The silence returned.
Not the silence of an ending…
but the silence of survivors.
The hall that had witnessed the dragons, the falling star, and the hourglass that dared to break time… now seemed as if it were trying to forget what had happened.
The pillars stood as they always had, the torches burned steadily, and the guards resumed their military stances.
Yet despite that…
no one sat completely at ease.
Something deep inside told them that this day had not spoken its final word yet.
The ritual resumed.
One child… then another… then another.
A cradle was placed before the Mirror of Paths.
Its surface glowed for a moment… then faded.
No anomaly.
No symbols.
No disasters.
Just ordinary newborns.
Minutes passed… then half an hour… then more.
Gradually, shoulders began to lower.
Zamasa breathed slowly and said in a low voice,
"It seems the storm has passed."
Farin did not reply.
But for the first time since the ritual began… he unclasped his hands from behind his back.
Even Anata allowed herself a small smile.
"That is enough miracles for one day."
Some murmured in agreement.
The ritual was nearing its end.
And for the first time… the elders felt exhausted.
But far from all of this…
Inside a small cradle at the end of the row…
Ares's eyes were open.
Calm.
Awake more than they should be.
He listened to the repeated system notifications.
Cold… without tone… without spirit.
System:
[Processing…]
[Processing complete…]
[Original structure unknown…]
[Energy fluctuations are unclear…]
[Calculations failed…]
[Failed to determine the identity of the mirror…]
[The material it is made from… unknown.]
The processing stopped for a moment.
Then the voice returned.
[According to analysis and readings, the function of this black mirror… is prediction.]
A few moments of inner silence spread.
[Alert: mysterious entities are emitting massive energy fluctuations… watching.]
[Host… please be cautious.]
If the air had awareness… it would have stepped back.
But the hall heard nothing.
Only Ares.
Another hour passed.
"The last one,"
said a servant as he pushed a cradle toward the center.
Ares's cradle.
The moment it moved…
Farin straightened.
Not much.
But Zamasa noticed.
That man who had faced kings and monsters without tension…
tightened his shoulder muscles.
His eyes narrowed.
His breathing stopped for half a moment.
Zamasa immediately turned to him.
"What is it, Farin… do you know this child?"
Silence.
He did not answer.
He only watched.
The cradle was placed before the mirror.
One second passed.
Nothing.
Two seconds.
No glow.
No phenomenon.
Not even a ripple.
Tension crept in slowly.
Takara whispered,
"My heavens… another anomaly?"
No one answered.
A minute passed.
Then another.
Then a third.
The silence became so heavy that the sound of breathing felt like a desecration of the place.
Even the mirror…
seemed as if it were avoiding looking at him.
But inside the cradle…
madness began.
System:
[Warning: mysterious energy fluctuations around the host.]
[Warning: mysterious energy fluctuations around the host.]
[Warning: mysterious energy fluctuations around the host.]
The alerts rose higher and higher like alarm sirens.
[The mysterious energy is attempting to invade the host's body.]
[The mysterious energy is attempting to invade the host's body.]
[Activating the system's black hole.]
[Absorbing the mysterious energy.]
[Processing…]
[Processing failed… unknown energy.]
[Processing failed… unknown energy.]
If fear were a feeling that could be born inside an infant's mind…
it would have been born now.
[Absorbing energy to prevent impact on the host.]
[Energy quantity… enormous.]
A short silence.
Then the command:
[Host… please move to the black stone and touch it to activate the Black Hole Dantian and absorb the energy in parallel with the system's black hole.]
At that moment…
Ares moved.
He sat up.
Calmly.
As if sitting were something he had practiced for years.
The breaths in the hall froze.
Then—
He lowered his feet out of the cradle.
And stood.
Small… steady… impossible.
One step.
Then another.
The only sound that could be heard… was the pounding of their hearts.
Vanara gasped,
"Am I hallucinating…? Seriously… is that boy walking?"
Anata whispered, her eyes wide,
"He really is walking… how old is he? Are you sure he is not even six months old?!"
Katara let out a short, uneasy laugh.
"What are these insane rituals today… shock after shock…"
But the discussions died quickly.
Because Ares…
did not hesitate.
He was walking straight toward the mirror.
As if he knew the way.
Zamasa slowly turned.
"Farin… who is this child?"
This time…
the entire hall looked at him.
Farin finally sighed.
The sigh of a man who knew the words coming next… could not be taken back.
"He is the grandson of Ancestor Majara… and the son of that catastrophe."
The statement fell like a stone into a bottomless well.
Then he added in a lower voice,
"He is… three months old."
Faces froze.
Three.
Months.
At that moment…
Ares extended his hand.
And touched the Mirror of Paths.
Suddenly,
something broke in space.
It was not a sound…
but a sensation.
As if reality had taken a wrong breath.
Above the mirror…
an illusion began to form.
A black vortex.
Spinning.
Contracting.
Devouring the light.
"A… black hole?"
No one dared to raise their voice.
Then—
Everything disappeared.
The hall turned into absolute blackness.
Not darkness.
Darkness has degrees.
Here… it was the absence of existence.
Nothingness itself.
They could not see their hands.
They could not see the ground.
Even their bodies… felt as if they were dissolving.
The only visible thing…
was Ares.
Standing.
Small.
But around him, the light bent.
As if the universe…
acknowledged its new master.
For a terrifying moment…
some elders felt their thoughts being pulled from their heads.
As if time itself approached him… then vanished.
Then—
Everything returned.
The light.
The pillars.
The ground.
Breathing.
But…
no one was the same as they had been before that moment.
And before Ares…
stood an old man.
No one saw him enter.
No one heard his steps.
Yet he was there.
Long white hair, eyes as deep as ancient wells, and a silent aura… that made the soul bow before the body.
Suddenly—
Everyone bowed.
"Greetings, Ancestor!"
Even Zamasa… bowed deeply.
As for Farin…
he bowed more slowly.
As if a question lived inside him that he did not dare to ask.
The Ancestor looked at the child for a long time.
A very long time.
Then he said in a calm voice…
but the hall felt it inside their bones:
"I see that fate… no longer moves forward alone."
His eyes fixed on Ares.
"Some fates… devour the entire path."
"It seems we are approaching the ages of catastrophe."
At that moment…
no one trembled.
But everyone understood one thing:
Chaos is coming.