"We're close. Just keep moving… slowly." Gloria whispered, her voice barely audible over the soft rustling of decaying leaves under their feet. Fog crawled low across the ground, thick enough to hide stones, roots, and whatever else might be waiting beneath. The air smelled of cold soil and old death.
Caesar tugged at the rotting cloth wrapped around his shoulders, grimacing as the foul stench reached his nose again. "Yeah, but this idea of yours…" he muttered, shifting uncomfortably as he stepped over a half-buried rib cage. "Covering ourselves with the smell of dead corpses—is this really going to work?"
Gloria exhaled slowly, though even she looked dizzy from the smell. "I know, I know," she whispered, pushing aside a branch coated in dried blood. "Just trust me. I've survived here for years. Monsters respond to scent more than sight. If we smell like the dead, most of them won't bother tracking us."
Caesar wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, but I feel like I'm going to vomit. If I throw up, will that attract them too?"
"Absolutely," Gloria said flatly.
Caesar swallowed the urge instantly.
After a moment, he sighed. "So… if you don't mind me asking—how did you age and then… de-age? I mean, I actually believed you were a grandma."
Gloria shot him a side glance, her expression unreadable. "Ever heard of the Unemei Clan?"
Rui, walking just behind them, nodded quietly. "One of my close friends in Koha is from that clan."
"Well," Gloria murmured, brushing dust from her sleeve, "my mother was Unemei. And my father was… Shirobhaga."
Caesar almost tripped. "Wait—WAIT—are you serious?" he sputtered. "Those two clans are enemies! Like… even breathing the same air is forbidden between them! A Shirobhaga and an Unemei having a kid is impossible!"
"And yet," Gloria said softly, stepping over a broken spear lodged in a skull, "my parents ran away from their clans and married here. I was the first child born with a mix of both their abilities."
They all stopped for a moment, letting it sink in.
"The Shirobhaga," Gloria continued, her voice quieter now, "can change their identity—completely become another person. Facial features, hair, height, even body shape… everything. But their transformations are limited. They can't become older or younger than their true age."
Rui listened carefully, his eyes narrowing in thought.
"And the Unemei," Gloria said, touching her cheek, "have eternal youth. Their bodies age internally, but their appearance never changes. They remain young forever—until death."
She let out a bitter breath. "Somehow, I inherited the Shirobhaga's shape-shifting and the Unemei's eternal presence. I can appear anywhere from ten years old to a hundred. I don't age like normal humans."
Caesar blinked blankly. "I… yeah, no, I'm totally lost. But whatever. Cool, I guess."
He peered ahead, pointing toward a clearing where the fog thinned out. "I think we're here."
Gloria nodded, her expression tightening. "Yes," she whispered. "King Rui, careful. Every step could be deadly. We hide in these bushes for a few minutes, watch for movement, then—"
But Rui didn't wait.
He stepped out of the bushes.
Calmly.
Fearlessly.
And very, very stupidly.
Gloria's eyes widened. "What—HEY! HEY! RUI!" she hissed, waving her arms frantically. "Get back here! You'll kill us all!"
Rui ignored her completely, walking toward the dark pit ahead where the ground dipped like a giant claw mark. At the center rested the half-buried tablet stone—massive, ancient, covered in strange carvings.
Gloria dragged her hands down her face. "I swear—this idiot—"
She lunged out after him.
Rui, hearing her footsteps, turned his head slightly. "Oh, you came."
"I TOLD you," she hissed, barely containing her rage, "not to act rashly!"
"Hehe." Rui shrugged. "Didn't hear a word. Sorry."
Gloria closed her eyes, breathed in slowly, and decided she would yell at him later—if they survived.
"Forget it," she muttered. "Just tell me why you came here. Why take the risk? Just tell me."
"Look," Rui said, pointing at the massive slab. "This tablet… it has ancient words carved on it. And this symbol—"
"I said," she snapped, "why did you come here? Are you trying to—"
Rui interrupted her calmly. "I don't know. I was… drawn to it. Somehow."
Gloria froze mid-step.
"Drawn?"
Rui didn't look at her. "But look," he said, pulling his shirt over his head.
"H-hey! What are you—!"
"Shh," he murmured. "Look at my back."
Gloria's breath hitched.
"There—glowing faintly across Rui's back—was a symbol.
Not just any symbol.
The same one carved into the tablet.
A shape that looked like two eyes staring."
That…" she whispered, her voice trembling, "that symbol… glowing on your back… those eyes…"
"It's my Code," Rui whispered. "I was born with it."
