The stone wall sealed behind them, cutting off the distant whispers of the shadowed figures above. The stairwell ahead stretched into complete darkness, the air growing heavier with each step downward.
Hikaru adjusted his glasses, flicking a card between his fingers. "So, just to be clear—our escape plan involves going deeper into the place that was already trying to kill us?"
Selene didn't look back. "You don't understand what this place is."
Budi exhaled through his nose, his staff resting on his shoulder. "Then maybe you should explain before we run into something even worse."
Selene kept moving. "This prison wasn't built to hold criminals."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "I mean, technically, neither were we."
She ignored that. "The Magisterium didn't create these dungeons. They discovered them—buried beneath the capital long before the kingdom existed."
Budi frowned. "So… what? They built their fancy prison on top of an older prison?"
Selene's silver eyes flicked to him. "Not a prison."
She turned back toward the descending stairs.
"A graveyard."
Hikaru's fingers paused on his deck. "Oh. That's comforting."
They kept walking. The walls were different here—not smooth, but carved with unfamiliar runes that flickered with a dim, faintly blue glow.
Arman, still moving with surprising steadiness, ran his fingers along one of the ancient symbols. He muttered something under his breath—a language Hikaru didn't recognize.
Then, for the first time since they had met, his expression changed.
Fear.
Budi caught it too. "Old man, what are you reading?"
Arman's voice was quiet. "It is not a language. It is a warning."
Hikaru adjusted his glasses. "Care to translate?"
The blind man exhaled slowly. Then, without turning, he spoke the words aloud.
"Here lies what should not be."
"Here waits what should not wake."
"If they return, the world shall fold."
Silence.
Hikaru tapped a finger against his chin. "So, really old things buried really deep. Got it."
Selene stopped walking.
They had reached the bottom.
A massive iron gate loomed before them, sealed with glowing chains that pulsed faintly, covered in sigils none of them could read.
The air was wrong here.
Thicker.
As if something behind the gate was breathing.
Selene stepped forward, pressing a hand against the sigils. The runes flickered, responding to her touch.
Then—
The gate shifted.
The locks undid themselves.
And the doors creaked open.
Hikaru exhaled. "You know, I should be questioning why you knew how to do that."
Budi sighed. "Yeah. But let's be real—you won't."
The massive doors groaned apart, revealing what lay beyond.
And Hikaru felt his grin fade.
Not a prison.
Not a vault.
A burial chamber.
Rows upon rows of massive stone coffins lined the cavernous space, each one engraved with symbols that still glowed faintly after who-knows-how-many centuries.
The sheer scale of it made Hikaru's breath hitch.
Budi let out a low whistle. "So, uh… this is bad, right?"
Arman's voice was quiet. "This is worse than bad."
Hikaru's fingers twitched on his deck.
Something wasn't right.
The air felt off—not just heavy but expectant.
Like the room itself was waiting for something.
Selene stepped forward, glancing at the nearest stone coffin. She ran a hand over the symbols.
"Not all the Forgotten Ones were erased."
Budi frowned. "So what, some of them got special treatment?"
Selene's silver eyes flicked to him. "No. Some of them were too dangerous to erase."
Hikaru let out a slow breath. "That doesn't sound promising."
Then—
The chamber shook.
Not an earthquake.
Not magic.
Something was moving.
Budi spun around, gripping his staff. "Tell me that was normal."
Selene stepped back. "Something's wrong."
The nearest coffin shifted.
The sigils flared.
The runes that had been dormant for centuries… came alive.
And then—
The stone began to crack.
Hikaru flicked a card into his palm. "Welp. Time to leave."
Selene took a sharp breath. "It's too late."
The first coffin shattered.
A massive figure emerged.
And Hikaru realized—
It wasn't a person.
It wasn't even human.
The thing that stepped out was towering, draped in blackened, half-rotted armor, its body a mix of decayed flesh and something much older. Its face was covered by a golden mask, its eye sockets empty, yet somehow still watching them.
And then—
It moved.
Not sluggishly.
Not like something waking from a long sleep.
Fast. Purposeful.
It took a single step forward.
And reality shuddered.
Hikaru exhaled.
"Yeah. Okay."
He flipped a card into the air.
[Skill Activated: ♠K – The Grand Bluff]
Budi reacted instantly, shifting his stance.
Selene raised a barrier sigil.
And Arman—for the first time—looked afraid.
The Forgotten One turned toward them.
And in a voice that wasn't human, that wasn't meant to be heard, it spoke.
"You should not have come here."
The burial chamber trembled.
And all across the cavern—
More coffins began to crack.