The night was ink-black, with a thin mist hanging over the city.Ethan and his partner, Karl, were assigned a mission: to track a "Fear Entity" that had escaped from the laboratory.
Their pursuit led them to an abandoned overpass. The wind howled, and the dark river below churned violently, as if trying to swallow everything.
"Same as always—I'll cover your left, you cover my right," Karl said, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes still carrying that casual ease.
Ethan nodded, yet a strange unease churned in his chest. Images from the lab refused to leave his mind—the twisted experiment subjects seemed like ominous harbingers.
—
Finally, the target appeared.It was a half-human, half-shadow being, gaunt yet terrifyingly fast. Its body seemed fused from black mist and flesh, and each breath emitted a bizarre low moan.
"Target locked!" Ethan whispered.
The two moved in perfect coordination. Psychic bullets and blades struck simultaneously. The creature was wounded—but suddenly it went berserk, roaring as the mist spread across the entire overpass.
Visibility vanished instantly.In the darkness, only the roar and the pounding of hearts intertwined.
"Ethan! Fall back!"Karl shoved Ethan aside just in time—but the black mist engulfed him.
—
"Karl!"Ethan swung his blade desperately, slicing through the fog, but could only watch helplessly as his partner's form was swallowed whole.Inside the mist, Karl's body convulsed violently, flesh and shadow merging, seemingly on the verge of complete mutation.
For a brief moment, Ethan heard Karl's muffled voice, low and pained, yet still carrying a hint of a smile:"Looks like… I won't be able to cover this for you…"
The voice was swallowed by the fog. Then came a deafening explosion, and the black mist erupted violently.
Ethan was thrown by the shockwave, crashing heavily onto the ground.When he scrambled to his feet, the overpass was a scene of wreckage, with only twisted traces of nightmare energy remaining.
Karl's figure—gone.
—
The wind gradually subsided.Ethan stood frozen, chest feeling as if stabbed with a knife.
He couldn't believe it. The partner who always joked, who always shielded him, had been consumed by the nightmare.
Yet, at the same time, he sensed something strange:—No corpse.—No complete remains.—Only, as the mist dissipated, a fleeting shadow appeared—a vague silhouette, seemingly still watching him.
Ethan whispered, barely audible:"Karl… are you still there?"
The night wind blew past, answering only with cold silence.