Morning came to Solaris without ceremony.
The first sunlight spread across the Burning Sea, turning the dunes into fields of gold.
Outside the eastern gate, the remains of the previous night's battle were still scattered across the desert.
Broken claws.
Cracked technomagik armor.
Ancient machine parts.
Shattered resonance crystals.
And dozens of recovered monster cores waited inside containment cases.
The citizens had worked throughout the night.
The first hunting season harvest was already being catalogued.
But the largest discovery remained untouched.
The enormous core recovered from the giant desert beast sat beneath a protective technomagik field.
It pulsed every few seconds.
THUM.
THUM.
THUM.
Each pulse made Sorion's bronze compass respond.
THE CORE THAT REMEMBERS
Lirion stood before the containment field.
His Black Noetic Fluid covered his body like a living liquid machine.
Blue-black data flowed across it as his Machine Lord systems analyzed the core.
He had already scanned it dozens of times.
The results remained inconsistent.
Dorion approached.
"You've been staring at that thing all morning."
Lirion didn't look away.
"Because it shouldn't exist."
Dorion frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Lirion enlarged the projection.
Inside the core was a complex network of resonance patterns.
Some looked technological.
Others resembled magical inscriptions.
Some were neither.
"They didn't build this core."
Dorion looked at the enormous crystal.
"Then who did?"
Lirion paused.
"The creature grew around it."
Sorion approached.
"What is it?"
"A foreign technomagik object."
Lirion pointed toward the center.
"The monster wasn't carrying a power source."
He looked at them.
"It was carrying something."
THE MAP
Sorion placed his bronze compass near the containment field.
The compass immediately activated.
THUM.
The core responded.
THUM.
A thin line of golden light appeared between them.
The light traveled upward.
A three-dimensional projection formed above the core.
The desert appeared.
Not the desert as it was now.
The ancient Burning Sea.
Thousands of years ago.
The dunes were smaller.
Ancient roads crossed the region.
Large technomagik farms covered the plains.
Transportation lines connected settlements.
And far beyond them—
a massive circular structure appeared.
Lirion stared.
"That isn't Solaris."
Dorion looked closer.
"Then what is it?"
The projection zoomed inward.
A symbol appeared.
A star inside a sun.
Sorion's eyes narrowed.
"Solaris."
Lirion shook his head.
"No."
The projection changed.
The star-inside-sun symbol remained.
But beneath it appeared an older designation.
Lirion translated the ancient technomagik code.
"Solaris Sanctum."
Dorion looked at him.
"What's the difference?"
Lirion answered:
"Sanctum means this wasn't originally a city."
He pointed toward the projection.
"It was a protected region."
THE HIDDEN ROAD
The map continued.
A road appeared beneath the desert.
It stretched beyond Solaris.
Far into the Burning Sea.
The line eventually stopped at a massive underground structure.
The projection displayed a warning.
Lirion translated it.
DEEP RESONANCE ZONE.
Then another line appeared.
ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Then—
LIVING SYSTEMS DETECTED.
Dorion stared.
"Living systems?"
Lirion nodded.
"Something down there is alive."
Sorion's compass turned.
The needle pointed directly toward the hidden road.
Sorion looked toward the desert.
"That is where we're going."
VALEK'S WARNING
Valek stood nearby with his Solar Blades.
He had been silent throughout the examination.
Now he spoke.
"If that road is beyond the hunting territories, you shouldn't go."
Dorion looked at him.
"Why?"
Valek pointed toward the desert.
"The creatures came from that direction."
Lirion looked at the map.
Valek continued.
"They weren't migrating."
"They weren't hunting."
"They were fleeing."
Sorion looked at him.
"What did you see?"
Valek remembered the previous battle.
"Their behavior."
He lowered one Solar Blade.
"Predators don't run unless they're being hunted."
THE SOLARIS COUNCIL
The discovery was brought before the Solaris leaders.
The tournament commander stood beside several engineers, farmers, hunters, and technomagik scholars.
Lirion displayed the recovered map.
"This road existed before the modern Solaris settlement."
One engineer asked:
"Could it be another transportation route?"
"Possibly."
"Then why was it buried?"
Lirion changed the projection.
The warning symbols appeared.
"Because something happened."
A Solaris elder stepped forward.
"My ancestors called this region the Deep Burning."
Sorion looked at him.
"Why?"
The elder shook his head.
"They believed something lived beneath it."
Dorion asked:
"What?"
The elder answered:
"They never knew."
Silence filled the room.
Then the commander spoke.
"Are you suggesting we send people down there?"
Sorion answered.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Sorion continued:
"We're going."
THE MACHINE LORD'S PREPARATION
Lirion returned to the workshop.
He began preparing equipment.
The expedition would not take a full army.
Only a small group.
The brothers.
Valek.
Several Solaris scouts.
Two engineers.
A pair of experienced hunters.
Lirion constructed portable resonance scanners.
He upgraded their energy cells.
He reinforced their armor.
He modified the damaged desert skiff.
The ancient vehicle had survived surprisingly well.
Lirion replaced several damaged stabilizers.
He installed a stronger technomagik battery.
Then he added a new navigation module.
Dorion watched.
"You're turning that thing into a real vehicle."
Lirion smiled.
"It already was."
He activated the engine.
WHMMMMM.
The skiff floated.
Its stabilizers glowed.
Lirion checked the readings.
"Now it won't explode when we accelerate."
Dorion looked at him.
"That happened once."
"Three times."
Dorion sighed.
THE GRAND CAPE
Before leaving, Sorion returned to the tournament hall.
The Grand Cape remained protected behind its display field.
