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Julian wanted to test his new abilities, but he didn’t actually think he would be testing them against people. And as he stared at the army of guards in front of him, he had two options.

He didn't have Searadyn's Veil with him, and creating a weapon inside the [Shadow Forge] was out of the question—his [Shadow Vault] should be empty. That left him with two real choices: vanish entirely using [Null Presence], or subdue them all by using [Shadow Sculpt] and [Shadow Festival]. Then again, there was also the possibility of using all three at once.

Even though he hasn’t really used any of them yet, it felt like he knew how to. But of course, knowing how to use something is different from mastering them.

But wait—why were these people even pointing their weapons at him in the first place?

“Boss!?”

And almost as if to snap him from his thoughts of violence, a voice cut through the tension that was lingering in the air. He quickly turned to look at the familiar voice, only to see Juliet pushing her way through the guards.

“Julian!? It’s really you!?” She was running toward him, practically ramming the guards with her shoulders and throwing them to the side. And following closely behind her was the rest of the party.

“Lower your weapons!” Titus roared, “He’s with us!”

“He’s the one we told you about!” Talia added, even swatting away the spears herself while frantically waving at the guards to stand down.

Before Julian could respond, Juliet threw her arms around him, pulling him into a brief, tight hug. The warmth of her relief radiated through the embrace. But as she realized what she was doing, she pulled back almost immediately, her face tinged with embarrassment as she began inspecting him from head to toe.

“You’re… you’re okay?”

Cyrus also did the same, circling him with a mixture of curiosity and concern. “What happened to you in there, Sword Junkie? And did you just… clear a dungeon by yourself? I was getting updates from the Chat, but I couldn’t really concentrate on everything that was happening.”

“Hm.” Julian let out a small hum, his gaze calm as he glanced at his friends.

“I have a class now,” he revealed casually, causing Cyrus, Juliet, and the others to freeze momentarily in stunned silence.

“It’s done, then!?” Talia’s voice quickly broke the silence as she rushed forward, her face lit with excitement. She almost grabbed Julian, wanting to shake him for answers. “What class is it anyway?”

“It’s… woah?” Julian was about to answer, but he felt a sudden weight fall upon him as his vision momentarily faded.

“Let the Newbie rest for now,” Titus stepped forward as he noticed Julian’s weight shift, “He must be incredibly exhausted after what—”

Before Titus could finish his sentence, Julian’s knees buckled. His vision blurred, and his body gave in to the sheer weight of everything he had endured.

“Julian!” Juliet’s voice was sharp with alarm.

“Welp.” Cyrus moved quickly, catching Julian before he could hit the ground.

“Cyrus, is he…?” Juliet asked quietly.

“He’s fine,” Cyrus assured her, adjusting Julian’s weight against his shoulder. “His body’s just exhausted. Let’s get him back to the inn for now… we all need to rest.”

“Okay…” Juliet nodded, though the worry on her face didn’t dissipate. She hovered close to Cyrus, her eyes locked onto the unconscious Julian—she knew that he was back in his real world.

But alas, as they started to walk away from the scene, a group of uniformed figures emerged from behind the army of guards, the insignias on their coats unmistakable—soldiers from the Order of Artemia.

The soldiers formed a line, their eyes locked only on Julian.

“Great,” Talia muttered under her breath, her hand instinctively moving to her weapon.

“This is the last thing we need right now.”

***

And while the party on Artemia was encountering an unexpected and unwelcomed development, Julian was groaning and moaning as he woke up.

It almost felt like it was the first time he was waking up and traveling back from Artemia again.

He quickly reached up for the LinkGear, carefully removing the device from his head as he sat up.

[Welcome back, Julian.] MEGAN’s voice came through in his mind almost immediately, her tone laced with concern. [How… are you feeling?]

“Well… ugh.” Julian took a moment to answer, his body still adjusting to the sensation of being back to his real body. “...I feel a little weird.”

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He started moving his arms, and it felt quite sore for some reason—a different sore from usual.

[A little weird, huh… You said there’s a lot you need to tell me. Did… anything happen while you were zoned out earlier?] MEGAN asked, [Did… you see visions again like last time?]

“Yes,” Julian let out a long and deep breath, “I had a vision… and I saw humanoid daemons on Artemia.”

He didn’t hesitate at all to reveal what he saw to her, and there was none in MEGAN’s response either.

[...I’ll start digging anything that might remotely connect to that. But… you’re a Shadow Blacksmith now?]

“Hm.” Julian hummed, “My clone gave out before I could test it. I’ll just do it once I return. And Ellie’s… in the bath?”

[You know her. She should be done in—Oh, she’s out.]

“Oh. Julian, you’re back?” Ellie’s voice came out along with the steam from the shower, cheerful and curious as she saw Julian awake.

“Did anything happen? MEGAN was just telling me there’s been a lot of excitement going on in the Otherworld—uh…” She suddenly paused, her hands that were patting her hair dry also froze as her words trailed,

“When did you get a tattoo?” She asked.

“Tattoo?” Julian tilted his head slightly, the confusion evident in his voice.

“Yeah.” Ellie approached him, continuing to dry her hair as her gaze locked on his hand. “Wait… when did you even get it? And why am I only noticing it now?”

[Julian… show me the back of your hands!] MEGAN’s voice cut through the air with an edge of nervousness.

