THE ECLIPSE LEGACY

"Damn it"

There's no way I'm gonna go down without any struggle. If my story should end here I'm gonna at least bring some of these people along with me. Ian keeps thinking of a way to at least make them pay for the event a little.

Then he decides to utilize the knife he holds to cleave nearby guild members around him. When they were struggling in pain, Ian decided to use the opening to escape them and went straight in the opposite direction. 

Ian's grip tightened around the knife, his knuckles turning white as adrenaline surged through his veins. He could feel the beast's eyes burning into him, but he had no time to hesitate. He had already made his decision that if he was going down, he wasn't going alone.

With a sharp breath, he spun on his heels, the blade flashing in the dim light. The nearest guild member barely had time to react before Ian's knife slashed across his thigh. A scream tore through the air as the man collapsed, clutching his bleeding leg.

Ian didn't stop. He twisted his body, driving the knife into another guild member's shoulder before yanking it free. Blood splattered across the forest floor as chaos erupted.

"Bastard!" Vargas roared, drawing his weapon, but Ian was already gone.

Using the momentary confusion, he bolted, his feet pounding against the ground as he sprinted deeper into the unknown. His heart hammered in his chest. He didn't know where he was going, only that anywhere was better than staying.

Behind him, the furious shouts of the guild echoed, but they didn't chase him immediately. Not when the Ravager Hound was still lurking. A guttural snarl rang out, followed by a sickening crunch. Ian didn't turn back to see what happened.

He ran.

Deeper and deeper into the forbidden territory.

The vegetation thickened, the glowing trees twisting unnaturally, their branches reaching out like skeletal hands. The air grew colder, charged with an unnatural energy. Even the ground beneath his feet felt unstable, like he was running on something alive.

This was a place where no one dared to tread.

A place where the world itself rejected human presence.

His breath came in ragged gasps, his legs burning from the relentless pace. But just as he thought he had put enough distance between himself and the guild, the forest itself turned against him.

The ground suddenly collapsed beneath him.

With a startled shout, Ian plunged into darkness, his body crashing through layers of twisted roots before landing hard on a jagged stone floor. Pain flared through him, but he barely had time to register it before he heard something shift in the shadows.

A deep, guttural breathing.

He wasn't alone.

Ian pushed himself up, his vision blurring. The space around him was vast, an underground cavern pulsing with an eerie, violet light. Strange symbols adorned the walls, shifting as though alive.

Then he saw it.

A presence lurking in the abyss.

It wasn't a monster in the conventional sense—not like the Ravager Hound or the beasts he had seen before. No, this was something far worse.

A formless, shifting darkness loomed before him, its presence suffocating. It had no distinct shape, only an ever-changing mass of black mist, flickering like a dying ember.

Yet, despite its ghostly nature, Ian felt its eyes on him.

A voice, no, a whisper crawled into his mind, ancient and hungry.

"You have been forsaken. Cast aside. Unworthy… Yet, in despair, you still struggle."

Ian clenched his teeth, forcing himself to his feet. His entire body screamed in protest, but he refused to kneel.

The entity stirred, amused.

"Would you defy fate itself?"

Ian's fists trembled. He had spent his whole life fighting, clawing for something greater only to be betrayed, thrown away like worthless trash. He had nothing left. No safety, no allies. Just himself.

And yet…

"I won't die here." His voice came out as a growl, filled with defiance. "If fate wants me dead, I'll carve my own damn path."

The darkness coiled, surging toward him like a tide. Ian's vision blurred as a searing pain erupted in his chest. He gasped, collapsing to his knees as his body convulsed.

The world around him disappeared.

It felt like something was tearing him apart from the inside. His veins burned, his bones cracked, his mind spiraled into an abyss. He could hear voices, echoes of something ancient, something beyond human comprehension.

Then, a sudden silence manifested.

And then… power.

A surge of energy unlike anything he had ever felt exploded within him, flooding his senses. His body no longer felt weak, no longer frail. His wounds burned, then sealed shut as if they had never existed.

When Ian opened his eyes, they glowed with a cold, eerie silver light. The darkness no longer loomed before him. It was inside him.

For the first time in his life… Ian Maverick had awakened.

And the world would never be the same.