Darkness swallowed Kale whole.

  The moment he stepped inside, the world around him twisted, shifting into something unfamiliar. Gates never closed while Slayers were inside—that was an unbreakable rule. And yet, the entrance had vanished as if it had never existed.

  His heartbeat pounded in his ears. The air was thick, heavy, suffocating. A faint blue glow flickered in the distance, casting eerie shadows across the cracked ground. Kale took a cautious step forward, his boots crunching against a surface that felt… wrong. Not stone. Not dirt. Something unnatural.

  “Hello?” he called out. His voice barely echoed before being devoured by the oppressive silence.

  No response.

  A chill crawled up his spine. This was an F-Rank Gate—there should have been weak Magic Beasts here, maybe goblins or lesser fiends. But the suffocating emptiness made him feel like he had stepped into something far beyond his understanding.

  Then came the whispers.

  Faint at first, like distant murmurs carried by the wind. But they grew stronger. Closer.

  "He walks among us…"

  "Unworthy…"

  "Yet, he has arrived."

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  Kale froze. The voices came from everywhere, yet nowhere. He spun around, but all he saw was shifting darkness. His breathing quickened as his hands clenched into fists.

  Then—movement.

  The shadows twisted, congealing into something vaguely humanoid. It had no face, no features—just shifting, writhing blackness. And it was watching him.

  The whispers turned into a single, unified voice. Deep. Resonant.

  "You seek power?"

  Kale’s breath hitched. He couldn’t move, couldn’t react. The being stepped closer, the darkness rippling around it like liquid.

  "You have no strength."

  A sharp pain stabbed into Kale’s mind. He clutched his head, gasping as an overwhelming force bore down on him. His knees buckled, and he barely kept himself from collapsing.

  The voice spoke again, calm yet suffocating.

  "Power must be earned."

  From the darkness, a figure emerged—a man wearing a mask. His presence was different, more solid than the shifting shadows. He radiated something ancient, something beyond mortal understanding.

  Kale struggled to find his voice. “Who… are you?”

  The masked man didn’t answer. Instead, he raised a hand. Lightning crackled to life around him—pure, untamed, roaring with raw energy.

  Kale barely had time to react before the world exploded in light.

  Pain shot through his body like a thousand burning needles. His muscles spasmed, his vision blurred. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

  The whispers erupted in a deafening roar.

  "Wield us!"

  "Free us!"

  "Prove yourself!"

  Then, just as suddenly as it began, the pain stopped.

  Kale collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. His body still crackled with electricity, his nerves screaming in protest. But something felt… different.

  The masked man stepped closer, his expression unreadable beneath the mask.

  "This is only the beginning."

  Before Kale could respond, his vision faded.

  The darkness swallowed him whole.