The sky remained dark as a gentle rain slipped through thick clouds. The wind carried the scent of wet earth, and the towering trees swayed softly — as if shielding them from the creeping cold.
Dante stood in complete silence, watching the rain fall on the ground. He felt the weight of the coming moment. The academy was just around the corner, and his date with it was getting closer than ever. Only a week separated them from the start of this journey that would change everything.
"This seems like our last training before the academy, isn't it?" Dante said, turning to Yuno, who was tightening his belt around his waist.
"Yes, time flies," Yuno replied, nodding contentedly. "We didn't expect to reach this point so quickly."
As Dante was also getting ready, Dabi's voice came from afar, filtering through the wind: "Get ready, this is our last training before we head to the academy. You must be at your best. We don't have time to waste."
The four quickly gathered their equipment. Yubi had already told them where the next training camp would be, but now they were wondering what it was. Dante, who was used to familiar places, looked at Yubi and said,
"Dew Mountain? What is this mountain?"
Yubi smiled mysteriously, lacing his shoes with quick hands. "Dew Mountain... is a place rarely visited. It lies deep in the Rainy Mountains, where the sun rarely shines. It's a mountain thick with constant rain and torrential rain, and the plants and trees thrive there as if they were part of the mountains themselves."
"But what makes it so mysterious?" Yuno asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
"It's very cold, very foggy, and constantly damp. It's not a place many people would like, especially those who can't stand the extreme cold or the difficulty of setting up camp. The mountain is very high, and its terrain is complex. It's difficult to stay there for long."
"The goal of this training is to acclimatize to these conditions," Dabi said, wrapping a rope around his backpack. "The Elemental Lords and Ladies Academy will require us to be able to adapt to anything, even the most difficult conditions. So, we have to be prepared."
"But is it really that hard?" Dante asked, raising his head in surprise.
"More than you think. You'll be cold, and you'll feel helpless. But it's a true test. A test of endurance and patience." Yubi answered, hoisting his backpack onto his back and turning his face toward the distant mountain in the distance.
As they prepared to leave, Dante remembered something. He felt something strange in his heart. A feeling that this trip wasn't just going to be an ordinary training trip. Something in those mountains was calling to him, whispering something mysterious to him, something distant, hidden among the fog and snow.
But he wasn't sure what that was.
"Let's go now," Dabi said, walking briskly toward the path leading up the mountain.
Dante, Yuno, and Yubi followed, as mystery enveloped the place around them. The distant mountains awaited them, and the mist of Mount Dew awaited them.
…The four reached the foot of Mount Dew with the first timid steps of dawn, but no light greeted them.
The sky above them was pitch black, as if pulled from the depths of an endless nightmare.
The rain didn't stop, and lightning mercilessly sliced through the darkness, followed by the sound of thunder like the roar of a creature enraged by the stillness of the world.
The ground was insanely slippery, and every step threatened to make them fall.
The trees swayed crazily in the wind, as if trying to escape the mountain itself.
Poisonous bunch bushes were thickly spread on both sides of the road, emitting a pungent scent and glistening with poisonous purple buds.
They could barely make it through the fog, the cold, and the water pouring from the sky. And suddenly...
Yuno said, his voice laced with sarcasm, trying to balance himself as the rain washed over his face.
"Yubi... I said it was a little chilly, right? Then why is the sky black as if we've stepped inside... the stomach of a sleeping dragon?!"
Dante laughed, even though he almost slipped, and raised his voice in displeasure.
"And those bushes! I got my clothes caught in them five minutes ago. My hands itch like they're burning! What are these plants?!"
Dabi answered from the front, without turning around, in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, those? They're poison berry bushes. Each tiny bud carries a toxin that causes itching and stings like sparks... Pretty cool, isn't it?"
"Pretty cool, really..." Dante muttered, wincing.
At that moment, Yuno's foot suddenly slipped, and he rolled back a few meters in the mud, shouting, "Oh no no no—Danteeeee!"
"Hey, hey—ahhh!"
Dante followed him down, as if the mountain had decided to play tricks on them both.
