Flesh, blood, and dark magic burst into the air, scattering across the defiled temple in a grisly display. The force of the explosion knocked everyone to the ground, the world spinning as the chaos dissipated.

But from the carnage, Porneia began to rise, now free from its host. It took shape once more, a dark figure with glowing crimson eyes. In its hand was the Chaos Parfum—the Device that had driven Porcelis mad.

The shadow, now fully formed and independent, gazed down at the group with a chilling sense of purpose. “You will not take this from me,” it hissed. “This Parfum belongs to me only.”

Without another word, the shadow vanished, taking the Chaos Device with it.

The temple was silent, save for the ragged breaths of the survivors. Keno, still kneeling where Uperios had died, stared into the distance, his mind numb with shock.

“We lost,” Carter said softly, his voice filled with disbelief. “Porneia... it’s gone with the device.”

But before anyone could respond, Umbriel collapsed to the ground, her body trembling as she lost consciousness. Martel, and Carter rushed to her side, but she was already deep in a dream—a dream of shadows and voices.

Umbra, the being that dwelled within her, spoke.

"You must release me. Allow me to intervene."

Umbriel, caught in the dream, was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Let me take control. You saw what that shadow did. It won’t stop until it destroys everything. But I can stop it.”

Umbriel hesitated, her mind racing. But there was no time to think. She nodded, letting Umbra take over. As she did, her body shifted, becoming darker than the deepest night, a void that consumed light itself.

In the waking world, Umbriel rose to her feet, her form now a shadow that moved without sound or substance. She shot forward, moving faster than the eye could follow, in pursuit of Porneia. When she caught up to it, her form twisted around the shadow entity, consuming it in a vortex of darkness.

Porneia fought back, but Umbriel’s form was relentless, devouring the entity whole. When it was over, she re-emerged, holding the Chaos Parfum in her hand. She collapsed to the ground, her body returning to normal, unconscious once more.

Carter and Martel rushed to her side, checking for signs of life. “Is she okay?” Carter asked, panic creeping into his voice.

But Keno stayed where he was, his eyes locked on the spot where Uperios had died. The weight of everything that had happened crashed down on him.

“This was only the beginning.” Keno said to himself.

A strange, eerie stillness settled in after the battle, as if the land itself was waiting, holding its breath in the aftermath of Porcelis’s grotesque demise.

Keno stared blankly at the ground, his body frozen, his mind spinning. The echoes of Uperios’s sacrifice reverberated in his ears, louder than the explosion that had ripped Porcelis apart. His brother had shielded him from certain death—and paid the ultimate price.

“Keno…” Carter’s voice was soft, hesitant, as he approached. “We need to move. Uperios… he’s—”

But Keno didn’t respond. His fists clenched as the realization of what had happened crashed over him again and again.

“Uperios is gone.” Said Carter.

Carter placed a hand on Keno’s shoulder. “We have to keep going. Your brother wouldn’t want you to stop now.”

Keno’s eyes snapped up, raw with fury and sorrow. “How can I keep going after this?” His voice cracked, the grief too much to bear. “He’s gone, Carter! Gone because of me.”

Carter flinched, but he didn’t pull back. “It’s not your fault. Uperios made a choice. He did what he had to do to protect you.”

Keno shook his head, the rage boiling beneath his skin. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. None of it was supposed to be like this.”

Martel, who had been standing a few paces back, came forward. “This is your fault Keno, you kidnapped me in the first place, we ended here because of you and your brother is dead because of you.”

Keno glanced over to where Umbriel lay, unconscious but breathing steadily. Her skin was pale, her body still, but there was something strange about her aura—an unsettling darkness that clung to her even in sleep. The memory of her transformation into that devouring dark shadow was fresh in his mind. She had unleashed something terrifying to stop Porneia, something that seemed to transcend even her.

“No… this is not my fault, it's hers” Said Keno.

“Whatever she did back there… it wasn’t her fault.” replied Martel.

