The aftermath of battle still hung heavy in the air — smoke, blood, and the faint, metallic hum of mana residue. Shadow and his team stood amidst the ruins of the laboratory, exhausted but victorious. The crystalline core that once powered the experiments lay shattered, its corrupted glow fading into silence.
They gathered the rescued children, pale and trembling, guiding them through the half-collapsed tunnels back into the sewers. Down there, among the survivors who had been hiding for weeks, tears met relief.
Shadow quietly handed over a pouch filled with silver coins, rations, and a strange, compact orb.
"Press this when danger comes," he said simply.
The orb unfolded into a mechanical guardian — slender and humanoid, its eyes faintly glowing blue. Though only the size of a grown man, its presence radiated strength equal to a Level 19 warrior.
It bowed once toward Shadow before taking its silent post beside the children.
"You can't stay here," Lena murmured, watching the survivors clutch their few belongings.
"There's a trade route to the south," Sera added. "If you leave before dawn, you'll reach the next city unnoticed."
The old builder, their unlikely ally, nodded. "We'll go. Thank you… for freeing us from that hell."
Shadow said nothing — just turned, his gaze fixed toward the surface. Something about the air above still felt wrong.
---
When they resurfaced, the streets were silent. The city that had once echoed with the murmurs of the controlled now stood frozen. Bodies lay scattered across the cobblestones, faces still, eyes empty — not of fear, but of complete void.
"Their mana circuits… collapsed," Ryn whispered. "It's like something drained their life force all at once."
Shadow crouched, touching the ground. The faint traces of blue dust were gone — absorbed, vanished into nothing.
No screams. No sound. Only wind through the hollow alleys.
"They were all linked," Shadow muttered. "When the lab fell, so did the control… and the price was their life."
Lena clenched her fists. "So even when we win, they die…"
Shadow stood and looked toward the horizon. His voice, quiet yet unshaken:
"Then we keep walking. Until there's no more place like this left."
---
As dawn broke, they left the city.
A mechanical cube unfolded behind them — merging, reshaping into a sleek vehicle forged from shadowsteel and mana glass, glowing faintly with violet runes.
"New ride?" Sera smirked.
"Test model," Shadow replied, sliding into the driver's seat. "Runs on condensed mana cores. Don't touch the blue ones."
The engines purred to life, dust swirling in their wake.
Behind them, the dead city sank into silence forever — and somewhere far away, in the Holy Land, a survivor of that place began to whisper their names.
The next journey had begun.