Night swallowed Jakarta's sky like ink spilled by a careless god. Heavy clouds sagged low, pressing down on a city already bloated with neon lights and the exhausted murmurs of modern humanity.
Through the chaos, a black car cut its way toward the north.
Arel sat in the backseat still pale, still dazed, still half-convinced that a few hours ago he had almost died… and almost killed a monster from another world.
His hand was wrapped in bandages, but a faint glow still seeped through the fabric.
Mira drove with one hand relaxed but razor-sharp, like the kind of person who could kill while chewing gum. Lynette sat beside her, eyes locked on the scanner trembling in her grip.
"The energy keeps rising," Lynette said. "The Edenveil gate is becoming more active."
Arel drew a heavy breath.
"So in two days… the portal opens?"
"In two days," Lynette answered, "the world will see something that should've stayed a legend."
Mira glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
"And before that happens, the cult will come for us."
Arel frowned.
"Why do they need me? This mark just makes me glow like an emergency light."
"Rel." Mira let out a long breath somewhere between patience and exhaustion.
"That mark isn't just a symbol. It's"
Lynette suddenly slapped the dashboard.
"STOP."
Mira slammed the brakes.
The car jerked to a halt on a silent, empty road.
Arel nearly flew forward.
"Are you insane?!"
Lynette pointed upward.
Arel turned.
His heart dropped.
Above the old harbor warehouses…
a black vortex churned slowly in the sky.
Wisps of shadow circled it like smoke caught in reversed gravity.
At its center flickered a single point of light
blinking
like an eye struggling to open.
Mira whispered,
"The Edenveil gate… it's starting to show."
Arel felt chills crawl up his back.
"So that's… the portal?"
"Not yet," Lynette said. "That's only its shadow. The real gate is still inside the warehouse."
Mira stepped out of the car, pulled on her jacket, and tied her hair back.
"Let's go. We walk from here. If we take the car any closer, we'll glow like a beacon for every cult rat within a kilometer."
Arel and Lynette followed her out.
The old harbor greeted them with a cold, salty wind; the groan of rusted ship masts; and stray metallic clanks from nowhere.
As they moved between towering shipping containers
TING!
Lynette stopped.
"The scanner picked something up."
Mira instantly drew her knife.
"Entity?"
Lynette shook her head.
"No. Something worse."
They reached a narrow passage between the containers.
The smell of smoke lingered in the air.
Arel saw him first.
A man draped in gray robes, long white hair flowing stood with his back to them, one hand pressed against the metal container as if reading the vibrations.
Arel whispered,
"Who is that?"
Mira froze.
Her breath hitched.
"Rel… that's not from the cult."
She swallowed hard.
"That's Wudang."
Arel's eyes widened.
"I thought you said that sect was almost extinct?"
Mira stared at him.
"That doesn't mean they won't kill you if they think you're a threat."
Lynette sighed deeply.
"So they're also after the gate's access."
"Not just the access," Mira muttered.
"The last Guardian recognized by Wudang… was Arel's father."
Arel's knees felt weak.
As if sensing their presence, the white-haired man turned.
His face was pale. His gaze deep, calculating.
A metal pendant shaped like a cloud hung from his chest the Wudang emblem.
He stepped forward.
"Arel Tang."
Arel froze.
The man dipped his head slightly
not in respect, not in threat
more like…
assessment.
"I was a direct disciple of Tang Khaiel," he said quietly.
"My name is Lang Yi."
Arel felt a cold ripple run down his spine.
"So you… knew my father?"
Lang Yi nodded once.
"I am one of the three remaining guardians."
"Guardians of… what?" Arel asked.
Lang Yi turned his eyes toward the churning vortex in the sky.
"Guardians of the Edenveil Gate."
Silence stretched between them.
Lynette held her breath.
Mira rolled her eyes.
"Great. Every sect is crawling back to life like stale bread tossed into an oven."
Lang Yi glanced at her.
"Shaolin always did talk too much."
"And Wudang always shows up late," Mira snapped.
Arel raised both hands.
"OKAY. STOP. REMINDER: THERE'S A MONSTER FROM ANOTHER REALM ABOUT TO DROP ON OUR HEADS."
Lang Yi focused on him again.
"We are not here to fight you, Arel.
We came to ensure you reach the gate alive."
Mira hissed,
"Who said we need your help?"
"Edenveil did," Lang Yi replied calmly.
Arel pointed at himself.
"So what do you want me to do?"
Lang Yi approached slowly.
Tall. Steady. Like a shadow of Arel's father resurrected.
"You will open the gate."
His voice deepened.
"That is the purpose of the Guardian Lineage."
Arel swallowed hard.
"…and if I fail?"
Lang Yi didn't hesitate.
"Then the gate falls to the Demon Cult. And this world becomes an altar for slaughter."
Arel closed his eyes for a moment.
Letting the weight crush him halfway.
When he opened them again, he asked softly:
"If I go with you… Mira and Lynette come too, right?"
Lang Yi studied the two women.
Long. Sharp. Dangerous.
"That depends on whether they can control themselves."
Mira snorted.
"Don't lecture me. I've kept him alive since before you crawled down from your mountain."
Lynette narrowed her eyes at Lang Yi.
"You got any proof you're really Wudang?"
Lang Yi answered without a word.
He pressed two fingers to the ground.
BRUUMMMM
The earth trembled.
A swirl of silver-blue energy burst upward, forming a glowing circle.
Arel stared, stunned.
It was identical to the energy he once saw in a video of his father training
years before he disappeared.
Mira clicked her tongue.
"Yeah. Okay. That's Wudang for real."
Lang Yi rose to his full height.
"We must reach the warehouse now. The cult has already summoned a larger Fallen Shade."
Arel nearly jumped.
"Larger than the one earlier?!"
"Yes."
Lang Yi looked to the vortex.
"And that is only the beginning."
Mira raised her blade.
Lynette lifted her scanner.
Arel tightened his glowing hand.
And together, they walked toward the harbor
Shadowed warehouses looming,
the salty wind slicing across their faces,
and deep inside the old storage hall…
something stirred,
woke,
and waited.