The sun never truly rose in Daegu Spiral.
Thick black clouds hovered endlessly above the sinkhole that had swallowed the southern district of Daegu years ago. The pit was a mile wide, descending in spirals like the threads of a cosmic screw. At its center lay the ancient gate—The Spiral Mouth—rumored to be the original breach point of the system's energy into Earth.
Raon stood at the edge, the wind pulling at his coat, Echo beside him.
"You're sure this is where she went?" Kira asked, eyes scanning the depths.
"She didn't just get pulled randomly," Echo replied. "That teleportation pulse—'Cradle Tracepoint Alpha'—was keyed to this region. The Spiral connects every layer of the system's origin code."
Raon nodded grimly. "Then we go down."
---
Descent into Silence
Their team had narrowed. With Yuna missing and Aetherhold left under Han Ji-Woo's command, only Raon, Kira, Echo, and Min-Jae descended into the Spiral, using gravitic tethers to lower themselves deeper into the anomaly.
Each layer they passed flickered between realities—burned buildings that never existed, echoes of screams from lives that had never been lived.
> [Zone Identified: Sub-Spatial Layer 4 – Time Stability: 62%]
[Cognitive Hazard Detected – Echo Resonance Imminent]
Min-Jae nearly fell when the ground beneath him flickered into glass and then blood. "What the hell is this place?!"
Echo's voice was distant. "These are failed timelines. Realities the system discarded. They still echo here. You're not supposed to see them unless you've deviated too far."
Raon's breath caught.
He saw one of the echoes—a version of himself, lying dead on the floor, armor shattered, with Kira weeping over him.
"This place…" Raon muttered. "It's showing us what could have been."
---
Watcher Interference
Three levels down, the Spiral suddenly froze. Air stopped. Gravity inverted. And a soft, breathing hum began.
A voice emerged—impossibly vast and yet whispering in Raon's ear.
> "You walk the path of origin. Unauthorized. Unwelcome."
The space cracked open.
From it stepped a humanoid figure cloaked in starlight, with a halo of rotating symbols above its head. Its face was masked, but Raon could feel the gaze—like a billion eyes focused into one.
> [ENTITY DETECTED: Watcher-Class — Codename: Vexir, 1st Auditor of Cradle]
Raon summoned his Azure Wings. "Hostile?"
Echo nodded slowly. "They were the system's first guardians. Before the Executioners. Before everything."
Kira raised her blade. "Then let's cut past the past."
---
Battle Against Vexir
Vexir moved without motion.
One second he was across the chamber. The next, in front of Raon, hand pressed against his chest.
> [Pulse Lock Activated – Temporal Stasis Attempted]
[Azure Core: RESISTED]
Raon's aura flared, shattering the hold.
He lashed out with Azure Pulse, sending a blast of compressed energy straight into Vexir's mask. It cracked slightly, revealing swirling cosmic void underneath.
"Primitive," the Watcher whispered. "You carry stolen blood."
Raon charged again.
Kira dashed alongside him, her blade glowing red-hot from kinetic overcharge. Echo held back, eyes closed—channeling something older.
> [New Skill Activated: Memory Recode – Prototype Variant Ability]
[Effect: Rewrite One Second of Enemy Future]
Time shivered.
Vexir reached for Kira's heart—but missed. By one inch. His hand plunged into the void instead.
Kira spun, slicing through the arm, and Raon delivered the final blow—Nova Fist Mk II, boosted with Core Dust shards.
The Watcher's body unraveled like mist.
But not before it whispered: "The Cradle remembers you. And it does not forgive."
---
Arrival at the Cradle Gate
At the bottom of the Spiral lay a doorway.
Not made of stone. Not metal. But light—woven like threads from every evolution class Raon had ever seen.
It pulsed as he approached.
> [Cradle Gate Detected – Access Key Required]
[Current Keys: Azure Inheritor | Prototype Echo]
[Verification: COMPLETE]
[Opening Gate…]
The light split open, revealing a vast world within—stars swirling above, oceans suspended in air, trees that grew sideways through the sky.
In the center of it all, floating within a crystal spire, was Yuna—alive, but unconscious, strands of code weaving through her like vines.
Raon rushed forward—but a new alert flashed.
> [Warning: Cradle Guardian Awakened]
[Combat Class: ??? – Evolution: Undefined]
[Entity Name: ??? – Identity Obscured]
From behind the spire, a monstrous being began to rise. Its form shifted constantly—half machine, half dragon, part human.
Echo's face went pale.
"No," he whispered. "That's not a Guardian. That's the First Evolution. The one who chose to become the system."
Raon's fists clenched, heart burning with both fear and resolve.
"Then I'll be the one to end it."