently. With a voice that was quiet, yet saturated with profound warning, the Relic whispered:

"Do not move..."

"That is not a human."