"Darkness needs no reason to grow. It only needs someone who no longer needs the light."
— Lucian Veylor
---
Lucian's steps crushed the dead grass beneath him.
Each stride snapped dry twigs like the brittle bones of time.
Before him, the Morvayne Forest stretched—not like a place,
but like a curse that had taken form.
No birdsong.
No signs of life.
Only the whispering wind,
sounding like the breath of a creature never born.
---
╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
[SYSTEM ACTIVE]
Mission Objective: Access Second Pillar – Domain of Reality
Target Location: Ruins of Archaid Temple
Status: EXTREME
Scanning Regional Structure...
Spatial Anomaly Level 5: DETECTED
Dimensional Distortion: ACTIVE
Auto Navigation: DISABLED
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝
---
Lucian stood at the edge of the forest’s shadow.
His blood-red eyes glowed in the dark,
silver hair swaying in the wind like a restless spirit.
He brought no torch.
He offered no prayer.
All he carried was will.
"I did not come as a seeker. I came as the rightful heir."
And the moment he stepped in, the world shattered.
The sky vanished.
Direction dissolved.
The forest folded in on itself—as if trying to swallow his mind whole.
---
╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
[SYSTEM]
Illusion Effect: DETECTED
Type: Perception Distortion & Memory Manipulation
Level: AR-03 (Relic Artifact)
System Response: Activating Consciousness Reversal Protocol
Mental Status: STABLE
Emotional Adaptation: NOT REQUIRED
User Reaction: COLD
Synchronization: CONSISTENT
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝
---
Shadows emerged.
His mother’s face.
His father’s voice.
His own image—kneeling, weeping, begging.
They weren’t memories. They weren’t dreams.
They were traps.
Lucian stared into his reflection.
Weak. Fragile. Human.
"Fear is a luxury."
"I no longer need it."
He shattered it all—with his mind alone.
---
╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
User Rejected High-Level Emotions
Mental Resistance: +25
Personality Synchronization: 98%
Access Acceleration: GRANTED
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝
---
The path opened.
The ruins of the temple loomed amidst the mist,
like the bones of a giant rising from its grave.
At the center of the altar, ancient blood had long dried.
Symbols carved into stone pulsed faintly...
as if recognizing their new master.
Then a voice thundered—not from the system, not from this world.
"You, who loves the darkness…
What will you sacrifice to master it?"
Lucian answered, without hesitation:
"Everything—except my will."
He drove his hand into the altar.
The stone twisted—like a hungry beast.
His blood was consumed.
And behind it, a black crystal emerged,
beating like the heart of a demon.
---
╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
[SYSTEM]
Artifact Identified: Nether Fragmentation
Connection: Second Pillar – Reality Manipulation
Effects:
– Fear Simulation
– Subjective Time Distortion
– Sensory Deception
Risk: 82% Identity Distortion
Status: Initiating Soul-Binding Process…
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝
---
The crystal fused into his body—straight into the bone.
Black runes surfaced on his skin, forming patterns like sleeping demonic eyes.
Lucian did not scream.
He did not groan.
He held his breath… and rewrote his fate.
Then he spoke:
"I don't need salvation."
"I need power. And I will tear the sky apart to claim it."
---
╔════════════════════════════════════════════╗
[SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE – PILLAR II: REALITY MANIPULATION]
Status: Initial Level
Active Abilities:
– Phantom Echo (Voice/Command Duplication)
– Shadow Mirror (Reflective Illusion on Target)
– Inner Labyrinth (10m Spatial Perception Distortion)
Environmental Trigger: Spiritual Fog Absorbed
Location: Local Reality Collapse
Regional Threat: 0%
╚════════════════════════════════════════════╝
---
The sky above the temple split open.
A black vortex consumed the clouds.
Lucian stood at its center—
silent, calm, lethal.
His breath was slow, heavy…
like a primordial beast reborn.
That night, a new force awakened.
Not from praise.
Not from sacrifice.
But from the will of a villain—
who never asked for forgiveness,
and never gave any.