The ground beneath the flooded city split open with a sound like the world tearing its own skin.
Black water drained downward, spiraling into a widening crater as something rose from beneath the ruins. Not a monster. Not a dungeon boss.
A warden.
Its form was vaguely humanoid, but its body was carved from obsidian-like stone veined with molten gold. Halo fragments hovered behind its head—not whole, not broken, but incorrect. Chains of runic light bound its limbs, not restraining it, but feeding it.
Ulfric took one look and swore. "That's not a remnant. That's a Sentinel of Accord."
Lucian's eyes widened. "Those things enforce ancient contracts."
Seraphina didn't move.
Her sword was already humming.
"So this place wasn't abandoned," she said coldly. "It was quarantined."
The Sentinel's eyes ignited.
Its voice boomed—not aloud, but inside their bones.
"UNAUTHORIZED EXISTENCE DETECTED."
Its gaze locked onto Siheon.
Seraphina stepped in front of him without hesitation.
"No," she said. "You're looking at the wrong person."
Siheon glanced at her, surprised.
She didn't look back.
"Siheon," she said calmly, "listen to me. These things don't fight like monsters. They respond to authority."
"I have too much of that," he replied.
She smiled faintly. "Then let me aim it."
The Sentinel raised one massive arm.
The air compressed.
Ulfric braced. Aegis slammed his shield down. Lucian began weaving a barrier—
"Too slow!" Seraphina snapped.
She surged forward.
The Sentinel's arm came down like judgment itself—
—and Seraphina vanished.
She reappeared inside its guard, blade flashing upward. Her sword didn't cut stone.
It cut the binding runes.
Sparks of authority erupted as the Sentinel reeled back, its balance disrupted for the first time.
Siheon felt it instantly.
A gap.
Not physical.
Conceptual.
〈Celestial Ascension System: Structural inconsistency detected.〉
〈Demonic Sovereign System: That's your opening.〉
Siheon moved.
Not explosively.
Not overwhelmingly.
He stepped into Seraphina's wake.
The world slowed—not because of power, but because his mind aligned.
Seraphina pivoted mid-motion, already anticipating him.
"Left channel!" she called.
Siheon's shadow surged—not outward, but downward, slipping beneath the Sentinel like spilled ink. He didn't strike the body.
He struck the idea of grounding.
The Sentinel staggered.
Seraphina was already there.
She leapt, sword blazing as investigative sigils transformed mid-air into execution seals.
"Authority Override—Second Clause!"
Her blade plunged into the Sentinel's chest.
It screamed.
Chains snapped.
Golden fissures spread across its form.
But instead of collapsing, the Sentinel adapted.
Its free hand clenched.
Reality warped.
A shockwave blasted outward, hurling Seraphina back—
Siheon caught her.
Not with arms.
With shadow.
Her momentum dissolved as his power absorbed the impact, setting her gently back on her feet.
For half a second, they were face to face.
"You okay?" he asked.
She smirked. "Told you not to underestimate me."
Then she grabbed his wrist.
"Again. Together."
Something clicked.
Siheon nodded.
They moved as one.
Seraphina charged first—always first—forcing the Sentinel's attention. Her sword danced, carving sigils into the air itself, each strike weakening a different clause of the ancient contract binding the creature.
Siheon followed—not as support, not as commander, but as counterweight.
Where Seraphina cut meaning, Siheon erased consequence.
Where the Sentinel tried to reassert authority, Siheon's dual systems refused classification.
〈Celestial Ascension System: Authority rejected.〉
〈Demonic Sovereign System: Ownership denied.〉
The Sentinel faltered.
For the first time in centuries, it couldn't define its opponent.
Seraphina felt it.
"Now!" she shouted.
Siheon stepped forward and raised his hand—not to destroy.
To decide.
His shadow and light overlapped, forming a silent sigil beneath the Sentinel.
Not celestial.
Not demonic.
Human.
"Stand down," Siheon said quietly.
The Sentinel froze.
Its chains shattered.
Its halo fragments fell.
With a final, echoing hum, the ancient warden dissolved into harmless particles—its contract voided, not broken.
Silence reclaimed the ruined city.
Seraphina exhaled hard and rested her sword against the ground.
"…That," she said, "was clean."
Lucian stared. "That was terrifying."
Ulfric laughed, loud and genuine. "Now that is partnership."
Siheon looked at Seraphina.
"Thank you," he said.
She met his gaze, silver eyes steady.
"Don't thank me," she replied. "Just don't walk ahead of me."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"I won't."
Above them, clouds slowly parted.
But far beyond sight—
Something ancient took note.
Not of Siheon alone.
But of them together.