I yawned as if I had gone days without sleep.
Which made no sense, because I had slept far longer than I should have.
Even after everything that had happened yesterday—Kimberly's ascension ritual, the flames, the overwhelming pressure of witnessing something that transcended human understanding—I should have felt at least somewhat rested.
Instead, my body felt hollow.
Heavy.
Like something invisible had wrapped chains around my limbs during the night.
I didn't want to go to school.
I didn't want to move.
I didn't even want to open my eyes again.
The bed felt warmer than usual, almost comforting in a dangerous kind of way, as if it wanted to swallow me whole and keep me there forever. My body sank deeper into the mattress while exhaustion crawled beneath my skin like cold water.
I tried to sit up.
Failed.
Then groaned softly and collapsed back against the pillow.
"Five more minutes…" I muttered weakly.
Moka immediately jumped onto my chest the moment she heard my voice.
The small black cat curled herself against me with a sleepy purr, her warm body rising and falling softly as she rubbed her head against my chin. A faint smile appeared on my face despite the overwhelming fatigue crushing my thoughts.
At least someone was happy to see me alive.
I slowly raised a hand and stroked her fur.
Soft.
Warm.
Real.
For some reason, that mattered more than it should have.
Her purring eased the pressure in my chest little by little, grounding me back in reality after the nightmares that still lingered at the edges of my mind. Even now, fragments of the sanctuary flashed behind my eyes whenever I blinked for too long.
The pendulum.
The black mist.
The screams.
That thing descending from the portal.
I swallowed hard.
No.
I didn't want to think about any of that right now.
Moka meowed softly, pulling me away from my thoughts.
Right.
Food.
Even if I felt like death, I still had to feed her.
I carefully lifted her into my arms before forcing myself out of bed. The moment my feet touched the floor, dizziness struck me hard enough to make my vision blur.
I grabbed the edge of the desk beside me before I could fall.
"…Damn…"
Every step toward the bedroom door felt heavier than the last. My legs trembled slightly beneath my own weight as if I had spent the entire night running instead of sleeping.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Usually, mornings in Amberlath carried distant sounds from the streets outside—vehicles moving through the city, faint voices, music from nearby stores—but today everything felt muted.
As though the world itself were exhausted alongside me.
I walked downstairs slowly while carrying Moka against my chest. Her purring vibrated softly against my heartbeat.
When I reached the kitchen, I placed her gently on the floor and prepared her food in silence. Milk. Croquettes. The usual.
She immediately began eating happily.
I leaned against the counter and stared blankly at nothing.
I wasn't hungry.
Not even a little.
Which was strange.
Normally I woke up starving after using my powers too much.
But today?
Nothing.
No appetite.
No energy.
Just fatigue.
An unbearable, soul-deep exhaustion.
Almost like something inside me had been drained during the night.
I closed my eyes for a moment and rubbed my face slowly.
Maybe it was because of the LC.
Maybe using the black mist had affected me more than I thought.
Or maybe…
No.
I stopped myself before finishing that thought.
I already had enough problems without becoming paranoid too.
After a few minutes, I forced myself upstairs again to get dressed.
Every movement felt painfully slow.
The white uniform shirt.
The black tie.
The dark blazer with the academy crest embroidered over the chest.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror while adjusting the collar.
My skin looked paler than usual.
The dark circles beneath my eyes had worsened too.
I looked terrible.
Like someone recovering from an illness.
Or someone slowly being consumed from the inside.
"…Great," I muttered.
I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs again.
Moka noticed immediately and came running toward me, weaving herself around my legs while purring loudly. I crouched carefully and picked her up one more time, pressing her against my face.
The warmth of her tiny body made my chest ache unexpectedly.
Then, without warning—
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
My eyes widened slightly.
"…What?"
I wasn't sad.
At least… I didn't think I was.
But an overwhelming sense of melancholy suddenly flooded my chest so violently that it nearly stole my breath. It felt ancient.
Heavy.
Like grief that didn't belong to me.
Moka softly rubbed her head against mine again.
I laughed weakly through the tears and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.
"What's wrong with me…?"
I gently placed her back down.
Then I left the house before I could think too much about it.
The cold morning air hit my face the moment I stepped outside.
Because of how exhausted I felt, I decided not to walk to school today. Instead, I boarded one of the buses heading toward the academy district.
The ride from my house to school usually took around forty minutes.
Plenty of time to sleep.
So the moment I sat beside the window, I rested my head against the glass and closed my eyes.
The vibrations of the bus.
The muffled voices around me.
The distant hum of the city.
Everything slowly faded away.
And before I realized it—
I fell asleep.
I woke up to someone gently shaking my shoulder.
"Hey… we're here."
My eyes opened slowly.
For a few seconds, I didn't even remember where I was. The inside of the bus looked strangely distorted beneath the pale morning light filtering through the windows.
Then reality returned all at once.
School.
Right.
A young guy around my age stood beside my seat, looking slightly awkward while pointing toward the open bus doors.
"You almost missed your stop," he said.
I blinked a few times before nodding weakly.
"…Thanks."
My voice sounded rough.
Dry.
Like I hadn't spoken in days.
