The city never truly slept.
Even after the catastrophe in the forest, Citadel J pulsed with the same erratic heartbeat — neon veins flickering against rain-drenched streets, a sky smothered by steel clouds. Somewhere above, the towers hummed with energy; down here, in the veins of the city, the air was cold, electric, and restless.
Raiden tightened the strap of his new armor, the black synthetic weave clinging to his frame like a second skin. Stormrend hung at his side, its edge faintly alive with azure light whenever droplets struck the blade.
Beside him, Alya adjusted her hood. Her complexion had regained its warmth, though faint traces of fatigue still lined her silver eyes. The scars of their last battle lingered, hidden beneath the fabric of her cloak. She didn't complain, didn't hesitate. Just walked silently at his pace, her boots splashing in shallow puddles.
They moved through Sector C-Down, a part of the city known only in whispers — The Hollow Veins. It was where rules bent, where power was traded in the shadows.
---
Alya's voice broke the silence, soft but steady.
"Are you sure about this lead? The Hollow Veins aren't exactly tourist-friendly."
Raiden kept his gaze forward. "The hub intel was clear enough. Someone down here's selling off pieces of Black Halo tech. I want to see it."
"Pieces?" she echoed. "You think it's connected to that corruption incident?"
Raiden's jaw tightened. "If it isn't, I'll still find something useful."
The elevator leading down was ancient — its cage groaned as it descended into dim, flickering light. The hum of machinery grew louder with every level until the city above felt like a forgotten dream. The air down here was thicker — laced with metal, smoke, and desperation.
---
The Black Market
The Hollow Veins lived up to its name. A maze of pipes and suspended walkways opened into a cavernous hall where hundreds gathered — mercenaries, smugglers, rogue artificers. Neon banners blinked over makeshift stalls stacked with bio-cores, broken augment limbs, and beast fragments preserved in glass.
Alya's eyes darted warily. "Feels like home," she muttered.
Raiden gave her a sidelong look. "That supposed to be comforting?"
She smirked faintly. "Depends who you ask."
They found Vern near the back — a man whose face was half-hidden beneath a metallic jaw implant that clicked softly when he spoke. His stall was cluttered with glowing data shards and core fragments.
"Well, well," Vern rasped. "You don't look like the usual scrap-hunters. What are you buying?"
Raiden set a small pouch on the counter. "Information. I heard you've handled Black Halo tech."
At that, Vern's good eye narrowed. "That's dangerous curiosity you're feeding."
Raiden didn't blink. "I'll pay."
Vern tapped a few commands into a console. From a locked case, he drew out a dark crystal shard, pulsing faintly red beneath the surface.
"This little beauty nearly killed two of my runners," he said. "Pulled it off a corpse near the southern trench. The marking's the same as theirs — serpent coiled around a ring."
Raiden's fingers brushed the shard.
The world tilted.
---
System Distortion
[ System Alert: Foreign Signal Detected ]
[ Source: Unknown Data Shard – Classification: Corrupted Neural Echo ]
[ Warning: Host Neural Interface Breach – Containment in Progress... ]
A piercing hum ripped through his skull. Images flashed — shadows in lab coats, surgical lights, screaming machinery. The serpent insignia burned across his vision, coiling and fracturing like glass.
He staggered back, clutching his head. Alya moved instantly, catching his arm.
"Raiden! Hey— look at me!"
He exhaled sharply, eyes flashing with faint blue lightning. The shard on the table trembled, light twisting violently.
"Drop it!" Alya yelled.
Vern barely had time to curse before the shard cracked.
Black energy burst outward, a pulse that snuffed out every light nearby. When the smoke cleared, shadows began to move — humanoid shapes formed from wires, smoke, and corrupted metal. Their faces were hollow masks of light.
"Phantom Beasts," Alya whispered. "Constructs."
Raiden's hand found Stormrend in an instant. "Constructs or not… they bleed."
He moved.
Lightning flashed across the narrow market corridor as Stormrend sliced through the first creature. Its body exploded into static fragments that scattered like dying fireflies.
Alya drew twin daggers, slashing with precise economy — each movement measured, deadly. The blades sang as she danced between enemies, cutting through shadows.
Raiden pivoted, his Flow Step technique activating mid-dash. His form blurred, leaving streaks of blue electricity in his wake as he struck three phantoms in one sweeping arc.
[ +120 EXP ]
[ +130 EXP ]
[ Passive Skill 'Flow Step' proficiency increased. ]
A phantom lunged from behind. Raiden twisted, slammed an electrified kick into its core, and finished with a downward slash that split the air itself. The floor cracked beneath him.