Keno’s breath hitched, the weight of responsibility pressing down on him. He knew Martel was right, But Uperios’s death had shattered him, but there was no time to dwell on it. Not yet. So he punched Martel in the face and knocked him out.

“I need to kill her now.” Said Keno.

Carter stepped in front of Keno. “What did you do to Martel… You make a move and you're a dead bastard.”

Keno looked down at Umbriel again. The way she had given herself over to Umbra, the shadow that lived within her, made his blood run cold.

With a grunt, Keno hit Carter in the head putting him to sleep too, Martel and Carter were left unconscious. Then he leaned down and scooped Umbriel’s limp body into his arms. Her weight was light, but the tension that radiated from her was almost palpable. He could still feel the tendrils of shadow that had wrapped around her in battle, could still sense the power she had drawn on to chase down Porcelis’s protector.

The Chaos Parfum was now in Umbriel’s possession, but that only meant more trouble. The shadow that had guarded it was gone, consumed by Umbra, but the Artifact itself still pulsed with a malevolent energy. Even in its dormant state, Keno could feel it thrumming with chaotic desire, like a sleeping beast waiting to awaken.

Umbriel stirred in Keno’s arms, her body twitching as if caught in a nightmare. Her face twisted in a grimace, her brow slick with sweat.

“Umbra,” she mumbled, her voice faint and filled with dread. “Umbra, what have you done?”

Keno tightened his grip on her, his pulse quickening. “She’s dreaming,” he muttered, his eyes flicking to Martel and Carter while they started to regain consciousness.

Martel frowned. “Or something worse.”

Suddenly, Umbriel’s eyes snapped open, but they were not her own. They were black, deep and endless, like a void that swallowed the light around them.

“Keno...”

The voice that came from her lips was not her own. It was cold, distant, and filled with an ancient power.

“I warned you. The Parfum belongs to Chaos. And I’m Chaos”

Keno’s blood ran cold. It was Umbra.

The tension in the air was suffocating, thick with the weight of unsaid words and Keno’s boiling inner turmoil. His arms trembled as he cradled Umbriel’s body possessed by Umbra, her once familiar presence now twisted by the looming influence of the menacing shadow entity that had spoken through her. But it wasn’t just Umbriel. Everything had become too much—the weight of Uperios’s death, the realization of what they were truly up against, the twisted nature of the Chaos Devices.

“This is your fault, it’s all because of you!” Umbra hissed

Keno dropped Umbriel upon fear.

The others recoiled, the raw fury in Keno’s voice sending a chill through the air.

“You filthy shadow, it’s your fault and these cursed Artifacts must be destroyed!” Keno roared, his face twisting with rage.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Uperios is dead because of you! My brother—he’s dead! And you—” he pointed a trembling finger toward Umbriel now in the ground, as though addressing Umbra herself “—you’ve poisoned her. You’ve poisoned everything!”

Carter stepped forward again, his hands raised in a calming gesture. “Keno, stop! You’re not thinking clearly—”

But Keno’s eyes burned with a rage they had never seen before. “I’m not going to forgive you,” he seethed. “Not for this. Never.”

Without warning, Keno surged forward, his movements quick and furious toward Umbriel.

Martel drew his sword, his voice a desperate plea. “Keno, don’t!”

Keno’s lips curled into a sneer. “I should have done this a long time ago.”

The air crackled with tension as the battle unfolded, Keno’s rage-fueled attacks keeping both Martel and Carter on the defensive. They tried to reason with him while protecting Umbriel, but Keno was too far gone, consumed by grief, guilt, and anger.

And all the while, Umbriel lay still, her body twitching as Umbra’s presence stirred within her.

Finally, Keno paused, his chest heaving with exertion. His eyes, once filled with rage, flickered with uncertainty. For a brief moment, it seemed as though he might stop—might relent.

Keno’s breath came in ragged gasps as his mind swirled with dark thoughts. The boots and amulet—the very Artifacts he had sworn to protect—now felt like curses rather than tools of power. They had promised him strength, but all they had delivered was death.

