The chamber hadn't been the same since the Eye appeared.
Frank remained silent. Jack sat on a broken column, still staring at his hand. The others kept their distance, not because they feared him—but because something in the air had changed. The shimmer of curiosity was gone. Now the room held tension… and something colder than fear.
Tom broke the silence first. "We should keep moving."
Susan nodded. "This chamber isn't the final destination."
"No," Frank agreed. "It's just the first gate."
He walked toward the far wall — one none of them had noticed before. It hadn't been lit, hadn't been marked. But now, after the Eye's arrival and Jack's collapse, it glowed faintly. Thin lines of violet ran through the black stone, forming patterns like ancient veins.
Peter tilted his head. "Was that always there?"
"No," Frank said. "Or maybe it was, but hidden. This structure is alive. It changes based on us."
Kitty frowned. "Then it knows we're here."
"Not just that," Frank replied. "It's reacting. We've awakened three sigils. And something… answered."
Marcus, who hadn't said much since Jack's trial, finally stepped forward. "Then let's see what it's hiding."
They approached together. The wall ahead now formed a perfect circle — a sealed stone door without a handle. Runes lined the edge, and at its center was a carved design: a broken ring, surrounded by seven smaller marks.
Susan whispered, "Seven… just like us."
Jack stepped closer. His mark pulsed once beneath his skin, and a faint glow shimmered in one of the seven slots.
Frank reached out and touched a second one. It lit instantly.
Tom placed his hand next, and his sigil burst with flame.
Then Susan.
One by one, four of the seven marks ignited. The door rumbled softly. But the other three remained dark.
Peter frowned. "It's waiting. For the rest of us."
"No," Frank said. "It's not waiting. It's denying access."
"What do you mean?" Lucy asked.
Frank ran a hand along the edge of the door. "This isn't the entrance to the trials. It's the entrance to the Demon City below."
"The real Odessyus?" Kitty asked.
"No," he said. "The one buried beneath it."
Marcus stepped forward. "You mean the city that fell during the Demon War?"
Frank nodded. "Alkros. The lost capital. Where all seven demons were once sealed — and where Kazakare last appeared before he vanished."
Jack folded his arms. "So we go in. Find answers. Find him."
"We can't," Frank said. "Not yet."
The group looked at him in confusion.
"This door only opens when all seven sigils are lit. Four of us are marked. Three are not. Until the last awaken… this gate remains sealed."
Kitty looked down at her hands. "So we're holding everyone back?"
"No," Frank said gently. "You're just not ready yet. That's not weakness. It's timing."
Tom sighed. "Then what now?"
Frank turned. "Now… we prepare. We explore the upper ruins. Train. Learn. The Blood Moon isn't far."
Susan looked up. "And when it rises?"
Frank's eyes hardened.
"When it rises, all seven will awaken. Whether they're ready… or not."
The room fell into silence again, broken only by the soft crackle of fading torches.
Then a low groan echoed from deeper within the stone. Not from the sealed door—but from a side passage none of them had noticed. A narrow corridor, half-buried under debris, had begun to shift open. Dust fell like ash. Faint green light poured through.
Tom tensed. "That's new."
Peter leaned over the ledge. "Looks like someone built a back door."
"No," Frank whispered. "That's not a door. That's a shortcut. One Kazakare used. I've seen that symbol before — in the shattered archives of the Triggsen Temple."
Jack stood. "Then let's follow it."
Frank hesitated. "That path doesn't lead to the main city. It leads somewhere else. Somewhere even deeper."
"Where?" Lucy asked.
Frank looked into the shadows.
"To the Throne of Chains. The first ruin Kazakare ever touched."
Everyone froze.
Kitty swallowed hard. "Should we really go there?"
Frank gave a faint, haunted smile.
"If we want to survive him… we need to understand him. And that means walking where he walked."
No one spoke, but the choice was already made.
One by one, they stepped into the passage of green light, unaware that far above them, at the surface of the sealed world, shadows were stirring.
And in the deepest part of Lordastian, where chains grew from walls like roots and the sky bled black, Kazakare Umsakata opened his eyes.
He whispered just two words.
"They're coming."