The chamber pulsed with unnatural light. At the center, the Prophet stood tall—not with brute strength, but with an aura so vast, even the air around him trembled. He didn't move. He didn't need to.
Zairon's group fanned out, blades drawn, senses sharp.
"You look confused," the Prophet said, his voice like wind scraping across stone. "I expected more understanding from the so-called Mad Sovereign."
Zairon stepped forward, eye twitching slightly from the prophet's tone. "I don't need to understand. I just need to know one thing. Are you trying to open the gate?"
The Prophet's smile was slow, chilling. "It has already begun."
With a motion, he raised his hand—and the Ashen Seal below him cracked, just slightly. A scream echoed—not from this world, but beyond it. Something clawed at the edges of reality.
Yue surged forward, blade glowing. "He's stalling! That seal can't break without—"
"—A surge of spiritual energy," Zairon finished, eyes narrowing. "You're trying to feed it with us."
Chains erupted from the floor, slamming toward them. Rysa parried with flame, Kai dropped a barrage of bolts, and Mira spun lightning into a shield. But the Prophet wasn't finished.
"Do you know what Raur really is?" he said. "A world ten—no, a hundred times the size of yours. With beasts that bend the skies, beings who consume stars, and a hierarchy so vast, even SSS-ranks are nothing but pawns."
Zairon's grin sharpened. "Then I'll kill my way up their food chain."
The Prophet paused at that. For the first time… he looked wary.
"Your arrogance will doom you."
"No," Zairon replied, stepping closer, crimson aura igniting. "Your cult, your seal, and your stupid gateway dream will be buried under my ambition."
He dashed forward, the floor cracking under his leap. The Prophet countered, drawing a blade of pure void. They clashed. Sparks of dark and crimson flared like falling stars.
Behind them, the seal pulsed harder. Cracks spread. From the edges of the chamber, shadowy figures began to slip through—half-formed monsters, unstable beasts, echoes from Raur that had no place in this world.
"We need to shut it down!" Yue yelled, leaping to a runic pillar. "These glyphs—if I redirect them—"
"I'll buy time," Zairon growled, locking blades with the Prophet again. "Go!"
Meanwhile – The True Scale of Danger
As the battle raged, something struck Zairon's mind. The Prophet wasn't just opening the gate for power. He was preparing a beacon—to send out a signal. To tell something that Earth was ready. The moment the seal shattered, the gate wouldn't just open—it would invite.
Monsters that even the most powerful hunters had never seen.
Beings from Raur that made dragons look like pets.
"Even SSS-ranks here don't dare step into Raur," the Prophet hissed, sensing Zairon's realization. "Because it's not built for your kind. Your world should have perished a thousand years ago—were it not for these seals. But we will finish what the gates started."
Zairon's eyes burned crimson. "Not while I'm still breathing."