ONLINE: Blades of Eternity

A tremor echoed again—low and rolling, like something enormous was turning in its sleep just beneath the surface of the jungle.

Kaelen immediately raised his guard, his mana surging once again, but the unnamed girl's warning still rang in his mind.

Kelvin gripped his scythe tightly. "What's coming?" he asked sharply, eyes fixed on the tunnel mouth behind them. "Is it that mist thing again?"

Kaelen stepped closer, voice low and urgent. "Who—what—did we just face out there?"

But the girl didn't answer.

Her back was already turned. She walked deeper into the cave without a word, her boots gliding soundlessly across the stone as if she had walked this path a thousand times before.

"Hey!" Kaelen called, narrowing his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Yeah, don't just walk off!" Kelvin added. "We need to figure out what that thing was. And what it wants with me—or, more specifically, with this." He tapped his chest, where the Pandora seal glowed faintly beneath his clothes.

Still, the girl didn't pause. Her voice echoed back to them through the hollow chamber, calm but edged in steel.

"I'm taking you to the only place in this jungle it won't enter."

Kelvin blinked. "Where's that supposed to be?"

She finally stopped, her silhouette framed by the faint glow of blue fungi lining the deeper tunnels.

"My home," she said quietly. "The village of the Nullcarvers."

Kaelen felt a chill that had nothing to do with the air.

He and Kelvin exchanged a look.

"The Nullcarvers?" Kaelen repeated, his voice cautious. "That thing—the mist-being—it mentioned that. Said your mark was present."

The girl nodded once. "Then you understand why I'm not explaining anything here."

Kelvin glanced back toward the jungle behind them, where the pressure still lingered like a coiled predator.

He sighed.

"Alright. Lead the way."

---

They walked for what felt like hours.

The deeper into the cave system they went, the stranger the air became—colder, thinner, laced with an otherworldly tension that made their skin crawl. The cave split and twisted in unnatural angles, leading them through ancient stone halls carved not by nature, but by careful, deliberate hands.

Eventually, the claustrophobic tunnels opened into a wide cavern lit by glowing crystals embedded in the rock above, shimmering like stars in a dark sky.

And there it was.

The Nullcarver village.

Or what was left of it.

Dozens of angular stone structures sat half-buried in moss and ash. Blackened totems and statues lined the main path like silent watchers. The buildings were low and sharp-edged, made of obsidian-like stone that absorbed the light around it.

But there was no one there.

No footsteps. No whispers. No movement.

Just silence.

Utter, oppressive silence.

Kelvin frowned, lowering his scythe. "This is the safest place? It looks like a graveyard."

Kaelen walked forward slowly, trying to feel the mana currents.

There were none.

Even here, despite the cave's shelter from the mist, the air was... still. Not like a dead place. Not exactly.

But like a place that refused to be disturbed.

He turned to the girl. "Where is everyone?"

The girl stopped before a tall stone monolith etched in ancient runes and symbols even Kaelen couldn't decipher.

"They're here," she said simply. "This is how we live. In silence. In isolation."

Kaelen raised a brow. "You're saying you live in this place? With no one else around?"

"There are eyes on you even now," she said, her voice lowering. "They just won't reveal themselves. Not unless they need to."

Kelvin took a wary step back. "Wait—are we being watched right now?"

The girl turned her head slightly.

And for the first time since they met her, her eyes bore into theirs with an expression that was more than warning. It was a threat.

"Do not be loud," she said sharply. "Do not draw attention. Do not ask stupid questions. Or the people you're looking for will make sure you never leave this cave."

Kaelen felt something shift in the air, like a heartbeat slowing just behind the veil of stone and shadow.

Kelvin muttered under his breath, "Alright, alright… sheesh."

Kaelen didn't respond. His instincts screamed at him—this place was ancient, older than the jungles that surrounded it, and whatever these Nullcarvers were, they weren't just another forgotten tribe.

They were something else entirely.

He looked again at the girl, who had gone silent once more.

Standing with her back to them.

Her hand resting lightly on the hilt of her blade again.

Kaelen had so many questions. But something told him asking the wrong one might be the last thing he ever did.

And then—

Far above, deep in the crystal-lined ceiling of the cavern, a low chime sounded. Barely audible.

But the girl's head snapped up instantly.

Kaelen tensed. "What was that?"

She didn't answer.

She was already moving—deeper into the village, toward the stone tower at the heart of the hollow.

And Kaelen, for reasons he couldn't yet understand, followed.

