Blue Torches were seen blazing on the walls, while furniture and the like were scattered and scrambled everywhere. Tables were tossed and thrown, knives surrounded, while corpses stood at the edge, the second layer of the entombed castle. Asahi, Trid, and Ignatius light their way amongst the corpses, each with a sick sense of fear dwelling inside them.

Then they made their way to the roundtable, seeing mighty thrones crashing onto the floor.

"How old is this place?" Ignatius asked as her flame kept them alight like a flashlight.

Trid, after examining the walls, turned over and slid his finger down the creases, finding traces of mildew latched onto the surfaces. As they pursued their search for the monster, Asahi raced to the resurrection circle. He felt a cold sense of longing within this castle, as if some ancient secret was stuck in his brain. Then, coming from the hallways.

(CLANG) (CLANG) (CLANG)

Metal surfaces scraping the walls began to shriek an agony of none before. Asahi raced to Ignatius, pulling out his sword as the smell of rotten steel clung to his nostrils. Ignatius, pushing her bright orange hair back, raced to the approaching silhouette, unaware of what the source actually was. Asahi's gray eyes anchored at the gauntlet clasped, then unleashed a blow straight at its chest plate. At first, Asahi thought it was just an ordinary knight, no details and their faces shrouded, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. In reality, a phantom had latched onto the armor, wearing it as if it were some clothing.

Heart palpitating, Asahi raced through the hallways with Trid, trying to find a way out. But all that stood by them were empty corridors, struck miles deep into the entombed castle. Asahi then raced back to Ignatius, only to find a group shrouded in cloaks gathering around the resurrection circle. Quickly, Asahi grabbed his blade and unsheathed it from his Soul Storage. Then, with one blow, he struck one of the cloaked figures. But immediately, they reeled back, dodging his swings over and over again.

"Oh, mighty Asahi, why attack the Followers of The Night?" A man proclaimed as he held a small white orb in his hand. "Shouldn't you be grateful that we found you here?"

"I don't even know who you are," Asahi said, preparing to fight the strangers. "Drop whatever you have on your person, and I shall spare you."

"Foolishness!" The shrouded man screamed as he threw the small white ball to the center of the resurrection circle. "Don't you know the price of absorbing the Orb of Immortality?"

"Price?" Asahi said, clutching his blade further. "What price?"

After dodging yet another strike and the flame balls from Ignatius, the cloaked man revealed.

"The price that gives death to the mortals who absorbed the shards."

In all his days, not once had he thought about the price of absorbing The Orb of Immortality. Asahi seized his blade and took deep breaths, trying to recollect as the shrouded man continued. "Yes, it may grant you immortal powers. But a human body can hold it for so long that it crumbles and destroys you from inside and out."

This shocking revelation gnawed at the back of Asahi's mind. He reeled back in confusion, thinking of the fate of Primrose, Trid, and Grandpa, and his sword dropped onto the floor. The cloaked figure set the ball at the center of the resurrection circle and answered.

"Yes, if you can't find a way to save them in no less than five days, you shall lose all of them in a heartbeat."

Asahi, hearing this and looking at Ignatius, asked the cloaked individuals as a blue luminance gradually grew brighter.

"How do you know this? What have you been scheming?" Asahi hollered with a bold stance of mystery.

"How do we know this? Heh heh, it's because..." The cloaked individual pointed at the resurrection circle. "...the ball you see is none other than Paxon's The Ruler of Memories eye! He gave us these memories to bring him back to life!"

Asahi, brandishing his blade while Ignatius prepared her flames and Trid hiding his tail, took two steps forward, seeing the phantom 'knights' approach the circle. The cloaked figures stepped back and watched as...

(WOOSH)

A burst of violet light erupted from the circle, swallowing the eye and engulfing the knights. The cloaked figures vanished as glowing marks illuminated the floor in purple and yellow. Muck poured from the center, coating the stone. A tall, inky figure stepped forward, draped in obsidian armor with a helmet and wielding two blades. Asahi steadied himself, relying on his friends. He swung his sword at the figure, which hurled one blade at Asahi's face, then through the wall. Ignatius reacted, launching a flame, but the figure immediately parried, deflecting it back.

