The moon hung unnaturally dim that night, veiled by shifting clouds that glowed faintly crimson. A storm brewed somewhere beyond the mountains, its echo a low growl across the horizon.
Daniel sat beside the broken remains of the beast he had slain — the Crimson Horned Liger. The air still trembled with the aftershock of his final strike. Trees were scorched, the earth cracked, and faint tendrils of smoke coiled upward like the breath of a wounded land.
He knelt there in silence, chest heaving. His body was battered, his robes torn and half-burnt, but the faint silver light flickering around him refused to die.
> "If I can take down a Greater-class beast at Refinement First Gate…" he whispered, half in disbelief, half in exhaustion, "…then maybe the storm within me isn't just madness."
A faint rustle answered him — the forest shifting uneasily. He frowned. The woods had gone still, too still. Even the insects had stopped singing.
Then he felt it — a chill. Not cold like winter, but hollow, consuming, like something that drained warmth and essence alike.
The silver spark in his veins flickered in warning.
> "Who's there?"
No voice replied. Only shadows. They seemed to ripple unnaturally, stretching where the moonlight should have fallen. Then — from the deepest patch of darkness — a figure stepped forward.
A woman cloaked in black silk, her face hidden beneath a veil. Her presence was suffocating; even the silver glow of Daniel's lightning seemed to dim around her.
Behind her, five more figures appeared, their robes flowing like liquid shadow. Each one carried a crescent insignia — black against black, visible only when the moonlight caught the faint sheen of silver thread.
> "Daniel of the Twin Moon Village," the veiled woman said softly. Her voice was calm, but the way it echoed made it sound as though several people spoke at once.
"The heavens have been noisy. Lightning has stirred again. Tell me… did you awaken it?"
Daniel's heart raced. "Who are you people?"
She smiled beneath the veil. "We are the Darkened Moon Sect — keepers of the true end. And you, child, have touched something that should have remained forgotten."
He rose slowly, hands sparking. "If you came for the beast's core, it's already gone."
A faint chuckle. "We care nothing for that. The essence we seek burns inside you."
The five behind her moved silently, spreading into a half-circle around him. Their footsteps left no sound — not even the crackle of twigs. Shadows lengthened unnaturally wherever they walked.
Daniel's instincts screamed. The storm within him surged in answer.
> "Stay back."
The woman tilted her head. "Do not resist, boy. The Primordial Lightning belongs to the void from which it came. Hand it over… or it will be taken from your corpse."
Silver lightning erupted from Daniel's skin, cracking through the clearing. "Try me."
She sighed, almost sadly. "So be it."
Her fingers brushed the air. Instantly, darkness bled outward like ink spilled on water. The world dimmed. Trees, ground, sky — everything dissolved into a swirling ocean of shadows.
Daniel's lightning flared wildly as he tried to hold his ground. Each spark hissed against the darkness like acid, but it was like trying to light a candle in a storm.
> "Codex—" he gasped. "Storm Veil Formation!"
He slammed his palms together. Silver arcs spun outward, forming a thin dome of light around him. The darkness recoiled, hissing. For a brief moment, the moonlight returned — and in that moment, he saw her eyes beneath the veil.
They were violet — beautiful and terrifying — and filled with something ancient.
She smiled faintly. "You resist well… for a child."
Then she vanished.
A whisper in his ear: "But you are not ready."
A pulse of shadow slammed into his barrier. The dome cracked. Another followed, and another.
> "Damn it!" Daniel shouted as his barrier shattered. The blast threw him back, crashing him into a fallen log. He coughed blood, eyes flashing with defiance.
Lightning burst from his fists, searing through the darkness. One of the shadow figures screamed as the silver light tore through its chest, leaving nothing but dust.
But there were still four more.
> "Enough," the woman said. "Take him."
Before Daniel could move, chains of black essence erupted from the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs. The more he struggled, the tighter they grew. His lightning flickered, then dimmed.
She approached, her voice like silk over glass. "You wield a storm that defied even the gods. But the Darkened Moon was born to erase such defiance."
Her hand reached toward his chest — and the silver lightning in his veins screamed.
Suddenly, a massive explosion of energy tore through the forest. The ground split apart, and the dark figures were thrown back.
Daniel fell to his knees, gasping. His body was burning with silver light, uncontrollable, wild. The chains dissolved.
He didn't wait. He ran.
Branches whipped against his face as he tore through the woods, the world a blur of trees and shadows. The forest felt alive, whispering with unseen eyes. Behind him, the air shimmered with black smoke as his pursuers followed.
"Run, little storm," her voice echoed. "The moon always catches what flees."
He stumbled through the last line of trees, bursting into open plains. His lungs burned, and lightning still flickered across his arms. He didn't stop until the forest was a smudge in the distance.
Then he fell to his knees again, clutching his chest. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he thought he saw another figure waiting in the dark — a cloaked man with a single glowing sigil on his hand. But when he blinked, there was nothing. Only wind.
---
By dawn, Daniel dragged himself home, half-conscious. His mother gasped when she saw him at the door, her hands trembling as she caught him.
"Daniel! What happened?"
He tried to speak, but only whispered one word:
> "Darkness."
She helped him inside, fear in her eyes. But before she could tend his wounds, a sound came from outside — a low hum, like wind swirling around steel.
Then the door burst open.
Five silhouettes stepped in — cloaked in the same darkness as before. Behind them, the veiled woman entered, her presence filling the small house like a storm of cold air.
Daniel's mother moved to shield him. "Who are you people? Leave my son alone!"
The woman didn't even look at her. "Take the mother," she commanded.
Daniel shouted, lightning flaring — but a blow struck his temple. The world spun. He fell to the floor, consciousness slipping away.
The last thing he saw was his mother being dragged into the night, her scream fading into silence.
---
When Daniel awoke, the sun had risen high, its light cold and distant. The house was in ruins. His hands shook as he pushed himself up.
She was gone.
On the table, scorched into the wood, was a single symbol: a crescent devouring a sun.
Beneath it, words written in a faint trace of shadow essence:
> "come to us if you wish to see her again."
Daniel's breath came out ragged. His fists clenched until lightning burst from his knuckles.
> "You took her from me…"
Thunder rumbled faintly above the mountains, though the sky was clear.
> "Then I'll hunt you to the ends of the world."
He stood, his eyes glowing silver. The Codex's runes flared to life in his mind, burning brighter than ever before.
> "I swear by the storm—" his voice trembled with fury and grief, "—the next time lightning strikes… it will strike you first."
Above, dark clouds began to gather — not from nature, but from his rage. The storm was awakening again.
And somewhere, far beyond the mountains, the Darkened Moon Sect felt it.
> "The storm child has chosen," the veiled woman whispered.
"Then so be it. Let the prophecy begin."