Three days had passed since the encounter beneath the Indian Ocean, and the encrypted data extracted from Vault Mirage had only deepened the mysteries surrounding Obelisk.Now, Samuel stood at the edge of Volken Ridge.The mountain range looked lifeless, a scar of jagged granite slicing through the northern wilderness. Icy winds howled down its slopes, carrying an eerie silence that warned even birds to stay away. The sun, hidden behind a gauze of storm clouds, did little to pierce the gloom. It was as if the land itself resisted their presence.“Something buried here,” Samuel murmured, watching the drone feed from their mobile command unit.“Or someone,” Aria added quietly from beside him. She was staring at the terrain scan, a strange glyph faintly glowing beneath the rock layers. “Same markings as Vault Mirage. The second gate.”“Encrypted access?” he asked.“Worse,” she said. “This one doesn’t just want a relic—it demands a memory imprint. It was built to respond only to someone w

Samuel didn’t sleep that night.The weight of the revelations bore down like chains around his chest, each link forged from a truth he’d never asked to uncover. Spiral hadn’t just stolen his parents from him—they had orchestrated his entire existence. From birth to betrayal, every moment had been engineered for a purpose he still couldn’t fully grasp.The Eye of Origin continued to glow faintly in his palm. It pulsed in sync with his heartbeat, a constant reminder of the life force now intertwined with it. He could feel it watching him, thinking, learning. Not just a relic—an intelligence.Aria entered quietly, two mugs of something hot in her hands. She set one beside him without a word. Her silence was not from lack of concern, but from understanding. They had walked this road too long to waste time pretending comfort came easy.He finally spoke. “I saw my mother.”Aria sat beside him, eyes never leaving his profile.“She was holding me in a lab. Not a nursery. Monitors, wires, stra

Samuel didn’t speak much during the journey back to the highlands.The children had been evacuated discreetly, scattered through safehouses managed by allies Elias still trusted. Aria had volunteered to escort the younger ones personally, while Samuel moved ahead—chasing the man whose shadow had hung over his life like a noose.Kassien.The name sat on Samuel’s tongue like venom. He’d repeated it under his breath countless times. Now, it had a face. Now, it had a location. The coordinates Veras had provided pointed toward an isolated estate in the central highlands—an old military facility, cloaked under diplomatic status, untouched during the Spiral collapse.It made sense. Kassien would never bury himself underground like the others. He’d walk in daylight, untouched, hiding behind legality and money. The most dangerous men didn’t hide in shadows. They owned them.Samuel arrived at the outskirts of the estate just after sunset. The surrounding forest was unnaturally quiet. The guards

Night had fallen again, but this time there was no rest. The port was under lockdown. Patrols rotated every hour, searchlights sliced through the dark, and whispers of what had happened with Vosk were already spreading through the underground like wildfire. Samuel sat alone in the safehouse, his hand wrapped around a glass of untouched water. He hadn’t spoken since returning.Across from him, Aria paced.“You should say something,” she finally muttered.“I already did what needed to be done.”“That’s not what I meant.”Silence again. The air between them felt tight. Aria dropped onto the couch across from him and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, watching his expression for the smallest crack.“You didn’t sleep again last night.”Samuel didn’t answer.She sighed. “You think if you don’t stop moving, the memories won’t catch up.”“I don’t have the luxury of slowing down,” he said. “Not when we still don’t know who pulled Spiral’s strings. Vosk and Kassien were just managers.”“T

The room was silent, filled only with the faint hum of machines keeping the temporary shelter operational. Rain struck the roof like tiny pebbles, and a dull blue light spilled in through the plastic windows. Samuel sat with his back against the wall, his hands still trembling. The aftermath of what had happened with The Gatekeeper lingered like thick smoke around him. Even the warmth Sarah offered with her quiet presence beside him couldn’t burn it away.No one spoke of what had transpired inside the vault. They couldn’t. Words weren’t enough.The rest of the Vanguard had dispersed into different corners of the hideout, some treating wounds, others simply staring off into space, their eyes haunted by what they’d seen in the realm between realms. Sarah had remained at Samuel’s side since they returned, her face pale, her breath sometimes uneven. He could see the fatigue pulling at the corners of her eyes, but she never looked away from him.“You should rest,” he murmured.Sarah shook