— Entering the Fog —
Nadia's voice was cool and level, but a faint thread of anticipation slipped beneath it.
"Eren. Ethan says you can absorb Miasmatic Energy. Is he exaggerating?"
Eren didn't blink.
"Not even slightly."
"Mrow?"
The Cat Boss perched atop Cael's head flicked an ear, golden eyes narrowing as if the creature had just discovered a rare new toy.
Nadia studied Eren a moment longer, then nodded.
"Good. With you here, we might actually have a chance."
Eren's gaze drifted toward the distant wall of churning darkness—a devouring maw swallowing everything beyond it.
"The people trapped inside... they're alive?"
"For now." Nadia's tone dropped into something grim.
"The Fog is hallucinogenic. Breathe in too much and it drags out the worst parts of you. Eventually, it reshapes you into whatever those impulses become."
Her eyes locked with his, steady and weighted with a flicker of hope.
"If you can pull the miasma out of them... we may still save a few."
A hard spark lit in Eren's eyes.
What broke others... fed him.
"Then there's nothing to discuss," he said, a sharp, dangerous grin ghosting over his lips. "We move now."
"Agreed." Nadia's voice rang out.
"Two squads, plus Eren and Black Boss. We breach the Fog immediately!"
"Understood!"
The response hit like a single strike of steel.
---
Ethan's trio, Nadia, Rowan, Cael (with cat still atop his head), and Eren—
Seven humans and one cat—stood at the boundary where reality thinned like worn paper.
The air here carried a metallic tang, cold enough to sting the throat.
Nadia gave her final warning.
"Stay tight. The miasma will eat at your auras nonstop. No one stays inside longer than thirty minutes. After that... you don't come out as yourself."
Then she stepped into the Fog.
The gray murk swallowed her instantly—
and no protective aura flared around her at all.
Cael leaned toward Eren.
"Don't panic. Nadia's... built different. The Fog barely grazes her."
As he spoke, a faint golden sheen shimmered across Cael's skin as he activated his protective aura.
The others followed—glimmers of blue, red, white, and violet flickering like dying lanterns in the suffocating gloom.
Eren inhaled once and stepped in.
Aveline suddenly caught his arm.
"You—wait—"
"I'm fine," he said. "I don't need an aura."
She held his eyes for a long second, searching for cracks—found none—and released him without a word.
Cael drifted over again, voice low and almost conspiratorial.
"Seriously though... what are you made of? This stuff doesn't even make you flinch."
Eren shot him a flat look.
"Do you ever start conversations like a normal person?"
Cael grinned.
"Nope."
---
— First Appearance of the Fiends —
They moved in a tight wedge, shoulders nearly touching as they pushed deeper into the churning haze.
The world behind them vanished like a swallowed dream.
The air reeked of metal, blood, and something rotten at the soul.
Visibility died beyond five meters—everything reduced to a swirling mass of grey and shadow.
Then it hit Eren.
A violent torrent of emotion tore through him—
Rage. Hatred. A feral delight in the idea of killing.
A thousand phantom whispers slithered around his ears:
"Kill... claim their blood... strength lives in it..."
Eren clamped down on his tongue. Pain snapped him awake.
He forced his inner energy to surge, burning away the crawling voices.
This miasma... it's not just toxic. It's pure resentment given form.
A glance around confirmed it.
Nadia—and the disturbingly calm cat—stood unaffected.
Everyone else looked shaken, sweat beading down pale faces.
Still, they were trained operatives; their auras flared back to steadiness within moments.
Then—
Something moved in the fog.
A silhouette wavered into focus.
A figure... no, a mockery of one.
Black tar-like energy clung to its body.
Its clothes hung in filthy ribbons—once identifiable as a villager's.
But its eyes...
Pitch-black.
Depthless.
Utterly dead.
Black vapor seeped from its orifices, and its face was twisted into a frozen scream that spoke of agony far beyond death.
Its head snapped upward.
A wave of raw malice slammed into Eren, cold enough to steal his breath.
That gaze was not human.
It was hatred—nothing else remained.
"Is... is it alive?" someone whispered.
"A zombie...?" another murmured.
Rowan's cheeks burned crimson.
Moments ago he'd mocked Eren.
Now reality itself slapped him harder than anyone else ever could.
"RRRaaAGH—!!"
The Fiend shrieked, the sound cutting through the air like jagged glass.
And then it lunged—straight for Nadia.
Its movements were wrong—spasmodic, puppetlike, joints snapping at impossible angles.
Shadow energy churned around its hands as its nails elongated into bone-white talons, gleaming like forged blades.
Too fast!
Eren stepped back instinctively—
But Nadia vanished.
A breath of displaced air—
a blur—
"Thud!"
The Fiend slammed into the mud, skidding across stones in a twisted heap.
Eren's eyes narrowed.
She's even stronger up close than she looks.
"Have at you!" Rowan yelled, flinging a dagger.
"Stand. Down."
Nadia's voice was ice.
She caught the spinning dagger with effortless grace and slapped Rowan with a glare cold enough to bruise.
"Who authorized that?"
Her tone was quiet. Deadly.
"What if there was anything left to save?"
Rowan wilted. "Commander Nadia... my apologies."
"Use your mind before your hands."
She motioned to Cael.
"Check it."
Golden light flashed across Cael's eyes. He exhaled softly.
"No life. None. This one died long before we arrived."
Nadia frowned, then tapped her boot against the corpse—
"Puff."
A cloud of black vapor burst out—no blood, no final struggle.
The body twitched once, then sagged.
"Rest," she whispered—soft, almost mournful.
Eren crouched, brushing the drifting haze.
Cold. Viscous.
Faintly pulsing.
"The miasma has devoured everything," he murmured. "Flesh, spirit—gone. These things... these Shadow Fiends don't die when you break the heart."
"Shadow Fiends, huh?" Cael grimaced. "Fits a little too well."
Then—
Every instinct in Eren's body screamed.
The Fiend's corpse convulsed—
and shot upright, bone talons slicing toward Nadia's unguarded back.
Time stretched thin. Nadia was turning—
but too slow—
A whisper of air.
A glint like spider-silk.
The Fiend's head separated cleanly from its body.
It arced once through the fog before thudding to the ground.
A nearly invisible thread flickered in the air—then vanished.
Silence strangled the clearing.
Only the Cat Boss let out a thoughtful, low "Mrow..."
Its golden eyes fixed on Eren, unblinking.
"Holy— Eren! Was that you?!" Cael sputtered. "What kind of weapon is that?!"
Eren allowed himself a small, cryptic smile.
"Knew the heart wasn't the weak point. Always good to keep a backup plan."
He offered nothing about the filament.
Some secrets weren't meant for the field.
Nadia nodded once.
"Good judgment. Cael. Rowan Lee. Pay attention."
"You're insane, man! Be my shield!" Rowan babbled, trying to cling again.
Eren gave him a dry stare.
"In a place like this, caution is worth more than courage. Remember this—"
He pointed at the twitching corpse.
"Shadow Fiends fall fastest when you take the head."
Before the words finished leaving his mouth—
Eren froze.
His voice dropped to a razor-sharp whisper:
"Formation. Now."
Nadia's stance tightened. "What did you sense?"
Eren's eyes cut into the fog—sharp, lethal.
"Over thirty Shadow Fiends," he said quietly.
"Closing fast."
"Thirty?!"
Even the mist seemed to draw cold breath.