The heroes had already passed one full year on their journey toward the Second Spear of Mikail.
Today's travel had begun ordinarily.
With every step, small stones shifted beneath their feet and dry grass crackled softly. A gentle breeze brushed against their faces, sweeping their hair back. The sky was covered in its familiar gray veil; clouds drifted slowly, and from time to time, the pale face of the moon revealed itself.
Swen was muttering something as she walked. What she was saying wasn't important—her voice was still one of the world's ordinary sounds. Koharu walked with measured steps, carefully making sure the edge of her cloak didn't snag on the rocks. Aurelia brought up the rear; silent, yet watchful of her surroundings.
Shinju was at the front.
After a while… the sense of depth began to change.
The distant rock formations seemed slightly closer than they should have been, yet at the same time strangely flatter. Perspective still existed, but the eye struggled to measure distance. The road was still a road; it wasn't stretching or shortening, as if it had settled into a single, unchanging length.
Shinju didn't stop, but his pace slowed without him realizing it.
Swen hesitated mid-sentence.
"Strange…" she muttered to herself.
"My voice… it isn't echoing."
She was right. The sound still emerged, but it didn't bounce back from the stones. It wasn't swallowed either—it simply failed to travel. Even a few steps away, her voice became hard to hear.
Koharu noticed. Her gaze dropped to the ground.
The color of the soil hadn't changed. Yet what lay beneath her feet no longer felt like "ground." It wasn't soft, nor was it hard. It felt… indecisive. As if the surface itself couldn't decide whether to accept her weight.
"This…" Koharu said quietly.
"It's starting."
Aurelia lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
Dark clouds blanketed it, as though a violent storm were about to break loose—yet the breeze that had been brushing their faces moments ago had vanished completely instead of growing stronger.
With the next step, scent disappeared.
They were still breathing, yet what entered their lungs no longer felt like air. Their chests filled, but whatever filled them had no name.
Shinju spoke in a calm but firm voice.
"Everyone, keep control of your mind.
From this point on, we are in the Void."
For the first time, Swen's expression truly tightened.
"But that's not what the books described.
They always talked about… darkness."
Aurelia didn't answer immediately. She took a few steps forward, then stopped.
"The Void is not darkness," she said.
"Darkness is still something."
She paused, her voice growing heavier.
"The curse that once wiped out my kind was the same.
Slowly, it drains the life energy from within."
At that moment, the surroundings began to abandon color.
Not all at once. Not with a violent break.
The stones were still gray—but gray had become a single, uniform shade. Shadows existed, yet they no longer shifted with the light. No matter where they looked, the shadows held the same depth. The boundary between near and far gradually blurred.
Shinju's breathing changed.
It wasn't reflex. It wasn't panic.
It was… familiarity.
His steps came to a halt. His shoulders loosened slightly. He didn't close his eyes—on the contrary, he began observing more carefully.
Because what he felt was not unfamiliar.
He called forth the steady rhythm he had known for years. Slowed his breathing. Aligned his mind with emptiness, as he always had. In this place, he felt a strange comfort—like sitting beside a campfire.
And then he realized it.
The atmosphere itself was dense.
Like the air of a sealed room… except that this room was filled with the essence of the Void. Shinju felt as though he belonged here—as if he were at home.
The sensation sent a shiver through him. His brows knit slightly.
Am I…
one of the Void's monsters?
Is that why, despite all my effort, I can't use Yang energy?
Shinju spoke calmly.
"Here…"
"The essence of the Void isn't sparse."
Swen turned to him at once.
"So… is it dangerous?"
Shinju shook his head.
"No.
But it's different."
They took another step forward.
With that step… the way behind them severed.
Truly severed.
When they looked back, the path they had traveled was still visible, yet it felt like looking at a memory. Distance remained, but connection was gone. That place no longer belonged to "here."
A tightness settled in Koharu's chest.
Memories of the time she had once spent in the Void resurfaced—the decay marks on her skin, the suffocating sensation with every breath.
But now… nothing was happening.
Her skin was the same. Her breathing steady. Her heart intact.
This wasn't relief.
It was controlled unease.
Swen looked around, her expression caught between awe and discomfort.
"This place…" she said slowly.
"It feels like the universe has decided to stop looking here."
After a brief pause, she added,
"Good thing we managed to make the Elysium pills.
This area is far harsher to survive in than I expected.
Thanks to them, we won't suffer the Void's side effects."
Shinju sat down, crossing his legs, and took a deep breath.
The essence of the Void in the atmosphere was dense enough for cultivation. He carefully cultivated a small amount of Yin energy.
Then a thought crossed his mind.
If I stay here long enough…
I might get closer to my former strength.
After a while, the heroes set out again.
Koharu broke the silence.
"Doesn't it feel like…"
"we're walking in circles,
in an endless place without life,
like being lost in the middle of a desert?"
Swen laughed.
"Princess, in the Void there are no stars,
no wind, no shadows we can use to orient ourselves.
Determining direction is impossible."
She pulled out the sphere that indicated the location of Mikail's Spear.
On its surface, the yellow point representing the Second Spear of Mikail glowed steadily.
"But thankfully, we have this sphere," she said with a chuckle.
"So getting lost isn't a luxury we're allowed."