The air bent around them
The stairway twisted sideways then straightened again
Gravity felt loose like it hadn't decided which direction to pull
At the end they stepped into a vast chamber
Silent
No wind no flickering torches just stillness
Then the lights bloomed
Blue flames hovered above ancient pillars
The floor stretched like a black lake
And in the center
Tombs
Dozens maybe more
Each one carved with a name lost to time
But the mana
It was loud
Azel took one step forward and the flames bent toward him
Echo stood quiet
Sera walked behind them her fingers glowing with detection runes
This place isn't just a graveyard
It's memory storage
Echo nodded
The Sovereigns didn't die
They sealed themselves here
Waiting
Azel reached the closest tomb
His hand hovered above the sigil
It pulsed in response
His name appeared on the stone
Not Azel
But Kael'Naros
He froze
Echo's eyes widened
You were one of them
Azel didn't speak
The name echoed in his mind like thunder
He saw flashes
A throne of ash
A sword carved from cometstone
A war that broke reality
And a betrayal
His hand touched the tomb
A burst of light exploded outward
And a figure stepped from the stone
Tall armored no face
Just glowing eyes
You've returned Kael'Naros
Do you remember your oath
Azel staggered
The visions surged
The figure raised a gauntlet and touched his forehead
The truth flooded in
Azel had once ruled a fractured realm
Created a system to protect it
But his own council turned on him
Stole fragments of his soul
And scattered them into the next world
This one
The academy wasn't built to teach
It was built to harvest those fragments
And Kyren had found a way to accelerate it
Sera whispered
This is deeper than we thought
Echo looked around
Then saw his name too
Carved into a far tomb
Erah'Ziel
He walked to it slowly
Then laughed once
Guess I was a war god
Figures
He touched it
But nothing rose
Instead the tomb cracked
And black mist seeped out
Something inside wasn't dead
Just sleeping
Or pretending
Azel turned back to his own echo
If this is my past then I'll use it
But I won't repeat it
The figure nodded once
Then returned to the stone
Vanishing into light
Kyren stepped out of the stairway behind them
Eyes wild
You found it
You woke it
Now the game's over
No more school
No more systems
Just war
He raised his hand
And summoned the true gate
One that led to every other realm
And behind it
The first enemy Azel had ever made
Returned from extinction