The briefing room of Twilight Zone buzzed with tension.
Solas tapped the crystal map embedded in the center table, zooming in on three flickering towns. "These are where time anomalies have begun multiplying."
Rael narrowed his eyes. "And you're sure it's not natural disruption?"
Bloom responded, "I've scouted one—Weylark Village. Time resets every 12 hours. People don't even know it's happening."
Julius stood at the head of the table. "The Hollow may be sealed, but echoes remain. These… are Seeds of Silence."
Kairon entered with an old tome. "They're Void Echo Seeds. If they sprout fully, they can create micro-Hollows—localized void realms capable of absorbing entire cities."
Julius split the team.
Lyra and Rael to Graypine, a town with frozen shadows.
Bloom and Rin to Weylark, the looped village.
Julius and Solas to Avenreach, where time flowed sideways.
Each pair would extract the seed and stabilize time using Chrono Sigil fragments.
In Avenreach, Julius and Solas were greeted by children speaking in reverse and trees blooming backward. A swirling tear in the sky hung just above the town square.
"This is worse than we thought," Solas muttered.
From the rift emerged a figure cloaked in rust-colored robes.
"The First Seedkeeper," Julius whispered.
The figure raised a withered hand. "You who bear the Sigil, you delay the inevitable. The silence will return. And this time… you will beg for it."
A battle erupted.
Julius's Time God Slayer magic collided with the Seedkeeper's Silence Pulse—magic that ate sound and slowed thought.
But Julius adapted. He snapped his fingers in rhythm, creating a clockbeat that pulsed against the stillness.
The seed cracked.
A great howl echoed as the tear sealed itself, and time flowed again.
Solas caught his breath. "One down."
Back at the guild, the teams returned victorious—barely. Graypine had been overrun with temporal beasts. Weylark's people had lost weeks of memories.
But the seeds were removed.
Julius placed them inside a sealed containment vault beneath the guild.
"We're not just fighting darkness," he said. "We're fighting forgetting. And that… might be worse."
Twilight Zone Guild – Members: 6
Julius (A-Rank Mage, Silver Guild Master)
Lyra (C-Rank Mage, Ice-Make Magic)
Rael (C-Rank Mage, Lightning Magic)
Rin Ayana (C-Rank Mage, Whispering Blade Style – Memory Awakening)
Solas (B-Rank Mage?, Unknown Magic – Seal Fragment Holder)
Bloom (C-Rank Mage, Assassin-Herbalist, Crimson Veil Defector)
F Rank Quests Completed: 70/1000E Rank Quests Completed: 10/10000D Rank Quests Completed: 15/1000C Rank Quests Completed: 16/1000B Rank Quests Completed: 5/10000A Rank Quests Completed: 1/10000
Guild Status: Silver Rank
Next Chapter Preview: The Clocktide Festival
Pendralune prepares for its annual festival—meant to honor the flow of time. But when a mysterious masked bard arrives, singing songs from Julius's future, the celebration turns into a countdown.