They were already running up.

Stone streets rushed beneath their feet as the passage widened into something that shouldn't have existed this deep inside Central.

Buildings rose from either side, carved into stone and layered on top of each other, almost like forming a wall.

Another residential district, one that was similar to when they broke into to steal a uniform, but more…sophisticated-looking.

It was clear that this was the 'noble district', if they even had one.

Amelia slowed first, instinct kicking in.

"This looks lived in."

Fritz nodded, scanning the upper levels. "Too quiet."

They spread out automatically, steps softening, hands drifting closer to weapons. This was the kind of place ambushes were built for—narrow alleys, blind corners, and overhead angles.

Ryn didn't slow.

His senses stretched outward, threading through the fog and stone, brushing against every shadow and hollow space ahead.

Ryn flinched in surprise. It felt as if [Enhanced Senses] was built into his body now, like it a switch that he could turn on and off at will, as natural as breathing.

Nothing answered.

"No heartbeats," he said. "No breath. No movement."

Jay glanced at him. "You sure?"

Ryn was already moving again.

"Everyone's gone."

Taylor nodded and confirmed his suspicions, "Yeah, it's eerily quiet."

That stopped them.

"Gone how?" Amelia asked.

Ryn shook his head once. "Doesn't matter. They cleared it."

He pushed forward, pace quickening again. Doors stood ajar as they passed, belongings left where they'd been dropped. A table set for a meal that never happened.

"We don't need to be sneaky," Ryn said. "There's no one left to hear us."

That didn't ease the tension.

Fritz slowed anyway, eyes flicking toward the darkened buildings.

"Or everyone moved," he said. "If Kharvos caught wind of us—"

"He didn't," Ryn replied immediately. "There's no way he could relocate all of Dheam that fast. Not without us noticing."

Jay frowned. "What if they didn't relocate? What if they're hiding?"

Amelia glanced up at the balconies overhead, the narrow alleys between buildings.

"Basements. Shelters. Old tunnels. This place is layered enough."

Ryn considered it for half a step.

"Plausible," he said. "But it doesn't fit."

Jay looked at him. "Why not?"

"Because there's no reason to hide," Ryn answered. "Kharvos doesn't know we're here. And if he did, he wouldn't waste time protecting civilians."

Amelia's jaw tightened.

"…Unless someone told him."

They all looked at her.

"Mira," Amelia said flatly. "She's done it before."

The air went sharp.

Ryn stopped and turned. "No."

Amelia bristled. "You don't know that."

"I do," Ryn said, voice steady. "Even if she did sell us out, the timing's wrong. This wasn't a response to us…"

"It was preparation."

Silence followed as that sank in.

"So…? Where did they all go?" Taylor asked the question that the others didn't.

"So…?" Taylor asked, voicing the question the others didn't. "Where did they all go?"

Ryn didn't answer immediately.

His gaze drifted past them, toward the path ahead, toward where the fog thickened, and the stone corridors began to open up.

"The summit," he said at last.

"All of them?" Jay frowned."Why would he do that?"

"I…don't know," Ryn replied honestly.

He was still facing forward when Amelia's breath caught.

"Whatever the case, it probably means he went with them," she said.

The realization hit her all at once. "If everyone's at the summit—then Kharvos is too."

She spun toward the path ahead.

"Then we need to move. Now."

She took a step—

"Wait."

Ryn's hand came up sharply.

Amelia froze. "What—"

He didn't answer right away.

His head tilted slightly, eyes unfocusing as his senses stretched outward again, brushing through the stone ahead. He listened past their rumbling, toward the rolling mist of Central.

There.

Faint and rhythmic.

Pitter–patter, pitter–patter.

"…Water," he said quietly.

Jay frowned. "What?"

"Running," Ryn continued. "Not pipes, or sewage."

He took a slow step forward, then another, following the sound as it grew clearer beneath the fog, echoing off open space.

Jay blinked. "So?"

"So nothing about this place needed water," Ryn replied. "Not like that."

Fritz frowned. "And you think that's worth delaying the summit?"

Ryn met his gaze.

"I think Kharvos wouldn't leave something unfinished," he said. "Not here. Not now."

"That's a hunch," Fritz shot back.

"Yes," Ryn agreed. "And every time I've ignored those, people died."

That stopped him.

Ryn gestured down the passage, toward where the sound echoed faintly through the fog.

"If I'm wrong," he continued, "we lose minutes. If I'm right, we find out why this place was emptied in the first place."

A beat.

Fritz clenched his jaw, then exhaled sharply.

"…Fine," he said.

The sound of running water didn't lead deeper into the residential district.

It led away from it.

The stone streets thinned as they ran, buildings growing shorter, rougher, their edges less deliberate. Balconies ended abruptly, snapped off, and left to crumble into the fog below.

