Shinjiteita Nakama Tachi Ni Dan John Okuchi De Korosarekaketaga Gift -

That faith had just cost him everything.

It had been Marduk’s idea. A lost vault , he’d said. A gift from the old empire. Power enough to reshape the world. And Kaelen, the fool, had believed. He’d found the key, decoded the path, and led them straight into the heart of Dan John Okuchi. Right into the Vault of Gifts.

“What did you do?” Marduk whispered, his spell unraveling in his fingers. That faith had just cost him everything

Kaelen stumbled through the jagged doorway, one hand clamped over the wound in his side. Warmth bled between his fingers, sticky and relentless. Behind him, the sound of heavy boots echoed off the stone corridor—steady, unhurried. They weren’t chasing anymore. They were savoring.

He pressed his bleeding hand against the altar socket. A gift from the old empire

The stone slid free from his flesh without resistance, as if it had been waiting. It clicked into the altar with a sound like a key turning in the last lock of the world.

Shinjiteita nakama. The ones he had believed in. He’d found the key, decoded the path, and

“Don’t run, Kael,” Lyra’s voice floated down the passage, sweet as poison. “It makes the wound weep faster.”