Chapter 4 – The First Soul
A few kilometers beyond the ruined town, deep within a forest clearing, two young men were hiding in an abandoned cabin. They had been living there for days off the grid, distrustful of the system, choosing to stay far from civilization. At night, they lit fires and took turns keeping watch.
But tonight... there was something different in the air.
One of them looked out through the cracked window and saw dense smoke rising in the distance. Then came an eerie, crushing silence. A chill swept over him.
"What the hell's going on down there?" he whispered.
The other stood and joined him but just then, a figure emerged from the shadows of the forest.
It looked human.
But it wasn't.
It was the carrier.
His body was drenched in blood. Smoke still curled from parts of his skin. His hands trembled. But his face… looked normal.
Because now, he could hide the mask.
People could see his face a perfectly human face but the true mask remained underneath, fused to his flesh. It had started living inside him.
The two young men froze.
"We should help him," one of them said.
The other stepped back instinctively.
But it was too late.
Because this moment
was a task.
Inside the carrier, Shadowseal stirred. His eyes began to darken again. His consciousness flickered in and out.
"They witnessed it," a voice echoed within.
"Those who witness… become either servants
or seals."
And with that, the carrier lost control.
The two young men rushed for the cabin but before the door could slam shut, he was already inside.
The night was torn open by screams that lasted only minutes. Then… silence reclaimed the dark.
This was the carrier's first mission.
And when it was over, the world would fall into darkness once again.
And so it did.
He dropped to his knees.
The mask began to glow.
His body collapsed to the ground.
His breath stopped.
His heart ceased.
And once more, with Shadowseal bound to him,
he was cast back into hell.
Hell
It was a void like an endless pit of darkness. No sound echoed. Time did not move. But the carrier was no longer a stranger here.
Every completed task led back to this place.
But this time, someone awaited him.
A woman, standing behind a veil of black silk.
She walked slowly forward. Her hair fell in waves over her shoulders. Her eyes were sharp as blades yet there was something behind them. Something… broken. Something human.
She was the first soul sealed within the mask.
She stood before him.
Leaned down.
Touched her fingers gently to his forehead.
"You are no longer alone," she whispered.
"I will be with you now.
I will guide you.
We will become one."
And in that instant, the carrier felt her spirit flowing into his own.
She kissed him.
Then, suddenly she drew a blade.
With quiet resolve, she slit his throat.
Blood gushed toward the sky.
But there was no fear.
No pain.
Only unity.
She poured her own blood into his open wound
and everything dissolved into a red mist.
And again…
The carrier rose once more.
But this time, his eyes were no longer solely his.
Now, within him, lived the soul of a woman.
And she carried not just knowledge
but pain, determination, and destiny.
Shadowseal had bound her to him.
There was no going back.
Chapter 5 – The New Power
With a deep, echoing thud, the carrier's heart began to beat once more.
Thrown back into the world from the abyss of hell, he gasped for breath as his eyes searched the sky but the sky was still pitch-black. It was still night. Yet this night was not like the one before. The world wasn't the same anymore.
Or perhaps… he wasn't.
The fusion with the mask was complete.
The first sealed soul now lived within him. Someone else's dark past, their voice, their pain, their fury it all flowed through his veins. She didn't speak to him… but her presence was there. Sometimes as a whisper. Sometimes as a breath.
The carrier felt it.
His body was still bruised and battered. His muscles had hardened. His skin had darkened slightly. When he looked at his hands, he saw faint rings of black energy pulsing at his fingertips. He didn't know what it was yet… but he knew it was something new.
He stood up. Shadowseal no longer showed on his face. Though there was no mirror, he saw his reflection in a puddle of water.
It was his face.
But it looked… different. Sharper. Stronger. Almost divine.
It was an illusion a gift from Shadowseal.
Then the realization struck:
He no longer had to reveal the mask.
People would see him as he once was.
His face his real face.
But the truth...
was hidden beneath flesh and bone.
A monstrous face, still alive under the skin.