I grabbed my backpack and stepped off the bus, nearly losing my balance the moment my feet touched the pavement.
The academy towers rose above the streets of Amberlath beneath a cloudy silver sky. Students walked through the entrance gates laughing, talking, living completely normal lives while I felt like my body was slowly shutting down.
The cold air should've helped wake me up.
Instead, it only made me feel worse.
My head throbbed.
My chest felt tight.
And every breath carried an uncomfortable heat through my throat.
I slowly made my way toward the rear gardens, already knowing my friends would be there.
That had become our unofficial meeting place.
The one corner of the academy where we could pretend our lives were still somewhat normal.
As I walked across the campus, I noticed several students staring at me.
Probably because I looked half dead.
Honestly, fair enough.
By the time I reached the garden entrance, I was already regretting getting out of bed at all.
Then I saw them.
Kimberly stood near the center of the training area with both arms extended.
Orange flames roared violently from her left hand while blue fire spiraled around her right like living energy. The heat distorted the air around her body, and for brief moments I could see traces of white sparks flickering beneath the flames.
The ritual had changed her.
Not just her powers.
Her presence.
There was something denser about her aura now. Something brighter… and far more dangerous.
Minho whistled softly while watching her.
"Okay, yeah," he admitted. "That's terrifying."
Won Ho grinned proudly.
"Our Kim finally became a walking natural disaster."
Kim immediately turned toward him.
"I heard that."
"I wanted you to."
Despite myself, I almost smiled.
Almost.
Then my legs suddenly felt weak again.
Everyone noticed me at the same time.
The mood shifted instantly.
Kim's flames disappeared.
Minho's expression darkened.
Won Ho stared at me for a few seconds before speaking.
"…Dark," Minho said carefully. "Are you okay?"
"You look like you got hit by a truck," Won Ho added bluntly. "Actually no… two trucks."
Kimberly walked closer, her brows furrowing with concern.
"Your eyes look awful," she said quietly.
I shrugged weakly.
"I'm fine."
Nobody believed that.
Not even me.
I stopped a few feet away from them and tried to steady my breathing. My body felt unbearably hot now, yet at the same time chills crawled along my skin.
Won Ho crossed his arms.
"At least tell me you ate breakfast."
I lowered my gaze silently.
That was enough of an answer.
Won Ho groaned dramatically.
"That explains why you look like a haunted corpse."
"You're way too pale," Kim added softly.
I forced a weak laugh.
"I just wasn't hungry."
Which was still bothering me.
The more I thought about it, the stranger it felt.
Using LC abilities usually increased physical exhaustion. Hunger was normal afterward. Professor Adermat himself had explained that the body burned enormous amounts of energy while channeling power through the core.
So why did I feel empty instead?
Why did it feel like my body didn't even care about food anymore?
A sharp pain suddenly pulsed behind my eyes.
I winced slightly.
"Anyway…" I muttered tiredly, trying to change the subject. "Show me your flames again, Kim. I want to see how much they evolved."
The moment the words left my mouth, another wave of dizziness hit me.
My breathing became uneven.
Short.
Hot.
Kimberly's expression immediately changed.
She stepped closer without saying anything and gently lifted part of my hair away from my forehead.
The second her hand touched my skin, her eyes widened.
"…Dark."
Her voice dropped instantly.
"You have a fever."
I blinked slowly.
"Huh?"
"And not a small one either."
She pressed her palm against my forehead again to confirm it.
"Your temperature's ridiculously high."
Won Ho's expression shifted from joking to genuinely concerned.
"Wait, seriously?"
Minho frowned.
"That explains why he looks like he died yesterday."
Technically, that wasn't the worst comparison considering everything that had happened inside the sanctuary.
Kim grabbed my wrist before I could protest.
"You're going to the infirmary."
"I'm fin—"
"No," she interrupted immediately. "You are absolutely not fine."
Honestly…
I was too tired to argue.
So I let her guide me through the academy gardens while the others watched silently.
Halfway across campus, Kim suddenly looked back toward Minho.
"By the way," she said, "did you understand what I said during the ritual yesterday?"
Minho blinked.
"…No?"
A cold breeze crossed the garden.
At the same moment, a crow flew overhead.
Then came the scent of roses.
Every muscle in my body tensed instinctively.
Slow footsteps echoed across the stone pathway behind us.
Elegant.
Measured.
Unnaturally calm.
Professor Eclipse approached through the garden shadows, holding a black rose between her fingers while the wind gently moved her dark hair.
The atmosphere itself seemed to grow colder around her.
"That," she said coldly, "is because he doesn't understand what language your ritual was spoken in."
Everyone fell silent immediately.
Even Kim released my wrist for a moment.
Professor Eclipse stopped beneath the shade of a silver tree and lit a cigarette with a small snap of her fingers. The flame reflected briefly in her crimson eyes before disappearing.
"There are three variations of Luminari," she continued after a slow inhale. "High Luminari. Ancient Luminari. And Low Luminari."
Minho frowned.
"…There are levels to the creepy god language?"
Professor Eclipse ignored the comment entirely.
"High Luminari is the purest form of the language. It is spoken by gods."
