The client arrived in disguise.
Wrapped in black silk robes, face veiled, the figure spoke with a distorted voice: "I am called Whisperfang. I need a guild to retrieve a cursed blade from the black market of Obsidian Hollow."
Julius raised an eyebrow. "Cursed blade?"
"Known as the Serpent's Eye," Whisperfang said. "It whispers to those who hold it. And… one of your old enemies seeks it."
The room fell silent.
"Drach?" Solas asked.
Whisperfang didn't answer. But the glint of fear in his hidden eyes said enough.
The Twilight Zone guild departed by nightfall, traveling west through shifting sands and dead wind valleys. Obsidian Hollow was a city buried beneath the desert—forgotten by maps and remembered only by outlaws.
They passed tests of illusion, bribed silent gatekeepers, and entered the underground city—a maze of tunnels lit by glowing fungi and runes etched in blood.
They found the Serpent's Eye in a sealed vault guarded by masked merchants and mercs. The blade pulsed with hunger.
"Cursed," Lyra confirmed. "It has a consciousness."
Rael moved to destroy it, but Solas stopped him.
"Wait. I sense something… familiar."
Suddenly, the vault darkened.
A voice echoed: "So you've come at last, brother."
From the shadows stepped a figure nearly identical to Solas—same build, same eyes, but a darker presence.
"Call me Noctis," the stranger said, "And I'll be taking the blade."
Noctis unleashed a barrage of illusion and gravity magic. The guild scattered.
Julius slowed time to dodge a slash aimed at Bloom. Rin and Rael engaged mercs while Lyra froze the exits. Solas stood still, his eyes locked on his brother.
"You joined the Drach," Solas whispered.
Noctis smiled cruelly. "They understand me."
The Serpent's Eye leapt from its pedestal toward Noctis—but Julius intercepted it.
The blade hissed in his hand. Visions swirled—cities burning, gods falling, futures collapsing.
He clenched his jaw and pushed back with his own magic.
"Time… is mine to shape."
With a mighty roar, he sealed the blade inside a chronolock barrier.
Defeated, Noctis vanished with a vow: "You will regret this, brother."
Back at Twilight Zone, Whisperfang dropped his disguise—it was an ex-Drach archivist, seeking redemption.
"I know where the next Demon Key lies," he said.
Everyone leaned in.
"In the heart of the Blooming Abyss."
Twilight Zone Guild – Members: 6
Julius (C-Rank Mage, Bronze Guild Master)
Lyra (D-Rank Mage, Ice-Make Magic)
Rael (D-Rank Mage, Lightning Magic)
Rin Ayana (C-Rank Mage, Whispering Blade Style – Memory Awakening)
Solas (C-Rank Mage?, Unknown Magic – Seal Fragment Holder)
Bloom (C-Rank Mage, Assassin-Herbalist, Crimson Veil Defector)
F Rank Quests Completed: 70/1000E Rank Quests Completed: 10/10000D Rank Quests Completed: 13/1000C Rank Quests Completed: 11/1000
Guild Status: Bronze Rank
Next Chapter Preview: Blooming Abyss
A forest where time doesn't flow, where flowers scream and trees bleed memories. The third Demon Key rests in the eye of the storm—and something ancient awakens beneath the petals.