The silence that followed was almost sacred.
Ash drifted gently through the air like snowflakes tinged with shadow. Seo Joon stood still, his chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths. The battle was over. But something within him—something ancient and vast—still stirred like a sleeping giant, uneasy in its slumber.
Behind him, Cha Yu-ri exhaled. "That thing… it was supposed to be impossible to kill without a party of five."
Seo Joon didn't respond immediately. His gaze was distant, fixed on the spot where the creature had vanished. "I got lucky."
"Don't lie," she said, stepping beside him. "I've seen luck. That wasn't it."
He glanced at her, surprised—not at her words, but at the clarity in her eyes. Not fear. Not suspicion. But recognition.
Yu-ri smiled faintly. "You held back."
Seo Joon didn't deny it.
A flicker of movement in the distance caught his attention. The arena was beginning to crumble, the Tower reclaiming what had been disturbed. From the shifting stone, a glowing door emerged, outlined in pale silver light.
> [Gate Unlocked – Proceed to Hidden Trial?]
Yu-ri tilted her head. "Hidden trial? That wasn't in the guidebook."
"There was no mention of this arena either," Seo Joon said.
She hesitated. "We just survived a nightmare. Maybe we should wait. Recover. Plan."
Seo Joon stepped forward, eyes on the glowing threshold. "If we wait, someone else will claim it."
Yu-ri didn't move.
A few moments passed before she sighed and walked to his side. "You're really the kind of guy who doesn't stop moving, aren't you?"
"I can't afford to."
Together, they stepped through the gate.
---
Above, far from the mortal plane, the Watchers faded back into silence.
But one lingered—the oldest one, the one who had spoken last. Alone now, it turned away from the starlit veil and opened a book older than the Tower itself.
On its first page, a single sigil pulsed with faint light:
> 𐌑—The Oathbound Eclipse