The echo of the Hosts’ retreat still hung in the sky. Broken windows hummed. Street lamps buzzed. Every shadow shook like it was afraid to move. Alex staggered. The gold cracks running across his chest glowed like hot metal, and something inside the Burn— laughed. Not loud. Not crazed. Just… a small, quiet laugh. Like someone standing right behind his heart. Mei Lin heard it. She didn’t hear it with her ears. She felt it. Her spine locked. Her fingers went cold. “Alex… what was that?” He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. Because the laugh came again. Soft. Warm. Wrong. Almost like it was whispering: “You opened the door.” Alex’s breath hitched.<

For one impossible second— Alex’s Burn stopped. Not because Alex fought it. Not because Jin interfered. Not because Marshal had some secret military command. It stopped… because Mei Lin held him. Her arms wrapped around him. Her forehead pressed to his shoulder. Her voice cracked as she whispered: “Alex… stay here. With me. Don’t go where she is.” The golden cracks froze mid-glow. The whispering inside Alex’s chest fell silent. Then— For the first time— the city reacted to Mei Lin. A soft wind curled around her hair. Streetlights flickered—not gold, but white. The pavement under her feet warmed slightly, like the city was breathing in her direction. Jin’s face changed instantly. “…Oh,” he whispered. Marshal stepped back, hand slowly going to his weapon. Alex trembled in Mei Lin’s arms. “Mei…” he choked. “What did you do?” She didn’t answer him. She was staring at her own hands— hands that had just forced a Rule Zone to pause. A mortal girl who shouldn’t mat

The air changed before she appeared. A pressure rolled across the city—slow, soft, but so heavy the clouds bent under it. Lights flickered. Birds fell from the sky. Every creature with breath felt their lungs tighten. Marshal whispered, voice trembling for the first time: “…She’s coming.” Jin didn’t move. “Not coming. Descending.” Mei Lin gripped Alex’s hand tighter. And then— The sky split. Not like lightning. Like a curtain being pulled aside. And through it stepped a girl. Bare feet. White dress that moved like smoke. Hair floating as if underwater. Eyes glowing the pale white of a dying star. She was small. Young. Quiet. But the world bowed around her. The First Host. The being who once ended an entire cycle alone. Her feet touched the rooftop across from them— And the entire district fell silent. Not one wind. Not one heartbeat. The Host looked down slowly… and her gaze found Alex immediately. Her lips parted. Like she wanted to say his name. Like s

The rooftop was still shaking from the broken heavenly rule. Silver sparks danced around Mei Lin’s fingers. White fire spun around the First Host. And Alex—half awake, half burning—lay on the ground, gold veins crawling up his throat like living cracks. Then— A second crack tore across the sky. Not soft. Not clean. A violent one. Like claws ripping through metal. A black streak slammed down from the clouds— faster than sound, faster than light— and smashed into the rooftop with an impact that blew tiles into the air. Mei Lin stumbled backward. Jin cursed loudly. “Oh no—NOT her.” Marshal’s face turned white. “All units— RUN—” Too late. The dust cleared. And she appeared. The Second Host. Black hair falling like knives around her shoulders. Eyes the color of storms. Feet bare, touching the rooftop like she owned gravity itself. Her presence was different. If the First Host felt like cold moonlight— This one felt like a blade touching your throat. She didn’t

The sky did not close. After Selune—the First Judge—declared the cycle's beginning, the tear remained open like a wound that refused to heal. Three Hosts hovered above the broken city. Elyra, the Dawn Judge—golden, cold, merciful only on paper. Ravyn, the Ruin Judge—smiling like a wolf ready to feed. Selune, the First Judge—silent, ancient, impossible. And then— A sentence appeared across the sky. Not spoken. Not written by hand. Written directly into reality. Letters made of light carved themselves into the clouds: RULE ONE OF CYCLE 21 — ALL VESSELS MUST AWAKEN. Every person in the city froze. Even the wind stopped. Jin’s eyes went wide. “…They’re forcing evolution from Day One?” Marshal whispered, horrified: “No… they’ve never done this before.” Mei Lin grabbed Alex tighter as his body convulsed. The gold lines—once cracks—now surged like molten rivers under his skin. He gasped. “Burn—too fast—stop—” But Mei Lin held his head against her shoulder, her silver