The corridors were chaos.
Doors opened all along the hall as adventurers stumbled out half-awake, weapons in hand, armor half-buckled, expressions ranging from determined to deeply offended.
"Why is it always at night?!"
"Who rang the alarm?!"
"Why are the walls glowing?!"
Lucien pointed dramatically while still hopping into his second boot.
"Because fate hates us personally!"
[Correct.]
Kuro barely heard any of it.
The pulse in his chest had synced with the thudding below.
Beat.
Thud.
Beat.
Thud.
Each step toward the basement made it louder.
Stronger.
Mika noticed immediately.
His hand hovered near Kuro's back—not touching, but ready.
"You're pale."
"I'm fine."
"You say that badly."
[He's right.]
Kuro ignored both of them and kept moving.
The stairwell to the lower floors was already crowded when they arrived.
Guild members lined the walls, whispering nervously as golden runes crawled across the stone like living fire.
The reinforced basement door at the bottom stood shut.
Shaking.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Lucien stopped beside Kuro and stared.
"…I preferred the sky problem."
[Same.]
The Guildmaster stood before the door with several senior mages, all pouring mana into the barrier carved across the frame.
Sweat ran down his temples.
When he saw them, his expression darkened.
"You felt it."
Kuro nodded.
"It called from below."
The Guildmaster's jaw tightened.
"…Then it has awakened."
Lucien raised a hand.
"I'm going to regret asking this, but what has awakened?"
The next thud hit hard enough to crack the wall beside the door.
Several adventurers yelped.
The Guildmaster didn't look away from the barrier.
"Something we buried centuries ago."
[That is never good news.]
Mika stepped forward.
"Why was it buried here?"
The Guildmaster hesitated.
Too long.
Kuro noticed.
And so did Mika.
"…Because it was drawn to the fragment," the Guildmaster said at last.
Silence.
Kuro's blood ran cold.
"…Me?"
"No," the Guildmaster said sharply. "What is inside you."
The floor shook again.
This time the runes flickered.
The mages panicked.
"Barrier integrity dropping!"
"It's feeding on the pulse!"
"We can't hold it!"
Lucien slowly backed up.
"Okay. Great. Amazing. Love that sentence."
Mika moved in front of Kuro without thinking.
Sword drawn.
Eyes fixed on the door.
"You should have told us."
The Guildmaster's voice hardened.
"I was trying to prevent this."
"By hiding it?"
"By buying time."
Thud.
The door bent inward.
A scream rose somewhere behind them.
Kuro's chest burned.
The pulse under his bandages flared so sharply he doubled over.
"Kuro!"
Mika caught him instantly.
The moment Mika touched him—
the pain eased.
Not gone.
But bearable.
Both of them froze.
Kuro looked up.
Mika was staring at him too.
Lucien pointed wildly.
"WHY DID THAT WORK?!"
[Oh, that's interesting.]
No one had time to answer.
The runes shattered.
Golden light exploded across the stairwell.
The basement door ripped from its hinges and crashed backward.
Darkness poured out.
Not smoke.
Not shadow.
Something thicker.
Heavier.
Alive.
Every torch in the corridor went out.
The only light left came from the mark beneath Kuro's bandages.
A shape moved inside the dark.
Slow.
Massive.
Dragging chains.
Metal scraped stone with a sound that made everyone's skin crawl.
Then two eyes opened.
Silver.
Ancient.
And fixed directly on Kuro.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Then the thing knelt.
Chains clattering around it.
And a deep voice, rough with age and sleep, filled the corridor.
"…At last."
Lucien's mouth dropped open.
"…Why is the nightmare being polite?"
The creature lowered its head further.
Not in threat.
In reverence.
"My King"