Julian raised his hands slowly, turning them as MEGAN instructed. And there, a faint mark was etched onto his skin… a very familiar mark.

[Julian… that’s Searadyn’s mark. Why… how…?]

Ellie squinted, her breaths filled with worry as she noticed the tension in Julian’s face—an expression he never really makes unless something extremely serious has happened.

“Uh… Julian? What’s going on?”

But Julian didn’t respond. Instead, he quickly moved from the bed and instinctively reached for his cane.

But as soon as he did so, Ellie screamed.

“Julian, your hand!” Ellie rushed forward, pulling him away for some reason; the panic in her voice, piercing through Julian’s ears. But before he could actually ask what was wrong, she stammered, “Your… your hand… it just… it disappeared!? What the… What the fuck!?”

“Huh?” Julian was confused, but before his mind could even wander and wonder anything, he felt a familiar chill in his palm. He was holding something, something extremely familiar.

The shape of its handle was undeniable, a rapier. The remaining half of Searadyn’s Veil.

[What the fuck…] MEGAN’s voice mirrored Ellie’s shock. [Julian… your hand really just disappeared into the shadow, and now… how? What…?]

It wasn’t only Ellie and MEGAN who were shocked, Julian was too. His breaths grew heavy as he let go of the rapier, only for it to be swallowed by the shadow beneath his palm and vanish completely—no. It didn’t vanish at all. He felt it.

Searadyn’s Veil was inside his shadow now.

“What the fuck was that!?” Ellie shrieked, almost stumbling back. “Julian… what’s happening!?”

“That…” Julian began, but before he could form the words, something more unexpected happened.

[[So, this is your world, Julian Winters.]]

A floating set of words began to fill the void of his dark and blind world. It wasn’t the [Guidance of Artemis], however, it was more raw.

The Master of Shadows.

“You…” Julian whispered, extremely confused. He even tried to wipe his artificial eyes to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating or experiencing visions again, “...You followed me here?”

[Julian…?] MEGAN was also confused as Julian was brushing her body, which is Julian’s artificial eyes, [What are you doing?]

“Who are you talking to, Julian?” Ellie’s voice also cracked in the air, “You’re scaring me. MEGAN, what’s happening!?”

[I… I don’t know!] MEGAN popped out from the holographic display on the wall; her face that was identical to Ellie, also expressing an identical look of utter concern.

[No one followed no one, Julian Winters.]

Julian couldn’t really respond to MEGAN and Ellie as the words kept popping up in front of him—no. It would be better to say that it was popping up inside his mind instead—it was… a weird “sight”.

[[You brought us here. And unfortunately for you, it would not just be us for long.]]

“...Us?” Julian’s breath hitched.

And as if in response, another set of words emerged—this time calmer…warmer. The [Guidance of Artemis].

[As we said before, Julian Winters, we are watching you. And today, we will truly be watching you everywhere. But as always, you have my guidance. Good luck, Julian Winters.]

“What?” Julian reached out instinctively, but the Guidance’s words quickly faded into the darkness.

And all of a sudden, he felt himself not only blind, but deaf as a roaring silence screamed inside his mind.

The gods of Artemia… were watching him even on Earth now? What does that even mean? And... what does the [Guidance of Artemis] mean when it said he has its guidance?

Could it be?

Julian’s breaths turned even heavier as he was about to try something ridiculous. He paused, covering his ears to calm himself down. And after a few moments, he whispered,

“Guidance.”

And there and then, as he uttered those words, a blue window and a familiar group of words appeared before his world of darkness.

“Julian?” Ellie’s voice cut through the silence, trembling with desperation. She had a lot of questions, but when she saw Julian cover his ears, she swallowed them all and tried to be as comforting as possible, “Are you okay? Do you need something? Do you want water?”

“Ellie…” Julian quickly held Ellie’s hands,

“I have something to tell you… and you might have to sit down for this one.”

***

Somewhere far from Julian’s hotel room, another scene of chaos was happening somewhere on Earth.

The DCC, or Daemon Control Center was alive with activity. Well, it always is—but it was even more so now. The alarms blared, and glowing monitors filled the room shifting tens of images per second.

Uniformed personnel were running everywhere, screaming and pointing at each other.

“Report it! Call the Exterminator Guild! Just call anyone!”

“I’m receiving a signal here too!”

“How many is that now? Are they all in unpopulated areas!?”

They were all yelling, most of them shuffling through the images and data streaming on the screens they were responsible for.

And above them all, watching from a window that oversaw the entire DCC, two figures were watching the chaos. They stood still, their faces pale with bewilderment.

“What… what did we just see?” One of them asked, her voice trembling and uncertain.

“We, Dr. Ling, just witnessed how daemons infiltrate our planet,” the other replied, his voice heavy with disbelief. He adjusted his glasses, staring intently at a specific monitor.

“Dr. Heinz…” the woman, Dr. Ling, tried to calm herself, but she trailed off as the largest monitor also caught her eye.

Among the many screens filled with shifting and chaotic imagery, this large screen was eerily still. It was a barren field, but at the very center was a dark, swirling mass, its edges shimmering faintly as though distorting reality itself.

“It’s a wormhole…” Dr. Heinz whispered, leaning closer to the window, “...a Portal?"

And from that portal, the daemons emerged. All different variants of them, flying out almost without end.

And it didn’t seem like it was going to close anytime soon.

“...I think the planet might be in trouble.”

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