The great hall of the Central City Council was silent, yet thick with tension. High above the city, within a structure of silverstone and glass, the ruling elite gathered—representatives from each region, draped in flowing robes and ancient sigils. They sat in a semi-circle, their eyes fixed on the central crystal display, which glowed with arcane images: grainy footage of the border outpost burning, and among the flames… a single figure standing tall.
Yun.
"This is the gatekeeper?" sneered Councilor Varric, the representative of the Northern Domain. He narrowed his gaze. "He looks like a ghost. A remnant of something we thought buried."
"He was a mere discard," Councilor Marien replied coolly, her voice smooth like silk over steel. "Yet he moved like a veteran, no... like something more. That swordwork was not standard militia training."
Councilor Doran, older than all others, leaned forward. "He should not be ignored. Not if what he's done is true. If he took down a Nightbreed pack alone..."
At the back of the chamber, cloaked in shadow, a man shifted. His eyes glowed faintly behind his hood. He did not speak, but the others knew who he represented. The Black Hand—the secret intelligence faction. The eyes and knives of the Empire.
"He's not in our records," Marien continued, "beyond a routine assignment to the outpost. No signs of formal training, no noble lineage, no mentor of note. He shouldn't exist."
"And yet here he is," said Doran. "A ghost who bled real monsters."
Silence fell again as a new image appeared. Yun, standing among the ruins, eyes cold, lips unspeaking. The flames behind him danced as though in reverence.
Meanwhile, far from the tower, Yun stood at the edge of a ruined village, cloak billowing in the desert wind. His eyes were narrowed at a shattered talisman buried in the sand.
"Someone's been here before me," he muttered. "Someone who knew exactly what the Nightbreed were after."
He crouched, brushing aside the dust to reveal a half-burned sigil. Ancient, forbidden. The mark of the Old Circle—mages thought extinct.
Behind him, soft steps. Yun didn't turn.
"You followed me."
A voice answered, female and sharp. "You knew I would."
Lira emerged from the shadows, dual blades strapped to her back. She was no longer in mercenary garb—now she wore armor bearing the insignia of the Royal Shadowguard.
"You're being watched," she said. "The Council knows. The Black Hand knows."
Yun stood slowly. "Let them watch. I'm done hiding."
"They'll try to use you."
"They already did. Now it's my turn."
From behind his back, Yun drew a scroll—sealed with the blood-red wax of forbidden knowledge. He tossed it to her.
"They wanted a gatekeeper. I kept the gate. But I also kept the truth."
Lira opened the scroll and gasped. Her eyes scanned the contents—names, places, dates. Experiments. Secrets. Lies.
"This… this will shake the Empire."
Yun's gaze was hard. "Then let it crumble."