The market erupted into chaos — vendors scrambling, alarms echoing through the under-district.
When the last beast fell, silence crept back, heavy and unnatural. Then, a slow, deliberate clap echoed from the shadows.
A figure stepped forward, armored in sleek black plating streaked with crimson circuits. His eyes glowed faintly red through a half-helmet, and the serpent insignia gleamed on his chest.
"Well," he drawled, voice distorted through his mask. "Didn't expect interference from a random drifter."
Raiden's stance tightened. "Black Halo."
The operative tilted his head. "You shouldn't even know that name."
Stormrend crackled in Raiden's grip. "Then you shouldn't have killed my wife."
For a heartbeat, the man was still — then he laughed, a low metallic sound.
"Oh… that incident." He raised his arm, revealing a blade fused to his forearm. "Guess you have every reason to die angry'
The operative lunged, faster than Raiden anticipated. The first strike sent sparks flying as Stormrend parried, the shock rippling up Raiden's arm. Alya darted to flank, but the operative twisted, using a kinetic burst to hurl her across the floor.
Raiden countered with a charged Lightning Slash, slicing through the air. The explosion lit the tunnels in a violent blue glare, yet the operative absorbed part of the strike, his armor converting the energy into power.
"You think lightning hurts me?" he taunted, driving a boot into Raiden's chest. "We built the storm."
Raiden hit a metal beam, coughing blood. His armor absorbed most of the impact, but his stamina bar dipped sharply.
[ HP: 74% Stamina: 61% ]
The operative advanced. "You shouldn't have touched the shard. Now you've seen what we've been making — echoes of our own evolution."
"Evolution?" Raiden spat blood, rising. "You mean corruption."
He vanished with Flow Step, reappearing above the operative mid-air. The clash that followed rattled the tunnels — Stormrend versus mechanized blade, lightning against synthetic flame.
Each blow illuminated the dark with strobe flashes of power. Metal screamed. Sparks rained like stars.
Alya rejoined the fray, daggers coated in her own energy flux — cyan light weaving trails as she slashed the operative's flank. "You talk too much!"
He roared, blasting her back with a shockwave. Raiden intercepted, shielding her as the concussive force cracked the tiles beneath their feet.
Raiden's HUD flickered.
[ Adrenal Surge Detected ]
[ Temporary Boost: Strength +10 | Agility +8 ]
He planted his feet, Stormrend glowing brighter — an almost furious resonance. Lightning coiled down his arm like a living serpent.
"Try this!"
He unleashed a Lightning Burst — a compressed storm that detonated point-blank.
The blast devoured everything in a blinding surge.
Smoke coiled upward, thick and acrid. The market was half-destroyed, stalls reduced to ash. Raiden stood in the center, Stormrend buried into the ground for balance, chest heaving.
The operative was gone — only scorched armor fragments remained. But his voice lingered, distorted and distant, projected through the static.
> "You can't stop what was born from your grief."
Raiden's expression darkened, rain hissing against the blade.
[ Quest Progress Updated ]
[ Hidden Quest: "Echoes of the Black Sun" – 23% Complete ]
[ EXP Gained: +980 ]
[ Level 9 ( 8,540 / 9,000 EXP ) ]
Alya limped toward him, a thin cut tracing her cheek. "That was… one hell of a welcoming party."
He gave a short, tired laugh. "Could've gone worse."
"Could've gone better too." She bent, examining the remains of the shard. The corruption had dimmed, its glow gone cold. "This thing caused all that?"
Raiden nodded, sheathing his sword. "Yeah. And something tells me it's not the last."
They stood in silence for a moment. The distant hum of the city above filtered down like an echo of another world. Alya's eyes met his, steady and unreadable.
"So," she said, "what now?"
Raiden looked down at the inert shard, its serpent emblem faint but unmistakable.
His reflection wavered across the black surface — eyes that once held grief now glowed faintly with power, and something colder beneath.
"We find where this came from," he said. "And we burn them out of every shadow they crawl into ".
[ Mission Complete: Under-District Investigation ]
[ Rewards Granted: +450 EXP | +1 Corrupted Data Shard | +3 Skill Points ]
[ Stormrend Resonance Increased – Blade Synchronization 42% ]
[ Quest: "Echoes of the Black Sun" Updated ]
Raiden glanced toward the narrow stairwell leading back to the surface. Alya followed without a word, her cloak brushing the debris. The light from above cut through the smoke — pale, un
certain, but real.
As they climbed, Raiden cast one last glance behind. The Hollow Veins were silent again, but deep within the shadows, faint red lights flickered — like eyes watching, waiting.
---