“I… I can’t do this,” he whispered, his voice barely audible, a tremor of defeat. His eyes glazed over as he stared at the amulet, the dull glow of chaos radiating from its core. “I can’t keep going.”

His thoughts were now elsewhere—back to the quiet, distant island he had once called home. The island where he could disappear, where no one could find him. Where he wouldn’t have to deal with this endless nightmare. The urge to flee, to abandon it all, surged within him. He’d lost too much.

Carter stepped forward, sensing the growing fracture in Keno’s resolve. “Keno, get together. Uperios—he wouldn’t have wanted this.”

The mention of his brother’s name ignited something inside Keno, but it wasn’t hope. It was sorrow, a deep, seething sorrow that had been building since Uperios had dissolved into that wretched alchemical liquid. His brother’s sacrifice haunted him, replaying over and over in his mind. And with every passing second, the thought that gnawed at him was the same.

“This was all for nothing, he died for nothing,” Keno growled under his breath, his voice barely controlled.

Before anyone could react, Keno reached for the amulet around his neck. The moment his fingers brushed its surface, the swirling energy within flared, reacting to his touch. But Keno didn’t care. He yanked the amulet off and tossed it toward Umbriel, its dull weight landing near her with a thud.

“You want it so bad Umbra, then take it,” Keno spat, his voice filled with venom. “Take all of it. I’m done.”

Martel and Carter exchanged confused, worried glances as Keno pulled off the boots as well throwing them next to the amulet, their chaotic energy crackling faintly in the dirt.

“Keno, wait!” Carter reached out, his hand trembling as he tried to make sense of what was happening. “This isn’t the answer!”

Keno’s eyes were wild, unfocused, filled with the pain of betrayal. “I’m leaving,” he said, his voice cold and resolute. “I’m going back to my island. I’m done with this madness.”

He started to turn away, but something—an inkling of doubt, perhaps—stopped him. His fists clenched, and for a moment, his breath hitched. He couldn’t just walk away. His feet rooted themselves to the ground, and the stillness became unbearable.

Something snapped.

“No...” Keno whispered, his back still turned to the others. His voice was strained, full of growing fury. “No, this is wrong.”

“Keno...” Umbra’s voice was a whisper, filled with ancient malice.

“Yes Keno, let the Chaos Devices come to me. Umbra smiled, a cold, dark smile that sent shivers down their spines.

“Come to me Keno. Let chaos consume you.”

With a cry of rage, Keno charged forward, his sword aimed straight for Umbriel’s heart. But as he drew near, the shadows around her began to twist, to grow, until they engulfed her completely and Keno’s strike never landed.

Instead, he found himself falling into darkness.

As Keno’s blade sliced through the air, it struck nothing but shadow. The force of his attack left him unbalanced, stumbling forward into the abyss that seemed to swallow Umbriel whole.

The darkness clung to him, thick and suffocating, like the weight of a hundred regrets. “Keno!” Martel’s voice was distant, muffled, as if it came from the other side of the world. But Keno couldn’t hear him. His mind was a storm of conflicting emotions—rage, grief, confusion. The world was narrowing to a point, that singular moment where everything had gone wrong. Uperios. His brother’s death replayed in his mind over and over, each time more unbearable than the last. And Umbriel, or whatever Umbra had turned her into, was the root of it all.

“I’ll kill you,” Keno whispered, though the words lacked conviction. His rage had once been a fire, but now it flickered like a dying flame, as if the weight of his own actions was beginning to drag him down into the abyss alongside the shadows. But the shadows didn’t stop. Umbra had become something more than a mere presence now. She was darkness incarnate, a void that seemed to swallow light, sound, even time itself. Keno could feel it creeping into him, gnawing at the edges of his sanity.

“You were never meant to have the power of Chaos,”

Umbra’s voice echoed from the void, ethereal and mocking.

“You think you control it, but it has already consumed you.”

Keno tried to scream in defiance, but the sound died in his throat as the shadows surged forward, swallowing him whole. For a moment, there was only silence—an endless, suffocating silence where the weight of his failures bore down on him like an anvil. He felt the cold tendrils of darkness tightening around his chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs.

