The gate creaked to a halt, opening only halfway, the grey gas also stopped escaping.
And silence reigned.
Jin Yu stepped forward, gazing into the dimly-lit maw ahead.
The mist within curled and twirled like slow, dreaming serpents, neither welcoming nor hostile.
The air near the threshold was thick and still.
It was neither heavy, nor light. Just suspended, as though time hesitated at the edge of that gate.
Dim shapes loomed in the mist, their outlines uncertain.
Nothing moved, yet nothing felt dead either.
It was a stillness that breathed.
Jin Yu’s figure brushed the edge of the threshold.
The dome’s grey glow behind him pulsed once, faintly, like a heartbeat left behind.
He stepped in.
------
Outside the mountain cave.
Seer sat silently on a chair in from of the cave, his sight and attention was fixed in it as if he wanted to see what was inside.
Tension filled the air as a group of five men surrounded him in a close formation, aura of violence radiating from them.
They had varying expressions, some glared at him murderously, wanting nothing more than to hack him down, while another looked at him teasingly as though a predator watching it's prey before killing it.
The one who seemed to be their leader stood in front of Seer, blocking half his sight. But Seer seems to care less, he kept staring.
The leader was much calmer than the others, he has a lean body like that of a viper, light but packed with venom. Ready to strike.
His eyes flitted to the black amulet in Seer's hand, desire glinting in them.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He looked back at Seer's masked face, before he spoke.
"Ladylike, why can't we resolve this amicably?, Isn't it to just hand it over?, What's so hard in that?."
A few chuckles rang out.
A blue skin man licked his lips in a cruel manner and added.
"Just listen softie, it's for your sake, our boss can't bare harming such delicate body"
A man that has dark, pus-filled nodules bulging beneath his skin got impatient and asked the lean man.
"Why bother asking a corpse, Su?, We're taking it either way "
Su looked at Seer for a moment, giving him another chance to yield, but Seer remain still, not reacting a bit.
Su's expression became resolute, then he gestured a finger, the others caught it and immediately attacked Seer.
A skeleton like man stretched his bony hand towards seer's back, aiming for his heart.
Another slashed his saber at his neck.
The man with dark nodules stood in his position and stretched his mouth wide open. Dark round balls came out of his throat and flew towards seer's head.
It writhed and squirmed in the air with corrupt energy.
The blue skin man also stood still, his eyes narrowed to a slit while his whole body lit up as he stretched his hand towards Seer as if trying to draw over something invisible.
Su stood still, watching everything with indifference, like he's given up persuading Seer.
The one being attacked was still unmoving, he kept staring inside the cave, his eyes unreadable.
The attacks closed in: three meters, two meters, one meter.....
Just a moment before each attack struck him, an ominous chill flood out like a tide.
The chill wasn't caused by the wind, No.
It was caused by the man before them.
Seer's gaze has shifted, to Su.
The utter coldness in his eyes sent a wave of dread to Su's heart. His mind rang in alarm and he tried to slip away, but it was too late. Too late.
A flash of milky white clouded Seer's eyes for a heartbeat.
In the same breath, Su's pupils vanished, replaced by a milky white color.
His expression turned blank and lifeless as if his soul had just been snatched from his body.
It all happened in less than a millisecond.
Clang! Clang! Squelch! Bang!
Su blurred between his teammates.
he deflected the skeleton man bony hand,
A sharp kick knocked the saber out of the second's hand.
Without pause, he grabbed the black balls mid-air.
Pop!
They bursted the moment his hand gripped them.
He stopped in front of the blue skin man.
His hand was already buried deep inside the man's heart, extending out of his back.
Silence struck.
The others froze, eyes filled with disbelief.
The bony man stammered, “S–Su?”
The man with saber stepped back, hands trembling. “W–Why…?”
He was their leader, and they had fought side by side countless times, they trusted each other.
Now Su stood among them like a stranger, arm still lodged in the blue man’s corpse.
His blank eyes turned slowly, staring at them with that eerie Hollowness.
They all took a sharp breath as their eyes met his.
Realization dawned on them: that wasn't Su, Not anymore.
Their eyes flitted to the unmoving Seer, dread creeping up their spine.
The three exchange glances, communicating with their eyes.
Su turned towards the man with black nodules on his skin, his eyes fixated on him, but the man was already moving.
He bursted towards the shadow choked forest behind him, making for safety.
The others didn't stay either, they all fled in other directions.
Su didn't bother with the two, he went after the man with nodules as if it was a core order.
"What's wrong with you leader?, get back to your sense!"
The man shouted as he raced into the forest, his heart thumping wildly in fear.
He didn't have the courage to fight Su a bit.
Afterall, he was their leader for a reason.
Su remained silent and only chased.
The other two hadn't gone far when they halted, their eyes widen in trepidation as they suddenly started losing control of their minds.
It's as if an invisible force was tearing apart their sanity while binding their soul in Chain.
A chain so heavy that it didn't just bind their soul, it restrained their body as well.
Their eyes slowly faded in light until it completely turned lifeless.
They stood still for a moment, then without hesitation.
Squelch! Squelch!
In one sync motion, both men pierced their own chest with bare hand.
Then they grabbed their heart and~Burst!
Thud! Thud!
They fell to the floor. Gone.
