The acid rain fell heavier, closing the previous chapter with suffocating silence. The faintly glowing symbol on the ground pulsed once, then dimmed, as if waiting for the right moment to return. Frey stood trembling, his body soaked by the rain, his eyes fixed on the mark as though staring into his own fate. Selene watched him coldly, while Aurelia stepped back, her face pale with fear.
Yet the silence did not last. From afar, the sound of machines that should have been dead began to tremble faintly, like a heartbeat struggling to rise again. The ruined city seemed to breathe once more—not with human life, but with an alien rhythm seeping through from the Veil.
The three of them walked through the soaked alleys. The stench of rust mingled with old oil, and every step felt like descending into a deeper layer of the world. Gas lamps flickered, casting long shadows that moved as if alive.
The alley finally opened into a vast hall, hidden within the heart of the industrial district. Its walls were covered with faint carvings. Symbols glimmered dimly, the same as those seen on the battlefield, but here they were countless. They formed a cosmic circle, as though copying a map of a sky no human had ever seen.
Aurelia stopped, her eyes widening. "I've read of this… in Hunter's old records." Her voice trembled, as if speaking the name tore open an old wound. "These symbols are not mere marks. They are resonance—echoes of the Veil imprinted upon our world."
Frey stared at the carvings. Each shimmer made his chest quiver, as though his body was responding to something greater. The whisper returned, clearer than before: The Veil waits… you no longer belong to this world.
Isolde's shadow appeared upon the wall, her face blurred but her eyes sharp. This time she spoke directly, her voice layered with echoes: "Frey, you are the door. But a door may open… or destroy."
Frey staggered, clutching his head. His vision blurred, and the world around him shifted.
A cosmic vision swallowed his consciousness. He saw a sky of deep violet, stars moving like living creatures. The human city appeared small, fragile, like a toy in the hands of unimaginable forces. In that vision, he saw himself standing at the center of a colossal gate, his body radiant, yet his face cracked like glass. On one side he was the key, on the other, the destroyer.
Aurelia shook his arm, desperate to pull him back. "Frey! Don't sink!" Her voice was filled with fear, yet also sincerity.
Selene only watched, her eyes cold. "Let him see. He must know what awaits."
Frey gasped back into awareness, his breath ragged. "I… I am no longer human. I am something else."
Aurelia's eyes glistened. "You are still Frey. Don't let the Veil take you."
Selene stepped closer, her voice flat. "You must choose. The gate will not wait forever."
In the center of the hall, an artifact emerged from the shadows: an ancient book, its leather cracked, its pages filled with the same symbols. Aurelia grasped it with trembling hands. "This… Hunter's records. He knew of the Veil long ago."
Frey's gaze shook as he looked upon it. Hunter's name felt nearer, as though the entity itself waited behind an unseen curtain.
The symbols on the walls began to pulse, their dim light growing stronger. The resonance made the entire chamber tremble, as if the city itself was breathing.
Frey stood within the circle of symbols, his body trembling. The whispers of the Veil grew louder, calling his name again and again. Aurelia held her breath, Selene remained cold, and the city groaned as though awaiting his decision.
"In the silence of a dead city," Frey thought, "I hear the heartbeat of another world… and I know my time is running short."