"Which layer holds the memory fragment?" Leo asked softly, standing at the edge of the spiral staircase.
Gar didn't answer right away. He slowly closed his eyes, as if sensing something. The bone ring on his fingertip flickered faintly—necromantic magic searching for a specific coordinate. After a moment, he opened his eyes, his expression solemn. "The bottommost layer."
"The bottom…" Vivella glanced up at the countless overlapping iron levels above their heads. "That's the most forgotten corner of this entire underground city."
They said no more and continued descending the narrow staircase. The metal steps creaked beneath their feet. The light grew dimmer, and the air heavier—like they were walking into the tomb of a long-dead civilization.
The deeper they went, the stronger the scent of rust and rot became. When they finally reached the bottommost layer, Luna couldn't help but frown at the sight before her.
It hardly looked like a place for humans to live. The air was damp and cold, reeking of mold and sewage. Dirty water pooled on the ground. The walls were cracked, graffitied, and worn down. In the corners, a few gaunt men and children huddled, eyes wary and filled with mistrust.
"They look afraid of us," Dan whispered, gripping the twin blades at his waist.
"It's not fear—it's reverence," Gar replied grimly. "To them, we are people from the upper layers. Clean, armed, and organized—that alone is enough to make them retreat."
"This structure… it's far bigger than the top floors," Luna murmured as she studied the sprawling network of tunnels. "There are so many people, and yet it feels like they're locked in a cage."
"This is the bottom layer," Gar said coldly. "A place stripped of hope. People here have grown used to silence."
As they walked through a damp corridor, Leo noticed an old beggar sitting in a shadowy corner. His eyes were hollow, the sockets sunken, eyelids shut tight as if they had never opened. In his hand, he held a battered iron bowl. His clothes were in tatters. In front of him lay a few hard biscuits and a bone-dry flask.
A passerby murmured, "He was born without eyes. No one knows how he's still alive."
Gar walked over, took a few silver coins from his pouch, and dropped them into the beggar's bowl. The beggar immediately bowed his head in thanks, his voice raspy and trembling. "Th-thank you, kind sir… You must be… a messenger from the gods?"
Gar shook his head slowly. "Born without eyes… he can't even see the darkness of this layer. He's never even had the right to cry."
The beggar froze, speechless. Leo watched the scene in silence, a heavy weight pressing on his heart.
"Where's the fragment?" he asked softly.
Gar turned to him and nodded, motioning for the others to follow. He led them through several winding back alleys, eventually stopping before a corroded iron wall.
This corner was utterly devoid of sunlight—damp and silent, as though the entire bottom layer had forgotten it existed. No one lived here. No one passed by. The wall was covered in cracks, rust, and a thick layer of dust.
Gar raised his hand and searched along the wall until he found a fixed groove. With a soft click, a circular iron plate began to rotate, revealing a thick metal door behind it. Beyond the door was a deep, shadowy void that felt like it led into an unknown abyss.
"Go in," Gar said in a low voice.
One by one, they stepped through the doorway. After lighting torches, they finally saw the interior clearly.
It was an enormous oval-shaped chamber, so vast it took their breath away. Hundreds of pod-like capsules were neatly arranged along the walls, each one a separate chamber with a metallic sheen. Across the floor, a complex network of pipes converged at the chamber's center—like veins flowing toward a heart.
Luna approached one of the capsules and peered inside—then suddenly gasped.
"There's… someone inside!" she exclaimed.
Everyone gathered around. Inside the capsule lay a pale-skinned figure, sleeping peacefully, as if under a deep hypnotic trance. Their chest still rose and fell—proof they were alive.
"What is this?" Leo asked.
"Test subjects, maybe," Gar said, frowning. "This place feels like an old-era breeding or cryogenic storage facility. Or maybe…" He paused. "A method for raising soldiers by some organization."
"That's horrifying…" Vivella whispered, her eyes full of pity.
Just then, their attention was drawn to the glowing object floating at the chamber's center.
It was a cube, about the size of a fist, hovering in midair. It emitted a dark green glow, surrounded by tiny arcs of electricity. It pulsed as if breathing, releasing unstable waves of energy.
Gar pointed to the cube, his eyes firm. "That's your memory fragment, Leo."
Before Leo could react, Dan suddenly dashed forward, twin blades flashing as he leapt toward the cube.
"Dan, don't—!" Gar shouted, but it was too late.
A transparent energy wall exploded outward, sending Dan flying into the wall. He flipped and landed quickly, his expression grim.
"It's untouchable," he said.
Vivella instantly drew her bow and fired an arrow. It shot toward the cube like a meteor—but was deflected mid-air by the energy field, clattering harmlessly to the ground.
Luna cast a burst of electromagnetic disruption magic. As the beam touched the barrier, it was instantly absorbed and vanished without a sound.
"Completely ineffective," she said, shaking her head. "It only reacts to a specific kind of energy."
"Perhaps… it only responds to Leo," Gar said, staring at the cube. "The mark on your body—it's the key."
All eyes turned to Leo. He nodded slightly, drawing his broken sword. The Void Ring on his right hand began to emit a faint magical glow. He took a deep breath and stepped slowly toward the cube.
As he approached, the cube stopped rotating—responding to some familiar presence.
"It's reacting," Vivella whispered.
The cube let out a low hum, then slowly descended, resting gently in Leo's open hands.
