Shanghai that night looked like a colossal circuit board neon lights racing, glass towers reflecting shadows of people chasing a future they didn't even understand. Yet beneath the noise, something ancient, dark, and long asleep… was beginning to wake.
On the rooftop of a 60-story building, Mira stood with Kael. The night wind was cold, but Mira felt another current something spiritual pressing in from somewhere far, impossibly far… and dangerously alive.
Kael held a holographic tablet. A 3D map flickered to life, showing the city with pulsing red points.
"Seven incidents in forty-eight hours," Kael said bluntly. "Spiritual energy that used to be rare is popping up like wild sparks. And the pattern… it's similar to Eden's resonance."
Mira nodded slowly, swallowing the nervous weight blooming in her chest.
"Do we know the cause?"
Kael hesitated just for a moment.
"Old rumors say… the Demon Cult was never fully wiped out."
That name.
A shiver prickled down Mira's spine.
The exiled clan the first generation cast out of Eden, power-hungry, obsessed with the Fruit of Immortality until they drowned in their own darkness.
"If they're resurfacing, it means they've found something," Mira whispered.
Kael pulled up another panel. A CCTV recording played: a normal man worn collar, tired steps walking through a crowded metro… when suddenly his body convulsed violently. Then something unfurled from within him: a mass of black shadow, thick as smoke, with glowing crimson eyes.
People screamed and scattered.
The creature rampaged until three WHSD drones blasted it with cobalt beams.
And the most chilling part?
A symbol perfect, fresh, renewed was carved onto the victim's forehead.
The mark of the cult.
Mira covered her mouth. "That's… not mere possession."
"No," Kael agreed. "It's direct energy transfer. As if someone is testing a new resonance. The source is… still unknown."
In the distance, sirens wailed but the sound was drowned out by the spiritual hum that only trained ears could hear.
Kael strapped a lens-like device onto Mira's wrist. With a tap, it activated, projecting ancient Eden sigils.
"This system can detect Eden-based energy. You're… the only one who can stabilize its frequency."
Mira stared at the device. Its glow synced with her pulse.
"Why me?" she murmured.
Kael didn't answer right away. His eyes were deep, conflicted like he was carrying a truth he wasn't allowed to reveal.
Finally, he spoke softly:
"Mira… there's a possibility you have direct resonance with Eden. Not just as a disciple of Wudang. Something more."
Mira's heart twisted fear and curiosity wrestling inside her.
But before she could ask, the spiritual alarm on the lens shrieked a low, piercing note.
The red point on the map moved. Fast. Unnatural.
"New location!" Kael barked. "Six hundred meters. Right below us!"
They looked down at the street.
People were scattering from a single dark point on the pavement.
Black mist rose from a drain.
Swirling.
Shaping itself.
Not human.
Not creature.
But a shadow hunting for a new host.
Mira unsheathed her Wudang blade Qingyu, a thin silver-blue sword shimmering like ice.
"This chapter is getting crazy…" she muttered.
Kael smirked. "Welcome to Operation Nocturna."
They jumped Kael with a gravity belt, Mira with the flowing lightness of Wudang footwork.
When their feet hit the ground, the shadow twisted toward Mira recognizing her.
And whispered:
"We… have been searching for you…"
Mira's heartbeat slammed against her ribs.
Kael raised his cobalt weapon.
"Mira, ready?"
She planted her stance, lifted her blade, eyes blazing.
"Let's rock."
The battle began.