[Location: Black Maw - Outer Layers]
The forest surrounding the dungeon had always been quiet.
But now, the silence screamed.
A strange shimmer moved across the trees—leaves fluttering as if caught in a dream. The wind refused to blow in its presence. Birds didn't dare sing. The insects… had vanished.
And then it stepped into view.
Sixth-Born.
No name yet revealed.
He was elegant, taller than Leo, with robes stitched from woven starlight and obsidian threads. His wings—shards of reflective black crystal—hovered behind him like a halo.
He wasn't walking.
He was gliding.
Each step left behind a brief reflection of himself in the air—like reality was unsure whether he belonged.
And when he reached the dungeon's threshold—
He didn't wait for permission.
He walked through it.
Like it wasn't there at all.
[Location: Core Room – Minutes Earlier]
Leo stood at the center of the core chamber, arms folded. The small shadow being—his first Sub-Core—hovered near him, mimicking his posture in a way that would've been cute if Leo weren't so grim.
Myra leaned against the far wall.
"What do you do if it's another sibling?" she asked.
"Same thing I always do."
"Which is?"
Leo didn't answer. But the glow around his Core pulsed deeper.
The dungeon was on alert.
And it was evolving.
Leo stood at the midpoint between the entrance tunnel and the Core Room, flanked by newly grown obsidian tendrils—armed with acidic veins and poison thorns. Behind him, elemental spirits flickered into being, drawn to his presence like moths to a sovereign flame.
He waited.
Then he saw it.
A shape walking casually through the hall like it was a garden path.
Leo narrowed his eyes.
"You're not from this world."
The Sixth-Born stopped.
His voice, when it came, was calm. Crisp. Almost gentle.
"Neither are you."
He stepped forward.
"Hello, brother."
"It's been a long time."
Leo didn't move.
The tendrils flexed.
"Name."
"Before we speak."
The Sixth smiled faintly.
"I had one. Once. But I discarded it."
"Too heavy. Too full of pasts."
He raised a hand. Small mirrors formed in the air around him—each showing a glimpse of different worlds.
Earth.
A battlefield soaked in white flame.
A ruined library floating in void.
"Call me what you want."
Leo narrowed his gaze. "I'll call you Intruder if you don't start explaining."
The Sixth gave a faint laugh.
"Still the cold one, I see."
"That's fine."
He dropped all pretense.
His aura expanded—glass and light and memory—filling the hall.
"I didn't come to fight."
"I came to warn you."
"The gods are watching us again."
"After Kaska failed, they reached out to the rest of us."
"Some have already chosen sides."
Leo's brow twitched.
"Sides?"
"You mean among us?"
"Among family?"
The Sixth didn't flinch.
"We were never a family, Leo."
"We were experiments. Pieces she wanted to love."
"And some of us? We don't want that love anymore."
Leo's voice dropped like iron.
"Speak carefully."
"She created us. She gave us life."
"She gave us choice."
"And you'd throw that away?"
The Sixth's smile faded.
"You still worship her."
"That's... sad."
He turned away for a moment, hand touching the reflective surface of one of his mirrors.
"She made you into a prison."
"You're becoming your dungeon."
"I can help you escape it."
Leo stepped forward.
"I am the dungeon."
"And I chose this path."
He summoned his magic.
The walls shimmered red.
"If you're not here to stand with me—"
"Then you leave."
"Now."
For a tense breath, the dungeon seemed to freeze.
The Sixth raised a hand slowly—fingers brushing the air.
And suddenly—
Leo saw himself.
Not just a reflection.
But an image.
A mirror showing him standing over a burning village.
Blood on his claws.
His eyes... empty.
Myra's corpse behind him.
Leo's breath hitched.
Only for a second.
He crushed the mirror with a wordless snarl.
Glass dust rained to the floor.
"Illusions won't sway me."
"I've already walked through hell."
"And I'll burn down the rest of it before I let you twist what I've built."
The Sixth nodded, as if satisfied.
"Good."
"Then you're ready."
Leo blinked.
"What?"
The Sixth turned.
His wings shimmered, reflecting dozens of futures.
"I wasn't sent to kill you."
"I was sent to see if you were worth saving."
He stepped back toward the light.
The mirrors closed around him.
"You passed."
"For now."
Then he was gone.
[Aftermath – Silence and Smoke]
Myra slid down from the higher walkway, landing beside Leo.
"So… that was creepy."
Leo nodded slowly, watching the last motes of shattered magic fade.
"He's not lying."
"There's something moving. A choice coming."
"And not all of us will choose the same side."
Myra shrugged.
"At least he didn't try to kill us."
"Progress, right?"
Leo's voice was distant.
"Not progress."
"Just delay."
[The Sixth Alone]
Somewhere between realms, on a mirrored pathway, the Sixth walked alone.
The mirrors whispered.
Images flickered.
He paused and looked up.
"He's changing."
"She'll be pleased."
Behind him, a shadow detached from the wall.
Another sibling.
Eyes like blue suns.
"Then it's time?"
"Not yet," the Sixth said.
"But soon."
They vanished together.