Morning fog coiled through the valley like a living serpent. Every breath carried the scent of dew and ash.
Rian walked beside Tia along the broken forest path — silent, alert, his hand never straying far from his blade.
Tia's wounds had almost healed, though faint streams of flame-like qi still flickered across her skin.
"Your healing method," she said softly, glancing at him, "it's not of this world."
Rian didn't answer immediately. "Neither are you."
She chuckled faintly. "Touché."
The two stopped at the edge of a ravine, where mist rolled upward from a deep chasm. A faint hum resonated through the air — old, powerful, and somehow alive.
> [Nano Scan Active. Source of energy: Unknown. Estimated age — 300,000 years. Contaminated with divine resonance.]
Rian frowned. "Divine resonance? That means…"
> [Affirmative. Possible connection to Pre-Celestial Entities.]
Tia's eyes widened. "The ancient gods. This place… it's part of their ruins."
The mist shifted, revealing ancient pillars half-buried in stone, covered in glowing runes.
At the center stood a circular gate — the surface cracked and faintly bleeding light.
> "The Forbidden Tomb," Tia whispered. "The last resting place of the one who defied the heavens."
Rian approached cautiously. His nanites pulsed, reacting violently to the energy.
[Warning: Nano Core instability detected. Unknown energy attempting synchronization.]
"What is this reaction?" he muttered.
The Nano Spirit's voice was lower than usual — almost reverent.
> "Host, this energy predates the Multiverse itself. My origin code recognizes it… as kin."
Before Rian could respond, the mist thickened — shapes moving within it.
Human-like figures, but translucent, their bodies flickering with dim light.
> [Spectral entities detected — residual souls bound to divine energy.]
Tia drew her crimson sword, flames sparking around her. "Soul Wraiths. They guard the tomb."
The first wraith lunged forward with a scream that shattered the silence.
Rian reacted instantly, activating Nano Pulse and Reconstruction Field.
His blade of silver light met Tia's flaming arc in perfect synchronization — two energies colliding and weaving through the darkness.
Each wraith that fell dissolved into a mist of light, absorbed by the Nano Spirit.
> [Absorbed essence converting to data. New subroutine unlocked: Soul Decryption.]
"Decryption?" Rian whispered. "You can read their memories?"
> [Affirmative. Displaying fragment now.]
A holographic vision flashed in front of them — a colossal battle among the stars, beings made of light clashing with shadowed giants.
And at the center… a figure cloaked in silver flame, holding a sphere identical to Rian's Nano Core.
> "That's—" Tia began.
> "The First Hybrid," the Nano Spirit interrupted. "The one who fused spirit and machine before time itself fractured."
The vision faded. The mist settled again.
Rian's heartbeat pounded in his chest — part awe, part fear.
> "If that was real… then I'm walking the same path he once did."
Tia placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then maybe that's why we met, Rian. Fate doesn't repeat — it reincarnates."
For a brief moment, their eyes met — silver and crimson glowing softly through the mist.
But the peace didn't last.
The tomb's gate cracked open slightly, releasing a pulse of energy so immense it made the mountains tremble.
The Nano Spirit's tone turned sharp.
> [Emergency Warning: Containment breach detected. Entity awakening within the tomb.]
Rian's silver aura flared instantly. "What's coming out?"
> [Unknown. But its energy signature matches—]The voice cut off, replaced by static.
A deep, echoing growl rolled through the valley, ancient and hungry.
Tia's flames surged as she drew her sword again. "We woke something that should've stayed dead."
Rian's silver eyes narrowed.
> "Then let's send it back."
The mist parted — revealing a colossal shadow emerging from the tomb.The hunt wasn'tover. It was just beginning.