Midnight struck without sound.
No chimes.
No bells.
Just a sudden absence.
As if time had inhaled… and forgotten to exhale.
---
Lyle stood at the second anchor site—deep beneath the ruined temple in Zone 3-C.
The Codex pulsed quietly at his side, its pages half-awake.
Juno adjusted her satchel, blades locked across her back.
They were alone.
No one had followed.
At least—not yet.
> [Dimensional Gate Status: OPEN]
Threadlock disengaged.
Temporal sync: 0.000x | External time suspended.
Welcome, Ringbearer.
---
The ring blazed.
A circle of swirling black and crimson unfurled across the sigil slab, forming a liquid mirror that shimmered with pressure.
Beyond it…
A land unlike anything Lyle had imagined.
Skies the color of dried blood.
Towers grown from bone.
And shadows that watched back.
Juno stiffened. "You sure about this?"
"No."
"Good." She stepped beside him. "Let's go."
---
They crossed.
The gate didn't hiss or roar.
It whispered.
A single word neither of them recognized—
One that etched itself behind Lyle's eyes like a scar:
> "Velkaros."
---
The moment they stepped through, the pressure shifted.
Gravity was lighter.
Air denser.
And their mana…
Wild.
The Codex flared.
Glyphs dancing erratically.
Juno coughed. "Something's wrong. My glyphs—they're surging."
"It's the atmosphere," Lyle said. "Everything here's built for… something else."
Behind them, the gate sealed with a soft sigh.
The ring dimmed.
> [Time Sync Locked. Return in 7 Days. External time paused.]
---
They didn't walk far before the world noticed them.
Figures moved between the crimson columns.
Tall. Silent.
Wearing cloaks stitched with shadows.
And then—
He stepped forward.
Eyes like dusk.
Hair faintly silver.
Armor that drank light.
And behind him, every figure dropped to a knee.
Only one stood tall.
Quinn Talen Greyscale.
The Bloodwalker.
---
Lyle froze.
Quinn's gaze pierced through him like a sword.
Then dropped…
To the ring.
"You shouldn't have that," he said.
His voice was calm. Deep. Measured.
Lyle opened his mouth—but the Codex snapped shut in his satchel, like it didn't want to be seen.
"I didn't steal it," Lyle said.
"No," Quinn replied. "You were meant to find it. That's worse."
---
Juno stepped forward. "He's not a threat—"
Quinn raised one hand. She stopped speaking instantly.
"I'll decide what he is."
He walked a slow circle around Lyle.
Not hostile.
Not curious.
Evaluating.
And then he asked:
> "Are you ready to bleed for what you don't understand?"
Lyle didn't flinch.
"…If I have to."
Quinn nodded once.
Then turned and began walking.
"Good. Come with me."
---
As they followed through the courtyard of crimson towers, Juno whispered:
"…That went better than I expected."
Lyle exhaled slowly. "That was the welcome?"
She nodded.
"Then what's the test?"