The staircase spiralled downward beneath the Crimson Core.
Each step was carved from black obsidian, its surface etched with ancient runes that glowed faintly beneath the restored pulse of the realm's heart above us.
Lian Xueyi walked ahead of me.
Her silver-white hair flowed like moonlight in the dim crimson glow, and every step she took carried the silent authority of someone reclaiming what had once been stolen.
I followed closely.
My body still ached from the battle with Zhu Kain.
Every bruise pulsed.
Every cut burnt.
But none of it mattered.
Professor Viraj Mehra had been here.
He had left something behind.
For the first time since entering this world, I wasn't chasing blind clues.
I was following his footsteps.
The deeper we descended, the colder the air became.
Which made no sense.
Above us burnt the Crimson Core.
Below us, the temperature dropped enough that my breath fogged faintly in the air.
Lian slowed.
"This archive predates my reign," she said quietly.
Her voice echoed softly along the walls.
"It was built by the first sovereigns of this realm."
I looked at the runes carved into the staircase walls.
Unlike the symbols in the temple above, these were older.
Sharper.
Almost geometric in structure.
Ancient seal language.
The kind Professor Mehra loved.
He used to say:
"Every civilisation leaves behind its soul in the form of symbols."
I clenched my fists unconsciously.
Master…
What exactly were you searching for?
We reached the bottom.
A massive circular chamber opened before us.
I stopped breathing for a moment.
The Sovereign Archive was unlike anything I had imagined.
Towering shelves of black crystal rose in concentric circles around the chamber, each one filled with glowing tablets, ancient scrolls, and suspended memory crystals.
At the centre stood a circular platform with a single stone pedestal.
On top of it—
a cube.
Black.
Smooth.
Seamless.
My chest tightened.
The Broken Cube.
No.
Not the same one.
But almost identical.
The moment I stepped closer, ARINA's voice echoed in my mind.
"Dimensional resonance detected."
A blue panel unfolded.
Archive Access: Restricted External World Signature Detected Professor Mehra Resonance: Confirmed
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Confirmed.
He had definitely been here.
I moved toward the pedestal.
Lian did not stop me.
Instead, she watched in silence, her expression unreadable.
The cube pulsed once.
Then a projection of light burst upward.
Golden symbols spiralled into the air.
At first, they were unreadable.
Then the light shifted.
And a familiar voice filled the chamber.
"Ishaan."
I froze.
No.
Impossible.
The voice was clear.
Steady.
Warm.
Professor Mehra.
For one suspended moment, the world around me vanished.
I was back in the underground laboratory.
Back beside the steel table.
Back before the cube had broken.
My throat tightened.
"Master…"
The projection sharpened.
A figure formed within the light.
Not his body.
A recorded memory imprint.
Professor Viraj Mehra stood before me, dressed in the same dark coat he had worn on the day we entered the ruins.
His expression was serious.
And tired.
"If you are seeing this, then two possibilities exist."
His image looked directly at me.
"Either I failed"
A pause.
"Or you succeeded where I could not."
My fists clenched.
Lian's eyes narrowed slightly as she observed the projection.
Professor Mehra continued.
"The worlds are real, Ishaan."
His voice carried the same calm certainty I had always trusted.
"The gods, the goddesses, the fractured realms—none of it is myth."
The crystal shelves around us pulsed softly.
"These realms were once connected through what ancient civilisations called the World Gates."
A panel flashed before my eyes.
Main Quest Updated: The World Gate Mystery Stage 1: Archive Revelation
Professor Mehra's image turned toward the central cube.
"This archive contains fragments of the first gate map."
My breath caught.
A map.
A real path between worlds.
"The Crimson Realm is only the beginning."
His expression darkened.
"There are other fractured realms."
"Some ruled by betrayed sovereigns."
"Some are consumed by darkness."
"And some have already fallen."
The words settled heavily in the chamber.
This wasn't a random journey.
It was a network.
A multiverse.
And Master had known.
His gaze returned to me.
"I searched for the origin of the gates."
A pause.
"What I found instead was a war."
Lian's expression changed.
Subtle.
But I noticed it.
She had not heard this part before.
Professor Mehra's image flickered slightly.
"There is an organisation moving across worlds."
My eyes narrowed.
The Crimson Sect.
No—
something larger.
"They call themselves the Obsidian Covenant."
The name sent a chill through me.
"They do not seek knowledge."
"They seek control."
A memory flashed in my mind—
The broken laboratory.
The cube.
The trap.
Was this connected?
Professor Mehra's voice lowered.
"If they find the remaining gate fragments first, entire worlds will collapse."
Lian stepped closer.
Her crimson eyes sharpened.
"So it was not only my sect."
Professor Mehra's image continued.
"Ishaan, if you are hearing this, then you must continue where I stopped."
His eyes softened.
"For once in your life, trust that you are not merely surviving."
The words struck deep.
Because survival had always been all I knew.
"Become the bridge between worlds."
The projection flickered.
Then a final object materialised on the pedestal.
A crystal key.
Shaped like a flame enclosed in a circle.
The same symbol as the pendant.
ARINA's voice rang sharply.
"Quest reward available."
Reward Obtained Item: World Gate Key Fragment Rank: Rare
Professor Mehra's image looked at me one final time.
"I knew you would come."
Then the light vanished.
Silence.
I stood frozen.
Lian looked at me.
"This means your master crossed multiple realms."
I nodded slowly.
"And now I know what I have to do."
The key pulsed warmly in my hand.
Professor Mehra was alive.
Somewhere beyond the gates.
And now I had the first fragment of the path leading to him.
The journey had truly begun.