This was Shadowseal's new gift: Concealment.
Now, people wouldn't see a stranger.
They might see a friend.
They might trust him.
They might not feel threatened.
But it was all a hallucination.
In truth, his face was still covered by that pale, skull-like mask carved with ancient symbols, cursed and eternal.
And so, the carrier had now taken on a form in which he could walk among the living.
The First Test
He stopped in front of a small grocery store. His clothes were messy, his face tired just an ordinary man now. He walked in. No one looked at him strangely. The cashier didn't even lift his head.
Before, that had been impossible.
Before, people would scream the moment they saw him.
But now?
Now, their eyes were deceived.
What was real, and what was seen were no longer the same.
As he stepped out, an old man sitting by the entrance gave him a smile.
"What's a young man doing out this late?" he asked.
The carrier simply nodded in response.
And the only thought running through his mind was:
"If you could really see me… you'd be screaming."
The Inner Storm
Later that night, he climbed to the rooftop of an apartment building. Sat in silence.
The woman's blood still stained his chest.
Her soul was inside him.
But she hadn't spoken.
Hadn't given orders.
The silence was both comfort and threat.
Shadowseal often fell silent before the greatest storms.
And the carrier could feel it a new mission was approaching.
Another death was drawing near.
But this time… he wasn't alone.
Now:
He was invisible.
He looked human.
And he carried another life within him.
And Shadowseal…
was stronger than ever.
Chapter 6 – The Marked Girl
There were only a few days left until Halloween.
Thanks to the illusion gifted by the mask, the carrier could now walk freely among people, looking like any ordinary man. As he passed through the checkpoint at the town's entrance, no one questioned him. No ID was asked. No suspicious looks were given.
Everyone believed he was just… normal.
The town was crowded. Decorations lined every street, jack-o'-lanterns glowed from porches, children in costumes laughed, and adults roamed with painted faces. People were smiling. The darkness of night hid behind masks but the real mask walked silently among them.
And in that moment, one thought echoed in the carrier's mind:
"If they could truly see me… they'd remember this Halloween forever."
The Encounter
Among the crowd, someone noticed him.
A girl, slightly younger.
She had long hair, pale skin, and in her eyes a strange mixture of childish innocence and buried darkness.
She approached him.
"Nice costume," she said with a smile.
"Really impressive."
The carrier didn't respond at first. He simply looked at her.
The spirits inside him were quiet but watching.
Then the girl spoke again:
"Not gonna talk? You're really in character."
"What do you think I am?"
"Hmm… a demon? Maybe a cursed warrior?"
"Maybe both."
She laughed. "I love it."
And in that moment, something stirred in the carrier's mind.
A whisper rose from the mask:
"She's on the list."
He didn't flinch.
And realizing he wasn't surprised… scared him more than anything.
The girl's family was on the demon's mission list.
But why her?
The Marking
Days passed. He spent more and more time with her.
They walked together. Talked. Shared silences.
There was a void inside her and the carrier could feel it.
An emptiness… waiting to be filled.
Then one night, sitting together on the roof of an abandoned building, the carrier pulled a small vial from his pocket.
His own blood.
"What is that?"
"Power."
"What happens if I drink it?"
"A part of me becomes part of you.
And you… become stronger."
She hesitated.
But then she drank.
In that instant, the mask reacted.
A pulse rippled through him like a wave.
Her eyes widened. Her body trembled.
But… she survived.
The carrier knew:
She was marked now.
She would begin to change, slowly.
A sliver of the demon had been etched into the depths of her soul.
Intent
The carrier looked at her.
"Why did you do it?" she asked.
"Because I don't want to be alone."
"But I'm not like you."
"You will be."
Silence settled between them.
Shadowseal stirred softly inside him.
It approved.
The carrier made his decision then:
This girl wouldn't just be another victim.
She would be his companion.
Perhaps one day… his successor.
But for now, she was just a mark.
A fragment.
A seed.
And the demon was watching
to see how it would grow.