The runes didn’t just hang in the air, they began to move. Slowly at first, drifting toward each other, then faster as if pulled by some invisible force. The black haze thickened, coiling around them like snakes on a vine.
And then, with a deep, resonant hum, the three runes slammed together.
The world seemed to ripple. Essence bent in ways I couldn’t explain, and before my eyes a swirling portal tore itself open in the space where Saturn had fallen. Its edges bled black mist, pouring out in long streams that spread on the ground like poisonous fog.
The portal spun wider, its edges jagged, as if the world didn’t want it here. Beyond it, there was no light, only a void.
The mist surged again, and then—
Something moved inside the void.
A figure stepped forward, dragging itself out of the darkness like a shadow come alive. My eyes widened. I knew this shape. I had seen it before, not here but in the recordings, in the videos every soldier was forced to watch so they’d never forget.
A Phantom.
It was a tall, humanoid figure, almost 9 feet tall, with broad shoulders and a powerfully built frame. Its body was entirely covered in dark, metallic armor that appeared seamless.
Instead of a traditional helmet or face, the being’s head was shrouded in a mass of rising black deathmist that coiled and twisted like a living shadow. The only features visible on its face were two piercing, horizontal lines of glowing red-orange light that stretched across the darkness, giving the impression of an intense, fiery gaze.
Its body emitted a continuous plume of the same black smoke, which rose from the armor and blended with the smoky head. In its hand, the Phantom held a large, menacing sword.
Behind it, a swirling, ethereal black portal crackled with deathmist, while the ground was littered with the rubble of fallen buildings.
But what surprised me and even North beside me, who covered her mouth with her hand, were the two red, glowing horizontal lines on its face.
The system couldn’t scan Phantoms. They had no levels. Only ranks.
The lowest rank Phantom was a Grandmaster. That was their starting point.
And the ranks were shown by the glowing horizontal lines on their faces. This one had two.
I clenched my teeth, imagining what that meant. It was above Grandmaster rank. It could be level 301 or maybe 499. No one knew.
And that was the fear they brought to people. The unknown.
But before I could even come to terms with the fact that our death had just stepped out of the portal, another Phantom emerged.
It followed the same humanoid, armored design, but this one looked like a dwarf, barely four feet tall. It carried a massive hammer in its hand, and a single horizontal line glowed across its face.
Then came another. A giant leg appeared first, crushing the ground as the portal widened and stretched to let the Phantom through. It was colossal, almost sixty feet tall, with two massive horns curling from its head and a single horizontal line streaking across its visor.
Once the giant was fully out, the portal vanished.
There was absolute silence. I realized I wasn’t even breathing.
The oppressive aura of the three Phantoms spread through the area, thick and suffocating. Deathmist poured continuously from their bodies, twisting and curling in the air. I could see Essence around them corroding, fighting against the corruption, struggling under their presence.
The first one, the tall Phantom with the two glowing lines, scanned the area slowly, its head tilting as if assessing prey.
Beside it, the dwarf-sized Phantom gripped its massive hammer tightly, the single horizontal line on its face flashing like a warning light.
Behind them, the giant, towering sixty feet tall with massive horns curling from its head, remained silent, its single line glowing dimly, exuding a restrained power. Both lesser ranked Phantoms hovered close to the tall one, as if instinctively acknowledging it as their leader.
"I sensed... death," the tall Phantom finally said, its voice low, hollow, and echoing in my chest. "The vessel... it has ended."
"It does not matter. It has given us more souls to feed on. I see some... good ones here," the dwarf Phantom added, its glowing line scanning all the Grandmasters present with a cold, calculating hunger.
"Hmmm..." the tall Phantom hummed, tilting its head. "Something is... off. I cannot sense the world core. The world does not appear weak enough to lack one."
It took a small step forward. The ground cracked violently beneath its foot, and a massive shockwave exploded outward, scattering dust and rubble into the air.
"No hiding," its hoarse voice boomed, carrying across the ruined field.
The air rippled around us as Space fluctuated, and Dante appeared near the Emperor in an instant.
"So... it was you who helped Saturn in the last war against us," the Emperor said, stepping forward through the rising dust, his teeth gritted. Red lightning cracked and rumbled above, turning the sky into a violent canvas.
The tall Phantom tilted its head toward the Emperor, as if regarding him with mild curiosity, and said casually, "Yes."
Nothing more. No excuses, no reasoning. Just a statement of fact.
I could feel the aura of the Phantoms pressing down on everything. They were driven only by destruction and greed, destruction of life and Essence, greed to grow stronger. And the way they grew was simple: they consumed living beings, things that thrived on Essence.
For Saturn to have received their help, he must have offered something substantial in return. My stomach turned thinking of what he had done to summon such beings.
The giant Phantom with the horns finally spoke, his deep voice rolling through the area like distant thunder.
"We offer the same choice to you as well. Souls in return for power."
"Or death, if you refuse," the dwarf added.
The Emperor’s eyes remained locked on the tall Phantom in the center, completely ignoring the other two.
"We have searched for you for years. You will pay for all the deaths, all the pain you’ve caused the people of Vaythos."
The tall Phantom raised its sword, the black deathmist coiling from its body, and pointed it at the Emperor.
"You... are weak," it said.
The words weren’t just an insult, they were a declaration.