The noise of battle had faded, yet its echoes still trembled through the walls of Atlantis.
Broken pillars. Shattered ice. Black stains of ink smeared across marble floors. Silent witnesses to the brutality that had unfolded only moments ago.
At the exit of the Pearl Chamber, now reduced to ruin, Prince Nereus's soldiers worked to clear the debris.
Prince Nereus himself walked away with elegant, measured steps, hands clasped behind his back, as if he had not just summoned a colossal sea monster. The oppressive aura he left behind made even seasoned soldiers struggle to breathe.
The team had withdrawn to a corner, tending to their wounds.
Hope was on his knees, checking Lypin's pulse. His hands were trembling. There was no trace of the Hellfire-wielding monster from earlier. Now he was simply a worried boy.
"Lypin…" Hope's voice cracked. "Can you hear me?"
Lypin lay in Kai's arms. Her eyes were half open, unfocused. Her lashes trembled.
"Hope…" she whispered weakly. "I'm fine… just… tired."
"You're not tired," Kai said sharply. His mask was back on, but the concern in his voice was unmistakable.
He gently lifted Lypin's arms.
"Look at this, Hope."
Hope's eyes widened.
Faint purple burn marks traced along Lypin's delicate white arms, following the path of her veins. It looked as though lightning had traveled beneath her skin, scorching her from the inside. The marks were not random. They formed geometric patterns. Complex. Unsettling.
"What is that?" Hope asked, reaching out but hesitating to touch. "Did this happen in the fight?"
"No," Lypin said, wincing. "It happened when I tried to keep casting for too long. It felt like… the power inside me didn't fit in my body. Like my arms were burning. Like my bones were heating up…"
She looked at Hope.
Her hazel eyes were gone. In their place was something darker. Something less human.
"It hurts, Hope."
Hope clenched his teeth. He tried activating Architect Sight.
[SYSTEM ERROR: DATA OVERFLOW.][UNANALYZABLE ENERGY RESIDUE.]
"Error…" Hope muttered angrily. "It keeps giving me errors! I'm trying to see what's wrong!"
A cool voice spoke from behind them.
"Because those wounds are not physical, Hope. They are the result of spiritual overflow."
Hope turned sharply.
Princess Elara stood above them like a statue, her dress torn, her hair disheveled. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were fixed on Hope. And within that gaze was something new.
Admiration? Fear? Jealousy?
Elara knelt beside Lypin and examined the purple marks.
"Yes," she said softly. "This is proof of what I told you. The Starfallen within her is awakening. And her body is not ready."
Her gaze shifted to Hope's arms.
"Just like you."
Hope looked down.
His sleeves were burned away. Beneath them, white symbols marked his skin. Similar to Lypin's, but sharper. Wilder.
"Me too?" he whispered.
Elara gave him a bittersweet smile.
"Do you not remember, Hope?"
"Remember what?"
"Ghoroz," she said quietly. "You crushed him like an insect. The endless flames… the look on your face as you burned that monster. And then…"
She swallowed.
"…then you flew. You defied gravity and drifted toward Lypin. As if the laws of this world did not apply to you."
Hope froze.
The last thing he clearly remembered was Lypin's barrier breaking. The surge of pure rage.
After that… fragments. Fire. Screams. The sensation of flying.
"I flew?" Hope murmured. "How? Why? I don't have flight in my data."
Elara looked away slightly.
"I don't know. My knowledge of Architects is limited. The scrolls in the royal library are ancient. Many are censored. But… perhaps the cosmic power inside you was triggered. Your emotions may be the key."
Kai gently brushed Lypin's hair from her face.
"Rage or not," he said quietly, "these two are not normal. And this power is consuming them. Look at her. She's drained."
Hope took Lypin's hand. Even with Elara sitting beside him, he did not let go.
"I'll figure it out," Hope said firmly. "This power… this curse… whatever it is. I'll find a way to control it. And I'll take Lypin to the World Tree. I'll heal her."
Elara watched the scene.
"I hope you do, Architect," she said softly. "Because the tests my brother has prepared for you… will be far more difficult than this."
Royal Prison – Special Cell: "The Pearl Cage"
At the lowest level of the palace, where even light hesitated to enter, Prince Nereus walked slowly through the corridor.
