The darkness *moved*.
It wasn't just an absence of light—it was *alive*, coiling around Seun's limbs like liquid chains, pressing into his mouth and nose until his lungs burned for air.
**[Warning: Spectral Assimilation Detected]**
**[Mana Resistance Insufficient – Shadow Extraction Recommended]**
Seun snarled.
**[Shadow Step – Failed]**
The darkness *clenched*, holding him in place.
Ji-Ah's laughter echoed—a wet, broken sound, like bubbles rising through blood.
**"You're not like the others,"** she whispered, her voice coming from everywhere at once. **"You're *hungry* too."**
Seun's vision swam. The System's warnings flickered like a dying screen.
Then—
**[UnRuly System Override Activated]**
**[Emergency Protocol: 'Soul Forge' Engaged]**
Fire erupted in his veins.
His shadow *detonated*.
The Voidfang Alpha burst forth in a whirlwind of fangs and fury, its maw unhinging to *devour* the spectral tendrils binding Seun. Ji-Ah shrieked as the darkness *ripped* away from her, her emaciated body slamming against the far wall.
Seun hit the ground gasping, his dagger already in hand.
**"Talk,"** he growled. **"Or I let it finish eating."**
Ji-Ah's black eyes widened.
Then she *smiled*.
---
### **The Memory Fragments**
The lab was pristine.
White tiles. Sterile air. The hum of machines.
Seun stood—no, *floated*—in a memory not his own.
A younger Yuna adjusted a neural headset, her organic eye bloodshot from lack of sleep.
**"Ji-Ah, can you hear me?"**
The girl in the tank—smaller now, her face round with youth—nodded weakly. Tubes snaked from her arms, her temples, the base of her spine.
**"It hurts,"** she whispered.
Yuna's hands trembled. **"I know. But you're helping us save lives."**
A lie.
The memory *warped*.
Now, Director Ko stood over the tank, his face impassive as technicians flooded the fluid with inky black serum.
**"Phase Two. Begin the infusion."**
Ji-Ah *screamed*.
Her back arched, veins turning black beneath her skin. The tank cracked. Alarms blared.
And then—
*Silence.*
The memory shattered.
Seun staggered back into the present, his skull splitting with phantom pain.
**[Memory Fragment Recovered: Project Lazarus]**
**[Objective: Create a Living Dungeon Core]**
**[Method: Fuse Human Souls with Mana Crystals]**
**[Result: Subject Zero – Success. All Others – Catastrophic Failure.]**
Ji-Ah crouched amidst the wreckage, her hollow eyes fixed on Seun.
**"They called me a *success*,"** she rasped. **"But I was just the first monster."**
---
### **The Warden's Voice**
A new sound cut through the silence—a *click-clack* of uneven footsteps.
From the shadows, a figure emerged.
Tall. Gaunt. A tattered lab coat hung from his skeletal frame, his skin stretched too tight over sharp cheekbones. His lips peeled back in a grin, revealing teeth filed to points.
**[Dr. Elias Voss – Project Lazarus Lead]**
**[Status: Undead | Bound to Blacksite-7]**
**[Threat Level: A+]**
**"Ah,"** he crooned. **"The System's new *pet*."**
Seun's grip tightened on his dagger.
Dr. Voss chuckled, gesturing to Ji-Ah. **"She was my masterpiece. A human soul fused with a dungeon core. The perfect hybrid."** His grin widened. **"But you? You're something *new*."**
The System pulsed.
**[Warning: High-Level Undead Detected]**
**[Abilities: Necrotic Touch | Soul Harvest | ???]**
Ji-Ah hissed, her shadowy form flickering. **"Liar. You *burned* us."**
Dr. Voss sighed. **"Science requires sacrifice, my dear."**
Then he *moved*.
One moment he was across the room. The next, his hand was around Seun's throat, the stench of rotting flesh flooding his nose.
**"Let's see what makes you *tick*."**
---
### **The Soul Forge Ignites**
Seun's vision went black at the edges.
But the System *roared*.
**[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL: SHADOW MONARCH'S WRATH]**
His shadow *erupted*.
Not just the Voidfang Alpha—*dozens* of shadow soldiers, their forms half-formed but ravenous, tore free from the ground. They swarmed Dr. Voss, their claws and teeth ripping into his decaying flesh.
The doctor *laughed* even as they devoured him.
**"Fascinating! You're *evolving*!"**
Ji-Ah's hand closed around Seun's wrist.
**"Run,"** she begged. **"Before he *takes* you too."**
The walls trembled.
Something *woke* in the depths of Blacksite-7.