The room remained cloaked in a tense, strange silence, the kind that lingered after something otherworldly had shaken the very air. Chosa sat on the floor, breathing shallow, beads of sweat still trickling down his temple from the pain that had rocked his entire body moments earlier. One knee was raised, his fingers curled into the fabric of his pants to ground himself. Kaisel knelt beside him, his normally aloof demeanor shattered by the flicker of worry in his eyes. Across the room, Lila stood with her back partially turned, arms folded tightly across her chest, as if holding herself together while the pale blue crystals embedded in the walls continued casting their ghostly glow.
Kaisel finally broke the silence, his voice quieter than usual. "Lila... do you think you could come with us? Help us clear the next floors?"
She turned slowly, her expression torn, her gaze heavier than before. "I don't know, Kaisel. I'm not who I used to be. After what happened back then... after I sacrificed half of my mana core just to survive—I'm barely even a threat now. I'd be considered a low B-rank at best."
Chosa finally managed to sit up straight, his voice steadier than he felt. "You kidding? Rank doesn't matter. What matters is your knowledge, your experience. We're not just trying to climb floors anymore—we're unraveling a conspiracy. We need someone like you. Hell, I'm still a D-rank Raider."
Lila blinked, caught off guard. Her gaze flicked between the two of them. "You're a D-rank? Really?"
Kaisel smirked and nodded. "Yep. Still a D-rank. But I've got this strange feeling that he's going to surpass even me."
Lila's eyes narrowed in disbelief. "You? Saying someone might surpass you? You've always acted like you were the strongest guy alive."
Kaisel gave her a half-smile, though a faint intensity remained in his eyes. "That's because, until now, I was. Everyone else was weaker than me. Chosa's... different."
A short pause hung in the air before Lila shook her head, lips curving into the smallest of grins. "You're both crazy. But fine... give me a few minutes. I'll go grab my gear."
She disappeared through a doorway leading deeper into her hidden sanctuary. As her footsteps faded into the distance, Kaisel turned toward Chosa. "Be honest. You sure you're okay? That looked like more than a migraine."
Chosa paused. He didn't want to worry him. Not yet. Not when he didn't fully understand it himself. "Yeah... I'm fine. It was just sudden. Probably a backlash from the interface or something. I've had worse."
But even as the words left his mouth, a cold uncertainty coiled in his gut. He wasn't fine. The voice that had spoken to him through Luna's interface hadn't just been cold—it had been absolute. It spoke of locked truths, punishments, and consequences he didn't yet understand. The pain he felt hadn't just been physical—it had been something deeper, like his soul itself was being burned for daring to ask. He clenched his fists. Floor 5. He needed to reach it. That was where the answers would start to appear.
Minutes passed in silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of the magical sconces on the wall. Then, the door creaked open again.
Lila stepped through, and both Kaisel and Chosa looked up in unison.
She wore a deep crimson mage robe, sleek and refined, trimmed in obsidian-black patterns that shimmered faintly under the blue light. The hem of the robe swayed as she walked, and on her chest glowed a faint, flame-shaped insignia—once the proud mark of her now-erased guild. A wide-brimmed mage hat sat atop her head, casting a faint shadow over her eyes, and in her right hand, she carried a long, elegant staff covered in glowing arcane runes. At its tip flickered a living ember.
Chosa's eyes widened in awe. "Whoa..."
Kaisel chuckled softly, an actual smile forming on his lips. "It's been a long time since I've seen you wear that. You haven't changed at all."
Lila huffed, cheeks coloring slightly. "Stop staring before I change my mind," she muttered, giving both of them a sharp tap on the head with the end of her staff.
They both winced and laughed, rubbing the spots.
Despite herself, Lila smiled. "You two better not slow me down."
Chosa grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."
She turned toward the exit of the hidden chamber and gave one last glance at the sanctuary she'd called home for so long. Then she straightened her hat, tightened her grip on her staff, and said firmly, "Let's go."
The trio stepped out into the cold morning air. The sky above was veiled in thick, gray clouds, and the Tower loomed in the distance like an ever-watching sentinel. Every step forward was a step deeper into danger, but together, they moved ahead.
Toward the Tower.
Toward the truth.