Volume 2 – Chapter 11
A cold wind swept through the rusted gates of Nocthollow.
Creeeak…
The iron doors slowly opened on their own.
Raimer exchanged a glance with his teammates.
“No one touched that…
right?” Finn asked, swallowing hard.
Kael rested his hand on his sword.
“If a ghost says hello, you’re answering first.”
“Why me?!”
“You’re the loudest.”
“I object!”
“No one asked.”
Mira chuckled while Alyra quietly shook her head.
Even standing before an abandoned colony that looked cursed, the five somehow found a reason to laugh.
The moment they stepped inside…
Silence swallowed everything.
No birds.
No insects.
Not even the sound of the wind.
The streets were lined with abandoned stone houses, broken carts, and shattered windows.
Black vines crawled over the buildings like living veins.
Every sign of life had vanished years ago.
Commander Varick’s words echoed in Raimer’s mind.
“Observe.
Don’t fight unless you must.”
The squad moved carefully through the main street.
Finn poked an old wooden door with a stick.
The door collapsed instantly.
“…”
“…I meant to do that.”
Kael sighed.
“You could trip over air.”
“I’ve done that before.”
“We know.”
A faint scratching noise echoed from an alley.
Scratch…
Scratch…
Scratch…
Everyone froze.
Raimer slowly raised his sword. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
The scratching grew louder.
Finn whispered, “It’s definitely a giant monster.”
Mira gripped her bow.
Kael counted with his fingers.
“Three…”
“Two…”
“One!”
The five rushed into the alley—
A tiny black cat jumped onto a barrel.
“…Meow.”
Silence.
Finn placed a hand on his chest.
“I nearly became tomorrow’s obituary because of a cat.”
Even Alyra laughed openly this time.
Raimer blinked.
“You laughed again.”
“…Forget you saw that.”
As they continued deeper into Nocthollow, the atmosphere changed.
The buildings became taller.
The streets narrower.
Strange black crystals jutted from the ground, pulsing with faint purple light.
Mira knelt beside one.
“Shadow Crystal.”
She frowned.
“This wasn’t mentioned in the records.”
Alyra touched the air.
“…Mana is unstable here.”
Raimer could feel it too.
Something beneath the streets…
Was breathing.
They reached the colony’s central square.
A giant stone fountain stood in the middle.
Dry.
Cracked.
Covered in ash.
Around it lay dozens of old skeletons.
They were huddled together.
As if they had died waiting for someone who never came.
No one joked anymore.
The colony wasn’t just abandoned.
It had been forgotten.
Kael pointed toward the governor’s hall.
“If there are maps, they’ll be inside.”
The team slowly entered.
Dust covered everything.
Old books filled broken shelves.
Mira discovered a weathered journal.
She opened the final page.
The ink was faded but readable.
«”If anyone finds this…
don’t go underground.
They don’t hunt by sight anymore…
they hunt by heartbeat.”»
The room fell silent.
A heavy thud echoed beneath the floor.
BOOM.
Another.
BOOM.
The wooden floor trembled.
Finn forced a smile.
“Please tell me that’s just my imagination.”
Then…
A low growl rose from beneath the colony.
Not one.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
The ground cracked.
Black mist seeped through the gaps.
Raimer slowly drew his sword.
His blue eyes narrowed.
“So…”
“They’ve been beneath us the whole time.”
One by one, glowing crimson eyes opened in the darkness below.
The real Shadow Colony had never been the city above.
It was the kingdom hidden underneath.
To Be Continued…11