ECLIPSED VEINS — Episode 5: "The Hunt for the Eclipsed"
The Lightkeeper stepped inside Yuna's home with crushing radiance, each step leaving a burning golden footprint on the wooden floor. The air warped around him—heat shimmered, bending the light as if reality itself feared touching him.
Seong-min stumbled back. His shadow hissed, recoiling like a frightened animal.
Halmeoni pressed herself against the wall, gripping her staff.
"No… not this soon…"
The Lightkeeper extended a hand toward Seong-min, a halo-like ring of light forming behind his head.
"You. Eclipsed. Reveal your full shadow."
Seong-min swallowed, his breath shaking. "I… can't. I won't."
Yuna immediately moved between them."No. He's not showing you anything."
The Lightkeeper's radiant eyes narrowed.
"Sunwarden. Stand aside."
Yuna didn't move.
"Over my dead body."
The Lightkeeper raised one finger.
A beam of sunlight shot forward—thin as a needle, fast as lightning.
Yuna barely ducked.
The beam tore through the wall behind her, slicing it cleanly in half.The wood melted into glowing embers.
Seong-min's shadow flared in panic.
"Yuna!" he shouted.
The Lightkeeper's tone was eerily calm:
"That was restraint. Move again, and I shall not hold back."
Yuna's fist trembled.Seong-min grabbed her shoulder, voice low.
"Please… let me handle him. If he thinks you're protecting me, he might—"
"I don't care!"
She looked at him, voice cracking:
"I'm not letting anyone hurt you."
The Lightkeeper snapped his fingers.
Every candle in the house ignited into white flame.
Golden sigils formed in the air—spinning like gears, interlocking, forming a massive casting circle above him.
Halmeoni gasped."That's… Lightkeeper-level magic. Yuna, brace yourself!"
The circle split into dozens of blades.
Solar Shards.
All pointed at Seong-min.
The Lightkeeper extended his hand.
"Judgment begins."
The Solar Shards fired simultaneously.
Yuna shouted: "NO—!"
She rushed forward—
—only for Seong-min's shadow to explode.
A dome of pitch-black darkness formed around them.Light crashed against it, bursting in showers of gold like fireworks.
The shockwave launched furniture across the room.
The house shook.Windows shattered.
The Lightkeeper smirked.
"So the beast awakens."
Seong-min's breathing was ragged. Shadows swirled violently around his feet, rising like ghostly black serpents.
"I'm not a monster," he hissed."But I'm also not helpless anymore."
The Lightkeeper vanished.
Not faded—vanished.
A flash of golden light appeared behind Seong-min.
Yuna screamed:"Behind you!"
Seong-min spun—barely blocking the Solar Brand now swinging toward his throat.
Light and shadow clashed with a violent clang, sending a ripple of black and gold across the room.
The Lightkeeper pressed forward, each strike cleaner, faster, more precise than the last.
Seong-min's instincts sharpened unnaturally. He dodged one swipe, then another—his body moving on its own.
The Lightkeeper clicked his tongue.
"You fight well… for someone already falling apart."
He kicked Seong-min in the stomach—
But the shadow reacted first.
A black tendril burst out and wrapped around the Lightkeeper's leg, flinging him across the room.
He landed with supernatural grace, unshaken.
"Good," he said."You're finally interesting enough to kill."
Yuna wasn't waiting around.
Her palm lit up with golden wildfire.She struck the floor.
A shockwave erupted — a golden sunburst that expanded outward.
The Lightkeeper twisted mid-air, avoiding most of the blast, but his cloak smoldered.
He turned slowly toward her, eyes blazing.
"So you awaken your power for him, Sunwarden?"
Yuna raised her glowing hand again.Her hair fluttered in the heat of her own aura.
"I awaken it for myself."
She thrust her palm forward.
A golden beam shot toward the Lightkeeper.
He countered with a radiant shield.The collision of their powers generated a thunderous explosion.
Halmeoni screamed:"ENOUGH! YOU'LL BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!"
No one listened.
The battle's chaos pushed Seong-min past his limit.
Every heartbeat felt like a detonation.Every breath felt too heavy.
The Lightkeeper pointed at him again.
"Time to end this."
He swung his Solar Brand downward—
—and struck Seong-min's chest.
The blade didn't cut.It ignited his blood.
Seong-min choked, falling to his knees.Silver veins lit up across his body, glowing like crackling lightning.
The whisper inside him roared.
"LETMEOUT."
Shadow erupted upward like a black explosion.
Yuna covered her face as the darkness ripped through the ceiling, sending tiles flying and shaking the entire house.
Seong-min screamed—but his voice was layered, distorted, as if something else screamed with him.
His eyes were now fully black.Silver irises gleamed like predatory moons.
Yuna whispered in terror and awe:
"…Seong-min?"
The Lightkeeper smiled.
"There it is. The true face of the Eclipsed."
The Lightkeeper blurred, appearing behind Seong-min again.
But this time Seong-min didn't block.
He vanished.
A flicker of darkness.A whisper of wind.
He reappeared behind the Lightkeeper, claws of pure shadow slashing downward.
KRRAASH!
The Lightkeeper barely managed to form a shield—
The impact fractured the ground.
Then Seong-min did it again.
And again.
And again.
His movements were impossibly fast—inhuman, terrifying, elegant.He blended with his shadow, striking like a phantom.
The Lightkeeper was forced to defend with full power.
"So," he murmured between blows,"This is why the Eclipsed must be destroyed."
Seong-min's growl was animalistic.
"You won't touch her."
The Lightkeeper launched into the air.
He stretched both arms outward.
The ceiling split open as a massive burning spear formed above him—Solar Judgment.
Halmeoni screamed:
"That spell could destroy the entire block!"
The Lightkeeper hurled it downward—
Straight at Seong-min.
Yuna reacted instantly.
"NO!"
She rushed forward—
Her feet glowing—The air warping around her—Her entire body blazing gold—
She tackled Seong-min, knocking him out of the spear's path.
The Solar Judgment crashed into the house.
A column of golden fire erupted, piercing the sky.
The explosion blinded everyone.
The house collapsed around them.
Dust.Heat.Silence.
When the light faded…
Yuna lay on top of Seong-min.
Alive.Barely.
The Lightkeeper hovered above the rubble, unscathed.
He spoke with finality.
"Cha Yuna. You are untrained. Undisciplined. Controlled by emotion. You leave me no choice."
He lifted his hand.
A golden chain of symbols wrapped around Yuna's glowing sigil.
Her face twisted in horror.
"No… please… don't—"
The Lightkeeper's voice echoed like a divine verdict:
"I hereby activate the Sunwarden Command Seal."
Yuna's scream ripped through the night.
Her body arched—Her arm lifted—A golden blade formed in her hand—
And turned toward Seong-min's heart.
His eyes widened.
"…Yuna?"
Tears streamed down her glowing face as she fought the compulsion.
"S—Seong-min… I… can't… stop… it…"
The Lightkeeper pointed at Seong-min calmly.
"Kill the Eclipsed."
Yuna's blade trembled—
And slowly began to descend.
END OF EPISODE 5