The air around Aetherhold shimmered with lingering energy from the Eclipse Binding.
Yuna and Raon sat in silence on the rooftop of the main command center, their auras still faintly glowing—Raon's like a blue wildfire, Yuna's a calming violet storm. They had both felt it the moment the system recognized their bond.
A surge of strength.
A shared instinct.
A knowing.
Neither spoke for a while.
Then Yuna broke the silence. "It's not just a power-up, is it?"
Raon shook his head. "No. It's a warning. The system's watching, and it doesn't like this path."
> [System Alert: Eclipse Path deviates from intended growth trajectory.]
[Interference risk: HIGH.]
[Deploying Shadow Unit – Zone 0 Protocol Activated.]
Across the world, deep in the forbidden wastelands of Zone 0, an ancient mechanism stirred.
---
Zone 0 – Vault of Silence
In a monolithic tower buried beneath kilometers of dead soil, a being awoke.
He wore no armor. No crown. Only a thin black robe that floated unnaturally against gravity. His skin was gray, marbled like stone. His eyes shimmered like collapsing stars.
> "Designation: Observer Unit 07 – Null Directive Resumed."
Another voice echoed within the chamber—mechanical, cold.
> "Target: Azure Inheritor – Codename: Raon."
"Status: Deviant. Eclipse Path confirmed."
"Objective: Terminate before Phase Three."
The figure opened his palm. A blade formed from pure negative matter. He smiled.
> "Let the experiment end in silence."
---
Back at Aetherhold
While Raon and Yuna recovered, Kira was already organizing the next step.
"We have three new camps joining us," she told Han Ji-Woo. "But they're scared. They've seen the Council erase whole villages with a single orbital strike. We need to move fast."
Han Ji-Woo gestured to a new map. "We've intercepted chatter. There's a hidden archive in Zone 3, deep in an old system blacksite—called Spire Core Delta. Supposedly, it has raw data on the first generation of Awakened."
Raon leaned forward. "That's where the Observer protocols were designed."
Yuna looked at him. "You want to go in."
"We have to. We need to understand what we're really fighting."
Kira grimaced. "Then we move. But quietly."
---
The Infiltration: Spire Core Delta
The facility had been buried for decades, hidden beneath layers of rock and electromagnetic shielding. But Yuna bypassed the perimeter with ease, using their hacked Observer credentials.
They slipped in as shadows, Raon and Yuna now able to move in near-perfect sync thanks to their Shared Instinct passive. It felt almost unreal—like fighting with a mirror.
They moved past cryo-chambers, broken tanks, scorched files.
Until they reached the core chamber.
There, floating in the center of the room, was a pulsing blue orb—an ancient memory shard sealed by the first Architect of the System.
Yuna placed her hand on the console.
> [Decryption: 84%... 92%... Complete.]
Then the alarm screamed.
> [WARNING: Observer Unit 07 has entered proximity range.]
[Emergency Lockdown Engaged.]
A tear in reality opened at the far wall.
From it stepped the Observer.
His presence killed sound. Killed light. Even hope bent under his gravity.
Raon stepped in front of Yuna.
"Get the data and run."
"No."
"Yuna—"
"We do this together, remember?"
The Observer raised his hand. Space distorted. Raon barely dodged as the wave of null energy obliterated the wall behind him.
They moved as one.
Raon's Azure Wings ignited as he zipped left, drawing fire. Yuna blurred right, her amethyst pulse shattering the floor with a precision blast. The Observer reacted instantly, forming a barrier of shadow that deflected both attacks.
> [New Skill Activated: Dual Resonance]
[Effect: Coordinate attack vectors – Sync +35% speed, +22% damage]
They unleashed a Resonance Blast together—blue and violet spirals intertwining, striking with the force of a collapsing star.
The Observer stumbled. Just a fraction.
But enough.
Yuna connected her link to the data core. The orb flared.
> [Memory Extracted – Project: Origin Null]
[Key Term Identified: Dragonseed Protocol]
[Download Complete.]
Then the Observer roared—not in anger, but in revelation.
"You... are the Seed."
Raon froze.
"What did you say?"
The Observer stepped forward, cracks forming on his face. "It was never about evolution. It was about return. The dragons are not your enemies."
Then the shadows pulled him back into the void.
Gone.
---
Back at Aetherhold
Yuna uploaded the recovered data.
The council watched in stunned silence as the truth unraveled.
> The System was not created to elevate humanity.
It was designed to filter them. To identify which humans still carried dormant dragon genes—the Dragonseed.
Once found, they would be reawakened.
Not as humans.
But as vessels.
Raon felt sick.
"They're not trying to evolve us. They're trying to turn us into them."
Han Ji-Woo whispered, "And if we resist... they erase us."
Kira slammed her fist on the table. "Then we stop running. We expose everything."
Raon nodded.
"No more hiding. No more silence. This is a war for our species. And we just found the truth that can unite them."
Yuna stood beside him, eyes glowing.
"Then let's burn their system down."
---
Far away, in the heart of the true System
Kael'Rax stood before a council of empty thrones—each one bearing the sigil of an Observer.
Only one throne was filled.
A voice echoed from it.
> "They found the Origin Protocol."
Kael'Rax bowed.
"Yes. And the Eclipse Binding is active."
The voice smiled.
> "Good. Let them rise. Let them believe they have a chance. Only then will their fall be complete."