Gloria shook her head, stunned. "I've read every encyclopedia on Codes. Even the forbidden ones. Even the rarest. But this… this is new. This is impossible."
"Look at the tablet," Rui said, pointing again. "It's the same."
Slowly, shakily, Gloria approached the stone. Her fingers trembled as she traced the carved outline.
"This is exactly the same," she whispered. "The carving… the shape… everything. But how—"
Suddenly—
Rui's body jolted.
His knees buckled.
He collapsed with a strangled gasp.
Blood began streaming from the glowing mark across his back.
"Rui—HEY—HEY!" Gloria ran to him, her voice breaking. "What's happening?! Talk to me!"
Rui's screams tore through the air—raw, tortured, agonizing.
From the bushes, Caesar and the others jumped to their feet.
"What is going on?!" Caesar shouted, panic rising.
Rui clawed at the dirt, his voice cracking into sobs. "I don't—ah—AAAAAH!—I don't know—make it—make it STOP—please—please—make the pain go away—"
Gloria grabbed him, both arms around his shoulders, trying to steady him. "Hold on! I've got you—just—just hold on!"
Rui screamed louder.
The sound echoed like a dying beast, rattling the forest.
Then—
A growl.
Low.
Hungry.
A second.
A third.
Shadows stirred.
One by one, monsters crawled out of the forest—twisted bodies, hollow eyes, limbs bending at impossible angles. Drawn by blood. Drawn by screams. Drawn by the cursed tablet.
"Shit—shit—shit!" Gloria hoisted Rui onto her back. "Hold on, Rui! HOLD ON!"
Monsters surged toward them from all sides—front, back, everywhere. Their bodies blocked escape like a living wall.
Gloria gently lowered Rui to the ground.
"Stay down," she whispered, brushing his hair aside. "Please stay down."
She drew her sword.
And screamed—
"COME!"
The battle exploded.
She slashed left—blood sprayed.
She slashed right—flesh tore.
Down—across—stab—dodge—block—
But there were too many.
Her arms shook. Her breaths became ragged. She stepped back inch by inch, shielding Rui with everything she had.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, tears blurring her vision. "I couldn't save you…"
Then—
"HEEEEEYYYYYYY!"
A scream ripped through the battlefield.
Caesar.
Ria.
And Jain.
They came charging out of the bushes like falling stars, slicing through monsters with reckless abandon.
"Over here!" Caesar yelled. "COME ON!"
Jain sprinted toward Rui and Gloria. "Are you two—NO TIME—Gloria, give me Rui!"
She nodded, passing Rui onto his back.
"Go!" Jain shouted.
They ran—through trees, through mud, through corpses.
Behind them, Caesar and Ria fought with everything left in their bones.
"Hey," Caesar said between breaths, slicing a monster in half, "what was your name again?"
"It's Ria," she panted, blood staining her cheek.
"Well, you know my name's Caesar."
"And why," she snarled, beheading a creature, "should I care?"
"If we're about to die," Caesar smirked, "let's at least introduce ourselves properly. Besides… knowing a beautiful girl knows my name makes dying less tragic."
Ria blinked.
Even in this nightmare, her cheeks flushed.
She swung again. "My name is Ria Welhand. Second daughter of Walt Graham Welhand—King of Shuri. I came here ten years ago to study at Wandland's Noble Academy. We were on a school trip to Drakkar… The Land of Beginning."
She killed another monster.
"My father hated me. When I didn't return, he declared me dead. So… this place became my home."
Caesar chuckled. "Your story is definitely more interesting." He stabbed another creature. "I'm Caesar, son of Atlas. Born in Mitheren, main city of Velvet. I came here to accompany my King. And now… I'm going to die."
Their swords shattered at the same time.
They looked down.
Then up.
Monsters lunged toward them—
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
The earth cracked.
Air bent.
A shockwave tore through the battlefield, shaking trees, ripping stones, shattering sound itself.
Then—
FWOOOOOOOM—BOOM.
Everything flashed white.
Ria and Caesar collapsed, unconscious.
The monsters were dead.
Gloria was out cold.
Rui didn't move.
Only Jain remained conscious, trembling, hands over his ears.
"What… the… fuck…" he whispered, voice shaking.
He stumbled to Gloria and shook her. "Wake up! Gloria! WAKE UP!"
No response.
He kneeled beside Rui.
"King Rui! Please—wake up—"
Rui's eyes opened slowly.
A faint glow pulsed under his skin.
"W-what… happened… to me…?" he whispered. "Where… are the others…?"
Jain shook his head helplessly.
"I don't know," he whispered.
"I don't know anything anymore…"