Beneath the scorched plains of Deadglass Valley, ancient doors groaned open.
The Vaults —Buried since the First Silence.Forged by the original machine-gods.Feared even by the Architects.
Now…they whisper again.
Vault-001: The Blood Echo Chamber
A scavenger crew called the Mireclaws had broken through the upper seal.
They were half-mad from radiation, starvation, and ghost-plague — but greed kept them moving.
The leader, Krane, shone his light into the void and saw rows of suspended figures — pale, blind, weeping fluid that glowed faint red.
"They're alive," one of the Mireclaws whispered.
Krane stepped closer.
One of the figures snapped awake, its mouth twisting wide.
"The Ashblood breathes."
And the Vault screamed.
The Mireclaws never left.
Only their shadows did.
Somewhere in the Dead Zone...
Shadow walked through the ruins of a crater where a city once stood.
The air tasted like burnt bone.
He could feel something pulling at him — a familiar hunger he hadn't known since the Abyss first opened.
And it wasn't the Forgotten.
It was…something new.
He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest.
The Void inside him pulsed — not in rage.
In fear.
A memory buried deep surfaced — a voice he'd heard once, in death:
"There are worse things than Reapers.They sleep beneath the Vaults."
Shadow stood.
His blade re-formed in his hand — cracked, bleeding, alive.
"Let them wake," he whispered."Let them try."
Meanwhile, in the Sky Spire Citadel…
Eve stood before the Conclave of Last Flame — humanity's last council.
They were terrified.
Of her.Of Shadow.Of what was coming.
They showed her footage stolen from Vault-001.
A figure had emerged.
Not quite human.Not quite machine.And not quite Shadow.
The screen flickered.
The boy from before — Ashblood — stood over the corpses of the Mireclaws.
He looked into the camera.
He smiled.
"Tell the Reaper…