The descent into the underworld was silent.
Even the torches that lit the path from above flickered as if uncertain they should follow. What lay ahead was not merely dark—it was hollow. Air that clung like wet ash. Stone that whispered. Light that twisted.
And over it all hung a weight no one could name.
Rhea felt it first. Her fingers brushed against Ember's flame fur, but even the creature was uneasy, tail low, ears flat, his fire dim.
Vexa kept close to her side, knife drawn, but even she moved slower now—like every step dared the world to crack beneath them.
Kuromi's voice was the first to break the quiet.
"This place…" she muttered. "It shouldn't exist."
No one argued.
Jalen led the way, but even he looked over his shoulder now and then—not out of fear, out of instinct. Something was wrong, and the worst part was… it hadn't even started yet.
Elsewhere.
Lucio blinked.
He was no longer underground.
The courtyard lay before him—familiar, sunlit, filled with laughter. He looked down. A sword in his hand. The training fields ahead.
Except… the sun was wrong. Too red. The laughter too distant. A child ran by—one he recognized. A child who'd died years ago.
Lucio's breath caught.
He turned—only to see himself, from years ago, bleeding on the ground. A fatal wound across his chest and the snarling wolf that gave it to him.
And no one helped him.
He was back in that moment.
The one he'd survived—but shouldn't have.
The world warped. The courtyard rotted. The child screamed and turned to ash in the wind.
Lucio dropped his blade.
And began to fall again.
Kullen stood before the gates of Everlock.
Except the sky was red. The walls were broken.
Gods—not men—fought overhead, titanic in size, divine in fury.
He ran through the streets, shouting for order, screaming for his people...
But there were no people.
Only shadows. Empty houses. Bones wearing royal crests.
And in the distance, two figures—one cloaked in chains, the other in fire—clashed above the ruins of his throne.
He screamed louder.
No one heard him.
Nathan felt time.
He felt it stretch.
Then snap.
Then loop.
He relived a single second, then an hour, then a year, all in the space of a blink.
He knew it was a trick.
He knew the loop.
He'd escaped them before.
But this one was different.
Each time he broke free, a younger version of himself greeted him, dead-eyed, whispering, "Again."
Then it started over.
And over.
And over.
And he began to forget when it began at all.
Jalen was alone.
Or… he thought he was.
The room he stood in was infinite—a cathedral of mirrors, each one reflecting not his face… but versions of his godhood. Cruel. Vengeful. Smiling.
One stepped out.
"You're not worthy," it said. "I should've taken over long ago."
The glyphs that once adorned his arms now floated around him like chains.
Each one pulsed with power.
And a voice whispered in his ear: "Let us in. We'll make you perfect."
Jalen clenched his fists.
But the mirrors cracked.
And from every shard, his god-self stepped forward.
"Why be a God of Freedom when you have the power to take everything that you want..."
All at once—
They snapped back.
Lucio gasping. Kullen sweating. Nathan was clutching his temples—Jalen on one knee.
They were together again—but the stone beneath them… was breathing.
Lucio looked down, heart racing. "We're inside him."
Jalen raised his head. "Zeraphon."
The air trembled.
Then, laughter.
High. Shrill. Wrong.
And something stepped from the dark.
Tall. Thin. Dressed like a jester but without color. His skin was translucent, bones visible beneath, his grin wide, teeth like glass razors. His eyes did not blink.
The Smiling Man had arrived.
The figure's smile never moved. But it was the first thing they noticed.
Too wide. Too real.
Like it had been carved into his face.
The Smiling Man bowed, slow and dramatic, as though greeting a royal court.
"Welcome… little candles," he whispered. "Burning so bright in the dark."
His voice echoed without direction, as if each word came from behind their eyes.
Vexa raised her blade. "What in the hell are you?"
"Wrong question," he said, standing tall again. "Try asking why."
He began to step—or at least move. His body didn't walk so much as glide, twitching with every shift, like a puppet too aware of its own strings.
"You're trespassing," the Smiling Man said. "In a place where even memory is on loan. But don't worry… I'm here to help."
He grinned wider. "Help you forget."
Jalen stepped in front of Rhea. "You working for Zeraphon?"
A slow nod. "Mmm. Zeraphon has… eyes that see in all directions. I'm just one of the mouths."
Lucio coughed behind Jalen, still pale. "That's comforting."
The Smiling Man stopped walking. Or twitching. Or whatever it was.
Then he tilted his head and looked directly at Rhea.
"Ohhh… you."
Rhea stiffened.
"You don't belong down here," the Smiling Man said, taking one step closer. "You still dream. Still fight. Still think love can protect you. Still think that they can protect you."
His head twitched.
"But you've had to kill, haven't you? You know that you are in over your head... and deep down you should've just stayed in Veyport."
Vexa stepped forward, placing herself between them. "Back off."
The Smiling Man didn't respond. He just shivered with delight.
Then—faster than breath—he appeared in front of her and touched her wrist.
Vexa screamed.
Not from pain—but from the flood.
Her knees hit the ground as visions of her past surged through her—killings, betrayals, blood she had long buried. All of it ripped forward and fed directly into him.
And he moaned.
"Ooooh," he hissed, licking his teeth. "You've lived. Delicious."
Jalen lunged forward, landing a punch to the Smiling Man's side.
But the fist passed through him.
He turned and looked at Jalen, face peeling with amusement.
"You're not the only one who cheats reality, Freedom Boy."
Suddenly, chains of memory shot out from his body—threads of light that anchored themselves to the ground. The space distorted.
And then…
He gestured.
And Stix walked out from the fog.
Older.
Scarred.
Chest still torn from where the spider's pincer had run him through.
His eyes, though—they were alive.
"Stix? When did you separate from the group?"Rhea shouted. Her legs gave out.
The Smiling Man chuckled. "I told you… I help. Zeraphon asked if we could make this personal."
Stix's voice was raspy. "Leave me out of this you asshole."
Lucio sighed. "Stix, just hang tight, we'll get you away from him in no time."
Kullen looked between them all.
Kuromi's grip tightened.
Vexa rose shakily.
Jalen stepped forward angrily. "You restored his life just to kill him again?!" His eyes flashed golden as his aura began to leak out of his body.
"No, no," the Smiling Man crooned, tilting his head back and forth. "You'll get to watch me kill him. Over and over. Until there's nothing left."
Jalen, Nathan, and Lucio moved instantaneously. "THE HELL YOU ARE BAS-"
Then, with a snap of his fingers—
The entire world shifted.
The ground split beneath them.
And the group was separated.
Lucio and Kuromi fell through a spiraling corridor of flame and shadow.
Kullen and Nathan dropped into a cavern of ticking clocks and shifting walls.
Jalen, Vexa, and Ember found themselves in a silent crypt surrounded by twitching statues.
And Rhea…
Rhea was left behind.
Staring at Stix.
Alone.