In an instant, the cube disintegrated into a cloud of dark green particles. They streamed into the five-pointed star-shaped brand on Leo's collarbone. The entire chamber fell silent—as if even the air had stopped moving.
Leo closed his eyes. His body trembled slightly.
Leo collapsed to his knees, both hands braced against the cold floor as his chest heaved violently. Beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead like rain. His face was twisted in pain, as though invisible spikes were stabbing deep into his mind.
"Arghhhh—!" he let out a cry of agony, the sound echoing through the vast space.
Luna rushed to his side immediately. "Leo!"
She reached out to touch him, but a sudden burst of black energy threw her half a step back. The energy surged from the pentagram-shaped brand on his collarbone, spreading like vines that wrapped tightly around his entire body. The tendrils quickly climbed upward, extending with a will of their own as they burrowed into the pipes connecting each incubation pod.
"This is... black energy?" Vivella stepped back in alarm, her bow instinctively drawn and ready.
A moment later, every incubation pod shifted from transparent to pitch black. The cloned bodies floating in the liquid began to thrash violently, pounding the inner walls of their pods in agony.
"They're in pain!" Dan gripped his dual blades tightly, his body tense. "Are they going to explode?!"
Gar's expression was grim. "This energy feels familiar... It's the aura of death and chaos."
Suddenly—
Bang! Bang!
One after another, incubation pods shattered from within, liquid spraying across the room. The figures that emerged had jet-black skin and glowing red eyes. Around their necks were uniform silver mechanical collars. They stood up in unison, like an awakened army, and turned their heads in perfect synchronicity.
"Prepare for battle!" Luna backed away swiftly, a blue-and-white magic circle flashing to life in her palm.
Before anyone could react, the black humanoids launched themselves forward.
But just as they were about to make contact, a thick cloud of black mist exploded from Leo's body, wrapping tightly around Luna and the others. The mist solidified into a protective barrier. The black humanoids slammed into the wall of fog, but couldn't get even an inch closer.
"This is... Leo's energy protecting us?" Vivella stared in astonishment beyond the fog.
"He hasn't completely lost consciousness!" Gar narrowed his eyes at Leo, who was now completely shrouded in black energy. "But in his current state... things don't look good."
The black humanoids paused briefly—then suddenly turned and sprinted toward the exit, as if summoned by an unseen force.
"What are they doing?"
"They're leaving!" Dan frowned. "They're not trying to attack us. They must have another target!"
Once all the black humanoids had left the space, the black mist around the group began to dissipate. Luna rushed to Leo, but he remained crouched on the ground, the dark energy still tightly wrapped around his body, as if trying to consume him entirely.
"We can't pull it off by force," Gar said calmly. "His consciousness is likely fighting against something much deeper."
"We need to get out of here and see what those black humanoids are trying to do," Dan urged.
The group exchanged glances, then quickly dashed out of the chamber.
Looking down the corridor, they saw the black humanoids surging upward from the sixth level, flooding through the passages like a rising tide. They didn't attack anyone along the way—not a single glance spared for the lower-level personnel.
"They're moving with purpose... this isn't a mindless rampage," Vivella noted.
"They were once experimental subjects here," Gar sighed. "Some kind of awakened collective consciousness must be guiding them."
At the checkpoint between the third and fourth levels, alarms blared. Countless guards and mages stationed on the third level formed ranks with weapons and spells ready, attempting to hold the line.
"Stop them!"
Fireballs, ice spears, and lightning bolts flew through the air. But the black humanoids pushed forward relentlessly through the barrage. Some tumbled and crawled, others kept going even with limbs blown off—completely numb to pain.
"Quick! Strengthen the defensive barriers!" shouted the chief of guards.
But it was futile. The defensive line was torn apart like paper. The guards of the third level were steadily pushed back as the black humanoid army continued its ascent.
"There's too many of them!" Dan gritted his teeth. "We need to catch up!"
"We must understand their goal before we act," Luna nodded. "We can't intervene blindly."
The group followed closely behind the black humanoids, passing through ruined corridors like shadows.
When they reached the second level, a sight of sheer horror stopped them in their tracks—
The top-level officials had lined up rows of children along the hallway, creating a "human wall." Most of the children were under ten years old, each with the same mechanical collar around their necks, their faces etched with terror.
"What are you doing?!" Vivella shouted in rage.
A guard captain clad in golden armor replied coldly, "We have no choice. Only test subjects can control test subjects."
Vivella stepped forward, her bow trembling in her grip. "They're children!"
"They're not human. They're clones—just like those rampaging black humanoids!" the captain barked.
Yet the black humanoids stopped before the human wall.
Their red eyes swept across the children. Their movements hesitated. They did not advance.
"They... they recognize the children?" Dan's eyes widened.
"Perhaps these children... are their 'next generation,'" Gar murmured. "They can't bring themselves to harm those who resemble themselves."
The children sobbed, some collapsing to the floor—yet still forced to stand in place.
"This atrocity must be stopped," Vivella growled under her breath.
Luna grabbed her arm. "Wait... If we act now, we'll be branded as traitors too."
"But we can't just stand by!"
"I know. But we need to act at the right moment," Luna said calmly. "Wait a little longer... There might still be a way."
A standoff persisted between the black humanoids and the children. Time seemed to freeze. The air was thick with the scent of death—but also held a fragile thread of hope.
And somewhere in the depths below, Leo's black energy began to stir once more…