Honkai Star Rail : Shadows of Nihility

The Shackling Prison was chaos incarnate. The air, once stagnant and heavy, now trembled with the shriek of alarms and the pounding of boots against steel. Lights flickered erratically, casting jagged shadows across the walls as guards scrambled to restore order. In the heart of this storm, Wei Longshen stood unmoving, his cold smile sharp as a blade.

The sigils on his cell walls sputtered like dying embers, their light dimming with each passing second. The runic suppressors, designed to neutralize even the most dangerous of Emanators, faltered under the weight of the anomaly rippling through the prison's systems. Whatever was happening outside, it had handed Wei an opportunity he would not waste.

With a slow, deliberate motion, Wei rose from his seated position. The chains binding his wrists and ankles hummed faintly, their glow flickering. He tightened his grip on the cold steel, testing its integrity. Cracks of shadow-like tendrils coiled along his arms as he focused, his connection to Nihility returning in faint whispers.

The suppressors faltered further, and Wei struck. With a sharp twist of his wrists, the weakened chains snapped, their remnants clattering to the floor. A surge of power coursed through him—still faint, but unmistakable. The void welcomed him back like an old companion, its cold embrace settling over his soul.

The corridor outside his cell was chaos. Guards barked orders into their comm-links, their voices tinged with panic. Wei stepped forward, the heavy door of his cell creaking ominously. The sigils on its surface sputtered and died as he reached out, his shadow-infused touch corroding the metal with unnatural speed. With a final push, the door fell outward, slamming into the ground with a deafening crash.

The guards froze, their eyes widening as Wei emerged from the darkness of his cell. For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the crackling of the failing lights. One of the guards raised his weapon, his hands trembling.

"Back in your cell!" the guard barked, though his voice quivered with fear.

Wei tilted his head, his scarred eyes glinting faintly in the dim light. He said nothing, but the aura that seeped from him spoke volumes. Shadows coiled at his feet, twisting and writhing like living things. The guard hesitated, his resolve cracking.

It was all the opening Wei needed. He moved with the speed of a predator, his figure a blur as he closed the distance. In one fluid motion, he struck the guard's weapon aside and drove his palm into the man's chest, sending him sprawling to the ground. The others raised their weapons, but Wei's hand flicked forward, and tendrils of shadow lashed out, striking with precision. Weapons clattered to the floor as the guards fell, clutching at their chests and gasping for air.

Wei stepped over the fallen men without a backward glance. They weren't dead—merely overwhelmed by the fear and pain that accompanied his Nihility-infused strikes. Killing them would have been easy, but unnecessary. They were pawns, after all, and his true targets lay elsewhere.

As he made his way through the labyrinthine corridors of the prison, Wei's mind raced. The anomaly had given him his opening, but it wouldn't last forever. The Shackling Prison was built to withstand riots, power failures, even coordinated assaults. Whatever was happening now, the system would recover eventually—and when it did, Wei needed to be long gone.

He rounded a corner, his sharp senses catching the faint hum of an approaching patrol. Five guards, armed and armored, their footsteps methodical despite the chaos. They moved in formation, their helmets scanning the darkened hallways for signs of trouble.

Wei pressed himself against the wall, his breathing calm and measured. The shadows around him thickened, their tendrils curling upward to shroud his form. He became one with the void, his presence fading into the background as the patrol passed mere inches away.

"Sector 3 is clear," one of the guards muttered into his comm-link. "No sign of—"

The guard's voice cut off as Wei moved. Silent and deadly, he struck the rearmost guard first, dragging him into the shadows before his companions could react. A muffled cry escaped the man's lips before he fell unconscious, his body crumpling to the floor.

The remaining guards turned, their weapons raised, but Wei was already among them. He flowed like water, weaving through their attacks with inhuman precision. A tendril of shadow coiled around a guard's arm, wrenching his weapon away, while Wei's fist connected with another's helmet, sending him sprawling.

The last two guards hesitated, their courage faltering as they faced the predator in their midst. Wei's eyes glinted with cold amusement as he stepped forward, his voice low and cutting.

"Run."

It was not a suggestion. The guards exchanged a glance before dropping their weapons and fleeing, their footsteps echoing down the corridor. Wei watched them go, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

The anomaly had spread farther than Wei anticipated. As he moved deeper into the prison, he encountered other prisoners who had taken advantage of the chaos. Some fought among themselves, settling old grudges with fists and makeshift weapons. Others simply ran, desperate for freedom. None dared cross Wei's path; his presence alone was enough to deter them.

Reaching the central hub of the prison, Wei paused. The room was vast, its walls lined with consoles and monitors that flickered with erratic streams of data. At its center stood a towering machine—the heart of the Shackling Prison's suppressive systems. Normally, it pulsed with a steady hum of power, but now it crackled and sparked, its energy field unstable.

Wei approached the machine cautiously. Whatever anomaly had caused the disruption was centered here, its influence radiating outward like ripples in a pond. He placed a hand on the machine's surface, his scarred fingers tracing the faint glow of the sigils etched into the metal.

For a moment, the void whispered to him. It wasn't words, but a sensation—a cold, unyielding truth. The anomaly wasn't natural. Someone, somewhere, had caused this. Whether intentionally or not, they had given Wei the opening he needed.

The sound of heavy footsteps pulled him from his thoughts. Wei turned, his senses sharpening as a new figure entered the room. This one was different from the guards—taller, broader, clad in advanced combat armor. The visor of the helmet glowed faintly, its edges etched with runes that hummed with suppressive energy.

The Warden.

"So," the Warden said, his voice distorted by the helmet's speaker. "The infamous Shadow Fang finally makes his move."

Wei regarded the man with a cold gaze. "You're in my way."

The Warden chuckled, the sound low and mechanical. "Do you think the chaos outside changes anything? This is still the Shackling Prison. No one escapes."

Wei tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "We'll see."

The Warden moved first, his massive frame surging forward with surprising speed. Wei sidestepped the initial strike, his movements precise and fluid. Shadows coiled around his arms as he retaliated, his strikes aimed at the weak points in the Warden's armor.

The two clashed, their movements a blur of power and precision. The Warden's armor absorbed the brunt of Wei's attacks, but each blow chipped away at its integrity. Meanwhile, Wei danced around the Warden's strikes, his Nihility-infused agility keeping him one step ahead.

The fight ended as abruptly as it began. With a final, decisive strike, Wei drove a tendril of shadow into the Warden's chest, bypassing the armor entirely. The man staggered, his massive frame collapsing to one knee.

"You…" the Warden rasped, his voice faltering. "What… are you?"

Wei leaned down, his voice cold as the void. "A shadow."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the Warden slumped on the ground. The machine at the room's center crackled once more, its instability growing. Wei didn't look back as he made his way to the exit, the chaos of the prison fading behind him.

Freedom was close, but Wei Longshen knew his true fight was only beginning.