Beneath the burning sands of the Wastes of Sira'an, where no life had dared tread in centuries, silence reigned. But that silence shattered in an instant.
A low hum, ancient and primal, rippled through the earth. The ground cracked. Dust spiraled upward as an enormous stone seal, buried for eons, split in two. From within, a beam of deep crimson light shot skyward—piercing clouds and sky like a sword through parchment.
And then… it opened.
A single, colossal eye.
Red as blood. Calm as death.
It didn't blink. It didn't move.
It simply watched.
Thousands of kilometers away, Nam collapsed to one knee as the vision slammed into his mind. The world spun, and he was there—not in body, but in essence.
He saw the eye. He felt its gaze piercing into the very data threads of his soul.
"You… are not the first."
"You… are not ready."
"But you have opened the seal. The burden… is now yours."
Nam gasped. A cold sweat ran down his spine. Around him, the air crackled with energy. The fusion core in his chest pulsed uncontrollably.
Lan grabbed him, steadying his shoulder. "Nam! What happened? What did you see?"
He looked up, eyes glowing faintly red. "The Third Pillar… isn't a structure. It's alive. And it's awake now."
Lan's breath caught. "Alive?"
Nam nodded. "And it remembers."
Back in the Wastes, dunes shifted violently as ancient constructs emerged—massive stone guardians long buried beneath time. Their hollow eyes lit with fiery glyphs as they formed a circle around the awakening seal.
Above them, red lightning danced in a growing storm. Time itself began to warp.
In the skies, satellites blinked out one by one. No signal could penetrate the area now. The world had lost sight of Sira'an.
At the Grand Council headquarters, alarms blared.
A cloaked figure stood before the holoscreen, watching the red anomaly grow.
"Phase Three…" the figure muttered. "He's triggered it."
Beside him, a mechanical aide asked, "Shall I dispatch the Onyx Protocol?"
The figure nodded. "Yes. And bring me the Chrono-Key. If the Third Pillar is awakening, the Cycle is near its end."
Nam stood, his strength returning. "We have to go there. Whatever's coming… we need to face it before the others do."
Lan's grip tightened on her blade. "Then let's not waste another second."
Together, they turned toward the looming storm on the horizon.
Far beyond, the crimson eye blinked once.
The world would never be the same again.