The world changed the moment the Ark-09 pierced through the veil of fog.
Below lay the Sunken Spires—a once-great cathedral swallowed by the earth in a forgotten war between angel and demon. Its towers jutted from the soil like skeletal fingers trying to claw their way free. The terrain was fractured, overgrown with black ivy and glowing moss. The sky above churned as if even the weather feared what lay below.
"This place…" Ren muttered, stepping out of the landing ramp and onto the ashen soil. "It feels wrong."
"That's because it was never meant to be found again," Daiki answered, eyes scanning ancient runes etched along cracked walls.
The boys moved cautiously, their footsteps crunching on broken stone and bones of the long-dead. Statues of saints had wept dry. The stained glass of the cathedral still flickered faintly, as though haunted by the light of the past.
And deeper below… something pulsed.
The Warden of Pride
Beneath the Sunken Spires was a vault, sealed by runic chains older than any Ministry record. With every step, the hum of dormant mana grew more violent—saturated with pressure, as though the entire cathedral was alive and aware of their trespass.
Then came the voice.
"You walk on cracked pride, mortal children…"
The chains ignited in violet flame.
From the darkness rose the Warden of Pride—a massive, lion-headed figure in golden armor, wings folded around it like a judge's cloak. Its body shimmered with mirrors reflecting twisted versions of the boys: versions where they'd fallen to rage, madness, and temptation.
"I am what your future hides," it declared. "I am what Pride shall become… and what it already is in you."
Ren stepped forward, drawing his blade.
"Then we cut through fate."
The battle began.
Pride Unleashed
The Warden struck first, conjuring phantom images of the boys' failures.
Daiki staggered as a vision of himself stood over Icarus's corpse, crown of thorns on his head.
Haru collapsed as he saw a burning orphanage—his pistols the match that lit the fire.
Ren's wind faltered under the vision of kneeling before a demonic throne, blade soaked in Vatican blood.
And Icarus… Icarus laughed.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" he asked, raising his hand. "I've seen worse in my dreams."
With a roar, he slammed his palm into the ground. The earth convulsed—and a wall of obsidian spikes ripped through the illusions.
Haru's flames lit the mirrored dome alight, disrupting the reflective traps.
Ren became a blur of blades and gusts, slicing the Warden's wings before it could retreat into a veil of falsehood.
Daiki whispered something—and the vault shook. Lightning cracked from his fingertips, warping reality for a breath.
"You want to see what we could become?" he said through clenched teeth. "Then witness what we chose to be."
Together, they drove the Warden back, each blow shattering parts of its golden armor.
With one final strike—Ren's blade ignited by Haru's flame, propelled by Icarus's quake, guided by Daiki's foresight—they pierced the Warden's heart.
It screamed—but not in pain.
In release.
"Pride… awaits."
Then silence.
A War Ignited
As the dust settled, the vault crumbled. Runes dimmed. The seal was broken.
"We failed," Haru muttered.
"No," Daiki said. "We awoke it. Pride isn't free yet. But now... it knows we're coming."
Suddenly, static crackled through Daiki's communicator.
"—This is Operative Theo—repeat, Ark-06 is down. Vatican assault squads inbound. They're not waiting for the seals to break… they're going to force them."
Daiki's blood ran cold.
"How many squads?"
"All of them."
Icarus cursed.
"It's started, hasn't it?"
Daiki didn't reply. He turned toward the broken Warden's remains, retrieving a core shard still glowing faintly.
"The War of the Seals," he whispered. "And the world doesn't even know it's begun."
The Demon's Whisper
As they boarded the Ark to leave, something stirred.
Beneath the deepest layer of the vault, a crack formed in reality.
A hand—a beautiful, clawed, and feminine hand—reached through.
"Ahh… the children of prophecy," came the voice. Smooth. Sinister. Proud.
"Let's see how long you last… before you become mine."
Eyes opened—thousands of them.
And they were hungry.