The flickering lamplight barely reached the corners of the underground study chamber.
Kieran sat at the heart of the Hidden Crown's inner sanctum, his true body bathed in dim golden hues. The cursed book — now stored inside a stasis cube of nullified mana — pulsed with irregular energy. Despite its containment, the object exuded a presence so strong it made the walls seem to close in. Faint sounds, like breathless murmurs or scratching nails on parchment, came and went. Elira stood at his side, her Mana Thread Sight fixed on the cube, her fingers twitching slightly with the effort of not flinching.
"This book… it's older than anything I've ever scanned," she muttered, voice low. "Even the script on its bindings—it's not Elvish, not Ancient Runic, not even the forgotten tongues used in void communication."
Kieran nodded, gaze unmoving. "It's not from this world," he said quietly. "Or perhaps… from a world that existed before ours."
The stasis barrier dimmed momentarily. The book pulsed — faint, but undeniable.
On its surface, etched in ink blacker than shadow, were symbols that shimmered when observed at different angles. A long spine wrapped in dried scales. The leather-bound cover bore the vague shape of a tower, shrouded in endless vines of thorned scripture. Above it, a single unblinking eye — stitched open with strands of hair.
Codex of the Eclipsed Origin.
Kieran recalled the words that had appeared when he used the System Scan function.
✦ Object Classification: [Cursed / Dimensional Residue / Forbidden Lore]✦ Effects: Mental corruption, memory distortion, conceptual bleeding✦ Passive Influence: Triggers hidden scenarios across multiple regions✦ Notes: This item is not registered in the Grand System Database.✦ Warning: Deciphering this codex may unravel concealed world logic. Proceed with divine caution.
⚜️ Hidden Crown - Strike Team: Scouting Mission ⚜️
Elsewhere, beneath the guise of midnight's silence, the Hidden Crown's scouts emerged into the ruins northeast of Lioren Valley — an old zone lost in the kingdom's official maps. Vell Ashmoor led the team, her cloak trailing over the ancient moss-covered stones. Beside her, Yui Nocthollow faded in and out of visibility, while Sylvie Mirelle skimmed across wet leaves, her water veil blending her silhouette into the fog.
A hidden cave, half-collapsed, emerged before them.
"Traces of dark cult rituals here," Vell murmured. "Old bones, burnt sigils. A shrine to something with no name."
"Water echoes detect nothing moving nearby," Sylvie said after dipping her fingers into a puddle. "But the walls… they whisper."
Yui crouched beside the remnants of a charred circle. "This glyph… it's not just a summoning mark. It's a seal breaker. Someone was trying to breach a layer of the world."
Vell's fingers touched the edge of the sigil. The bones nearby — animal and human alike — were gnawed clean. The stale stench of sulfur and rot clung to the air.
"We report this back. Immediately."
🜲 Back at the Academy – A Shift in the Winds 🜲
The Kieran clone currently stationed at the Academy subtly observed a peculiar shift among the professors. Several were holding secret meetings at night in the Arcanum Tower. Students had begun experiencing strange dreams, and several low-level spellbooks in the west wing had gone blank — their runes erased by some unknown force.
Professor Callisya — the famed Ice Mage and instructor of elemental convergence — appeared increasingly distressed.
During morning lessons, she often trailed off, her eyes drifting to the distance as if watching a battlefield only she could see.
"It's coming back," she whispered one morning, so softly Kieran barely caught it. "The cycle always restarts. The tower calls again…"
Kieran took note.
Whatever darkness the book carried… it was beginning to affect the surroundings, even without direct exposure.
Nightfall – Within the Sanctum
Back in the sanctum, Kieran stood alone before the cube. He reached toward the surface, just enough to activate a minor reading interface. A single page fluttered open within the cube — spectral, transparent, like ink bleeding through dreams.
The text began to take form.
"In the beginning, there were nine towers — not raised, but descended. Anchors of memory. One by one, the world forgot them. But forgetting is not deletion. Forgetting is an offering."
Kieran's pupils dilated.
Behind him, the system interface buzzed.
[Hidden Scenario Triggered: Echoes of the Nine Towers]Status: DormantEffects: New questline branches availableCondition: Decipher two more pages from the Codex of the Eclipsed Origin
So it had begun.
Not a war, not yet.
But a slow unraveling — a peeling back of truth, one veil at a time.
Mission Log (System Interface Update):
Codex Investigation: 12% Deciphered
Tower Markings Matched: 1 / 9
Cults Tracked: 3 (Fragmented remnants; more suspected)
Crown Members Active on Field: 6
Strike Squad Deployment Status: 2 Divisions in movement
Cursed Zones Detected: 5 (Under surveillance)
Final Scene – Foreshadowing
In a cavern beneath the continent's southernmost ruins, a figure cloaked in midnight robes stood before a spiraled stone.
Around him, thirty followers knelt.
One of them whispered, "The Codex has stirred. The Tyrant awakens."
The robed figure grinned. His eyes bled with crimson.
"We awaken too."