Cold mountain wind swept endlessly across the tower.
The stars above the Wild Southern Mountains shimmered like scattered silver fragments while distant thunder echoed somewhere beyond the ancient jungle valleys. Beneath the night sky, Duke Kael Draven stood motionless beside Kel, the dark fortress walls behind them illuminated faintly by distant lanternlight.
Yet neither man looked toward the castle anymore.
Their eyes remained fixed upon the wilderness.
The endless mountains.
The ancient forests.
The darkness hiding things humanity no longer understood.
Kael's gray eyes slowly narrowed after hearing Kel's reasoning.
Not because the young man was wrong.
But because he was terrifyingly correct.
He mapped the possibility instantly…
Most people would have reacted emotionally.
Shock.
Curiosity.
Fear.
But Heral—
Immediately concluded that Kael possessed something gained from the same incident that destroyed his son.
Something valuable enough that the Duke could never abandon hope completely.
For the first time since arriving upon the tower—
Kael's shoulders loosened slightly.
Not fully.
But enough to reveal exhaustion hidden beneath years of restraint.
"…You truly are dangerous."
His deep voice echoed softly beneath the cold wind.
Kel remained silent.
Kael slowly looked toward the mountains again.
And finally—
He spoke.
"White Lily of Blue Valley."
The name drifted quietly into the night.
Ancient.
Mysterious.
Kel's eyes sharpened faintly.
Kael continued.
"It is the cure for my son."
Silence followed briefly.
The wind moved slowly between them while distant clouds drifted above the mountain peaks.
"If you ever reach Blue Valley…"
Kael's voice lowered slightly.
"…find the White Lily."
His gray eyes darkened faintly beneath moonlight.
"And remember…"
A slight pause followed.
"…it blooms only at night."
Far away—
At Scarder Lake—
Sairen softly murmured through the soul-link.
"…A cure."
Kel remained calm internally.
Yet inwardly—
His thoughts had already begun moving rapidly.
Blue Valley.
White Lily.
Night-blooming.
Ancient wilderness.
Fragments of old game memories surfaced faintly within his mind.
But incomplete.
Too incomplete.
Kel finally asked calmly—
"How do you know this?"
Kael remained silent several moments before answering.
And for the first time—
His voice carried traces of old obsession.
"Years ago…"
The Duke stared toward the mountains distantly.
"…after my son lost his mind…"
A faint pause.
"…I searched the wilderness endlessly."
The cold wind intensified briefly.
"Ruins."
"Ancient temples."
"Collapsed civilizations."
"Things humanity forgot existed."
His expression darkened further.
"And eventually…"
A slight pause followed.
"…I found scriptures."
Kel's eyes narrowed faintly.
"Ancient scriptures?"
Kael nodded slowly.
"Near ruined structures buried deep within the wilderness."
His voice remained low.
"Not written in any modern language."
The Duke's gaze sharpened slightly.
"It took years to translate even fragments."
The atmosphere around them deepened.
The mountains suddenly felt far older hearing those words.
Kael continued quietly.
"And within those fragments…"
A faint pause.
"…we discovered information."
His gray eyes darkened faintly beneath moonlight.
"Blue Valley."
"The White Lily."
"Ancient species unknown to humanity."
Then—
Kael's voice lowered further.
Almost into a whisper.
"And something else."
The wind stilled briefly around the tower.
"No one truly lives in the wilderness."
Kel remained completely still.
Listening carefully.
Kael slowly turned toward him now.
And for the first time since meeting—
Real tension appeared within the Duke's exhausted eyes.
"The wilderness…"
A faint pause.
"…is connected to another world entirely."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even the distant wind seemed quieter afterward.
Far away—
Sairen's silver eyes narrowed sharply through the soul-link.
"…Another world?"
Kel's expression remained calm externally.
But inwardly—
Everything aligned instantly.
A portal.
Not metaphorical.
Literal.
Somewhere within the Wild Southern Mountains…
A dimensional connection existed.
A gateway leading toward another realm entirely.
And the creatures emerging from the wilderness—
Were not native to this world at all.
Kel slowly looked toward the endless mountain range again.
And suddenly—
The ancient forests felt different.
Less like wilderness.
More like boundaries.
He finally understood what Kael truly meant.
The South was not bordering monster territory.
It was bordering another world.
Sairen spoke quietly through the soul-link.
"…That explains the ancient mana."
Kel answered internally.
"And the dragons."
Because dragons—
Especially ancient dragons—
Often appeared near dimensional fractures within Destiny's lore.
Not as invaders necessarily.
But guardians.
Or predators.
Or survivors.
The possibilities multiplied rapidly within Kel's mind.
Ancient civilizations.
Otherworldly species.
Dimensional gateways.
Lost knowledge.
And danger beyond imagination.
Kael quietly observed him afterward.
Watching for fear.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Instead—
Heral merely looked thoughtful.
That alone unsettled the Duke slightly.
Finally—
Kel spoke calmly.
"If I bring the White Lily…"
His gaze shifted toward Kael again.
"…what will I receive?"
The question came naturally.
Without hesitation.
Kael answered immediately.
"Whatever you want."
Silence followed.
The wind swept heavily across the tower once more.
And for the very first time that night—
Kel smiled faintly.
Not warmly.
Not mockingly.
Sharply.
Then—
He spoke.
"Think carefully before saying such words, Duke."
Kael frowned faintly.
Kel's calm eyes met his directly beneath the moonlight.
"If someday I ask for something you cannot give…"
A slight pause followed.
"…then what will you do?"
The Duke remained silent.
Kel continued quietly.
"Never say 'anything' to another person."
His voice remained calm.
Yet somehow—
The words carried strange weight.
"Especially not someone you barely understand."
Cold wind moved through the tower again while distant thunder echoed across the mountains.
"You possess too much worth protecting."
Kel's gaze remained fixed upon Kael.
"Money."
"Territory."
"Authority."
"Your castle."
Then—
A brief pause.
"And your wife."
The atmosphere shifted instantly afterward.
Not threatening.
Not hostile.
But real.
Because Kael finally understood what Heral meant.
Desperate people made dangerous promises.
And dangerous people remembered them.
Kel slowly turned his gaze back toward the mountains afterward.
"So even during your happiest moments…"
His voice echoed softly beneath the stars.
"…or your most desperate ones…"
A faint pause followed.
"…never give those words to anyone."
Silence settled heavily across the tower once more.
Duke Kael stared at the young man beside him quietly.
And for the first time—
He realized something deeply unsettling.
Heral understood human desire frighteningly well.
Not greed alone.
Not ambition alone.
Desperation.
Hope.
Fear.
The emotions capable of making powerful people destroy themselves willingly.
Far below the tower—
The fortress lanterns flickered quietly beneath the cold night.
And beyond the endless mountains—
Something ancient waited silently in another world.