A cold chill crawled down my spine.
"Ancient Luminari is used by witches and the children of divine beings."
The smoke from her cigarette curled upward like black mist.
"And Low Luminari," she finished quietly, "is spoken by cultists and priests who serve the gods through organized religion."
Nobody interrupted her.
Even Won Ho stayed unusually quiet.
Professor Eclipse leaned slightly against the tree behind her.
"It's more complicated than that, obviously," she said. "But rituals connected to the Church of Deris almost always require High Luminari in order for ascension to function correctly."
I stared at her silently.
Gods.
Children of divine beings.
Cultists.
The way she spoke about those things made them sound terrifyingly real.
Not mythical.
Not symbolic.
Real.
Professor Eclipse glanced at each of us one final time before crushing the cigarette beneath her heel.
Then she turned away.
"And Dark," she said without looking back, "go rest before your body collapses."
A faint scent of roses lingered in the air as she disappeared into the academy building.
Silence followed after her departure.
Heavy silence.
The kind that leaves pressure behind.
Kim looked back at me again, concern returning immediately to her face.
"Yeah," she muttered. "We're definitely taking you to the infirmary."
By the time we reached the infirmary, my entire body felt unbearably heavy.
The academy hallways stretched endlessly before me beneath pale white lights, and every step echoed louder than it should have against the polished floors. Students passed around us in small groups, laughing and talking about exams, gossip, relationships… completely unaware of the hidden world existing beneath their ordinary lives.
Lucky them.
Kim kept glancing at me every few seconds as if she expected me to collapse at any moment.
Honestly?
That was a reasonable concern.
"You're walking slower than an eighty-year-old man," she muttered.
"I'm trying my best," I replied weakly.
"You sound like you're dying."
"Emotionally? Yes."
"That's not funny."
"It was a little funny."
She sighed dramatically while opening the infirmary door.
Warm air greeted us immediately.
Unlike the cold atmosphere outside, the infirmary smelled faintly of medicine, tea, and lavender. Sunlight filtered softly through the curtains covering the windows, painting golden lines across the floor.
A woman around Alya's age sat behind the desk organizing medical files. She had short chocolate-colored hair, hazel eyes, and an expression that radiated calm professionalism.
The moment she looked up and saw me, her expression changed.
"…Oh."
That wasn't reassuring.
Kim guided me toward one of the beds near the back wall.
"He has a really high fever," she explained quickly.
The nurse immediately stood and approached me.
"Sit down for me."
I obeyed without resistance.
Mostly because resisting sounded exhausting.
She placed a thermometer beneath my tongue while checking my pulse at the same time. Her brows slowly furrowed.
Then she looked at Kimberly.
"How long has he looked like this?"
"Since this morning."
The nurse removed the thermometer and stared at the result for a few seconds.
"That's definitely high."
"See?" Kim crossed her arms victoriously. "I told you."
I groaned softly.
"Please stop sounding proud about my suffering."
The nurse chuckled quietly before handing me a small pill alongside a cup of water.
"You need rest," she said firmly. "And preferably food too."
"…Right."
I swallowed the medicine slowly.
The bed beside me suddenly looked incredibly comfortable.
Dangerously comfortable.
The nurse pointed toward it immediately, almost reading my thoughts.
"Lie down for a while."
And really…
Who was I to refuse such a beautiful offer?
I carefully laid back against the soft mattress, letting out a long exhausted breath the moment my head touched the pillow.
Kim stood beside the bed for another moment, watching me silently.
"You'll message us later?" she asked.
I nodded weakly.
"Probably."
"That confidence inspires me."
"Thanks."
"It shouldn't."
A faint smile appeared on her face despite the concern still visible in her eyes.
Then she finally turned and walked toward the exit.
Before leaving, however, she stopped near the doorway.
"Oh, right," she said while glancing back toward Minho's earlier question. "About the ritual yesterday…"
I opened one eye slightly.
"What about it?"
"Professor Eclipse said Minho couldn't understand the chant because it was written in High Luminari."
Just hearing those words again sent a strange chill through my body.
High Luminari.
The language of gods.
The phrase refused to leave my mind.
Kim leaned slightly against the doorframe.
"It's weird though," she continued thoughtfully. "When I was chanting yesterday… part of it almost felt familiar."
That caught my attention immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know." She frowned softly. "It felt like… I wasn't reading it anymore by the end."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Kim noticed my expression and laughed nervously.
"Okay, yeah, saying it out loud makes it sound terrifying."
"A little," I admitted quietly.
She stared at me for another second.
Then her expression softened.
"Get some sleep, Dark."
After she left, silence returned to the infirmary.
Real silence.
Not the peaceful kind either.
The heavy kind.
The kind that presses against your thoughts when you're finally alone with them.
The nurse returned to her desk while I stared blankly at the ceiling above me.
High Luminari.
The language of gods.
For some reason, the words made my chest feel tight.
A strange uneasiness slowly spread through my body as exhaustion dragged my thoughts deeper and deeper into darkness.
I closed my eyes.
Almost immediately, fragments of the sanctuary resurfaced.
Black mist.
The pendulum swinging endlessly.
Blood spreading across cold stone floors.
And somewhere far away—
Whispers.
My eyes snapped open instantly.
The room was still there.
The infirmary.
The sunlight.
The distant sound of students outside.
Yet my heartbeat refused to calm down.
I slowly sat up halfway and pressed a hand against my forehead.
"…Get a grip."
Maybe the fever was making me hallucinate.
That had to be it.
Still…
For a brief moment…
I could have sworn I heard someone speaking in a language I almost understood.
Almost.
The thought unsettled me far more than it should have.
Eventually, exhaustion won again.
My eyelids grew heavier.
The warmth of the room wrapped around me slowly, pulling me beneath consciousness once more.
And this time—
I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
I woke up slowly.
For once, my body didn't feel like it was actively trying to die.
The fever had gone down a little, and although exhaustion still clung to my muscles, the crushing pressure inside my chest wasn't as unbearable as before.
I stretched slightly beneath the blanket and let out a long yawn.
The infirmary was quieter now.
Golden sunlight filtered through the windows at a different angle, meaning a decent amount of time had passed while I slept. The nurse sat near the front desk reading through paperwork while soft instrumental music played quietly from somewhere nearby.
For a moment…
Everything felt normal.
Peaceful.
Then reality returned.
LCs.
Rituals.
The sanctuary.
Professor Eclipse.
The black mist.
My eyes immediately drifted toward my hands.
I flexed my fingers slowly.
Still human.
Probably.
Hopefully.
I sighed and reached into the pocket of my uniform pants to grab my phone.
One unread message.
Kim.
I opened it immediately.
Come to the library when you wake up.
The professor found something important.
"…That doesn't sound ominous at all," I muttered.
Knowing Professor Adermat, "something important" usually meant "something deeply disturbing connected to ancient horrors beyond human comprehension."
Which honestly narrowed it down surprisingly little lately.
I pushed myself out of bed carefully.
The dizziness had mostly faded, though my body still felt strangely weak. It reminded me of the aftermath of using too much black mist—like my energy had been hollowed out from the inside.
The nurse noticed me standing.
"You look better," she said kindly.
"Define better."
"You no longer look moments away from collapsing."
"…I'll take it."
She smiled faintly.
"Your fever dropped while you were sleeping. But don't overexert yourself."
I nodded absentmindedly while grabbing my backpack.
The moment I stepped outside the infirmary, the noise of the academy flooded back around me.
Students moving between classes.
Voices echoing through hallways.
Footsteps against polished floors.
Everything should have felt familiar.
Instead, I felt disconnected from all of it.
Like I was walking through a world that no longer fully belonged to me.
As I made my way toward the library building, an uncomfortable pressure slowly returned to my chest.
Not physical pain.
Something deeper.
Anxiety.
My reflection briefly appeared in one of the classroom windows as I passed.
I immediately looked away.
The sanctuary had ruined mirrors for me.
Every time I saw my own reflection now, part of me expected something to be wrong.
Expected my eyes to be darker.
Expected the black mist to move behind me.
Expected—
I clenched my jaw and forced the thoughts away.
"Get a grip, Dark."
My breathing became uneven again.
Too fast.
Too shallow.
The pressure in my chest tightened.
Something bad is going to happen.
The thought appeared suddenly and violently inside my mind.
I stopped walking.
The hallway around me blurred slightly.
No reason.
No evidence.
No logic.
And yet the feeling persisted with terrifying certainty.
Something bad is coming.
My fingers trembled slightly.
I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out a pack of mint gum.
One piece.
Then another.
The sharp mint flavor spread across my tongue instantly, grounding me little by little.
Focus on something simple.
Something real.
Chew.
Breathe.
Chew again.
Eventually, the panic loosened its grip enough for me to keep walking.
By the time I reached the library building, my thoughts had settled enough to function normally again.
At least outwardly.
The academy library was enormous—far larger than most public libraries in Amberlath. Tall shelves stretched endlessly beneath vaulted ceilings, and sunlight filtered through massive stained-glass windows depicting scenes from the earlier Ages of Aethra.
Scholars.
Kings.
Wars.
Gods descending from the heavens.
Normal school decoration stuff.
The deeper parts of the library were always quieter, colder somehow. Like the silence itself became heavier the farther you walked between the shelves.
That's where I found them.
Near one of the most isolated sections of the library sat Professor Adermat, Miriam, Xia, Kimberly, Minho, Won Ho, and Airi gathered around an old wooden table.
Several ancient books and yellowed papers lay scattered across its surface.
The atmosphere around them felt tense.
Serious.
Professor Adermat noticed me first.
"Ah, Dark," he said warmly. "Wonderful. Please, come sit down."
The moment I got closer, I noticed the expression on everyone's faces.
Nobody looked relaxed.
Not even Won Ho.
That alone was concerning.
I sat beside Miriam while glancing toward the documents spread across the table.
The pages looked ancient.
Fragile.
Like they could turn to dust if touched carelessly.
Professor Adermat adjusted his glasses before speaking.
"First of all," he said gently, "I sincerely hope you're feeling better."
"Somewhat."