Yubi sighed coldly as he extended his hand, then skillfully wiggled his fingers. The air around them shifted, creating a small wave of gravity that gently lifted the two of them up, bringing them back to his side.
Yubi said with a hint of seriousness mixed with sarcasm.
"The difficulties haven't even begun... and you're all complaining like that?"
"We're the ones training here, aren't we?!" Yuno said, irritated, smoothing his wet hair.
"Yeah!" Dante added, grabbing his shoulder. "You just watch and comment... we're the ones who slip, get bitten, and get soaked to the bone!"
Dabi laughed, raising an eyebrow.
"It's part of the training... Mount Dew is merciless, but it teaches you more than you expect. Just keep going, you ain't seen nothing yet."
The four looked ahead, the forest growing denser and the fog thickening, as if they were about to enter a completely different world.
Despite everything... this was only the beginning.
…
And as their feet bore down on them, around Mount Dew, the rain unceasingly lashed the earth like waking blows of heavenly wrath…
Elsewhere in this disintegrating world, in a corner forgotten by history… or perhaps history had decided to ignore it—
the village of Dalturn.
Dalturn stood like a forgotten specter on the edge of exile — abandoned, as if it had once been dreamed and then erased.
No sound, no movement, no warmth…
The air was lifeless, like a museum of nothingness.
Lady Margaret advanced cautiously among the ashes, her eyes scanning the ground in heavy silence.
She whispered to herself, her voice almost trembling:
"It was a routine mission… to inspect a village said to have fallen under a sudden snowfall…
But no sign of snow, no sign of thawing, no life, no death… The place lay still as if it had held its breath… forever."
Lord Rayner, always at the forefront, as if caution was woven into his blood,
walked with his hand on his sword hilt.
His eyes passed over the walls that hadn't fallen...
but froze as if life had been quietly withdrawn from them, no destruction, no fire...
only... absence.
He said in a low but cutting voice:
"It's as if someone... extracted the essence from everything... and then disappeared."
At the edge of the path lay the body of a little girl, barely ten years old.
Her eyes stared into the gray void.
Margaret leaned toward her, carefully opened her eyelid, and whispered:
"No signs of suffocation... no lacerations... no trace of the soul being extracted.
The body is intact...
But the aura... is completely absent."
A few steps away, Lady Verena was motionless, staring at the horizon that had dissolved into the fog as if it were endless. She said in a fragile voice, as if the words were afraid to be spoken:
"This... is not an element.
It is the shadow of an element... its corrupted mirror."
They continued investigating, and each hut they entered was frozen in a moment of timelessness.
Until Reiner opened the door of a small hut. From the outside, it looked like a deserted place, but the silence inside was heavier... deeper.
Inside the wall... an inscription carved with a sharp object, perhaps a sword, but in an inhuman way.
The inscription was written in a modern language, with an ancient tone:
"So this is all that remains of the children of the elements?"
"How long will Louis last before he admits that destiny is not his?"
Reiner read it in a low voice.
Margaret gripped her hand tightly, saying,
"This... is not a threat.
It is a challenge... to the very fact of our existence."
Verena muttered, her gaze frozen:
"It's as if someone is trying to break the laws of creation... deliberately."
And suddenly...
Ashes began to fly.
But not as ash usually does.
Upward, as if the wind were absorbing itself, as if time were rewinding, but with a glitch.
In the center of the square,
a faint circle of indigo-black formed,
its energy oscillating, resonating inaudibly... but felt in the spine.
Reiner approached, extended his hand, and immediately retracted:
"My sword isn't reacting...
That's impossible."
Margaret tried to summon water, but... nothing.
Not even a shudder of energy appeared.
Silence reigned.
Verena advanced slowly and said:
"This isn't energy...
It's an entity... similar to fear.
Not an emotion... but pure existence."
They left the village.
But not the way they entered. The fog closed behind them like a shroud, as if the village had rejected them, or protected its secret from them.
Margaret stood on the last hill, looked back, and said,
"This won't stop...
And if we aren't the target...
Governor Lewis is."
---
Throne Hall - Elemental Kingdom
The giant decorations on the hall's walls shook with the echo of Reiner's footsteps.
