The black void stretched endlessly around the floating industrial ruin, swallowing every trace of light.
The entire structure drifted silently in the darkness like a broken island trapped in a sea of shadows. The floorboards groaned. Steel beams bent, stretched, and snapped as the void twisted reality around it.
Then—
BOOOOM!
An explosion shook the building. Debris shot across the void, scattering like dying stars.
Inside one shattered room, two unconscious bodies lay motionless beneath piles of rubble. Dust hung thick in the air.
Suddenly the wall to their left exploded.
CRASH!!
Lioran flew through the debris, smashing into a rusted steel beam before collapsing onto the cracked floor. He groaned, coughing violently as he spat thick blood onto the ground.
"Cough…! Cough…!"
The pain in his ribs was sharp, burning with each breath. His vision blurred before stabilizing. As he pushed himself up on shaking arms, he froze in horror.
"Aishwarya… Sharin…!"
Both lay sprawled across the rubble, unconscious, bodies covered in deep gashes and bruises. Their breathing was faint, shallow.
A wave of panic stabbed through Lioran's chest.
"No… no, no— wake up… please wake up…"
But before he could reach them—
SSSSSHRRRHH…
A shifting sound came from behind the broken wall.
Lioran's heart pounded violently as a dark silhouette stepped through the dust.
The Narvan.
But this was no ordinary one.
Its presence alone twisted the air, freezing every muscle in his body.
Long limbs. Sharp claws. Pitch-black flesh. Bloodlust eyes. Its aura pressed against his skull like a vice.
Lioran trembled.
"We're… done…" he whispered, voice cracking. "We can't withstand something like this…"
The creature leaned forward slowly, its tendrils dragging across the floor like living shadows.
Lioran felt death standing in front of him.
Five Minutes Earlier…
The three of them — Lioran, Aishwarya, Sharin — stood frozen in the hallway as the creature appeared behind them.
"I— I can't move…" Aishwarya whispered. Her breath came out shaky.
"There's something behind us…" Sharin said, terror in his eyes.
Lioran swallowed hard. His muscles refused to respond. Even blinking felt impossible.
"Only its presence is immobilizing us…" Lioran murmured, sweat dripping down his temple. "This isn't normal. We need to move."
The Narvan raised a clawed hand, ready to slash them in half.
"Even blinking feels impossible…" Aishwarya whispered, eyes watering.
Sharin's voice trembled. "Is it… about to attack? Lioran— what do we do…?"
Lioran's jaw clenched.
"We dodge. If its aura alone freezes us… what happens when its real attack hits?"
The creature's claws glistened as it swung.
And at the very moment the claw slashed—
VWOOOM!
Lioran forced every drop of Prāṇa into his legs and unleashed Prāṇa Swift, creating a sudden shockwave beneath the three of them.
They flew sideways just as the slash ripped through the corridor—
KRAAAAASH!!!
The attack didn't touch the wall—
Yet the entire front section crumbled into dust.
Sharin's eyes widened. "It didn't even touch the wall!"
"We don't have time to rest!" Lioran shouted. "Move!"
He slammed his glowing fist into the ground.
"PRĀṆA FIST!!"
The floor shattered, opening a chute. The three fell into the lower level as the creature screeched above them.
Outside the Void — Real World
At the original location of the abandoned industrial complex…
A black half-spherical dome hovered where the building once stood, shimmering like a solid shadow.
Skanda stepped onto the ground, his jagged mask glinting under the moonlight.
Half divine. Half demonic.
He approached the dome and placed his hand on its surface.
It didn't ripple. It didn't move.
It was solid.
"Hmm… This isn't confinement," Skanda muttered. "It's a dimensional partition. Someone shifted the entire area to another dimesion."
He traced a finger along the dome, Prāṇa flowing through it.
"This showed that It is here."
He raised his masked face.
"Kroor."
His voice darkened.
"I must save them… for Master. And for the world."
He lifted two fingers. A blade of pure Prāṇa formed at his palm.
He sliced the dome.
The dome opened.
A glowing slit of warped space appeared.
Skanda stepped inside.
The void swallowed him whole.
Back Inside the Floating Building
Lioran, Sharin, and Aishwarya crouched in the ruins of an office room, using shattered filing cabinets as cover.
"What is that Narvan…?" Sharin whispered, voice shaky. "It doesn't move like the others."
"Yeah…" Lioran said under his breath. "This one is far stronger. Far more dangerous."
Aishwarya shivered, hugging herself tightly. "We should stay hidden until someone reaches us…"
Lioran nodded slowly, but something felt wrong.
A faint tremor.
A shift in air pressure.
A change in temperature.
His instincts screamed.
"Run," he said suddenly.
"What—?"
"RUN!"
They bolted and dove out of the room right as—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The room exploded behind them, flames and debris blasting outward.
Aishwarya stumbled. "It found us!"
Lioran clenched his fists. "We have no choice. We fight."
They took their combat stances.
The hallway went utterly silent.
No movement.
No sound.
No wind.
It felt like time had paused.
Then—
Lioran's eyes caught it.
The Narvan was on the ceiling, upside down, staring at them with its empty pits.
His breath hitched.
He gathered Prāṇa, forming a glowing sphere in his hand.
But the moment he met the creature's eyes—
Everything froze.
His heart.
His breath.
His limbs.
"I—" Lioran whispered. "I can't move."
Sharin's voice trembled. "Lioran? Why did you stop?"
"I don't know… the moment I saw its eyes… my body… froze…" Lioran said. "Looking at its eye is like looking at death."
Suddenly—
The Narvan vanished.
Silence.
Then—
"Li… Lioran…"
Sharin's voice came from behind.
Lioran spun instantly—
"Aishwarya! Sharin!"
The Narvan held both of them by their throats, tendrils wrapped tightly around their necks. Their limbs dangled helplessly, eyes bulging, unable to breathe.
"Ugh—"
"Cough—!"
Their feet kicked weakly as the creature lifted them higher.
"STOP!!"
Lioran roared, golden aura erupting around him.
He lunged, his fist glowing like burning sunlight.
"GOLDEN BURST!!"
His fist struck.
No effect.
"What—?!" Lioran gasped. "The first impact didn't affect it?!"
He grit his teeth.
Fine.
"THEN TAKE THE SECOND!!"
A second shockwave burst inside its body.
BOOOOOM!!
Purple blood sprayed from the Narvan's side. It hissed, tendrils retracting. Aishwarya and Sharin fell.
Lioran caught both before they hit the ground.
They gasped desperately.
"Cough!! Cough!!"
"Are you both okay!?" Lioran asked, gripping their shoulders.
"Y-Yeah…" Aishwarya whispered. "I don't know what happened… it grabbed us and everything… went numb…"
"We couldn't move at all," Sharin said. "It paralyzed us instantly."
Lioran clenched his jaw. "When I touched it, even my body froze until I broke away. It has… a paralysis ability on contact. Avoid physical touch at all cost."
A thick, chilling laugh echoed through the hallway.
The Narvan stood behind them, smiling… a wide, grotesque, impossible smile.
A smile that promised death.
Lioran's pulse spiked.
This… was only the beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED…