Rio didn't answer immediately.
The silence here…
Wasn't natural.
Kyle tried to stand.
His hand touched the ground.
A stone.
He slowly lifted his head.
The darkness wasn't complete.
There was a very faint glow…
Seeping through the cracks in the floor and walls.
As if the place…
Was breathing.
"System…"
Kyle said in a low voice.
"What do you mean it can't monitor this place?"
Rio finally moved.
One step.
"Because this place…"
He paused.
"Is outside its calculations."
Silence.
"Before the System existed…"
He continued quietly.
"This city existed."
Kyle's eyes widened.
"A city?"
The faint glow began to gradually reveal the truth…
Massive stone pillars.
Corridors stretching into the darkness.
Structures… looking like remnants of an ancient civilization.
"This is the Lower City."
Kyle stood up slowly.
His heart was pounding.
But not as before.
It wasn't just fear…
But a deeper feeling.
As if something inside him…
Was responding to this place.
Kyle turned to Rio.
"I've been thinking."
"Have you found an answer to what you've been thinking about?"
Silence.
"No."
Rio smiled.
"That's fine."
He stepped closer.
"Quick answers… are often lies."
Kyle's body tensed slightly.
"You talk a lot… but you haven't told me the truth."
Rio's smile paused for a moment.
"The truth?"
Then he smiled again.
"The truth is very simple… so simple that people refuse it."
He raised his hand slowly.
Black sparks appeared.
They didn't emit light…
They devoured it.
"Tell me, Kyle…"
"Do you think you own yourself?"
"I don't follow you."
"I didn't ask if you follow me."
He took another step closer.
"I asked if you own your destiny."
…Silence.
"A human in this life… has only two masters."
"Pain… and fear."
Kyle's expression changed.
"Fear is the worst."
"Because it gives you no certainty."
"Makes you ask… what will happen?"
"And leaves you lost in endless possibilities."
He stepped closer.
"But pain…"
"Is more merciful."
"Merciful?"
"Because you know."
"You know that you are breaking."
"You know that you are suffering."
"And there's nothing to ask about."
Kyle clenched his hand.
The pulse inside his chest… became clear.
"And what's your goal in all this?"
"You want to scare me?"
Rio smiled.
"No."
"I free you."
"From the lie."
He pointed upward.
Silence.
Kyle looked down at the ground.
Images passed through his mind.
Fear.
Pain.
Hesitation.
Then…
He lifted his head.
"Your words… aren't complete."
Silence.
"Fear exists."
"And pain too."
Step.
He moved closer.
"But that doesn't mean we are slaves to them."
He looked straight at Rio.
Then he said:
"Whoever does not hold their destiny in their hands… owns nothing."
…Silence.
Rio smiled slowly.
"Finally…"
"You've started to understand."
He turned around.
"Come."
Kyle moved behind him.
Every step inside this city…
Was heavier than the last.
But he did not stop.
As they advanced…
The features of the place became clearer.
People.
Scattered in the shadows.
But they…
Were not ordinary.
Some carried strange energy.
Some…
Just looking at them caused tension.
Then…
Ahead.
Three.
Standing on a stone platform.
Silent.
Watching him.
"These…"
Rio said.
"Are not victims."
He turned to Kyle.
"These have chosen."
Silence.
"The Fallen Heroes Alliance."
Their gazes fixed on him.
There was no welcome.
Nor rejection.
Only…
Judgment.