But just as he felt himself slipping away, something snapped inside him.

“No,” Keno growled through gritted teeth, his voice barely audible in the void. “This isn’t how it ends.”

With a sudden burst of energy, Keno wrenched himself free from the grasp of the shadows, his sword glowing faintly with chaotic energy. He didn’t know where the strength came from—perhaps from the Artifacts, or maybe from the last vestiges of his willpower—but it was enough. He could still fight.

He reached for the amulet and the boots as fast as he could. Martel and Carter stood with their eyes wide with confusion and fear as they watched the swirling maelstrom of shadow that surrounded Umbriel. Her body was completely enveloped in the darkness now, the only sign of her presence being the occasional flicker of movement within the black fog.

“Keno!” Martel shouted, his sword raised. “What’s happening?”

Keno didn’t respond. His eyes were locked on Umbriel—or rather, on the thing that had taken her. Umbra had completely consumed her now, twisting her body and mind into something monstrous. The realization hit him like a hammer to the chest: the friend he had once known was gone, swallowed by the very power they had been trying to control.

“We can’t let it end like this, there has to be a way to bring her back.” Said Keno.

Carter stared at him, his face pale with disbelief. “Yes. There’s always a way. We can’t give up on her.”

“Umbra!” Keno roared, his voice cutting through the air like a blade. “Face me!”

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Then the shadows stirred, and a figure began to emerge from the darkness. Umbriel’s body started to float forward, her eyes were empty voids of darkness.

It was Umbra now, fully in control.

“You still don’t understand, do you?” Umbra said, her voice soft but dripping with malice.

“This isn’t about you, Keno. Chaos has already won. You’re just too blind to see it.”

Keno’s hand shook as he raised his sword. “You took everything from me.”

Umbra’s lips twisted into a cruel smile. “You gave everything away.”

With a sudden movement, Umbra lashed out, her shadowy form shifting and expanding as dark tendrils whipped toward Keno. He barely had time to react, raising his sword to block the attack. The tendrils wrapped around his blade, pulling it from his grasp and sending him stumbling back.

Martel and Carter rushed forward, but they too were pushed back by the sheer force of Umbra’s power. The shadows seemed to have a life of their own, twisting and swirling around her like a living storm.

“We can’t fight her like this,” Carter gasped, struggling to regain his footing. “She’s too strong.”

But Keno wasn’t listening. His eyes were fixed on Umbra, his mind a whirlwind of emotions. He had lost everything. His brother, his purpose. And now, all he had left was his rage.

“I’m going to end this,” Keno whispered, his voice barely audible.

Before anyone could stop him, Keno lunged forward, his hand outstretched toward Umbra. He wasn’t thinking anymore—he was acting purely on instinct, driven by the need to end the nightmare once and for all.

But just as his hand touched Umbra’s cold, shadowy form, something unexpected happened.

Umbra’s eyes widened in shock, and for a split second, the darkness around her flickered. Keno could feel it—the faintest hint of resistance, of something buried deep within the shadows.

It was Umbriel.

“Keno…”

A faint voice echoed in his mind, barely a whisper.

“Help me.”

Umbriel was still in there, somewhere, fighting against the darkness that had taken over her.

“Umbriel!” Keno shouted, his voice filled with desperation.

But before he could do anything, the shadows surged forward again, overwhelming him and pushing him back. Umbra’s cold laughter echoed through the temple as Keno fell to his knees, his body trembling with exhaustion.

“You think you can save her?” Umbra sneered. “She’s already mine.”

Keno looked up, his vision blurred by tears and fatigue. But as his gaze locked onto Umbra’s twisted form, he realized something. The only way to save Umbriel was to help her fight the darkness from the inside out.

With a deep breath, Keno stood, his body radiating with a newfound determination.

“Umbriel, you must fight against Umbra, don’t let her win, come to light!” Keno said out loud hoping Umbriel could hear him.