This was not a place for ordinary criminals. It was reserved for the ocean's most dangerous beings.
He stopped before a massive reinforced water barrier.
Inside it floated a pearl cage the size of a chair.
And within that cage—
Her.
Princess Octavia.Heir to the Octopus.
She looked nothing like the elegant Sirens.
Her short white hair was messy. Her eyes were a vivid purple, teetering on the edge of madness, with horizontal pupils like an octopus.
Instead of silk, she wore what looked like stolen surface clothing: a black leather-like jacket and loose pants with metal buckles. Thick, rusted chains wrapped around her neck and wrists.
From her back extended thick, purple tentacles. Though bound, each looked strong enough to strangle a grown man.
Octavia lifted her head as Nereus approached.
She slowly licked her lips with a long, forked tongue.
"Well, well," she drawled mockingly. "Look who it is. His Majesty the Fish Prince. Miss me, darling?"
A flicker of disgust crossed Nereus's face before his composure returned.
"Silence, freak."
He stepped through the barrier.
"Your filthy people attacked my palace today. Killed my guards. Stained my walls."
Octavia burst into laughter. It echoed like something born in an asylum corridor.
"Good for my boys!" she shouted, eyes gleaming. "So they came, huh? They pierced your 'unbreakable' walls! See, Nereus? We are not decorative fish like you. We are survivors."
Nereus pressed his staff beneath her chin and lifted her head.
"It was only a warning," he said coldly. "Your father sent a small unit to retrieve you. They are all dead. Just like the next wave will be."
He leaned close.
"If it happens again… if your people cross Atlantis' borders once more… you will pray for death. I will send you back to your father piece by piece."
Octavia's grin widened.
"Threats, threats…" she hissed. "Don't worry, you pathetic noble. When my father comes, you'll watch your shining kingdom and your innocent citizens die."
She lunged forward, chains rattling, tentacles writhing.
"If our men can infiltrate your most sacred chamber during a mere warning strike… imagine what we can do in a real war."
For a split second, worry flickered in Nereus's eyes.
Octavia saw it.
"You're afraid, aren't you?" she whispered. "You should be. We did not forget, Nereus. What you did to my mother. What you did to my people."
Her voice rose into a scream.
"AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO MY MOTHER, DID YOU THINK YOU'D LIVE IN PEACE?!"
Nereus exhaled slowly.
"You speak too much."
He raised his hand.
Water sharpened into a blade.
Slash.
Blood sprayed from Octavia's mouth.
He had severed her tongue at the root.
The severed flesh dropped to the wet floor.
Octavia groaned in pain. Black blood streamed from her mouth.
But the madness in her eyes did not fade.
Within seconds, the bleeding stopped. Black smoke rose, and a new tongue formed.
[Ink Blood: Regeneration]
She grinned again, licking blood from her teeth.
"Darling," she slurred mockingly. "You'll need to be more creative."
Nereus glanced at the severed tongue with distaste.
"I can do this forever, Octavia," he said calmly. "Your regeneration is not faster than my patience."
He turned away.
"Continue rotting here. When your father arrives… the only thing he will receive is your head."
He stepped through the barrier and left.
Octavia screamed after him, hurling curses, straining against her chains. But Nereus did not look back.
In the corridor, he paused.
He inhaled deeply and erased the sadistic expression from his face, replacing it with the mask of a noble prince.
Then he walked on.
However…
There was something he did not notice.
In a shadowed corner of the corridor, behind a column, someone stood frozen.
Breath held.
Eyes wide.
Princess Elara.
After leaving Hope's side, Elara had come to speak with her brother. She wanted to ask why security had failed. Why they were pushing Hope so hard.
But what she heard—
"What you did to my mother.""What you did to my people."
In the history books of Atlantis, it was written that the Octopus had rebelled without cause. That the Queen had died from illness.
But Octavia had said, what you did.
And Nereus had not denied it.
Elara's knees trembled.
She had always admired her brother. Seen him as perfect. Protective. Just.
But the man she had seen moments ago…
Was a cold torturer.
And her father… was hiding something dark.
Elara waited until Nereus disappeared.
Then she slipped away silently, like a shadow.
Only one thought echoed in her mind:
Whose side am I on?
And the once-radiant waters of Atlantis suddenly felt murky, heavy, suffocating.