Soon, Veer and Shadow just stared at each other.
It was only a second.
But for Veer, it stretched—thin and uncomfortable—like the darkness itself was bending time, waiting to see who would break first.
Veer swallowed.
His throat moved on instinct, even though breathing didn't exist here. Old habits from a physical body that wasn't present anymore. His voice came out slower than he intended.
"…So," he said carefully, "are we in trouble?"
Shadow's lips twitched.
A short chuckle slipped out—low, dry, tired. Not mocking. More like someone laughing at a question they'd asked themselves too many times already.
"Even if we are in trouble," Shadow said, leaning back into the chair, spreading his arms slightly, "what the fuck are you gonna do about it?"
Veer didn't answer.
Shadow continued, eyes half-lidded but sharp.
"Especially with the vast difference between us and that being."
The joke didn't land.
Veer's jaw tightened. His gaze drifted back into the endless black, scanning it like a cornered animal watching tall grass.
"Maybe," Veer said slowly, "that being is watching us right now."
Shadow didn't interrupt.
"Or maybe," Veer continued, voice lower now, "the moment we even think about it… it knows. Knows us. Finds us."
For the first time, Shadow's expression shifted.
The faint smile disappeared. What replaced it was caution.
"I know," Shadow said quietly.
He paused, then nodded once, like he was accepting something unpleasant but unavoidable.
"Yeah," he admitted. "You're right to think that way."
Veer didn't relax.
If anything, his shoulders stayed tense.
Shadow lifted one hand, palm open, as if weighing invisible variables in the space between them.
"For now," Shadow said, measured, "we're not in trouble."
Veer glanced at him sharply.
"He didn't just throw me out," Shadow continued. "That being… gave me room. A buffer. Otherwise I'd have been crushed—by the pressure, the energy, the density of that place. Whatever you want to call it."
He gestured outward, sweeping his hand across the void.
"This place," Shadow said, "is like a pocket. A sealed section."
Veer followed the gesture, even though there was nothing to see.
"About five hundred meters," Shadow added. "Width and height."
Veer's eyes widened.
Five hundred meters.
In a place with no sky.
No ground.
No visible edges.
The idea that this emptiness ended somewhere was unsettling.
Shadow tapped his chest lightly—right where a heart would be, if either of them were alive in the usual sense.
"And because I was still connected to your soul," he said, "I was lucky enough to find you."
Veer leaned forward without realizing it.
"And the others?" he asked immediately.
Shadow nodded, like he'd expected the question the moment Veer processed his own relief.
"They're connected to you too," Shadow said. "So yes… we might be able to find them."
For half a second, Veer forgot where he was.
Forgot the darkness.
Forgot the fear.
His face lit up, raw and unfiltered.
"Let's gooo," Veer blurted out. "Finally!"
He laughed, the sound bouncing uselessly into the void and coming back thinner, weaker.
"I swear, I felt like some protagonist," he said, excitement spilling out. "Floating through space, isekai'd, reconnecting soul fragments like some cultivation novel."
He grinned.
"I hope my brothers landed somewhere good," he added. "Heh."
Shadow didn't laugh.
He didn't smile.
He stayed still—too still.
Then he spoke.
"Do you know," Shadow said evenly, "that if one of them encounters an evil being first… he's already dead?"
Veer's smile froze.
Shadow's eyes didn't blink.
"And not just him," Shadow continued. "Us too."
Veer felt it then—like ice water poured down his spine.
"…And the people connected to him."
The excitement drained out of Veer in a single, silent collapse.
His shoulders stiffened.
"Ooh f—" Veer stopped himself halfway, dragging a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Right."
His voice dropped.
"If there are gods," he muttered, "then there are monsters too."
He swallowed.
"I really hope that doesn't happen."
Shadow watched him spiral for a moment—then cut in, firm and grounded.
"For now," Shadow said, "we're too far to connect to anyone else."
Veer looked up.
"It'll be on you," Shadow continued, "to bring us together."
Veer blinked.
"…Me?"
"Yes."
"How?" Veer asked. "I don't even know what I'm doing here."
Shadow leaned forward slightly, elbows nearing his knees. His tone shifted—focused, deliberate.
"I'm in soul form," Shadow said. "I can see things human eyes can't. I can move where a physical body can't."
He paused, then added carefully,
"But right now, I'm only anchored to you. I'm still distant."
Veer frowned. "That doesn't make sense."
"It does," Shadow replied. "Because your world—"
He glanced into the void, as if peering through it.
"—isn't ruled by a single god or demon. No centralized authority. No one throne."
He exhaled.
"Maybe beings like that exist," Shadow admitted. "But they don't govern everything. That's why I can bypass certain rules."
Veer's eyes sharpened.
"And the others?"
Shadow hesitated.
"I don't know where they landed," he said. "Or what touched them first."
That uncertainty sat heavy between them.
"But if we're going to find them," Shadow said firmly, "we do it carefully."
"No shouting into the void."
"No reckless searching."
"No assuming fate will protect us just because you think you're the main character."
Veer winced.
That hit close.
"In places like this," Shadow finished quietly, "attention is a weapon."
Veer nodded slowly.
"…Okay," he said. "So how do we start?"
Shadow exhaled.
"I'm connected to you," he said. "And the other four are connected to you too."
"So you need to become stable."
He met Veer's eyes.
"Think of yourself like a satellite tower," Shadow explained. "A big one. Powerful enough to detect its own signals—but quiet enough not to alert anything else."
Veer processed that.
"And how do we do that?"
"For now," Shadow said, "you rest."
Veer blinked. "Rest?"
"Yes. Sleep. Let go."
Shadow's voice softened, but the words carried weight.
"I'll handle the rest."
"First, your body and soul need to merge properly," Shadow continued. "Then I'll anchor you to this space."
He paused.
"It'll benefit you," he said honestly. "But it'll hurt."
"How much?" Veer asked.
Shadow didn't sugarcoat it.
"Imagine pouring expensive whisky into a crushed energy can," he said. "That's what this will feel like."
"what,how will that hurt?"
"yeah your right so think of it as very hot oil pour down in a can"
Veer let out a slow breath.
Then nodded.
"…So I should work on my body more when I wake up," he said quietly.
Shadow smiled faintly.
"Yeah," he said. "You're already doing good but now it needs to be extreme."
The darkness remained.
But for the first time, it didn't feel empty.
It felt waiting.
........................
Hey guys,I know I haven't been uploading chapters regularly. I truly want to, and I'm trying my best to be more consistent.
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