The past does not sleep.
It marches.
Western Edge of the Mingxu Realm – Seven Days Later
A storm gathered above the clouds — strange, dry thunder that rolled with no sound.
Rael stood beneath it, cloak soaked, boots pressed against the cracked stone of a forgotten highway.
Before him stretched an ancient battlefield.
Swords embedded in the ground.
Tattered banners flapping in a wind no one could feel.
Corpses long rotted… yet still kneeling.
Mok swallowed beside him.
"Why are the dead still bowing?"
Yue Qingshi stepped lightly across the stones. Her gaze held no jest today.
"Because they remember what walked here last time."
---
The Map That Shouldn't Exist
They'd found it by accident.
Buried under three layers of qi-sealed parchment in the sect library of Lanhe Pavilion, where Qingshi had once trained.
A map with no names, only lines burned in star-shaped paths — leading to a place no cartographer dared mark.
> A ruin.
A moving ruin.
Rael had stared at it, a sick feeling in his gut.
The system didn't show any warnings.
Just this:
> [Unknown Zone Detected]
[No data available. Proceed at your own risk.]
He liked it better that way.
---
A Distant Drumbeat – The Ruin Awakens
As they crossed the center of the battlefield, the wind shifted.
It wasn't natural.
It carried a scent Rael hadn't smelled since the temple — salted ash and old copper.
And then he heard it.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
A heartbeat.
But it wasn't coming from a person.
It came from the ground.
Mok backed up. "What the hell is that?"
Qingshi whispered: "The ruin is walking."
---
Rise of the Ruin – First Glimpse
From the far end of the battlefield, the earth tilted.
No—something beneath it stood.
Stone and bone.
A leg.
A torso.
Arms made of siege towers.
A face carved from ten thousand screaming masks.
The Walking Ruin stood over sixty meters tall, covered in chains made of scripts long forgotten.
It dragged a massive coffin behind it.
Rael's instincts screamed.
> [Status: Calamity-Class Entity Approaching]
[Combat Impossible – Survival Recommended]
[Trait Activation Suggested: Dream-Eater]
He ignored it all.
Instead, he watched the coffin it dragged.
That was no burial box.
That was a prison.
And something inside… was awake.
---
Yue Qingshi Reacts
"Rael—" she began, but he was already moving.
Fast. Low to the ground. His footwork almost unnatural.
The ruin raised an arm — a tower of bones and temple bells — and smashed it down.
He leapt, rolled, used the shockwave to pivot behind a broken blade.
"Are you insane?!" Qingshi screamed.
He grinned at her.
"No. Just curious."
---
Close Proximity – Contact
Rael landed near one of the ruin's dragging chains.
They weren't made of iron.
They were made of flesh — braided tendons covered in cursed runes.
They twitched when he touched them.
> [New Item Detected – Fragment of Forgotten Chain]
[Absorption Possible: 1x Trait or Material Use]
[Warning: Side effects unknown]
He didn't absorb.
Not yet.
But he remembered it. Burned the design into his mind.
Because this chain didn't restrain the ruin.
It fed it.
---
Unsealing Event – Coffin Breaks
The ruin paused.
The coffin behind it… cracked.
Not from impact.
From inside.
A single hand reached out.
Small.
Human.
Childlike.
Rael's heart skipped.
Then, like a bell tolling once every hundred years, a voice rang out from the ruin's chest.
> "He returns. The Heir of the Broken Flame.
I smell your guilt.
And I accept your offering."
The ruin fell apart in seconds.
Not exploded.
Unraveled.
Every piece of its body turned to ash and script.
The coffin, too, dissolved.
But the child?
He floated down.
Hair white.
Eyes closed.
Barefoot.
And wearing a mask made of living stone.
Mok whispered: "That's not a kid."
Rael agreed.
Not a child.
A curse made flesh.
---
Naming the Entity
Qingshi stepped beside Rael, clutching her lunar fan with both hands.
Her eyes were wide.
"That's… a Ruinborn. A soul left behind by a Celestial Cultivator who died improperly."
Mok hissed. "You mean… a ghost?"
Qingshi shook her head.
"No. Worse. A purpose."
Rael stepped forward.
The Ruinborn tilted its head.
"You are not the one who lit the flame," it said.
Rael smiled coldly.
"No. But I'm the one who'll finish it."
---
Combat Begins – Strategic Clash
The Ruinborn didn't move like a human.
It blinked — and was ten meters away.
Rael dodged, drawing the scythe in a wide arc.
The child caught the blade with two fingers.
Qi screamed.
Then—
> [Trait Triggered: Dream-Eater]
[Effect: One illusion layer reversed on target]
[Result: Ruinborn temporarily perceives self as sealed]
The Ruinborn staggered.
Clutched its own chest.
Screamed.
But not in fear — in ecstasy.
"I see. You, too, have touched the Eye."
Rael felt it.
The same pressure as the Temple of Forgotten Tides.
Qingshi threw a seal array under its feet.
Mok slashed at its shadow.
Rael struck from above—
It dissolved mid-blow.
Appeared behind Mok.
Touched his forehead.
Mok screamed and dropped.
Rael caught him mid-fall.
He was still breathing.
But not waking.
> [Soul Condition: Inverted Spiral]
[Solution: Unknown]
Rael turned slowly.
"You'll regret that."
The Ruinborn smiled behind its mask.
"No. You will."
Then vanished — leaving only a lotus of ash behind.
---
Aftermath – Recovery and Plans
Rael carried Mok to a nearby ruin cave.
Qingshi lit soul incense and set up protection arrays.
Hours passed.
No response.
The boy didn't stir.
His breathing was even.
But it felt like no one was home.
Rael stared into the fire.
"Next time," he muttered, "I take its mask."
Qingshi looked at him, voice quiet.
"Rael… if you fight it again alone—"
"I won't die."
"That's not what I was afraid of."
---
System Update
> [New Questline Triggered: The Masked Curse]
[Ruinborn Entity Identified – Class: Dream Echo Phantom]
[Optional Objective: Collect the Five Masks of Sleep]
[Warning: Memory Contamination Risk Increasing]
Rael closed his eyes.
Rested his hand on Mok's shoulder.
"You sleep now, brother. I'll handle the nightmare."