He bowed before the stone throne, upon which sat Governor Lewis, pale-faced, his eyes carefully observing the artifact before him:
A metal fragment cut from the alien energy core.
"No fire... no water... no air... no earth... no lightning," Reiner said.
"The elements reject it."
Margaret took a step forward.
"Not even the sub-elementals... no response of any kind.
The fragment is dead... but quietly draws life from everything that approaches."
Then...
Verena stood at the door of the hall, about to leave, but stopped.
She took a long look at Louis and said,
"This is not energy from this world, sir...
It's from something... that creation has forgotten, or... intentionally ignored."
Then she turned and left.
There was no sound...
only the sound of ash,
falling in the minds of everyone in the hall, as if something ancient was beginning to awaken,
something that didn't yet have a name...
But ash?
The Ash has knew it well.
As the faint sound of rain whispered on the edges of their makeshift tent, Dante, Yubi, Yuno, and Dabi sat around a small fire, its flames dancing slowly as if listening to them.
Yubi spoke in a low voice, but his tone was heavy with knowledge:
"The basic elements are seven. Water, earth, wind, fire, and lightning..."
He raised a finger with each element, as if drawing them before their eyes.
"These five are distributed among the races and clans of the Spring Hills Continent, as you know."
He paused for a moment, letting the sound of the burning wood fill the space, then continued:
"As for the element of nature, it is found in the Continent of Eternal Winter... where the snow never melts and spring is a distant dream."
He smiled with a faint sneer before continuing:
"And finally, the element of darkness... is reserved for the Continent of the Forbidden West, a land that even maps dare not fully depict."
Dante, wrapping his arms around his knees, raised his head slightly and said, "We know all this... We've studied it since we were young."
Yuno nodded in agreement. "Yes. Each element has its own branches... These are axioms."
Yubi smiled slightly mischievously, then leaned slightly toward the fire. "But... have you ever asked yourselves if there are other elements?"
Dante and Yuno exchanged a quick glance, then answered almost in unison, "We don't know."
A mysterious glint flashed in Yubi's eyes, before he continued in a softer voice, "There is an eighth element."
A silence fell over the group, even the fire seemed to die down for a moment at his words.
Dante frowned. "An eighth element?! We've never heard of it before."
Yuno added, confused, "What is it? Is it a missing element?"
Dabi, who had been silent the entire time, finally raised his head and said in a calm, reassuring tone, "Calm down. It's not as complicated as you think."
They all turned to Yubi again, who slowly raised his head and said, "What I know... is that this type of element doesn't follow the natural rules we know. I can't say for sure: is it a basic element in itself? Or just an evolutionary offshoot of one of the seven elements?"
He paused for a moment, then added, "But the name they're called among the knowers... is 'evolutionary elements.'"
Dante whispered, as if tasting the word for the first time, "Elements... evolutionary?"
Yubi nodded slowly. "Rare elements... born from a unique and exceptional development of energy. They're not written in books, and not everyone recognizes them... because their appearance is often associated with major changes... or disasters."
Yuno smiled sarcastically despite the tension in the air. "Disasters? Wow... as if our lives needed more excitement."
Dabi laughed quietly, while Dante remained lost in thought, feeling a hidden weight begin to settle over him, as if Yubi's words had stirred something dormant deep within him.
The fire in front of them continued its slow dance... but this time, it seemed as if an invisible shadow was watching them from within its flames.
Yubi took a deep breath, then looked at them intently before uttering five names that seemed to rip through the silence:
"Affirmation, Negation, Creation, Annihilation, Perfection."
The air around them seemed to grow heavier, as if those words weren't just vocabulary... but keys to truths yet to be unlocked.
"These five..." Yubi said in a low voice, "are what are called evolutionary elements."
He leaned slightly toward the fire, its flames casting dancing shadows across his face.
"They're called that... because they actually evolve. They're not static. They're not like water, wind, or fire. They change... they grow... and they escalate."
He raised his eyes to them and said,
"To gain creation, you must first possess affirmation, then absorb someone who possesses negation. The opposite is true: if you possess negation... then, after absorbing someone who possesses affirmation, you gain annihilation."
Dabi remained silent, but his eyes blazed with cautious interest.
