The descent felt endless.
Their boots crunched over gravel and dust, the soft echoes of each step swallowed by the vastness of the underground halls. The faint blue veins running through the walls guided them forward — veins of ancient light, pulsing with a rhythm like a dying heart.
No one spoke for a long while. The silence was heavy — reverent, almost sacred.
Luke walked ahead beside Reina, his torchlight sweeping across the smooth stone and broken archways. The carvings on the walls were more intricate now — patterns of spirals and intersecting lines that shimmered faintly under the light.
Silo trailed behind, muttering under his breath. "Creepy… this place is really creepy. It's like walking through a tomb."
Elias gave a dry chuckle. "That's because it probably is one."
Silo shot him a glare. "Not helping."
They reached a wide chamber where the ceiling had collapsed inward. Beams of pale light filtered through cracks high above, cutting through the dust like the rays of a distant sun.
Something glittered among the rubble. Luke crouched, brushing sand away — revealing the edge of a rusted helmet. He lifted it gently, the metal flaking apart in his hands.
Reina knelt beside him, eyes narrowing. "That's some rusty armour," she said quietly. "See how old the crest looks?"
Most of it was corroded, the edges eaten away by time.
Elias crouched beside them, his brow furrowing. "So this really was one of the old battlefields."
"Looks that way," Luke murmured.
He placed the helmet down and stood, scanning the rest of the room. There were more bodies scattered about — nothing but bones now, their armor long decayed. Weapons lay beside them, fused to the ground by age and heat.
Reina knelt beside one skeleton, its hand still gripping the hilt of a blade. "They died fighting."
"Fighting what?" Silo asked uneasily.
As if in answer, Luke's torchlight caught something half-buried in the rubble — not metal, not stone. Flesh.
Or what used to be.
A massive shape lay collapsed against the far wall — a corpse unlike anything human. The skin, leathery and dark, was stretched over protruding bone ridges. Its mouth was frozen open in a snarl, jagged teeth like shards of glass.
Silo stumbled back, eyes wide. "Wha— what is that?!"
Reina's voice was tight. "An Omega."
Elias swore under his breath. "So they really made it this far down…"
Luke stepped closer cautiously, raising the torch. The creature's body was riddled with holes — not from decay, but from weapons. Energy burns scarred its torso, and deep gashes marked where blades had torn through.
He stared at it for a long moment. "Looks like it didn't die easy."
"None of them did," Reina said softly.
Silo shuddered. "Can we not stay here? It's like… like the air's still angry."
"Afraid of ghosts now?" Elias teased lightly, though his tone carried its own unease.
Silo shot him a look. "No, I'm afraid of giant dead monsters and cursed ruins, thank you very much."
Luke smiled faintly despite himself. The banter was a small comfort — a reminder that they were still human, still alive amidst the ruins of those who weren't.
They continued through the corridor, their footsteps echoing softly. Here and there, the remains of ancient machinery jutted out from the walls — gears half-buried, pipes filled with hardened residue.
Reina ran a gloved hand over one, examining it with a soldier's curiosity. "These conduits are similar to the ones that channel the power through the city," she said. "This whole place… it's like a prototype."
Luke nodded slowly. "Maybe this was where it all began."
They passed beneath a collapsed archway into a smaller hall. The carvings here were different — less ornamental, more deliberate. Depictions of figures in radiant armor locked in combat against shadows. At the center of one mural was a cube, glowing faintly — it was perfect, carved radiating lines of light.
Elias stepped forward, tracing it with his finger. "The Tessarect," he whispered.
Reina nodded grimly. "Looks like it."
Silo whistled softly. "So it was real. Guess the old stories weren't all garbage after all."
Luke studied the mural a moment longer, a strange weight pressing in his chest. The Tessarect — the heart of the Nova's power, the relic that could bring light to their dying world. And somewhere out there, it was still waiting.
They moved on, the tunnel narrowing. The air grew cooler, the faint blue veins dimming to a soft, ghostly glow.
Silo's voice broke the silence again. "Hey, uh… anyone else notice how quiet it is? No wind, no echo… nothing?"
"Don't jinx it," Elias muttered.
They turned another corner — and froze.
A pile of corpses filled the hallway ahead, stacked like offerings. Half-human, half-something else — armor fused to bone, skeletal hands still clutching shattered weapons. Among them were a few more Omega bodies, their skulls split open, black dust spilling out like sand.
The stench of decay hung faint but unmistakable, preserved by the cold air.
Silo gagged and turned away. "Oh, gods… why would anyone—"
"They didn't have a choice," Reina said quietly. "This was their last stand."
Luke's gaze drifted across the scene, his chest tightening. The sheer number of bodies — the scale of death — was staggering. He could almost hear the echoes of the battle: the clash of steel, the roar of collapsing walls, the screams.
He swallowed hard and stepped over the bones carefully. "Come on. Let's keep moving."
They pressed on, more somber now. The tunnels twisted deeper, the air turning colder still. Then, as they entered a new chamber, the faint blue light brightened — not from the walls this time, but from something lying in the center of the floor.
A glow.
Luke approached slowly, his heartbeat quickening.
There, half-buried in dust, was an object no larger than his hand — a talisman shaped like a diamond, its core pulsing with soft golden light.
The glow was rhythmic, like a heartbeat.
Elias crouched beside him, eyes wide. "What is that?"
Reina knelt too, studying it. "It's… not like any relic I've seen."
Silo peered over their shoulders, his voice trembling between fear and curiosity. "Maybe it's cursed."
"Or maybe," Luke said softly, "it's what led them here."
He reached out and touched it.
The moment his fingers brushed the surface, the light flared — not painfully bright, but deep, like the sudden inhale of something awakening.
The walls around them shimmered faintly. The veins of light pulsed in unison, spreading outward from the talisman's glow.
"Uh… Luke?" Elias said warily. "What did you just do?"
"I don't—" Luke started, but the talisman suddenly lifted from the ground, floating between his hands. Symbols spiraled across its surface, glowing brighter with every pulse.
A low hum filled the air — not mechanical, but alive.
Reina stepped back. "Everyone, move!"
But before anyone could react, the glow expanded outward, washing over the entire chamber. For a brief, blinding second, the walls seemed to breathe — and then everything went still.
The talisman hovered in front of Luke, dimming once more, its light settling into a steady rhythm.
Silence.
Silo swallowed hard. "So… uh… that's normal, right?"
Luke exhaled slowly, lowering his hand. "I don't think so."
Reina's eyes narrowed as she looked at the glowing talisman, now pulsing faintly in Luke's palm. "Whatever that thing is," she said quietly, "it's not just a relic."
Elias gave a half-smile, half-grimace. "You think it's the Tessarect?"
Reina shook her head. "No. But it might lead to it."