"Ignatius!" Asahi shouted. Four additional blades sprang from the figure's back. Asahi threw his sword, slicing through the muck, but it spread even more. With a flick of its wrist, the figure summoned four phantom knights, who advanced on Asahi. He attacked their helmets, knocking them from the circle. Asahi's blade cut down the phantoms, subduing them. Sprinting up the wall, he pushed off and sliced at the muck-shrouded figure's helmet. No words were exchanged—only relentless action.

Emotions swirled in Asahi as he fought the mucky monstrosity. Of desperation, need, and guilt. He had tried everything possible to fight the shadow, but it was too far. Asahi, trying to take a breather, stood behind Ignatius. But even she was thrown against the wall. With no options, Asahi struck the Corrupted Knight and severed one of its arms. Yet, that's all he could do. At once, he dropped his sword, gasping for air that had coiled around his neck like a snake.

"What's... happening to me?"

The creature seized Asahi, slamming him to the ground and crushing one of his eyesockets. Dust poured from the wound as he writhed in agony, helpless as a wounded animal.

(It burns)

Blood and dust mingled as he clawed for his sword, pain radiating through every nerve, searing and relentless.

"It burns. It burns. It burns"

Then, next to him was a white ball. He tried to cover his eye, but it bled like a wound. The knight slowly approached Asahi, with no options left. Darkness had swallowed the room whole. Only the faint dim of Ignatius' flames had been delivered in from the dark. Then, someone... or rather something... beckoned him. Though he was in pure pain, a person, or rather thing, urged him to grow closer. The small white ball that stood against the muck had shone like a star, glowing with radiant exuberance. Trid had unleashed his form, striking the knight in the distance. As the sound of clashes echoed across the walls, Asahi, nearly blinded by the knight, shoved the white ball with his left, exposed eye, and suddenly, a gargantuan glow illuminated the room.

. . .

Dark gloves. Blonde hair. Violet eyes. Blackness had consumed his mind, turning and getting jabbed in the eye. He fell on the ground, feeling a consuming black darkness coil around his body. Though this memory seemed to be buried in the dark, it suddenly resurfaced the moment Asahi's eyesocket connected with Paxon's eye. From that, dark truths surfaced.

A dragon that came from a world beyond Gincad.

A king forced to be old forever.

A girl adopted from a family.

All these memories, all these lives, rose from the depths of that eye.

And now it was being revealed that he had five days to extract the Orb of Immortality's shards from their bodies, which gave him a sense of stressful urgency unlike any other.

. . .

Back in the present, memories streamed past Asahi in every direction. His right eye blazed with light, cutting through the dark.

He saw a cosmic entity bent on destruction, dragons shifting into human form, and Artificial Soil canisters—visions flooding his mind in a torrent. Fourteen moons, and clasping voids.

And that's when he heard a voice.

A soft yet gravelly voice.

"You found his eye." Though the voice may be faint, Asahi realized the 'knight' he was fighting was actually...

"Paxon's shadow!" The shrouded figures proclaimed as another entity emerged from the shadows. "It's not actually him. What have we done wrong?"

It now appeared to Asahi that this was nothing but a malfunction.

At first, the room was incredibly dark, and not even Trid could navigate through this darkness.

But now, after attaching that glowing eye, Asahi's clarity of the situation was guaranteed.

He had not just obtained the ability to see through the dark, but also to gaze at people's memories.

Asahi, with this newfound luminance, struck the shadow and cut through the muck with ease. He saw through the darkness and saw boxes, shelves, and tables all around the entombed castle. Trid fought back with his fists, striking the knights down and roaring with intensity. And yet, even memories surfaced deep down.

. . .

"And thus, this finalizes my journey across the eight nations." Purple rocks, violet grass, this man had emerged from the deepest depths of Wraileza. He clutched hold of his map and illustrated the geography with utmost care. During his travels, he would meet with people, encounter several beasts, and catalog them in his archive.

Another memory resurfaced...

"Mom, Dad!"

An orange-haired little girl was fighting a beast, protecting her family from the frost demons. At this time, the instability of her power grew. She was too powerful for a youngling like her.

