Raven was the first to approach the entrance. He braced himself and pushed the heavy wooden doors open. The moment the seal was broken, a powerful rush of air exploded outward like a subterranean storm, ap both officers' hair backward and sending a deep, bone-chilling cold instantly through their uniforms.
Raven let out a slow, astonished whistle, gazing into the shadows. "Well, now that is quite a story," he murmured, his voice laced with awe. "I never imagined a legend could remain so vividly alive after decades, perhaps even centuries."
Evelyn nodded slowly, her cheerful skepticism instantly replaced by a visible, creeping sense of dread. "Yes... and it feels much creepier up close," she whispered, shivering slightly despite her uniform.
Raven nodded in agreement, his weapon held loosely but ready. "Indeed, it's a forgotten place, long abandoned. The eerie question is: how does a structure left untended for so long still possess the air of a sleeping giant? Something powerful preserves this place."
They exchanged a quick, mutual nod, and with Raven leading, they stepped fully into the structure. Inside, the darkness was absolute, penetrated only by the focused beams of their plasma gun flashlights.
Evelyn was the first to voice the persistent strangeness. "This place is definitely unsettling from the inside," she murmured, scanning the massive stone walls. "But more than that... how is it still structurally sound? It should have collapsed years ago if it's been abandoned for decades."
Raven moved methodically, sweeping his light across the far side of the chamber. He shrugged, his attention absorbed by the stone work. "Your guess is as good as mine. But you're right. The air in here—the ambient cold and absolute darkness—it doesn't feel like a forgotten ruin. It feels... suppressed."
Together, the two officers began a cautious, detailed search of the temple's interior, determined to uncover the tangible mystery that lay hidden behind the legend of the Shadow Titan.
Raven's gaze suddenly caught something on the central altar. He approached it, focusing the beam of his light on the stone structure. As he reached out, his hand scraped against a piece of razor-sharp, unseen debris, drawing blood. A single, bright drop of his blood fell onto the altar's surface.
The transformation was instantaneous and terrifying.
The entire temple began to shake violently. To Raven's eyes, the atmosphere around him snapped from scattered ruin to pristine perfection—the walls were suddenly clean, the altar gleamed, and the entire interior was restored to a state as if it had been built just yesterday. The overwhelming mystery was that only Raven perceived this reality shift.
Evelyn, still within the old, abandoned temple, remained oblivious. She spun around, realizing Raven was suddenly gone from her sight. Panic gripping her, she immediately ran toward the main doors, but the heavy slabs of wood wouldn't budge, sealing her inside the decaying ruin.
Meanwhile, Raven was utterly stunned by the immaculate, glowing decorations of the restored temple—the altar, the grand statues, and every intricate detail.
Then, a deep, resonant voice—a sound that didn't just echo, but seemed to originate from the very stone of the temple itself—filled the space.
The voice spoke slowly, with ancient authority: "Welcome, Raven, the Candidate of Shadow. We have been awaiting your arrival for a great length of time."
Raven gripped his pistol, his confusion warring with intense fear. "A Candidate of Shadow? Who are you? And why... why are you calling me that?"
The resonant voice continued, its tone holding the weight of ancient judgment: "You possess a pure heart of bravery and an unyielding spirit. This land is now desperate for a new protector, and you, Raven, are the perfect candidate to inherit the power of the Shadow Titan."
Raven's jaw slackened; the sheer impossible reality of the legend being true was overwhelming. He managed a strained reply, desperation tightening his voice. "The perfect candidate... to inherit the Shadow Titan's power?"
"Yes," the voice confirmed, its sound now filled with urgency. "And there is an incoming storm. To be precise, two looming threats will soon arise from the void, bringing despair and utter destruction to humanity."
Raven's desperation sharpened into immediate concern. "Two threats? What are they?"
The voice responded, its tone carrying a chilling neutrality that somehow magnified the gravity of the information. "Indeed. Those two threats are Stormwing, the Sky-Piercing Beast, and Giranha, the Gaping Maw. Both are ancient entities that have slept for over three centuries since the original Shadow Titan vanquished them. They arise now because the Shadow Titan's power has been dormant for too long."
Upon hearing the names of the two threats, Raven experienced a chilling moment of realization. The pieces of the puzzle instantly clicked into place: Giranha, the Gaping Maw, was the very monstrous creature he had encountered during his initial Raptor #1 flight training—the sixty-meter beast that had violently burst from the earth in the Johor Bahru district.
And the second threat, Stormwing, the Sky-Piercing Beast, was the gigantic, pterodactyl-like entity that Officer Kaito had just reported emerging from the distant island off the East Coast.
The ancient legends were not just history; they were the present danger, already active and moving against humanity.
Raven paused for a brief moment, a deep concern hardening his eyes. "So, what exactly happened to the original Shadow Titan? And if I am the candidate to inherit his power, what became of the previous heir?"
The voice let out a sound that resembled a deep, sorrowful, and unsettling sigh reverberating through the stone chamber. It replied with ancient regret: "The previous heir is no longer active. Or, as you humans would phrase it, they passed away peacefully due to the decline of old age."
The voice continued, its pronouncement sealing Raven's fate. "And you, Raven, are destined to halt these incoming threats, both the known dangers and the invaders yet unseen."
Raven nodded slightly, but sheer panic began to bleed into his voice. The task was incomprehensible. "But how am I supposed to stop them?!" he demanded, practically forcing the voice to reveal the mechanism of his mission.
Instinctively, the voice replied with the cold, absolute certainty of ancient authority:
"You have to become the Shadow Titan."