Kaito had been walking for what felt like an eternity. His legs were sore, each step more exhausting than the last. The golden path he was following seemed endless, stretching out into infinity. It was as though time itself had stopped, and all that remained was the oppressive weight of the journey.

  Another step.

  He stumbled slightly, feeling the weight of his body drag him down. "I can't keep doing this," he muttered to himself. But somehow, he took another step, then another. His mind was growing numb, the monotony of the walk blending into the surroundings, until—just as he thought he couldn't go on any longer—something caught his eye.

  A glimmer.

  Kaito’s eyes widened. In the distance, a massive palace appeared, its towering spires shimmering in the air like an illusion. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen—a grotesque but mesmerizing structure, radiating with strange, golden light.

  For a moment, he thought it might be a trick, some sick joke the world was playing on him, but the more he looked, the more the palace felt real. Too real.

  Without thinking, he moved toward it, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten as the promise of something different—anything other than the suffocating path he had been walking—pulled him forward.

  As Kaito crossed the threshold into the palace, a sudden chill ran through him, though the air inside was warmer than the path outside. The walls were decorated with intricate patterns, and the grand hallway stretched far into the distance. The atmosphere felt unnervingly quiet, almost sterile, as though the palace was waiting for something—or someone.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The moment Kaito stepped deeper inside, something changed.

  He heard a faint rustling behind him, and as he turned, a group of figures emerged from the shadows. They were tall, with blue-toned skin, and their eyes gleamed with an eerie, unnatural light. Their features were sharp, almost otherworldly, but it wasn’t their appearance that unsettled Kaito—it was the overwhelming sense of control they projected. They moved in unison, their every motion calculated, predatory.

  Before he could react, they surrounded him.

  "You're not supposed to be here," one of them said, its voice cold and distant, like a blade slicing through the air. Kaito’s heart raced as he instinctively backed away, but there was nowhere to run. Another figure stepped forward, its hand rising as if to grab him.

  "I... I was just looking for a way out," Kaito stammered, his breath short. "I didn't—"

  "You’ve crossed into our domain now," the first one interrupted, its gaze cold and unwavering. "There’s no going back. Not for you."

  In the blink of an eye, Kaito was seized by the strangers—strong hands gripping his arms, dragging him forward despite his struggles. His mind raced as he tried to make sense of what was happening. These creatures, these blue-skinned people—they weren’t human, yet they were unmistakably alive. They moved with a precision that spoke of something ancient, something far beyond Kaito’s comprehension.

  "Wait! I didn’t mean to—" Kaito began, but his voice faltered as one of the beings raised a hand, and a strange pressure built in the air, making it hard to breathe.

  "You will learn your place," another one said with a chilling calmness. "You are ours now."

  The walls of the palace seemed to close in on him, and Kaito realized with a sinking feeling that this wasn’t a palace meant for visitors. It was a trap, a prison.

  He glanced desperately around, but there was nowhere to escape, no way to hide. These beings were everywhere. The palace had been an illusion of freedom, a mirage that had only led him deeper into this strange world of endless torment.

  "Please," Kaito muttered under his breath, feeling the weight of despair crush him. "I just need to wake up."

  But the blue-skinned people were already leading him deeper into the palace, their grip unyielding. Whatever fate awaited him here, Kaito was no longer in control.