This wasn't where people lived.

More like buildings that were left behind.

"This area's different," Jay muttered.

Ryn nodded without slowing.

The ruins ahead didn't look ancient.

They looked… stripped.

The space around them felt hollow in a way the rest of Central hadn't. Too open and intentional for Central's purposes. Whatever had once been here hadn't been meant for living, or hiding for that matter.

"It feels like an old entertainment district," Amelia muttered. "Like somewhere people gathered."

They slowed near the end of the corridor.

A single door stood ahead.

Smooth and wide, framed by the material that looked out of place around it, though mostly worn down over time.

Ryn stopped in front of it.

"This is it," he said.

Fritz hesitated. "If Kharvos isn't here—"

"Then we learn something," Ryn replied.

He placed a hand against the door and pushed.

It opened silently.

And the space beyond swallowed the sound of the corridor whole.

Water fell.

Not in trickles or runoff, but in full sheets—falling from nowhere, splitting into mist as it struck unseen channels below

The air was warm.

Alive.

Ryn stepped through first, the others following instinctively, the door closing behind them with a muted finality.

Water had piled up to their ankles, making steps heavier.

Whatever this place was, it wasn't part of Central.

It was something else entirely.

And standing there in the middle of the spectacle, one man.

Kharvos Bloodmane.

He turned slowly.

The movement was unhurried, almost lazy, shoulders squaring as he faced them at last. His eyes settled on Ryn first, then swept across the rest of the party without interest.

"…Didn't expect you here," he said.

A pause.

"But I also didn't expect you to walk into the summit," he continued, voice even.

"So I suppose I should've known."

Then the corners of his mouth twitched.

"Saves me the hassle of coming to find you anyways."

Before any of them could speak, Fritz took a step forward, blade already in hand.

"I've seen what you did," he said, voice shaking. "The Outside."

Kharvos didn't react.

Fritz's grip tightened.

"Why," he demanded, the word tearing out of him, "why did you make them suffer?"

For the first time, Kharvos looked at him directly.

"…Suffer?" he echoed, almost curious.

That was all Fritz heard.

Radiant light flared from his Blessing as he dashed forward, blade aiming straight at Kharvos' neck for the kill.

The beastman turned, and in one fell swoop, deflected the attack with the flat of his blade. The pure force from the collision lifted Fritz clean off his feet, hurling backwards as if he weighed nothing, body slamming into the stone and skidding to a stop in a spray of mist.

Kharvos didn't chase.

He lowered his blade slowly, as if Fritz hadn't been worth the effort, and looked down at where he'd sent him skidding across the water.

A quiet laugh escaped him.

"You?" he said, voice carrying easily over the roar of falling water. "You of all people don't get to judge me."

Fritz coughed, trying to push himself up.

"Humanity's Hero Candidate," Kharvos continued, finally turning his full attention back to him.

"I get that there are two of you, but man…" His lip curled. "You really are ignorant."

Fritz bared his teeth. "Say that again."

His gaze flicked briefly to the others before settling back on Fritz.

"I did what your kind never had to," Kharvos finished. "I chose."

He tilted his head slightly.

"You talk about suffering?" Kharvos asked.

"Why was that question never asked when your kind slaughtered mine—when they doomed us to the cold?"

Fritz opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Kharvos didn't raise his voice.

"You, Fritz Calder," he said quietly, "are the pinnacle of everything I hate."

He took a single step forward.

"An ignorant symbol," Kharvos finished, "who knows nothing about the world—and still dares to call himself a Hero."

Silence followed.

Ryn's hand rose.

"Enough," he said.

The word cut cleanly through the chamber.

Kharvos finally looked away from Fritz.

His eyes settled on Ryn.

"I see…" he said slowly. "So this was why you were able to succeed."

He pointed straight at him.

"You," Kharvos continued, "have the eyes of someone who's seen suffering."

Kharvos didn't strike.

He lowered his blade just slightly.

"You understand," he said, eyes locked on Ryn. "Our thousand years of hatred can end now."

Mist curled between them.

"With Gremory's help, Dheam can finally break free," Kharvos continued. "No more hiding. No more freezing while others live warm."

Kharvos watched him for a moment.

Ryn didn't flinch.

"I've seen your ambition," he said. "You don't want freedom. You want the world."

"And I've seen what you've done to the Outside," Ryn continued. "Your excuse is liberation, when you've driven your own kind out."

Then Kharvos exhaled, almost amused.

"…Worth a shot."

Then, he raised his blade.

The water surged upward, suspended in midair, frozen as if awaiting command.

"You came to stop me," he said calmly.

The chamber sealed.

"Do try your best."

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