---
> "Not all Monarchs were saviors.
Some were sealed not by enemies—
but by their own."
---
[Location: Southeast Korea – Forbidden Range, Near the Sea of Fog]
Rain fell like whispering ash.
Jin-Soo and Yuna stood before an ancient tunnel mouth carved into a black stone cliff. No birds, no wind. Even the fog refused to touch this place.
Yuna shivered—not from cold, but from instinct.
> "It's here," she whispered.
"The final Monarch Core.
The Ninth."
Jin-Soo's system pulsed with violent static.
> [Warning: Ninth Monarch Core Detected]
[Type: Unknown]
[Status: Sealed by Monarch Authority – Layered Lock]
[Access Conditions: Both current Monarchs must approve unlock.]
[Danger Level: EXTINCTION]
---
[Why Was He Sealed?]
As they approached the stone arch, glowing glyphs lit up.
Old Monarch language—Yuna began to read it aloud:
> "Here lies the Ninth:
The Monarch who broke balance."
"He spoke in truths so sharp, even reality bled."
"We loved him.
We feared him.
So we caged him."
---
[System Confirmation: Begin Unseal Process?]
> [Yuna – Approval: YES]
[Jin-Soo – Approval Required]
Jin-Soo hesitated.
He looked at Yuna.
> "If they locked him away… were they wrong?"
Yuna's voice was quiet.
> "I don't know. But we're out of time.
They're coming.
And he might be the only one who can rewrite the war."
Jin-Soo clenched his fists.
> "Then we better meet the devil they were afraid of."
He said: Yes.
---
[Unsealing Begins – The Tunnel Opens]
Black light surged across the stones.
The tunnel cracked open with a soundless roar, like the scream of a planet remembered.
Inside—
Only darkness.
And at the end…
A throne, wrapped in chains made from conceptual law. Not steel. Not magic.
But things like:
"Obedience"
"Memory"
"Mortality"
And on that throne sat…
A man.
---
[Ninth Monarch – Awakening]
His eyes were closed.
His body unmoving.
But the moment the seals cracked—
Jin-Soo felt it.
His name.
It wasn't spoken.
It simply arrived inside Jin-Soo's skull, carved behind his thoughts:
> Kael.
> [Title: Monarch of Revelation]
[Class Type: Truthweaver / Reality Erosion]
[Alignment: Unknown]
[State: Dormant, but Conscious]
[Emotional Stability: 2%]
[Seal Fracture Level: 81%]
Suddenly, his eyes opened.
And they were not eyes.
They were mirrors.
And when Jin-Soo looked into them, he saw—
Himself. Bleeding. Kneeling. Screaming.
But not yet.
> "You will regret this," Kael said softly.
"But I will still help you."
---
[Revelation Begins – Kael's Voice]
> "The Architects were not first."
"The Monarchs were not creators."
"We are not fighting gods.
We are fighting a prison."
Jin-Soo took a shaky breath.
> "A prison?"
Kael rose from the throne. The chains fell away. The temple began to tremble.
> "This world—this system, your pain, your silence—
are all the walls of something older than time."
"And I am the only one who remembers what lies behind it."
> "But to unlock that truth…"
"One of you must die."
---
Yuna stepped forward, voice sharp:
> "You expect us to trade life for answers?"
Kael's smile was not cruel—just exhausted.
> "There are no answers without sacrifice."
---
[System Alert – Dissonance Spike]
> [Warning: Jin-Soo's presence is destabilizing containment layer around the Ninth Core]
[If Kael is released fully, all Architect-class entities will converge within 6 hours.]
[New Decision Node Triggered: Will you set Kael free now, or keep the seal half-broken?]
[Consequence: Unknown]
---
[Jin-Soo's Choice]
He looked at Kael. Then at Yuna.
Then back to the path they'd taken—the erased villages, the betrayal, the monsters, the lies.
He clenched his fists.
> "No more cages."
> "We fight with truth, or we lose in lies."
He said: "I choose release."
---
[Seal Broken – The Ninth Rises]
Kael exhaled.
The temple collapsed behind them.
And the world—shuddered.
---
[Final Scene – Origin Network Shatters]
Back inside The Atrium, Architect beings screamed as one of their primary records was suddenly rewritten.
Their perfect harmony stuttered.
> [Error: Monarch of Revelation = Active]
[Truth Domain = Unlocked]
[Collapse Event Predicted in 12 Days]
And the voice of the Architect Supreme whispered:
> "We were too late."
---