"Excellent. Because unfortunately, what I'm about to show you may worsen your mental condition significantly."
"…You really know how to comfort people, professor."
Won Ho snorted quietly.
Professor Adermat ignored us entirely.
"This morning," he continued, "I returned to the old hidden library where Miriam first discovered both Kimberly and you."
A faint chill ran down my spine.
That place again.
"I found something rather… extraordinary."
He carefully lifted several worn sheets of paper from the table and placed them in front of me.
The pages were old enough that the edges had begun darkening with age.
Sixth Age documents.
My stomach tightened instinctively.
"There was no official title attached to them," Professor Adermat explained. "But judging by the contents…"
His expression darkened slightly.
"…I believe they describe an ancient prophecy."
The moment he said those words, the entire table fell silent.
Professor Adermat carefully unfolded the ancient pages.
The brittle paper crackled softly beneath his fingers, and for a moment I had the uncomfortable feeling that we were about to read something humanity was never supposed to uncover again.
The library around us felt colder now.
Darker.
Even the silence between the shelves seemed heavier than before.
Professor Adermat adjusted his glasses slightly before beginning.
"These documents appear to originate from the late Sixth Age," he explained. "Most likely copied from even older sources."
Miriam leaned forward slightly.
"What exactly do they talk about?"
The professor exhaled slowly.
"A prophecy."
Those words immediately tightened the atmosphere around the table.
Won Ho frowned.
"…Okay, I officially hate prophecies."
"Same," Minho muttered. "Nothing good ever comes from ancient predictions."
Professor Adermat ignored them and continued reading.
"According to these records, roughly one or two centuries before the Sixth Age, a group of explorers discovered ancient caves after violent storms exposed hidden entrances somewhere on the continent."
As he spoke, I found myself unconsciously focusing on the shadows between the bookshelves around us.
I wasn't sure why.
Maybe because ever since the sanctuary, darkness itself felt… alive.
"The explorers found animal remains, primitive paintings, and inscriptions possibly dating back to the Third Age," the professor continued. "However, among all the discoveries, one particular inscription terrified them."
He slowly turned one of the pages toward us.
Crimson symbols covered the parchment.
Jagged.
Uneven.
Wrong.
Even looking at them made my stomach twist slightly.
The writing resembled runes, but unlike ordinary Luminari, these symbols looked distorted—as if language itself had been corrupted into something unnatural.
Airi visibly shivered.
"…What is that?"
Professor Adermat's expression darkened.
"The records claim the inscription was written in blood."
Silence.
Cold silence.
The professor continued.
"The explorers managed to partially preserve the symbols before the cave collapsed during another storm. Afterward, both the cave's location and the identities of the explorers vanished from history entirely."
"…That's reassuring," Won Ho muttered.
Professor Adermat ignored him again.
"For many years, the incident remained hidden by the Church of Deris."
At the mention of the church, Xia's expression sharpened slightly.
"Why would they hide it?" she asked quietly.
"Because of what they eventually discovered."
Professor Adermat carefully lifted another page.
"The symbols weren't ordinary Luminari."
A faint pressure settled over my chest.
"They were Umbral Runes."
Nobody spoke.
Even Minho looked unsettled now.
Professor Adermat folded his hands together.
"Runes associated with darkness, forbidden entities, and catastrophic omens."
The air suddenly felt suffocating.
I swallowed slowly.
For some reason, hearing the word darkness made my pulse quicken uncomfortably.
The professor continued reading.
"A priest of the Church eventually rediscovered the hidden documents centuries later. Shortly afterward, an incident occurred near a remote village."
His voice lowered slightly.
"A monk began behaving… strangely."
Kim frowned.
"What kind of strange?"
Professor Adermat's eyes remained fixed on the pages.
"He isolated himself in the forest surrounding the village. Witnesses described hearing him speaking alone at night in unknown languages."
A cold sensation crawled down my spine.
"The Church investigated," the professor continued. "But by the time they found him…"
He paused.
"…the monk had already become possessed."
Airi immediately lowered her gaze.
Minho crossed his arms tighter.
The professor's voice grew quieter.
"Before taking his own life, the monk reproduced the exact same inscription discovered within the ancient cave."
I looked down toward the bloody symbols again.
Something about them made my head ache faintly.
Professor Adermat continued reading directly from the text now.
"He carved open the veins of his left wrist in order to write the prophecy using his own blood. After completing the inscription, he began chanting in Luminari beside a bonfire."
The library felt deathly silent.
Then the professor spoke again.
"Witnesses claimed that after finishing the prayer, the monk uttered words no one present could understand."
My fingers twitched slightly beneath the table.
"…And then?" Miriam asked softly.
Professor Adermat's gaze hardened.
"He stabbed himself repeatedly in the stomach before throwing himself into the flames."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even the distant sounds from the rest of the academy seemed impossibly far away now.
I stared silently at the symbols covering the pages.
Blood.
Possession.
Unknown gods.
Darkness.
Every instinct in my body screamed that we were looking at something profoundly dangerous.
Professor Adermat slowly lowered the pages.
"The Church eventually reached a terrifying conclusion."
The professor's voice became almost solemn.
