The starship Lumenfall hummed softly as it slipped into subspace. Outside the reinforced viewports, the stars stretched and twisted—elongated streaks of silver and violet light, like ancient brushstrokes across the canvas of existence.
Seojun stood at the helm, eyes fixed on the shifting starlines ahead. "We've crossed beyond the Orion boundary. From here on, we're charting unknown space."
Nova tapped a series of glyphs on her interface. "The destination is over three thousand light-years past the galactic rim. These coordinates... they match no known star system."
Elias frowned. "If the Architects hid the second vault out there, they must've meant for it to stay hidden."
"Or they knew that only someone bound to the Seed could find it," Hana murmured, glancing at Seojun. "You're the key, remember?"
Seojun didn't reply. The Seed within him pulsed, subtly resonating with something in the distance—something ancient and vast.
Hours passed. The stars thinned. Then, the Lumenfall emerged from subspace into a void darker than anything they'd ever seen.
There was no sun. No planets. Just… a massive structure, floating in the abyss like the fossil of a forgotten god.
It was a colossal ring—miles in diameter—spinning slowly, its surface inscribed with glowing sigils in a language older than time. The readings went haywire. Energy levels off the charts. Time dilation was active within the ring.
Nova whispered, "It's a phase lock… this place is suspended outside linear time."
Seojun stepped forward. As the Seed glowed brighter, the ring began to shift—opening like a blooming flower. A pathway of light unfolded, beckoning them inward.
"This is it," he said. "The second vault."
The ship entered the ring.
And in that moment, every star in the void blinked out—save one.
A single, enormous eye opened in the dark beyond the ring, watching.
And then… it blinked.