The underground capital had become a war zone between forces that should never have existed in the same era.
The Watcher hovered above the ruined station ceiling, its colossal eye fixed on the Old King's Gate. Endless black arms shifted beneath its body like a sea of buried corpses trying to crawl into reality.
Below it—
Aizeno descended calmly into the chaos.
Luxion landed beside him, radiant pressure bending the broken steel around his feet. Behind them, Adrax's shadows spread across the upper ruins, consuming light itself.
Hyung slowly rose from the crater where the Watcher had smashed him down. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but his grip on the blade never loosened.
D U cracked his neck painfully.
"Great," he muttered. "Ancient cosmic horror and family drama."
Eris wiped blood from her chin and stared upward.
"That thing attacked the gate first," she said quietly. "Even before Aizeno arrived."
Caelum nodded grimly.
"The Watchers fear the King's inheritance."
Aizeno overheard.
"They fear balance," he corrected calmly.
The colossal eye shifted toward him instantly.
The station trembled.
For the first time—
the Watcher reacted emotionally.
"H E R E T I C."
The voice hit everyone at once.
Hyung staggered slightly.
Luxion remained still.
Adrax only watched.
Aizeno smiled faintly.
"Still angry after all this time?"
The Watcher's arms expanded outward violently.
"Y O U B R O K E T H E A G R E E M E N T."
The underground city cracked.
Massive fractures spread across the walls and rails as the Watcher's presence intensified.
D U looked toward Caelum.
"…Mind explaining what the hell they're talking about?"
Caelum's face darkened.
"A long time ago," he said quietly, "before the Door system existed… the world was regulated by the Watchers."
Eris narrowed her eyes.
"They maintained reality."
Caelum nodded.
"Until humans discovered how to evolve beyond the limits they imposed."
Hyung immediately understood.
"The Old King."
Caelum looked toward the gate.
"Yes."
Aizeno stepped forward calmly beneath the Watcher's gaze.
"The King resisted their system," he said. "He believed humanity should choose its own future."
The Watcher's eye widened slightly.
"A N D Y O U?"
Aizeno's smile faded.
"I believed he was naïve."
Silence.
Then the truth settled.
D U stared at Aizeno.
"…You sided with them."
"Temporarily," Aizeno replied.
Hyung's expression twisted with disgust.
"You betrayed him."
Aizeno finally looked at Hyung directly.
"No," he said calmly. "I tried to save the world from his mistake."
The gate behind them trembled violently.
Inside—
Null heard every word.
The King stood silently across from him, expression unreadable.
"…Aizeno worked with the Watchers," Null said quietly.
The King nodded once.
"He believed control was mercy."
Null tightened his grip on the black blade.
"And you?"
The King looked down briefly.
"I believed freedom was worth suffering for."
Outside the gate—
the Watcher suddenly moved.
Thousands of arms descended at once toward the station.
Hyung launched upward immediately.
Mid-Prime gravity detonated around him as he tore through dozens of limbs simultaneously.
D U appeared beside him seconds later, warping through fractured space and smashing through another wave.
Eris phased between attacks, her obsidian blade carving impossible lines through reality itself.
But the arms kept coming.
Too many.
Luxion raised a radiant barrier around Aizeno.
Adrax watched silently from above.
Then—
Aizeno looked toward the gate again.
His eyes sharpened.
"Enough waiting."
The station shook violently as Aizeno raised one hand toward the Old King's Gate.
Caelum's eyes widened.
"He's forcing entry!"
Massive dark symbols ignited around Aizeno's arm.
The gate immediately reacted.
WARNING SIGILS activated across its surface.
"Heir synchronization incomplete."
Aizeno ignored it.
The pressure around him intensified until the surrounding metal began melting.
Inside the gate—
Null suddenly felt the pathway destabilize.
The King looked upward.
"He's trying to bypass the inheritance protocol."
Null stepped forward instantly.
"Can he?"
The King's expression became grim.
"Yes."
Null's eyes sharpened.
"Then stop him."
The King looked directly at his son.
"I cannot."
A pause.
"This gate no longer belongs to me."
The meaning hit immediately.
Only Null could defend it now.
Outside—
Aizeno's hand touched the gate.
The entire underground capital exploded with light.
And the final seal began to move.