The ancient fabric moved slightly despite the absence of wind.
Its forgotten flying resonance remained dormant.
Sorion studied it.
He remembered the image from the tournament.
The ancient warrior.
The complete Bronze Plate.
Solaris burning behind him.
Then the memory of the Omnission.
He reached toward the display.
The cape responded.
THUM.
A faint shadow appeared across its surface.
Sorion pulled his hand away.
Lirion, standing behind him, noticed.
"What did you see?"
Sorion answered:
"Someone wore this."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Lirion studied the cape.
"But your resonance recognized it."
Sorion nodded.
"Or it recognized me."
DEPARTURE FROM SOLARIS
By midday, the expedition was ready.
The eastern gate opened.
The desert skiff floated outside.
Solaris citizens gathered along the walls.
Some cheered.
Others watched nervously.
The hunting season had already changed.
The people had expected monsters.
They had not expected an ancient road to awaken.
Valek climbed onto the skiff.
Dorion followed.
Lirion took the controls.
Sorion stood at the front.
His compass pointed forward.
The Solaris commander approached.
"If you find something dangerous…"
Dorion smiled.
"We'll bring back the information."
The commander laughed.
"I was going to say come back alive."
Dorion nodded.
"That too."
The skiff began moving.
WHMMMMMMMM.
It floated above the sand.
Then accelerated.
ACROSS THE BURNING SEA
The city disappeared behind them.
The skiff traveled deeper into the desert.
Solaris became a distant speck.
The dunes grew larger.
Ancient ruins appeared more frequently.
Some were completely buried.
Others stood above the sand like broken monuments.
Lirion scanned them as they passed.
"Road infrastructure."
Dorion looked around.
"There's no road."
"Under us."
Lirion activated the scanner.
A faint technomagik line appeared beneath the sand.
The hidden road.
It was still there.
THE FIRST SIGN
Several hours later, Sorion raised his hand.
"Stop."
Lirion reduced the skiff's speed.
The vehicle hovered.
Sorion stared at the sand.
"What is it?"
Sorion stepped off.
His compass was vibrating.
He walked several meters.
Then stopped.
"There."
The scouts began digging.
After several minutes, they uncovered metal.
A door.
Ancient.
Circular.
Covered with the same star-inside-sun emblem.
Lirion knelt beside it.
He scanned the surface.
"This is a maintenance entrance."
Dorion looked at the desert.
"Maintenance for what?"
Lirion looked down.
"Something enormous."
THE DOOR OPENS
Lirion connected his interface.
Blue-black data streamed from his living machine body into the ancient mechanism.
The door resisted.
Ancient locks activated.
ACCESS DENIED.
Lirion tried again.
ACCESS DENIED.
Sorion placed his hand on the emblem.
The system changed.
RESONANCE ACCEPTED.
Lirion stared.
"Your Veil is being recognized."
The door unlocked.
KRRRRRRRRR…
Sand poured into the opening.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Cold air rose from below.
Dorion looked down.
"That's unexpected."
Valek drew his Solar Blades.
"I don't like it."
Sorion stepped toward the stairs.
"Neither do I."
Lirion activated his scanner.
"Then we're probably going the right way."
THE DEEP BURNING
They descended.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Fifty.
The sunlight disappeared.
Ancient technomagik lights slowly awakened along the walls.
The architecture became enormous.
Massive pipes.
Energy conduits.
Mechanical chambers.
Collapsed tunnels.
The walls were covered with old Solaris symbols.
Then they reached a massive underground passage.
Something had carved deep marks into the walls.
Dorion touched one.
"These aren't machine marks."
Lirion scanned them.
"No."
Valek looked down the corridor.
"What made them?"
Lirion looked at the depth of the scratches.
"Something with claws."
Everyone became silent.
Then they heard it.
Far ahead.
A slow breathing sound.
Hhhhhhhhhh…
Sorion's compass stopped moving.
For the first time since they entered Solaris—
the needle pointed nowhere.
Sorion stared at it.
"Something is interfering with it."
Lirion's sensors began producing warnings.
RESONANCE DISTORTION.
UNKNOWN LIFEFORM.
UNKNOWN ENERGY SOURCE.
Then another message appeared.
Lirion's expression changed.
"What?"
Dorion asked.
Lirion slowly looked toward the darkness.
"There are multiple signals."
Valek tightened his grip.
"How many?"
Lirion's Black Noetic Fluid rippled across his body.
Blue-black data flooded his vision.
He answered quietly.
"Thousands."
SOMETHING BELOW SOLARIS
A sound echoed through the underground complex.
Not a roar.
Not a machine.
A deep, distant call.
The walls vibrated.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The ancient lights flickered.
Then, somewhere deep beneath the Burning Sea—
something answered.
THUM.
Sorion's bronze compass suddenly pointed downward.
Straight beneath their feet.
He looked at the others.
The expedition had followed the ancient road.
They had found the hidden facility.
They had discovered the reason the monsters were fleeing.
And now they knew the truth.
The creatures of the Burning Sea were not the greatest danger.
They were the warning.
Something deeper was waking.
Something that had been buried beneath Solaris long before the Omnission.
Sorion slowly drew his Veil Dual Daggers.
Valek ignited both Solar Blades.
Dorion raised his weapon.
Lirion's living Black Noetic Fluid formed around his body.
Blue-black data streamed through the darkness.
The four warriors stood at the entrance to the ancient underground world.
Then—
the lights ahead began turning on.
One.
Two.
Ten.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
A path illuminated itself into the darkness.
And at the very end of it—
a gigantic star-inside-sun emblem opened its eyes.
[End of Episode 72]