The halls of Elysian Academy buzzed with energy the morning after the expedition. News of the Rift-Class Gate encounter had already spread like wildfire. Students speculated, teachers exchanged grim looks, and a low hum of unease lingered in the air.
Jin, however, remained silent.
He walked the halls like a ghost, his presence alone enough to draw eyes—but no one dared to approach. The events in the Rift had shifted something. People saw him differently now. Stronger. Mysterious. Dangerous.
But Jin didn't care about gossip. What haunted him was the memory buried within the chaos orb—the voice that spoke to him in a language long sealed, and the Gate Sovereign's eyes. It had looked at him not like prey… but like a rival.
He needed answers.
---
Meanwhile…
Far beneath the academy, where few dared to tread, Headmaster Vael stood before a sealed vault. With a wave of his hand, arcane symbols etched into the stone doors came alive. The room opened with a heavy groan.
Inside, a long table of floating crystal shards glowed dimly. Each shard contained a recorded memory from Gate exploration missions dating back centuries.
He tapped one.
A holographic scene emerged: an ancient battlefield. Crumbling ruins. Dead adventurers. A Sovereign, standing atop a mountain of corpses. And beside it… a man.
Cloaked in shadows. Sword ablaze with unnatural light. His face obscured—but something in his posture, the way he moved—
Vael narrowed his eyes. "It's him."
The shadowy figure lifted his blade and split the Sovereign in one swing. The image flickered out.
Vael turned, expression grim. "Jin… who are you really?"
---
Back in the training fields…
Jin stood alone, practicing. Each strike was fluid, sharp, deadly. Not a wasted movement. His blade cut through air with a sound that resonated like thunder.
Kael watched from the edge, hidden, brows furrowed.
"He's not just some prodigy. He's… something else."
Behind him, Theo appeared, arms crossed. "You saw what he did in the Rift. That Sovereign didn't just recognize him. It feared him."
Lira joined them. "So what now? We just pretend everything's normal?"
Theo shook his head. "No. We train harder. If something's coming, we won't let Jin fight it alone."
---
Later that day…
Jin returned to his dorm, where the chaos orb floated above his desk, spinning slowly. It pulsed in rhythm—like a heartbeat.
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted from it. Jin shielded his eyes.
And then he wasn't in his room anymore.
He stood in a realm of shifting shadows, stars blinking in and out of existence. Before him, a woman cloaked in golden flame hovered. Her eyes burned like suns. She spoke not with her mouth, but directly into his soul.
"Chosen of the Fallen Realms… Your seal weakens."
Jin stepped forward, stunned. "Who are you?"
"I am what remains of the First Gatekeeper. I watched you fall… and watched you rise again. But the others—those sealed with you—they stir. Your presence has awakened the Echoes."
"Echoes?" Jin echoed.
She nodded. "Lost fragments of power. Dungeons built around their burial. If they awaken fully, the world will fall into eternal rupture."
Jin clenched his fists. "Then tell me where to find them."
"You already have. The first lies beneath Elysian. The next will call to you through blood and fire. You cannot run from what you are, Jin."
The vision faded.
---
He awoke on the floor. Gasping. Sweat running down his neck.
The orb was gone.
In its place was a mark burned into the floor—an ancient rune he recognized. One from the wars before time.
Someone knocked on his door.
He quickly covered the mark and opened it.
Seraphina Albrecht stood there, wearing a faint smirk. "You've been busy."
Jin eyed her. "What do you want?"
"To talk," she said, stepping in without permission. "The Albrecht family collects relics. Old things. Dangerous things. We found a dungeon fragment that reacted violently when exposed to your name."
Jin stiffened.
She held up a black crystal. It shimmered with dark light.
"I think we're about to learn just how deep this rabbit hole goes."
---
That night, under a crimson moon, far from the academy...
A hidden dungeon trembled to life. Its entrance formed from broken earth and rising stone. From within, hundreds of corrupted beasts stirred. And in its heart, a sealed sarcophagus cracked open.
A voice whispered from the void—
"He walks again. The traitor. The King of Ruin."
Chains rattled. A monstrous arm burst free.
"Then I shall rise to greet him."
---
End of Chapter 13