The Shadow Gate breathed.
No one expected a portal to breathe, but that was the only word that fit — a deep, ancient inhale that pulled the air toward it, followed by a slow exhale that warped the light around its edges.
Even the wind seemed afraid.
Thirty-nine S-Rank hunters stood before it, arranged in formation. Their armor rattled. Their cloaks fluttered. Their eyes narrowed with tension and focus.
And in the middle of them all…
Agilan Shaktivel. Eighteen years old. Hoodie. Calm face. No visible weapon.
Raiden Jang stood beside him, spear resting on his shoulder, lightning crackling faintly across the blade.
Ananya waited on Agilan's left, hand on the hilt of her gold crimson sword. Her black hair swayed in the wind, her aura burning faintly like a restrained sun.
The gate pulsed again.
A shadowy wave rippled outward, making several hunters step back reflexively.
One whispered:
"Is this really an S-Rank gate…? It feels… different."
Raiden corrected him immediately.
"This isn't S-Rank. This is above it. We call these 'Forbidden Gates' for a reason."
Another hunter — tall, wearing a white scarf — swallowed.
"Then why are we going in? Shouldn't we wait for more reinforcements?"
Raiden looked at Agilan.
"We have our reinforcement."
Agilan didn't react. His eyes were fixed on the swirling darkness inside the gate — but something bothered him.
A sensation crawling down his spine.
Whispers.
Faint.
Unintelligible.
Calling him.
Y'therax inside his heart murmured quietly:
"Be cautious. This gate… is older than what this world has seen."
Agilan didn't reply aloud. Ananya noticed the stiffening of his shoulders.
"You okay?" she asked quietly.
He snapped out of the whisper.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
"Don't think too much," she said, looking straight ahead. "That thing might think back."
Raiden lifted his spear and turned toward all hunters.
"LISTEN UP!"
Thirty-nine heads snapped to attention.
"This isn't a normal raid. Do not split. Do not wander. Do not touch any moving shadow unless I order."
A hunter with spiky brown hair raised a hand.
"Sir, question."
Raiden sighed. "What now, Jai?"
"Uh… what if a shadow touches us?"
"…Then pray," Raiden said.
Nervous laughter rose among the squad, but it died instantly as the gate pulsed again… this time with a sound.
A heartbeat.
BA-DUM.
Everyone tensed.
Ananya exhaled slowly. Her hand slid along her sword to check the grip. Agilan's hoodie fluttered as a faint red aura wrapped — instinctively, the beginnings of a transformation.
Raiden nodded at him.
"You open it."
Agilan stepped forward.
Every hunter watched.
His aura rose, thick and heavy, the kind that made even S-Ranks feel like they were drowning. The air vibrated. The ground cracked beneath his shoes.
The Shadow Gate reacted immediately — swirling violently, stretching open like a mouth that had waited centuries.
Hunters braced themselves.
A deep roar echoed from the other side.
Raiden shouted:
"MOVE! ALL HUNTERS — ENTER!"
One by one, they disappeared through the black mist.
Agilan stepped in last.
The world turned upside down.
---
Inside the Shadow Gate
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then the darkness gained shape.
A castle materialized beneath them — enormous, gothic, floating above a sea of shadows. Spires rose like spears. Black chains wrapped around the structure, glowing faintly with cursed energy.
Storm clouds rumbled overhead.
Shadow lightning cracked across the sky.
Jai whispered:
"Bruh… we're not in Tamil Nadu anymore…"
Ananya elbowed him. Hard.
"Shut up. Stay alert."
The group walked across a stone bridge leading into the castle. Strange runes pulsed beneath their feet.
One hunter — a woman with long silver braids — shuddered.
"This place is suffocating… I can't feel mana properly."
Another said:
"I can't sense monsters either… which means they can sense us and we can't sense them."
Agilan scanned the darkness using vitalis perception..
Something moved.
Not sound. Not movement. A feeling.
Raiden ordered:
"S-Rank formation! Shields in front, mages center, attackers back!"
Everyone shifted, boots scraping the stone floor.
The doors of the Shadow Castle creaked open by themselves.
The hunters entered.
Inside, the temperature dropped instantly.
It felt like stepping into a grave thousands of years old.
Black flames burned along the walls without giving any heat.
Rows of stone statues lined the sides — tall armored soldiers with blank faces. At first glance, they looked like decorations.
But Agilan's heart tightened.
"These aren't statues."
Ananya noticed his expression.
"What is it?"
Agilan pointed.
"Their armor… it's fresh. No dust."
Raiden caught on immediately.
"Everyone— DO NOT TOUCH THE STATUES."
One hunter gulped.
"Sir, what are they?"
The answer came before Raiden could speak.
A statue's finger twitched.
Just once.
Then another.
Then the sound of grinding rock.
One hunter whispered:
"…oh shit—"
The statues stepped forward — dozens of them, eyes glowing violet.
Shadow Soldiers.
Raiden yelled:
"DEFENSIVE POSITION!!"
Thirty-nine S-Rank hunters unleashed their aura at once. The floor cracked. Black flames flickered violently.
"ATTACK!!"
The hall exploded into battle.
---
The First Clash
Ananya moved first — her red aura erupting like a nova, her sword slicing a shadow soldier clean in half. The cut glowed brighter than fire.
Jai leaped over a charging soldier, spinning his dual daggers.
"Let's goooo!"
Another hunter chanted spells, blasting shadows with golden projectiles.
Raiden met a soldier head-on, spear lightning tearing through its chest.
The shadows kept coming.
Dozens. Then hundreds.
Agilan stayed behind, hands lightly clenched. He didn't interfere unless absolutely needed — this was their moment, not his.
One soldier broke through the formation, lunging at a mage—
Agilan moved.
His tendrils shot out, wrapping around the soldier and crushing it instantly.
The mage gasped.
"T-Thank you—"
"Focus," Agilan said.
The mage nodded rapidly.
Within minutes, the shadow soldiers fell.
Every hunter breathed heavily but victorious.
Jai wiped sweat from his forehead.
"That wasn't hard at all."
Another S-Rank nodded.
"Yeah… for a Forbidden Gate, I expected worse."
A few hunters started laughing, releasing tension.
Agilan felt uneasy.
Too easy.
Ananya noticed the look on his face.
"You're thinking the same thing?"
"…Yes."
Raiden approached both of them.
"Stay alert. This is only the entrance hall."
Hunters began regrouping.
Someone said:
"Well, if this was the worst, then—"
A wind pushed through the hall.
Cold. Sharp. Silent.
Everyone froze.
The torches flickered once… then extinguished.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A sound cut through the silence—
SLICK.
Something wet.
Something heavy.
Something falling.
A head dropped onto the floor.
Rolling.
Rolling.
Rolling.
Until it hit Jai's boot.
A hunter screamed.
"RAIDEN—!!"
Everyone turned—
One S-Rank hunter, the strongest shield bearer, stood frozen in place…
Except his head was gone.
Blood sprayed across the black floor.
No one understood what happened.
No movement. No sound. Only death.
Raiden's eyes widened.
"…Something is here."