Silence gripped the City of Echoes.
The woman in the white mask hovered above the silver towers, her robes untouched by the wind. Behind her floated thousands of masked cultivators of the Veiled Court, arranged in perfect formation.
They did not speak.
They simply waited.
As though the city's destruction had already been decided.
Inside the Archive, Ashren looked toward the ceiling with an unreadable expression.
"They've grown bold."
The nameless librarian closed the blank book.
"They no longer fear what they don't understand."
Ashren gave a faint smile.
"No."
"They fear it more than ever."
Outside, the old wanderer stepped into the center of the city square.
His crooked staff tapped against the silver stone.
Tok.
The sound traveled through every street.
The awakened memories turned toward him.
Children.
Warriors.
Scholars.
Mothers.
Kings.
None of them were truly alive.
Yet every one of them bowed.
The old wanderer sighed.
"I was hoping this city could sleep a little longer."
High above, the masked woman spoke again.
"Wandering Keeper."
"Step aside."
"The Prisoner belongs to the Court."
The old man rested both hands on his staff.
"Belongs?"
He chuckled.
"I've watched empires rise and fall."
"I've seen gods forget their own names."
"No one has ever owned Ashren."
The woman's open-eye mask glowed.
"So you choose resistance."
She raised her hand.
Thousands of black spears lifted in perfect unison.
The sky darkened.
"Erase the city."
The attack fell.
A storm of black light descended like rain.
Each spear carried enough force to destroy a mountain.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Enough to erase nations.
Lyra instinctively reached for her weapon.
The old wanderer merely sighed.
"Children..."
He gently lifted his staff.
The tip touched the ground.
Tok.
The city answered.
Every name carved into the silver walls ignited.
Millions of names.
Millions of lights.
The entire City of Echoes blazed like a second sun.
The descending spears slowed.
Stopped.
Then...
They dissolved into drifting silver dust.
Not one reached the ground.
For the first time, the masked army broke formation.
Whispers spread through their ranks.
"Impossible..."
"The Memory Barrier..."
"It should have disappeared after the Eighth Era..."
The woman remained calm.
"So the legends were true."
She slowly drew a thin white sword from her waist.
Its blade was completely transparent.
Only its edge could be seen.
"The Court shall remember this sacrifice."
She vanished.
A heartbeat later—
She appeared directly before the old wanderer.
Her sword cut downward.
The strike was impossibly fast.
The old man barely managed to raise his staff.
Steel met ancient wood.
The collision produced no explosion.
No shockwave.
Only silence.
Then—
The clouds above split apart for hundreds of kilometers.
Inside the Archive, Kai felt the clash through the floor.
"What kind of power is that?"
Ashren answered quietly.
"The power of those who stand at the edge of Ascension."
Kai frowned.
"And the old man?"
Ashren smiled.
"He stepped beyond that edge a very long time ago."
The nameless librarian suddenly looked toward Kai.
"You cannot stay here."
"The city won't survive a prolonged siege."
Kai's fists clenched.
"I'm not leaving them."
Ashren walked toward him.
"No."
"You're leaving because they need you to."
He placed a hand on Kai's shoulder.
"The Court didn't come only for me."
"They came because of the Heart."
Kai felt the silver flame pulse.
"They want the Final Seal."
Ashren nodded.
"And they'll burn every realm to ash to obtain it."
Another violent tremor shook the Archive.
This one stronger than before.
Cracks spread across the tower's walls.
Books began falling endlessly into the abyss below.
The prison beneath the Archive was collapsing.
The librarian extended her hand.
Three silver keys materialized above her palm.
Each key bore a different symbol.
A flame.
A crown.
A door.
She handed the key marked with the flame to Kai.
"This belonged to the First Ascendant."
Kai stared at it.
"It should have been impossible for it to return."
She smiled faintly.
"Impossible things have followed you since the day your Core disappeared."
Ashren laughed.
"That's the truest thing anyone has said today."
Outside—
The old wanderer was finally pushed back three steps.
A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The masked woman lowered her transparent blade.
"I see."
"So even memories can bleed."
The old man wiped the blood away and smiled.
"And even those who hide behind masks can grow impatient."
Her expression remained hidden.
But the air around her turned colder.
She slowly raised her sword toward the heavens.
Above the city, a massive black circle began forming, swallowing clouds, light, and even sound itself.
Ashren's face became grim.
"No..."
"They're summoning it."
Kai looked at him.
"Summoning what?"
Ashren whispered only two words—
"The Hollow Judge."
The black circle split open.
A single enormous eye, empty and completely colorless, stared down upon the City of Echoes.
Unlike the Keeper's eye...
This one carried no life.
No thought.
No mercy.
Only judgment.
And for the first time since becoming Coreless...
Kai felt the silver flame within his chest...
...flicker.