Alex stood frozen at the exit. A few steps in front of him was a pristine white staircase leading down to nothing.

The whole place — the sky, the ground, and everything in between — was filled with swirling darkness and shadows.

The swirls were chaotic and dreadful, sending shivers down his spine. Yet, what truly terrified him was the quest.

Witness the battle that had ended the Prime Darkness.

Prime Darkness was Erebus, which meant the quest was asking him to witness the visage of a Primordial being.

A being whose very existence created several laws that now govern their cosmology.

"Is it trying to kill me?" Alex whispered darkly, his voice shaky.

Primordial beings were the first creations of their respective cosmologies, birthed to nurture the very fabric of their cosmos. Each of them was born from a Great Law — Night for Nyx, Darkness for Erebus. To behold their visage was no different from gazing upon the boundless vastness of the very cosmos they embodied.

Although the reward from doing this quest was something he couldn’t give up on, the repercussions from doing it would be too great.

Just by looking at Prime Darkness, his mind would be flooded with information and knowledge, leading him to a horrible death.

"I can’t do this yet," he muttered through gritted teeth.

Alex had just become E. Although he was physically as strong as a low D, his mind wasn’t vast or strong enough to hold a Primordial being’s visage.

He turned to the back and stepped inside.

Seeing the white walls, relief filled him, and he let out a defeated sigh.

"What kind of place is this? I don’t remember there being anything like this in the original story..." he mumbled in an annoyed tone.

He had read various stories where a reader either transmigrated as the protagonist, side character, villain, or nameless extra, but in most of them, the plot didn’t begin falling apart from the very beginning.

"It must be because Alex never cared about finding places like this..." he mumbled dejectedly and let out a hollow laugh.

"How do I leave this place?"

A few minutes passed as he looked around the temple.

He checked the black banners which had various depictions of Erebus embodied in gold, the walls which seemed to have grown instead of being built, and finally, the altar which stood at the temple’s heart.

The altar was fitted with silver gems, and it had golden rings at the top surface – each ring had a section of it filled with black, making it look like a swirl.

He placed a hand on it and mumbled, "This has to be the way."

He climbed the altar and entered his shadow, hoping to leave this place just like how he had entered the giant room, and it worked.

Suddenly, he felt as though someone or something was pulling at him, and the next moment, the altar swallowed him whole, and he disappeared from the grand temple of Prime Darkness.

Within the giant room, the incomplete symbol that had appeared after Alex had been devoured by the veil suddenly emitted a faint white glow and began to fall apart.

Glowing white shards fell onto the ground and rose together, forming a figure wearing an oversized black shirt, black pants, and boots with a bewildered look on his face.

"Wasn’t it too easy...?" He mumbled in disbelief, and suddenly, his head rang in warning.

Alex immediately jumped away, and the next moment, a shadowy claw passed from his previous spot.

He turned his head toward the assailant, and his eyes widened.

A couple of steps away from him was a humanoid figure, completely engulfed in shadowy darkness with white, lifeless eyes, a hunched back, and dagger-like claws.

As he focused on it, a blue screen appeared before him.

[Shadow Puppet]

[Type: Golem]

[Rank: Bronze V]

[Level: 11 (E)]

Why is a Shadow Puppet here? And who made it?

Just as Alex questioned, the shadows across the giant room wiggled, and one by one, more Shadow Puppets appeared.

[Shadow Puppet Lvl. 11 (E) x2]

[Shadow Puppet Lvl. 10 (E) x4]

[Shadow Puppet Lvl. 12 (E) x1]

[Shadow Puppet Lvl. 14 (E) x1]

"What the hell is going on?!" Alex snarled, and all of the Shadow Puppets turned their heads toward him.

Feeling their lifeless gazes on himself, he gulped and mumbled, "Do we really have to fight?"

Shadow Puppets answered by growling and speeding toward him while their claws burned with blue flames.

"Shit!" Alex cursed and jumped into his shadow.

I had entered this place due to Shadow Movement, so I can also leave this place with it.

He looked at the ceiling, and it had nothing — No symbol, filigree, or light source — It was completely plain and boring.

That must be it.

Alex moved toward the wall – the only way for him to climb the walls was to use the shadows cast by the dancing flames.

However, just as he was about to reach them, the shadows rippled.

He instantly felt one of the Shadow Puppets disappear from behind, and the next instant, it stepped out from before him.

What the—

Shadow Puppet raised its burning claw and brought it down on the round shadow cast by nothing.

Alex sped away, but the claw still managed to graze him.

"Ahhh!" After a few moments, he fell out of his shadow and thrashed his limbs as he felt his insides burn.

It was as though magma was running through his veins, and his organs were filled with crimson coals.

"Ugh! Shit!" He cursed and clawed at the ground.

Meanwhile, Shadow Puppets crept closer to him.

Alex sensed them coming close and mumbled with shaky lips, "P-Perfect Shield."

After saying so, he fell to the ground and inhaled heavily as the flames inside him began to weaken.

However, suddenly a red screen materialized before his tired eyes.

[System: Warning! Host Alex, you are in a manaless zone.]

[System: Host Alex, Talent (Perfect Shield) has failed activation.]