"The prophecy did not originate from the gods worshipped by the Church of Deris."
A heavy pressure filled the air.
"It originated from the Primordials."
The moment he said those words, my heart skipped once.
Matusalem.
The sanctuary.
The endless darkness behind the portal.
I suddenly remembered the feeling of that monstrous presence staring down at me from beyond reality itself.
Professor Adermat looked directly at us.
"The same entities worshipped by the cults hidden within the fog."
Nobody at the table looked comfortable anymore.
Not even Kimberly.
Professor Adermat slowly turned the final page toward us.
At the center of the parchment was an enormous block of ancient Luminari text.
Unlike the previous symbols, this writing looked… sacred.
Beautiful.
And somehow infinitely more terrifying.
"The prophecy itself," he whispered quietly, "was written in High Luminari."
The deeper sections of the library always felt colder.
Not physically.
The air itself remained warm beneath the dim golden lamps hanging from the ceiling.
But something about this place carried a strange pressure.
A silence too old to be natural.
The smell of ancient paper and dust filled my lungs while I followed Professor Adermat through the narrow aisles lined with towering shelves. My exhaustion still weighed heavily on my body, but curiosity forced me forward.
Ahead of me stood the others gathered around one of the oldest tables in the archive section.
Miriam.
Xia.
Kimberly.
Minho.
Won Ho.
Airi.
All of them stared at a collection of yellowed pages resting atop the wooden table.
The moment I approached, Professor Adermat adjusted his glasses and spoke quietly.
"Good afternoon, Dark. I apologize for calling everyone here so suddenly, but… I discovered something."
Something in his tone immediately put me on edge.
I pulled a chair beside Miriam and sat down carefully.
The old pages looked fragile enough to crumble if touched too roughly.
Some sections were stained dark brown.
Old blood.
At least… that was what it looked like.
Professor Adermat slowly opened the document.
"These records originate from the Sixth Age," he explained. "I found them hidden inside the restricted section of the ancient archive connected to this library."
Won Ho frowned.
"There's a hidden archive beneath the library?"
"There are several," Miriam answered calmly.
That somehow made things worse.
Professor Adermat continued.
"The document speaks of a discovery made centuries ago after violent storms struck the continent. Entire cave systems were revealed beneath collapsed mountains."
As he spoke, I could almost picture it.
Ancient caverns buried beneath the earth.
Rain flooding forgotten tunnels.
Darkness untouched for centuries.
The professor turned another page.
"According to the records, a group of explorers entered those caves searching for relics from the Third Age."
The library remained completely silent.
"The deeper they ventured," he continued, "the stranger the cave became. Animal bones covered the ground. Symbols painted with unknown pigments covered the walls."
He paused.
"Then they found the inscription."
A cold feeling crept beneath my skin.
Professor Adermat slowly rotated the document toward us.
The moment my eyes landed on the symbols—
my chest tightened violently.
The runes looked wrong.
Not merely ancient.
Wrong.
As if human eyes were never meant to look at them.
Thin crooked symbols twisted across the parchment like living wounds.
Some curved unnaturally.
Others resembled fractured stars.
And some looked almost organic.
Written beneath them was the copied inscription recovered from the cave wall itself:
𖤕𖥾𖤟 𖤞𖥾𖥿𖤓 𖦈𖦈𖤞𖤞𖥶-𖤞𖥶𖤕𖦇𖤛𖤟𖥶𖤓 𖤢𖤞𖦁𖤞𖦇𖦈
𖤗𖦈 𖦈𖦁𖤞 𖥿𖤛𖤙𖥾𖤟 𖤢𖥶𖤞𖤞𖤯𖥾𖤟 𖤛𖤕𖥾𖤨𖥾
𖥿𖥶𖦈𖤕𖦈𖥾𖦇 𖤔𖤛𖤞𖥾𖤛 𖤕𖦇𖤞𖥾𤕕𖥾𖤞𖤛
𖥿𖥶𖦈𖥾𖦈 𖤗𖦈 𖤓𖥶𖥿𖤙𖤞𖦁 𖤕𖥶𖤕𖤞𖤞𖤗 𖤗𖦈 𖥾𖤟𖦇𖤓𖤓 𖤕𖥶𖦇𖤞𖤞 𖤛𖤕𖥾𖤨𖥾
The instant I looked at them directly—
my headache worsened.
A sharp pain stabbed behind my eyes.
I immediately looked away.
"What the hell…" Minho muttered quietly.
Airi looked pale.
"Those symbols feel… strange…"
Professor Adermat nodded slowly.
"They are Umbra Sigils."
Kimberly frowned.
"Darkness runes?"
"Yes."
The professor's voice became heavier.
"Forbidden symbols associated with Primordial worship."
A chill spread through the table.
Professor Adermat carefully flipped the page again.
"The explorers copied the inscription before abandoning the caves. Several reportedly suffered mental deterioration afterward."
Won Ho immediately leaned away from the paper.
"Okay, fantastic. Love that for us."
Nobody laughed.
Because the atmosphere had become suffocating.
Professor Adermat continued reading.