Her flames engulfed the land, accidentally consuming her parents. Her power, though great, was not stable enough to be controlled, leading to a sense of tragic loss and grief. She promises to use the flames only when absolutely necessary. And then, as she fell alone, staring at the molten moon gazing from above, she cursed out to the cold and asked for redemption for her wrongs.

"She's the perfect candidate." A gray-haired man said as a woman came into view. "Shall she become one with the Flameweavers?"

After that memory, all flickered back into the present, with Ignatius carefully using her flames and protecting them from the incoming frost demons and knights. Asahi felt guilt and loss at Ignatius' parents' fate. To be consumed by her own power was nothing short of craziness. And yet, her drive to redeem herself from that power was deeply admired by Asahi and the other Flameweavers. Curious to learn more, Asahi stood next to Ignatius and muttered.

"It's been a tough road, hasn't it?"

Suddenly, memories came surging back to Ignatius. Tears started forming in her eyes. After trying to consume the knights into flame, she took a deep breath and cried a yelp of remorse.

"Y... Yes... it has... Asahi.... what has happened to your eye?"

Trid caught on with the conversation, slowly backing away as Paxon's shadow lunged its multiple double-edged swords at the trio. But just as the blades were about to hit...

"Damn it all, you just did what you could, can't you, damn it?"

A gravelly, echoing, aged voice resounded from the shadows. Then suddenly,

(SWING)

A hammer was thrown at the shadow, pulverizing it in one foul swoop. A man with soil canisters sashed at his waist and a moon fragment fused in his back, emerged from the corridor. Having not said a word, he powerfully threw his giant hammer and slammed it at the head of Paxon's Shadow. Then, a pink-haired girl emerged, fearfully clashing with the knights.

It seemed another trio had appeared amidst the turmoil.

"There you are, Asahi! We're looking for you."

Trid silently nodded his head and gave a thumbs-up. "So, it appears you came as well, daughter."

"Of course I did," Primrose said, pushing her scarf back. " You actually thought we would allow you to leave us behind?"

As the stone-faced man stopped on his tracks, Primrose introduced him.

"Asahi, this is Stone-faced Stephen, and Stone-faced Stephen, this is Asahi."

"Nice to meet you," Asahi said as he silently shook hands with the very bulky man. Instead of words, he replied with a straight face, clutching onto his hammer as the other trio emerged from the corridors. It seemed that he wouldn't speak. And that's when Primrose noticed.

"Asahi, you're eye! It's glowing!"

Yes, after feeling the burning pain of getting their eye dislocated, Asahi was granted deep truths to all the people he had befriended. It seemed that not only could he illuminate the night, but he could also see into the memories of people he had befriended. Asahi scratched his head and took a deep sigh, mumbling beneath his breath.

"Yes, it's Paxons eye."

Primrose reeled back.

"Paxon who?"

Realizing the conversation would lead nowhere, Asahi fell silent and focused on escaping the entombed castle. But as they reached the exit, something shifted.

(RUMBLE)

Suddenly, the entombed castle trembled as if gripped by an earthquake. Tables and shelves rattled violently. The knights and the shadow gathered at the center, puzzled by the tremors. But Trid understood exactly what was happening.

"The castle, we have to leave, now!" He shouted, clutching the two's hands together. Swiftly, they raced out of the corridors, feeling the ground shift as the passing seconds elapsed. The knights just stood there in denial, standing as Paxon's shadow disiapated into thin air. The ceiling started to collapse, as a giant roar reverberated through the walls. Time was slim for them. This wasn't just a castle... it was also a...

"Monster."

At first, they were looking for the monster that the Adventure Guild had issued before they even arrived. But now they realized, the monster hadn't dwelled in the castle, but was actually the castle itself. Soon, four legs emerged from the castle, suspending it in the air like a monster. Ignatius prepared her flame as Asahi summoned Ames for support. Luckily enough, he emerged with his power, allowing all of them to ride him as the moving glacial castle monster appeared to chase after them.

If they wanted to succeed in fighting the monster, they would need more than just flames to conquer this bounty.

"We have to work together," Asahi said, his eyes anchored at the fused moon fragment on Stone-faced Stephen's back.

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