The ground didn't just shake; it groaned under the sheer mass of the descending fortress. The bone-white citadel, suspended by chains of dark lightning, cast a shadow that turned the purple fog of District 5 into a suffocating shroud.
"The Throne..." Kang-woo whispered, the word feeling like a curse on his tongue.
Han-sik pulled himself from the wreckage of the brick wall, coughing blood. His red coat was in tatters, and the frenzied greed in his eyes had been replaced by a primal, shivering terror. He looked up at the skeletal fortress and then back at Seol-ah, whose hands were still dripping with that strange, gray mana.
"You... you're both monsters," Han-sik rasped, his voice cracking. "The Association was right. You've brought the end of the world to our doorstep."
"Then leave," Seol-ah said, her voice resonant and cold. "Before the end finds you first."
Han-sik didn't need another warning. He turned and fled into the fog, abandoning his pride and his bounty. He was an A-rank Hunter, but in the presence of the King's personal citadel, he was nothing more than a frightened child.
"Kang-woo, we have to move," Seol-ah said, turning to him.
The silver light in her eyes was fading, replaced by a deep, weary exhaustion. The crest on her neck pulsed with a dull, rhythmic throb. The synchronization had saved them, but it had drained her to the marrow.
"There's an old fallout shelter," Kang-woo said, pointing toward a crumbling cathedral at the edge of the district. "The mana density there is strange. It's a dead spot. The fortress might miss us if we get deep enough."
They staggered toward the cathedral. The air was becoming electrified. Bolts of green lightning struck the skyscrapers around them, turning steel and glass into molten slag. The King was searching. The Citadel was a giant eye, and they were the only specks of dust it cared to find.
They burst through the rotted oak doors of the cathedral. Inside, the air was still and smelled of ancient incense and cold stone.
[Warning: Entering 'Sanctuary of the Nameless Grave'.][Area Effect: Suppression of Divine and Necrotic signatures.]
Kang-woo collapsed at the foot of a faceless stone statue. The Black Guard Centurion dissolved instantly, unable to maintain its form within the sanctuary's dampening field.
"My mana... it's gone," Seol-ah whispered, sliding down the wall beside him. "I can't feel the bond anymore."
"It's the sanctuary," Kang-woo panted, clutching his chest. "It's a void. For now, we're just human."
He looked at his hands. The slate-gray color was receding, but the white streak in his hair remained—a permanent scar of the night.
A soft, blue light flickered from behind the altar. It wasn't mana. It was a holographic projection, ancient and flickering. It showed a map of the city, but the landmarks were different. It was the city as it existed before the first Gate appeared.
[System Notification: Hidden Fragment 'The First Butcher's Record' detected.][Would you like to synchronize?]
"No," Kang-woo muttered. "Not now."
"Kang-woo, look," Seol-ah pointed toward the stained-glass windows.
The sky outside was no longer purple. It was black. The fortress had stopped its descent. It sat directly above the cathedral, its massive chains rattling against the roof like the drums of war.
A single, booming voice erupted from the sky, vibrating the very atoms of the building.
"KANG-WOO. RETURN THE HEART."
The ceiling of the cathedral began to crack. Dust and pebbles rained down on them.
"He knows we're here," Seol-ah said, her voice trembling. She reached out and grabbed Kang-woo's hand. "If this is it... I don't regret it. Saving you."
Kang-woo looked at her. Then he looked at the Relic, the black obsidian heart pulsating in his pocket. It wasn't just a power source. It was a key.
"We aren't dying here," Kang-woo said, his voice hardening.
He didn't wait for the ceiling to collapse. He stood up and walked toward the altar, toward the flickering blue light of the 'First Butcher's Record'.
"System," Kang-woo barked. "Synchronize. Everything. Take the rest of my years if you have to."
[Warning: Synchronization will erase your human identity.][Years required: All.]
"Do it."
The blue light exploded, engulfing the entire cathedral.
In the center of the light, Kang-woo saw a vision of a man standing on a hill of skulls, holding the same black heart. The man turned his head. He had Kang-woo's face.
"So," the man in the vision whispered. "You finally came back to claim your debt."
The roof of the cathedral blew outward. A pillar of white fire descended from the fortress, but it didn't hit Kang-woo. It was absorbed into the blue light.
[Synchronization Complete.][Class Evolved: 'Sovereign of the Shattered Throne'.][Level: Locked.][Lifespan: 0 Years (Sustained by Debt).]
Kang-woo stood in the wreckage of the altar. He wasn't gray anymore. He was wreathed in a cold, black fire that seemed to eat the very light around it. He looked up at the fortress, his eyes no longer white or silver, but a deep, infinite void.
He raised his hand toward the sky.
"Get off my roof," Kang-woo commanded.
A hand made of pure, solidified shadow, miles long, erupted from the ground and gripped the base of the floating fortress. With a single, violent jerk, the Citadel of the King was dragged down toward the earth.