The battlefield was quiet. Too quiet.
The wind carried the scent of scorched metal and ozone, but beneath it—something pulsed. Something I couldn't name yet.
I stood in the crater that had once been the Watcher's domain. My senses, now sharpened by the Resonant Core, stretched outward in waves.
Every tremor, every heart, every whisper within five kilometers—mine to hear.
But there was a rhythm beneath it all. A heartbeat that didn't belong to anyone nearby.
It came from below.
I reached into the dirt with one hand, my tendrils sinking deep until they brushed against something… metallic. Smooth. Warm.
[System Warning]
Residual Signal Detected.
Origin: Unknown Subterranean Structure.
Status: Dormant / Awakening.
So the Watcher hadn't been a creature.
It was a key.
"Scourge?" Lala's voice broke through the haze. She stepped closer, her hand reaching for my arm. Haruna followed behind, her expression uneasy.
"What is it?" she asked.
I looked down at my hand. It was shaking. Not with fear, but with anticipation.
"The Watcher wasn't here to destroy us," I said quietly. "It was here to open something."
Before they could reply, the ground rumbled. A vibration—soft at first, then rising like a growl from the planet's core.
[System Notice]
Resonant Frequency Detected.
Matching Pattern: Watcher Transmission.
Decrypting…
A voice bled into my mind, cold and crystalline.
"You survived. As expected. The trial is over."
"Prepare the vessel."
I froze. My senses stretched farther—past the ruins, past the air itself. And then I felt it: multiple signatures emerging from the sky.
Twelve of them. Each one burning like a sun.
Lala gasped as the clouds split open.
Shapes began to descend—figures of light, humanoid yet alien, cloaked in metallic halos.
The Watchers weren't extinct.
They were descending.
"Everyone, get back!" I ordered, spreading my arms as my biomass ignited with a defensive hum.
Haruna's pulse quickened in sync with mine.
Lala's aura flared instinctively.
And then, the system pulsed one more time:
[Hidden Mission Unlocked]
"The Second Descent"
Objective: Neutralize the new Watchers or claim them as vessels.
Reward: ??? (System Unreadable)
A grin crept onto my face, sharp and dark.
"Looks like they sent a second wave," I said, stepping forward as the first of the beings touched down.
"Good. I was starting to get bored."