The Core Gate opened.
Not a gate. A heart cracked open.
Gold-purple light surged like blood, like a molten star.
Lin Yao was thrown to the ground. The compass on his chest burned as if it wanted to pierce his flesh. Rhea leapt, pinning him down, dagger plunged into the ground to anchor them—
The tidal wave of light receded.
At the high platform's center, a door had formed.
Neither metal nor wood. Half-solid Xihua and Entropy Flow, gold and purple intertwined, rotating slowly like a living heartbeat. In the heart of the door, seven star emblems—the Seven Luminaries—each piercing a segment of vine.
Qing He's vine.
"…She held on," Rhea's voice was hoarse. "Her last breath… fed the gate."
Lin Yao rose, fingertips bloodied. He reached toward the Core Gate—
Touch.
Boom!
The memory was not a vision. It was pain.
—Not Kael's. The first-generation Mirror Keeper's.
Rain-lashed night. Taiyi Star unshattered.
Seven stood at the Eye of Gui Xu.
Not enemies. Comrades.
The Mecha Skeleton Star Envoy's left arm was prosthetic, yet joints wrapped in green vine; the Spirit Cocoon Star Envoy's mind a mist, yet Neuroth data flowed within; Ember Star Envoy held a grass sprout in his palm…
They laughed, burying seven tokens into the Spirit Core—
Gehros's logic core, Xilanda's consciousness crystal, Kaos's stellar shard… and a jade piece, etched: Qing He (childlike handwriting).
The first-generation Keeper raised a cup:
"May twins remain bonded, Taiyi forever bright."
Before they drank,
The sky split.
[Fen Tian Jian] descended.
Six of seven turned, eyes cold. Only one remained—the young representative of the Illusory Star Messiah. He grabbed the Keeper's hand:
"Don't trust 'balance'! They fear—"
A fist of Iron Law pierced his chest.
Blood splashed on the jade piece.
The youth collapsed, last glance at the Keeper:
"…The mirror… can repair…"
Memory severed.
Lin Yao fell to his knees, coughing blood—gold threads, blue flakes, and a piece of jade.
"…Shit." Rhea supported him, hands shaking. "They… were Taiyi too?"
"Not 'were'," Lin Yao wiped his mouth, grimly smiling. "'Believed once.'"
Believed the mirror could connect worlds.
Believed twins were not a curse.
Believed wholeness… was worth living for.
Light flowed within the Core Gate. The seven star emblems, the vine segments, trembled—like nodding.
"Do we go in?" Rhea asked.
"We go." Lin Yao pushed up. "Kael… waits."
He stretched a hand, pushed the door—
Gold-purple light surged. Not hot. Warm. Like blood. Tears. Home.
Behind the door was not space—but time.
Floating fragments:
A charred mechanical arm, wrapped in vine;A silver eye shield, etched "Kael";Half a scroll, Twin Pact opening: "The mirror is the navel; if it cracks, it hurts…"
Lin Yao reached for the eye shield—
Touch—
Boom!!!
The entire ancient city trembled.
Gray mist rolled back like a tide.
Outside, ghosts turned, empty sockets blazing gold-blue, staring at the path behind—
Mirror Abyss entrance, gray mist exploded!
A figure staggered out.
Pale. Thin. Left eye empty, right eye silver data stream spinning wildly.
Black battle suit charred, left arm—mechanical arm gone. The stump dripped gold Xihua, yet vine threads swam within.
Kael.
He looked up. Silver eye locked onto the high platform—Lin Yao.
No words.
Only his remaining right hand raised, pointing to his chest.
Battle suit torn, flesh peeled back—
Embedded a jade fragment.
Etched: Qing He.
"…Sis…" lips moved, voice directly in Lin Yao's mind, tinged with blood:
"…Found you."
Lin Yao dashed down the platform.
Kael did not greet him. Instead, punched the city wall—
Boom!
Bricks flew. Behind, not soil, but lava.
Crimson, boiling. Yet within it… a heart.
Gigantic. Gold-purple, beating slowly, oppressive as mountains.
Yinglong Heart Core·Dormant
"It's not dead," Kael panted, silver eye locked on the heart.
"…Waiting. Waiting for twins to reunite."
"Waiting for us?" Rhea asked.
"Waiting for Taiyi." Kael turned, silver eye scanning Lin Yao's chest compass, Rhea's prism, resting finally on his own chest jade fragment.
"…But it's failing."
A fine crack split the Yinglong Heart Core. Gold-purple seeped weakly.
"Fen Tian Jian… draining it," Kael's voice lowered. "Every century, the Dark Tide… a sip of its blood."
Lin Yao understood.
Zhenxing League extracted Xihua and Entropy Flow…
Not only to prevent Taiyi from rebelling.
To prevent Yinglong from awakening.
This heartbeat, a dragon roar—Seven Luminaries kneel.
Kael coughed violently, blood sputtering—Xihua gold, Entropy purple, and a grass seed.
Exactly the same as Lin Yao had just coughed up.
"Time… short." Kael's silver eye flickered. "Bone Tower collapsed, Gui will deploy Patrolling Angel·Ren… he can… tear the Mirror Abyss."
He staggered forward, grabbed Lin Yao's right hand—
"Take this."
A walnut-sized, dark green seed.
The same as Qing He's at the Bone Tower.
"…Qing He's vine… rooted in me," Kael's voice weakened. "Plant it… at the Watchpoint ruins… to… extend her life."
Lin Yao clenched the seed, scorching hot.
"What about you?"
Kael smiled. Pale, yet real.
He touched his silver eye—
"…I must return."
"Return?!" Rhea shouted. "Back to the Bone Cocoon? To die?!"
"No." Silver eye data stream surged, overclocked.
"…Back to Fen Tian Jian."
"They thought I was a key," he whispered,
"But a key… can pry the lock."
"Can… pierce the keyholder's heart."
From deep gray mist, bones cracked.
Gui… arrived.
Kael glanced at Lin Yao one last time.
Silver eye paused.
Like a blink.
Like entrustment.
He turned, rushed into the Mirror Abyss entrance—
Vanished.
High platform, Yinglong Heart Core cracked further.
Gold-purple light dimmer.
Lin Yao lowered his head. Seed in hand glowing fiercely.
Compass on his chest, gray mist swirling, projecting words:
[Watchpoint can be rebuilt]
[Cost: Bearer… left arm forever silent]
His left arm, already numb.
But this time… confirmed.
"Go." He rasped, clutching the seed. "Back to Neuroth."
"Back where?" Rhea asked.
"Back to Seventh Alley." Lin Yao looked at the gray mist entrance.
"…Home."
🪞 Author's Note
They once believed in the mirror.
Kael touched the jade, called "sis."
—Some betrayals are deeper loyalty.
The seed burns.
Left arm dead.
Yet home… waits in the rainy Seventh Alley.
Next chapter: Back Home.
—KHChing
(Hands shaking, but the seed… gripped tight)