Auron rose before the others.
The dream still clung to him like smoke. That face—the one with the stitched eyes—was etched in his mind. It hadn't been part of the mask's whispers before. This was something else. Something deeper.
He didn't tell Jace.
Didn't tell Mira.
Some things were better kept buried.
The pit was quiet as he walked through it. Just the shuffle of tired feet and the distant groan of gears turning in the upper lift shafts.
He passed the chamber where the boy still slept, and he paused. A soft breath from within told him the boy was alive, but the feeling in the air said something was changing in him too.
That's how the Abyss worked.
It never stopped growing.
Only waited.
---
Mira found him an hour later near the collapsed observatory tunnel, standing with his eyes closed and hands behind his back.
"We need to talk," she said.
Auron opened his eyes. "So talk."
She handed him a folded sheet. It was rough parchment with black ink and the seal of the House Dominion — the ruling clan of the upper kingdom.
"They're coming," she said. "Not scouts. Not watchers. Knights."
Auron read it carefully. His expression didn't change.
"Execution order?"
"No," Mira said. "Not yet. Investigation squad. Three Highborne officers and a Black Judge."
He looked up at her.
"They're sending a Judge to the pit?"
She nodded once. "When they arrive, everything we've done becomes irrelevant. If they find even a hint of corruption, they'll purge it all. Everyone. Slaves, guards, nobles."
Auron folded the parchment and tucked it into his belt.
"How long do we have?"
"A week. Maybe less."
He turned to the tunnel wall and tapped the stone lightly with his knuckles.
"Then I need to go lower."
Mira stepped in front of him.
"There's nothing below but ruin."
"No," Auron said. "There's something. A voice. A door. I've felt it since the boy's echo died."
"You're already bound to the mask. Going deeper might—"
"It will," Auron cut in. "That's the point."
She exhaled slowly.
"You're gambling with a sickness that eats minds."
"And yet I'm the only one it hasn't broken."
Mira studied his face.
"You think you're immune."
"I think I'm something new."
---
He returned to the sealed wall in the Forge Tunnels that night.
The glyph pulsed under his hand again. This time, brighter.
The system warned him.
\[Corruption Surge Detected – Barrier Weakened]
\[Breaking the Seal will trigger a Level III Manifestation]
\[Proceed?]
Auron didn't hesitate.
He placed his palm firmly against the glyph.
The stone cracked like old ice.
Then shattered inward.
A gust of freezing air burst out, swirling with black dust.
Behind it… stairs.
Carved, ancient, and spiraling down into darkness.
He descended slowly, each step echoing behind him.
The air grew heavier. The system buzzed with static. His heartbeat slowed, as if something was pressing against his chest.
Then he reached the bottom.
It wasn't a chamber.
It was a dome.
Massive, round, and carved with thousands of eyes.
Not symbols.
Eyes.
Open. Staring. Embedded in the stone itself.
And in the center—
A single altar.
Floating above it, a sphere.
Black as pitch, glowing faintly from within like it held stars.
The system couldn't scan it.
No data. No warnings.
Only one line appeared in his vision.
\[You have found the Eye Beneath the Stone]
\[???]
\[???]
\[Touch to Bind]
He stepped forward.
One more step.
Then another.
The whispers returned—louder than ever.
They weren't words anymore.
They were screams.
Laughter.
Cries from across time.
He reached out.
His hand brushed the sphere.
And in that moment, his vision shattered.
---
He was standing in a ruined throne room.
The walls bled shadow.
The sky above was gone — only void.
And on the throne sat a man with no face.
Just a crack where his features should've been.
Auron couldn't move.
The figure on the throne raised one hand.
A black crown formed in the air, hovering over Auron's head.
**"You will not rule,"** a voice thundered in every direction. **"You will remember."**
Then the crown dropped.
And everything turned white.
---
When he woke, he was lying at the altar's base.
The sphere was gone.
The eyes on the walls had closed.
And the mask in his hand was now fully gray — smooth, flawless.
Waiting.
The system finally returned.
\[Artifact Ascended: Whispering Mask – Level 2]
\[Passive Unlocked: Mind Veil – Immune to Probing]
\[Skill Gained: Echo Split – Project an illusory double with limited function]
\[Corruption Level: 18% – Surging]
\[Judgment Approaching – Time Left: 4 Days]
Auron stood, breathing slow.
The voice was right.
He wouldn't rule.
Not yet.
But when he did… there would be nothing left to stop him.