"Years later, a priest of the Church of Deris discovered the copied inscription hidden inside an old cathedral wall. He realized the runes were not standard Luminari symbols…"
The professor paused.
"They were High Luminari written through Umbra script."
The moment those words left his mouth—
the pressure in the room intensified.
Even breathing suddenly felt harder.
"The priest hid the document once again," Adermat continued quietly. "But several months later… another incident occurred."
He turned the final page.
The stains here were darker.
Fresher somehow.
"A monk living near the northern forests began behaving strangely. Witnesses claimed he spent days muttering unknown prayers while drawing symbols with his own blood."
My stomach twisted.
Professor Adermat's voice lowered almost to a whisper.
"When the Church investigated… they found him kneeling before a fire."
The library felt dead silent now.
"He had carved open his own wrist to continue writing the same inscription discovered inside the caves."
Airi covered her mouth.
Won Ho grimaced.
"That's messed up…"
Professor Adermat nodded grimly.
"The monk continued chanting in High Luminari until the very end."
He slowly lowered his gaze toward the document.
"According to witnesses… before taking his own life, he repeatedly spoke a single phrase."
The professor inhaled quietly.
Then read the line written beneath the bloodstained report:
"Bi þatei Mēna grēt stainō'n tagr…"
The moment the words left his lips—
the lights above us flickered once.
Every single one of us froze.
And for just a second—
I could have sworn I heard whispers coming from somewhere deep within the library darkness.
The library lights continued flickering above us.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence swallowed the room again.
Nobody spoke after Professor Adermat pronounced those words in High Luminari.
Even the air felt wrong now.
Heavier.
Colder.
As if something invisible had entered the library the moment the ancient language was spoken aloud.
I rubbed my temple slowly while trying to ignore the growing pressure inside my skull.
The symbols.
The runes.
The whispers.
Everything about this felt horribly familiar.
And I hated that feeling.
Professor Adermat carefully closed the document halfway before speaking again.
"The records claim the monk repeated fragments of the prophecy moments before his death," he explained quietly. "But no complete translation existed."
Minho crossed his arms uneasily.
"So basically we found cursed ancient nightmare poetry."
"More or less," Miriam answered.
Won Ho looked ready to leave the library entirely.
Airi remained pale beside Xia.
Then—
a familiar scent filled the room.
Black roses.
Every muscle in my body stiffened instantly.
Slow footsteps echoed through the library aisle.
Professor Eclipse.
She emerged from the shadows with her usual calm elegance, cigarette smoke curling around her pale figure like living mist. Her crimson eyes immediately locked onto the pages resting in Professor Adermat's hands.
And for the briefest second—
I saw genuine fear in her expression.
Not surprise.
Not annoyance.
Fear.
The professor approached slowly.
Silent.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Her heels clicked softly against the wooden floor until she finally stopped beside our table.
Nobody dared speak first.
Professor Eclipse extended her hand toward the ancient pages.
"Let me see it."
Professor Adermat hesitated.
Only for a moment.
Then he handed her the document.
The instant her fingers touched the paper—
the lights above us dimmed again.
A cold wave spread through the library.
Even Kimberly noticed it.
"…What the hell…" she whispered.
Professor Eclipse ignored us completely.
Her crimson eyes scanned the symbols with frightening speed.
Then she inhaled slowly.
"High Luminari," she murmured coldly.
Minho frowned.
"You can actually read that?"
"Of course I can."
Her voice remained emotionless.
But something about her eyes had changed.
For the first time since meeting her…
she looked unsettled.
Professor Eclipse pulled a loose sheet from her notebook and began writing rapidly.
The scratching sound of the pen echoed throughout the silent library.
None of us interrupted her.
Not even Won Ho.
When she finally finished, she placed the translated paper onto the table.
But before allowing us to read it—
she spoke.
"This prophecy is older than the current Age."
Her gaze slowly lifted toward us.
"Possibly older than the Sixth."
A chill ran down my spine.
"The Church buried every trace of it after several possession incidents tied directly to these runes."
She pointed toward the Umbra Sigils.
"These are not ordinary divine symbols."
Her voice lowered.
"They are funeral runes."
The room became deathly silent.
Professor Eclipse continued.
"High Luminari is the language spoken by gods."
Then her crimson eyes narrowed slightly.
"But Umbra High Luminari…"
Smoke escaped slowly from her lips.
"…is the language spoken by things even gods fear."
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Then—
she turned the page toward us.
And for the first time…
we saw the complete prophecy.
Written entirely in High Luminari.
Bi þatei Mēna grēt stainō'n tagr,
Jah Sauil wasjada swarta waddjē,
Gabairana Sunus Twēimais Latjas.
Akran Aggilis driusana jah Skaduweis wasida leika.
Hairtō is wairþa smiþa allis liuhadis jah laus.
Augōna is, twa rumōs, widugana saiwala midjana.
Us hleiþra is gabairana Þanir aiw.
Jah stiurn its liuþōn saggw saei slawaþ Sauil.
Sa, sa Spaurda Spaurdē, gamaina þairh wainaggein jah wēns.