Yuno, on the other hand, crossed his arms and looked up, as if drawing a mental map:
"So... it's rungs... like a ladder. Each rung opens a door to the next."
Then, as if explaining a lesson, he raised a finger:
"In the first rung: affirmation and negation, two opposites. They represent good and evil in their simplest sense.
In the second rung: creation and annihilation, two more opposites, but closer to action, to influencing reality.
And in the final rung... idealism. The element that can only be reached by possessing one of the elements in the second rung and absorbing the other."
He lowered his head and continued,
"That is, to achieve perfection, you must possess creation or annihilation, and absorb your opposite."
"Well said, Yuno... you're spot on," Dabi said with admiration.
He paused for a moment before continuing, addressing them all:
"But... that's not all."
Dante raised an eyebrow in surprise. "How?"
Yubi looked at him this time, his voice calmer and more steady, as if preparing to reveal a hidden secret:
"Because these elements... you're not born with. They're not inherited, they're not taught, they're not tested in battle. They choose you."
Everyone backed away, as if his words carried an invisible weight.
"They don't follow a race. They don't belong to a continent. They don't favor good or favor evil.
They emerge when fate intersects with suffering, and are born from the ashes... like a plant emerging from a barren rock."
Then he closed his eyes, as if recalling something from the past, and said:
"Goodness... can only be understood in the presence of evil.
Spiritual peace... can only be born after a bitter inner struggle with loss.
Existence... cannot be valued without the risk of nothingness.
Compassion... can only be given its full meaning alongside cruelty."
He opened his eyes suddenly, stared at the dancing flames before him, and whispered:
"As for perfection... it is on the edge, a balance between good and evil, between light and darkness. Whoever reaches it... may never be the same again."
Silence fell, not a confused silence, but a saturated silence, laden with the weight of truth.
Even the sound of the fire seemed to quiet down in respect for those words.
Under a suspiciously clear sky, and among the dew-covered trees of Mount El-Nada, which seemed to have stopped breathing, time froze at that moment.
The sound of the wind disappeared… as if someone had held the breath of nature in their hands.
Even the flame in the tent lamp no longer danced, but froze in place, trembling from something unseen.
Everything became heavy… the air, the breaths, the looks.
Then, amidst the silence thickening like smoke, a whisper came.
"Which of you… Dante?"
It wasn't a scream. It wasn't a voice echoing.
It was a whisper, barely audible, but it pierced them like a needle through a dream's eye.
Their legs froze. Their muscles tensed… not to move, but to flee from something inescapable.
The silence… wasn't just the absence of a sound.
It was as if time itself had stopped to listen. It was as if the mountain, with its trees, sky, and rocks, had decided to fall silent to allow the whispers to be told clearly.
Questions flew like sparks:
Dabi, his voice charged with anger and suspicion:
"Which one of you... said that?!"
Yubi, turning around quickly:
"Not one of us... Don't we all know Dante?! That voice isn't one of ours!"
Yuno, trying to lighten things up with a trembling lightness:
"If there's a ghost who knows our names, then at least he has some sense... He started with our most famous ones."
Dante, his grip on his sword sheath tightening, his eyes wide between surprise and caution:
"Who the hell are you to shout my name in our midst like that?!"
...
But the response... wasn't a shout.
But another whisper,
quiet, deep,
as if coming from inside their heads,
as if it wasn't speaking to them... but in them:
"True torment... doesn't shout."
"Rather... he whispers."
And at that moment, he appeared from among the trees.
He wasn't walking...
Rather, he was drifting like smoke among the shadows, his face indistinct, his features incomplete... as if reality refused to allow him to be complete in the eyes of those who saw him.
But he raised his finger and pointed it at Dante... firmly, without hesitation, without defiance... only certainty.
"As I expected..."
"You're not ready yet."
Then he smiled, or so it seemed, as if darkness curved over his lips:
"But remember..."
"I'll be by your side... when you're ready."
And then... he vanished.
As if the mountain itself had swallowed him.
The four of them remained standing, not looking at each other,
but staring at where he was,
and the silence between them became deeper than any sound, deeper than any whisper... deeper even than fear.