And so, Kaelen could feel the weight of the air grow denser the deeper they ventured into the Nullcarvers' subterranean village. The ceiling shimmered faintly with crystals, casting their cold glow over abandoned stone walkways and shrines carved with unreadable sigils. The silence was no longer eerie—it was suffocating, like the cave itself was holding its breath.

The unnamed girl led them without pause, her expression unreadable. She moved with the certainty of someone who had walked these paths since childhood, yet her every step felt like it echoed with consequence.

Then—

Rumble!

Rumble!!

A deep rumble shattered the quiet.

It started as a tremor under their feet, then rolled into the walls around them like thunder cracking through stone.

Kaelen and Kelvin halted, weapons instantly drawn—Kelvin's obsidian-edged scythe slicing the air in preparation, while Kaelen gripped his sword with both hands, mana pulsing faintly now that they were in a space untouched by the mist.

"What now?" Kelvin muttered, turning sharply as pebbles scattered from the shaking walls.

Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "It's not natural."

From the shadows of the far entrance, something began to emerge—no, pour in.

A flood of entities.

Half-formed, writhing creatures—humanoid in shape but faceless, their bodies cloaked in dense, shifting mist. Their arms elongated into blade-like extensions, and their movements were unnatural—jerking and twitching like broken puppets.

They came with no sound. No howl, no screech.

Just motion—deadly and fast.

Kaelen's stance tightened. "How did the mist get in here?!"

Kelvin snarled, readying his weapon. "I thought this place was safe!"

But beside them, the girl hadn't moved.

She stood calmly before the massive stone slab at the center of the village—an ancient altar-like construct etched with carvings deeper than any Kaelen had ever seen. Her hands were folded neatly before her, her head slightly tilted.

She didn't even turn to look at the oncoming creatures.

Kaelen shouted, "They're coming straight for us!"

And then—

Just as the creatures breached the boundary of the stone circle carved around the slab—

They vanished.

In an instant.

No burst of light. No explosion.

One second they were there, mere feet from eviscerating Kaelen and Kelvin—

The next, gone.

Not even ashes remained.

Kaelen blinked, his sword still raised.

Kelvin gasped, taking a step back. "What… what the hell just happened?!"

Then the air shifted again.

From behind the stone altar, a presence emerged—graceful, composed, and imposing.

An elderly woman, her face lined with years and stories too vast for comprehension, stepped into the light. She wore a cloak the color of midnight and held a long, curved sword at her side. The weapon didn't gleam—it drank the light around it.

Her hair, silver as frost, was bound tightly in a thick braid that reached her waist, and her eyes—those piercing obsidian eyes—locked directly onto the girl standing between her and the intruders.

"...Why?" the woman asked, her voice firm, carrying weight far beyond its volume.

Kaelen instinctively stepped forward. "Who are you?"

The woman ignored him.

Her gaze didn't falter.

She took another step forward, her aura spilling into the air like a tidal wave. Kaelen and Kelvin felt it slam into their bodies—immense, cold, old. It pressed down on their spines like an avalanche of invisible stone.

Kelvin grunted, falling to one knee. "Tch—what the hell is this pressure?"

Even Kaelen had to dig his heels into the ground to stay upright, gritting his teeth. "She's not using mana… it's something else."

The girl didn't flinch.

She met the elder's stare evenly. "Because I had to."

"That is not a reason," the woman said darkly, approaching with slow, deliberate steps.

"You brought outsiders," she continued. "You lured the mist. You invited death into our sanctuary."

"I didn't have a choice," the girl replied, still composed. "They were being hunted. And one of them carries it."

The elder's eyes flicked to Kaelen, and for a second—just a second—her expression faltered.

"You should have let them die," the woman said.

But the girl finally moved—stepping between the elder and Kaelen, her arms slightly outstretched.

"If they die, so does the balance. You taught me that."

A heavy silence followed.

Then, the elder let out a long, slow breath.

"So it's true then," she murmured. "The Pandora has awakened… and the Eclipsed Ones have begun to move."

Kaelen's voice was low, wary. "You know about the Pandora?"

The woman turned her gaze to him again—eyes sharp, ancient.

"I know more than you ever will. And I also know this: you are not ready."

She glanced back to the girl. "Neither is she."

Without another word, the elder turned and began to walk away, back toward the massive structure behind the altar.

Her sword still in hand.

Before she vanished into the shadows again, her voice echoed behind her:

"Come. You've invited chaos to our gates. Now you'll have to see what that costs."

Kaelen and Kelvin exchanged a tense glance.

And the girl?

She just exhaled softly and said, "Follow me."