Chapter 1 – The Beginning
In the cradle of night, beneath a sky devoid of stars, the forest that cut across an old stretch of asphalt lay silent. Only the whispers of the wind through the leaves and the distant hoot of an owl broke the stillness. On the side of the road, an old model car stood still, its headlights flickering before fading completely. The engine gave one last coughing stutter, then died. Its body sat motionless, like a shadow waiting to be swallowed by the dark.
Behind the wheel, a young man opened the door, the weight of dark years heavy in his eyes. He raised the collar of his jacket against the cold and stepped out. Pulling out his phone, he stared at the screen No signal. His lips curled with an irritated murmur. It was as if this, like everything else, had been part of some plan. But in truth, he had never had a plan. Only instinct, rage, and the suffocating weight of the past guided him.
As he stepped toward the edge of the forest, a faint sliver of moonlight pierced through the clouds. The trees loomed like giants, their branches tangled and tight. The ground beneath was soft and damp. With every step, mud clung to his shoes, as if trying to hold him back.
Deeper in, a flicker caught his eye unnatural, almost alive. He crouched between the trees, eyes narrowing to focus. And there it was, partially buried in the soil, something that looked as if it were made from stone and bone.
At first glance, it resembled a mask. But as he leaned in closer, he realized it was not a mask. It was something else a seal, etched with ancient symbols, each crack along its surface pulsing with silent meaning. It looked as though it could breathe. Cold and ancient. Yet somehow alive.
As his gaze locked with the seal, a voice rose inside him wordless, but commanding. He wanted to step back, but his body wouldn't obey. His hands reached forward on their own.
The moment his fingers touched the seal, the world went still.
A low hum.
Then absolute silence.
Darkness claimed his vision.
He collapsed to the ground.
Chapter 2 – The In-Between
The first thing he felt when he opened his eyes was cold.
But not a physical cold it was deeper, like an emptiness that seeped into his soul, freezing him to the bone. Above him, there was no sky. No stars. No moon. Just darkness, stretched like a shroud overhead. The ground felt like a bed of dry ash; with every step, dust rose into the air, only to fall back silently in place.
He didn't know where he was. But something had already changed. His body felt light, yet his mind was heavy with shadows. Even existing here felt like a sin.
This was the In-Between.
Neither heaven, nor hell… but a trial suspended between both.
And he had come here as a man who was still good. There was conscience in his heart, a flicker of mercy left behind in his past. But that wouldn't be enough to save him. To be chosen by Shadowseal, goodness alone meant nothing. One had to accept pain and reach into their own darkness.
Suddenly, shadows fell all around him. Silhouettes… were they human? Demons? It was impossible to tell. They had no eyes, yet they whispered whispers that echoed his past, his regrets, the anger he buried deep within. They didn't touch his body, but they crushed his spirit.
One stepped forward.
It said nothing. But as their gazes met, the carrier saw his own childhood reflected in its hollow presence. The absence of a mother. The orphanage years. The cries for justice that no one ever answered. A deep, burning rage surged inside him.
And in that moment, the silhouette lunged at him.
He fought back.
And for the first time, the battle began.
Not with blades but with collapse. Not with screams but with the silent shattering of the self. He didn't cry out. But he broke. He dropped to his knees. His breath caught. Just when he thought it was over—
There was no light.
But a voice echoed.
"You are our chosen one."
Suddenly, the shadows pulled away. The ground split open beneath him. But what rose wasn't lava it was a crimson seal, marked with ancient symbols curling like tattoos across its surface. Shadowseal had appeared. He had not chosen it it had chosen him.
He was saved…
But he wasn't free.
He had passed the trial in the In-Between. But his reward wasn't heaven.
It was hell.
Because Shadowseal chose the good.
To break them.
The ground slipped beneath his feet. He didn't even have time to scream as he was pulled into the crimson abyss.
He fell.
And when he opened his eyes again
He was no longer the same.
Chapter 3 – The Town
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on wet, rocky ground. His clothes were torn to shreds. His body was covered in scratches and bruises, as if someone had dragged him through barbed wire. But the strangest part was his head.
He felt a weight on his face. As if something had fused itself to it. He raised his hand and touched his skin… but there was nothing there. If he had looked into a mirror, he would have seen nothing out of the ordinary.
Yet the sensation remained.
It was like an invisible skin something mask-like had merged with him. It breathed with him. It thought with him.
Shadowseal was now a part of him.
He rose to his feet. His legs trembled. His body was still alive, but something inside had changed. It felt as though a foreign presence had entered his mind, one that extended beyond the limits of his flesh.
Nothing around him was familiar, but in the distance, the lights of a town shimmered. Slowly, stumbling, he began to walk. The stones beneath his feet, the wind slipping through the holes in his shirt they were real. But his sense of time was broken. Everything moved in slow motion, hazy and dreamlike.
As he reached the town's edge, the first people he encountered were a couple. They were out for a nighttime walk, carrying a lantern between them. They stopped when they saw him. His eyes were hollow. His gaze frozen.
The woman smiled softly at first, but then stepped back, trembling. The man raised the lantern higher. The carrier's eyes glinted in the light.
But it wasn't the glint of a human gaze.
The man saw a monster.
The woman screamed.
And suddenly, the whole town came alive in panic.
It was a small town. Everyone knew each other. To see a stranger like this especially in the carrier's darkened state was enough to spark fear. Doors opened. Weapons emerged. Phones didn't work, but whistles sounded through the night.
A group of hunters and local men tried to corner him.
The carrier said nothing.
But the voice inside him spoke:
"There is no running. You're not defending yourself anymore.
You are a judge.
Judge them."
And in that moment… his vision darkened.
The next thing he remembered — the entire town was drenched in blood.
The memories were fragmented. Only flashes remained: bodies torn apart by his hands, blood splattered across walls, the precise moment when screams turned to silence…
When he came to, only the wind remained.
And the silence of death.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his hair in both hands. He couldn't understand what had happened. He hadn't been in control.
But it was too late.
The town was gone.
The people were gone.
All that remained was a massacre.
And something else:
Even in the silence of Shadowseal,
his first task was already complete.