Ash still clung to Sid's coat.
The Umbra Howler was gone — torn apart by the Blackbind Flame.
But something remained.
A single shard of the Key fragment had followed him back.
It hovered above the desk now, pulsing faintly like a forgotten heartbeat.
Across from him, in a chamber lined with ancient tomes and floating fragment, Professor Nox stood still — staring at the shard as if it were a corpse from his past.
> "You're ready," he finally said.
Sid frowned. "Ready for what?"
Nox turned. The room responded. Shelves shifted. Walls slid away.
A circular platform emerged from the ground — etched with four emblems, worn nearly to dust.
He stepped onto it.
> "Step in. It's time you learned why you're feared."
Sid hesitated, then obeyed.
The platform hummed.
Descent.
Not downward — deeper.
As if the world itself had layers.
The space they entered was older than memory. Cold. Silent. Lit only by the faint glow of sigils in the walls.
At the center stood a mural, cracked and blackened with age.
Nox lifted his hand. The mural burned — then re-formed.
Four great symbols. Four great clans.
> "Long ago, before the gods fell silent and the demons tore their way through the sky… there were four."
He gestured.
---
Ignis Clan — The Flameborne
> "Masters of light and flame. The Ignis forged weapons from stars and sealed rifts with their radiant power. Their founder was once called the Radiant King."
Their symbol glowed bright, even now.
---
Drakar Clan — The Blood of Wyrms
> "The Drakar possessed draconic blood — beasts bound to flesh. They molded their forms through will alone. Their strength ended battles before they began."
Their crest showed a three-horned dragon consuming its own tail.
---
Umbros Clan — Keepers of Shadows
> "Masters of seals, curses, and dark threads. They created techniques to bind even gods. Their founder was never named — only remembered as the Ten-Faced Demon."
Sid's skin prickled.
Something about that symbol felt… familiar. Too familiar.
---
Velari Clan — Wardens of Time
> "Our gift was memory. Time. Reflection. The Velari could halt decay, erase days, or rewind death itself."
Nox placed a hand over this symbol.
> "This… was my clan."
Sid blinked. "Wait. You're one of them?"
Nox nodded.
> "We were wiped out. Like the Ignis. By betrayal."
> "By whom?" Sid asked.
> "The war," Nox replied. "And those who stood behind it — gods, demons… and traitors from within."
---
Sid stared at the four crests. Then at his hands.
> "Why show me this now?"
> "Because," Nox said, voice low, "we tested your blood."
> "What?"
> "You carry traces of two clans that should not coexist. One erased by light. One consumed by shadow."
> "Ignis…" Sid whispered. "And Umbros?"
Nox nodded slowly.
> "That makes no sense."
> "Precisely. That's why you frighten us."
---
He turned to face the mural again.
> "Each clan had its own Technique System. Divine scripts. Demonic mantras. Inherited through blood… or bound by scars."
He looked over his shoulder.
> "You've already used one. You just don't know it yet."
Sid swallowed.
The Blackbind Flame.
> "What am I?" he asked, quietly.
Nox didn't answer. Instead, he walked toward the edge of the chamber — where a spiral stair descended further into the dark.
> "Come. The past is only the first gate. Now, we begin with the forgotten."
---
Sid followed.
The walls shimmered with threads of violet memory.
From somewhere far below, the voice returned.
> "So… they told you. Good.
Now you'll finally understand... what we left behind."
The fire inside Sid stirred.
And beneath the sigil chamber, a sealed vault began to wake.
---