In the echoing corridors of the Temporal Headquarters, an oppressive silence settled over the team following Yukari's heroic sacrifice to remain in Egypt. Eiji and Aiko stood before Atsurai, whose eyes carried a fragile blend of deep-seated anxiety and unshakable conviction. The air felt thinner without Yukari's constant technical chatter.
**Atsurai** (Speaking with a tender warmth, trying to mend their fractured resolve): "Do not let Yukari's absence shatter your rhythm. Her strength is now the very seal preventing the collapse of the past, and her return depends entirely on your success. I have left her in safe, royal hands."
**Grandfather Taiso** (Stepping forward with measured, slow strides as he handed Eiji an ancient bronze device): "This is the 'Guided Temporal Compass.' I have recalibrated its internal strings to resonate with the 'Pure Ka' energy you extracted from Egypt, Eiji. You won't need to return here every time, but be warned... any interference broadcast by the Void will wreak havoc on its spiritual needle."
**Eiji** (Straightening his posture, his grip tightening on the cool bronze of the compass): "To Babylon then... we leave our grief behind and hunt the shadow where it hides."
The descent into Babylon was anything but smooth. The team slammed onto the floor of a dark, damp cellar that reeked of ancient clay and burnt frankincense beneath the towering walls of the great city. The atmosphere was heavy, saturated with a thousand years of prayer and dust.
**Aiko** (Brushing the grime from her clothes with a sharp sense of irritation and bitterness): "Damn this compass! It seems we've missed the mark. This place feels like a tomb, and its rhythm feels closed off, suffocating even."
Suddenly, the flicker of a single candle emerged from a pitch-black corner, revealing a man with a thick white beard wearing priestly robes embroidered with shimmering threads of gold.
**Daniel** (Speaking in a calm, melodic voice, as if reciting an eternal hymn): "Travelers of time... you have not lost your way. Fate has guided you exactly where you must be. I have been waiting for a 'vision' to explain the sudden turbulence striking the very fabric of Babylon."
**Eiji** (Drawing his sword with cautious precision, his eyes narrowing in the dim light): "You can feel the vibrations? Who are you? You aren't just a common priest of this era."
**Daniel** (Wearing a mysterious, knowing smile): "I am Daniel, a sage and minister in this court... but titles wither before the magnitude of the coming danger. The real question is: Is your pulse pure enough to face the evil lurking at the core of life itself? Prove your rhythm to me."
Daniel placed an ancient puzzle before them that relied on balancing the energy of the Pulse. After moments of intense, vibrating concentration, Eiji and Aiko succeeded in cracking the code. **Daniel** (Nodding his head in genuine admiration): "Very well... follow me into the light."
Daniel led them through a narrow, secret passage that ended at an opening overlooking one of the world's greatest wonders: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The lush greenery cascaded from the balconies like emerald waterfalls in the heart of the desert.
**Daniel** (Explaining with majestic solemnity): "These gardens were not built for war, but were written with love and fertility... they are the very heartbeat of the earth."
Daniel began to mutter incomprehensible words, and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock as he looked at Eiji's mark, which had begun to flash violently with a jagged red light.
**Daniel** (With a voice full of shock and religious awe): "This vibration! I felt its echoes centuries ago in my visions! It is the same pulse recorded by the seers on the night of the 'Great Temporal Split'... the night of the ancient catastrophe that tore existence apart. You are not just a boy, Eiji... you are the living 'Echo' of that split!"
**Aiko** (Stunned into silence, her voice a mere whisper): "You know about the Great Catastrophe?! How is that possible?"
**Daniel** (With a sharp, absolute seriousness): "What binds us now is the threatened present. The **Code Phantom** who came from Egypt does not seek death alone; he seeks 'Absolute Life.' He is targeting the 'Soul of the Summoned Dragon Marduk the essence that grants Babylon its power of growth and creation."
**Eiji** (With a terrifying realization dawning on him): "Then he wants to merge the 'Immortality of the Pharaohs' with the 'Growth of Babylon'... he will become an entity that grows and regenerates forever without end!"
Eiji pulled out the third encrypted clay tablet he had discovered and presented it to the sage.
**Daniel** (Decoding the cuneiform symbols with trembling fingers): "This tablet warns of a great deception... your father Akira's message says: 'You will not see him coming... he will cloak himself in knowledge and wisdom... look for the crack in the rhythm, not the familiar form'."
**Aiko** (Speaking with mounting anxiety): "It's a camouflage! The Lord of the Void may not appear in your father's form this time... he could take any shape!"
**Daniel** (Pleading with tearful eyes, his hands reaching out): "Please... protect the Soul of the Dragon. I trust the light that surrounds you both; you are Babylon's last hope."
**Eiji** (His personality momentarily fractured and uncertain): "Yukari was our eyes that could read the lies... without her, how will we distinguish the crack?"
**Daniel** (With sudden, booming confidence): "Your guide has departed so that you may become teachers unto yourselves. Rely on the pulse of your own hearts; it is the compass that never errs. Now... show me your ability to evolve."
Suddenly, the earth shook violently, and clay statues tainted by the black soot of the Void began to move from the cellar walls toward them, their eyes gleaming with malicious intent.
**Daniel** (Screaming as he raised his staff to hold back the encroaching shadows): "This is a warning! You have no time to fight here. I will distract them with my magic below. Take this 'Babylonian Seal of Wisdom'... it will carry you through the Gates of the Winds!"
**Aiko** (With fierce determination): "We aren't going back to HQ... we must follow him immediately before his integration with the Essence of Growth is complete."
**Eiji** (Directing the Guided Compass, his eyes igniting with the brilliant light of the Ka): "Where to, my compass? Show me the truth!"
The needle swung violently, then settled amidst heavy interference toward Ancient Greece—specifically toward the majestic peaks of Mount Olympia.
**Eiji** (Screaming with iron-clad focus): "Next destination: The Statue of Zeus at Olympia! Get ready, Aiko... the war is moving to the Greek Gods!"