Jah ana bandja rumis, waljana:
Galeikan Qel'dara þairh saggaswēsnai seinai
Þau rekinōn ana hrōsa laistē gaskaftana.
Ak ainak bi þatei sa frijōþ fralušt seinana,
Jah armais dauþagja blōþis seina,
Bigitana maht saei galeikan
Þata saei ni hʷashun deiwa dugann anamahtjan.
The moment I finished reading—
pain exploded inside my head.
Not physical pain.
Something deeper.
Like invisible claws scraping against my thoughts.
Fragments flashed through my mind.
Black oceans.
Dead stars.
A door.
Something enormous moving behind it.
I immediately looked away from the page and nearly lost my balance.
Xia grabbed my arm before I could fall.
"Dark?"
"I'm fine," I lied immediately.
Professor Eclipse watched me carefully.
Too carefully.
Then she finally revealed the translation.
And the moment she spoke—
the library itself felt colder.
When the moon weeps tears of stars
And the sun clothes itself in black,
The Child of Twilight shall be born,
Born from the fallen angel and the shadow clothed in flesh.
His heart shall become a forge of light and void,
His eyes twin abysses reflecting the soul of the world.
From his back shall rise wings of eternal night,
And his voice shall sing the song that extinguishes suns.
He, the Last Guardian, shall walk between agony and hope,
And upon the edge of the abyss, he shall choose:
To seal the gate through his own sacrifice…
Or reign above the ruins of creation.
But only when he loves his own destruction,
And embraces the executioner of his blood,
Will he obtain the strength to seal
That which no god dared confront.
Nobody spoke afterward.
Nobody could.
The prophecy felt less like words…
and more like a sentence already decided by fate itself.
Then Professor Eclipse quietly crushed her cigarette beneath her heel.
And finally whispered the words that made my blood freeze completely.
"The Primordials do not fear death."
Her crimson eyes slowly turned toward me.
"They fear him."
Silence consumed the library.
Not the peaceful kind.
Not the comforting silence born from rain against windows or the turning of ancient pages.
This silence felt alive.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Like something unseen had entered the room alongside those words.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The translated prophecy rested on the table between us like a cursed relic dragged out of a grave best left sealed.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
Slow.
Violent.
Uneasy.
My fingers tightened around the edge of the chair as my mind replayed every line again and again.
The Child of Twilight.
Wings of eternal night.
The song that extinguishes suns.
Every sentence sounded less like a prophecy… and more like a warning.
Or perhaps a sentence already decided long ago.
Airi lowered her gaze first.
Her hands trembled slightly as she clutched the sleeves of her uniform.
— This… doesn't feel like a normal prophecy… — she whispered weakly.
Nobody answered her.
Because we all felt it.
That horrible sensation crawling beneath our skin.
Professor Adermat adjusted his glasses slowly before speaking in a quieter tone than usual.
— If Eclipse reacted like that… then this information is far more dangerous than I imagined.
Miriam crossed her arms tightly.
For once, even she looked unsettled.
— Primordials don't fear mortals… — she muttered. — So if they created this prophecy themselves…
Her expression darkened.
— Then whoever this talks about must be capable of threatening even them.
A cold sensation crawled down my spine.
Won Ho forced out an awkward laugh in an attempt to break the tension.
— O-Okay… but there's no way something like that could actually happen, right?
Nobody laughed.
Not even Minho.
Kimberly stared at the translated text with narrowed eyes.
Her flames flickered weakly around her fingertips without her noticing.
— "Seal what no god dared face…" — she murmured quietly. — What could possibly scare gods?
That question lingered in the air like poison.
Because deep down…
None of us truly wanted the answer.
I swallowed heavily.
Ever since the sanctuary…
Ever since the loops…
Ever since I saw those things hiding beyond reality…
I had begun understanding something terrifying.
The world we lived in was small.
Too small.
And beyond it…
Something else existed.
Something ancient.
Hungry.
Watching.
I suddenly remembered Matusalem's voice.
That distorted laughter.
Those countless eyes inside the darkness.
My stomach twisted violently.
I looked away from the paper.
For some reason…
I couldn't keep staring at the prophecy.
Not anymore.
It felt wrong.
As if the words themselves were staring back at me.
Xia noticed my expression immediately.
— Dark?
I blinked several times before answering.
— I'm fine…
But my voice sounded hollow.
Weak.
Like even I didn't believe myself.
Professor Adermat carefully gathered the papers.
— For now, this stays between us. Understood?
Everyone nodded immediately.
— Especially the prophecy itself — he continued. — If organizations like the ones Eclipse mentioned discover this… things could become dangerous very quickly.
Dangerous.
That word felt too small.
I leaned back against the chair and closed my eyes for a moment.
My headache had returned.
A slow throbbing behind my eyes.
And alongside it…
That same horrible feeling from earlier.
Like something bad was approaching.
No.
Not approaching.
Awakening.
A sudden gust of wind shook the library windows.
Everyone flinched instinctively.
The lights above us flickered once.
Twice.
Then stabilized.
Nobody spoke.
But all of us felt it.
Something had changed.
Somewhere far beyond our understanding…
Something had begun moving.
And for the first time since arriving in Aethra…
I truly feared the future.