Brother

The moment they stepped through the entrance, the scale of the place hit them like a slap to the face.

“Holy shit…” Nassor breathed.

It wasn’t a tomb. It was a goddamn underground palace.

The corridor stretched out impossibly wide and tall, the ceiling disappearing into shadows high above. Glossy black tiles - smoother and more perfect than anything they’d ever seen - reflected the blue-gold light of self-lighting torches that flared to life one by one as the group moved forward. Massive pillars lined the hall, carved with intricate star maps and geometric patterns, some resembling ancient Clan Crests.

Even the air felt different. Cool. Dry. Charged.

“This… this is insane,” Arjuna whispered, eyes wide as he looked around. “It feels less like a tomb and more like something the gods would build.”

Leila walked slightly ahead, her usual playful energy replaced by something quieter, almost reverent. “My family helped maintain small sites similar to this… but even I’ve never seen one this grand . This Tomb has been sealed for centuries.”

Kazan gripped his staff tighter, neck craning up at the towering architecture. “Yeah, well it’s giving me the creeps. You said it’s been sealed, but… I dunno. Feels like we’re ants crawling into a giant’s house.”

Nassor let out a low whistle, spear resting on his shoulder as he scanned the massive hall. “Pretty fancy for dead people. You sure these royal ancestors weren’t just showing off?”

As they moved deeper, faint sigils glowed on the floor tiles beneath their boots - teleportation spells, fresh and waiting. Statues of kings and knights, undoubtedly heroes and monarchs of the past.. A cold breeze brushed past them, carrying the faint scent of old incense and something metallic.

“Great,” Kazan muttered. “More ways to keep us trapped inside. Watch your feet folks.”

Nassor grinned, but his grip on his spear tightened. “Well, we’re already in deep. No turning back now.”

The group kept walking ahead, eyes observant, shoulders tense. Arjuna naturally drifted to the back, his brows furrowed. Nassor brushed past Leila. And Kazan kept his measured, methodical pace.

“Oh!” Leila giggled, stepping ahead confidently. She made sure to give Arjuna another wink, before stopping right in front of a massive door. “Let your guide work her magic here~”

It looked almost carved out of the night sky itself - the glossy navy blue color, the sign of Azurite being used in its construction.

The door was glowing faintly in hues of emerald, azure, and magenta.

“Watch this. If not taken care of carefully…”

Leila hummed a soft, melodic tune as she raised both hands toward the Azurite gate. The star symbol on her palm pulsed in perfect rhythm with the glowing emerald, azure, and magenta hues bleeding from the arcane lock. With a delicate twist of her wrists, she began to guide the wild Jiu currents, meticulously unraveling the defensive layers like silk threads.

The magenta light flared, fought back for a brief second, and then dissolved with a soft click . The massive, star-forged doors slowly drifted inward without making a single sound.

Leila grinned triumphantly, stepping through the newly opened threshold as the blue-gold torches continued to light their path. “All done~”

“Good job,” Nassor remarked. “Guess you’re actually quite useful. Didn’t want my handsome face melting off, like you said.”

The Heiress just stuck her tongue out - bleh - and then went back to her position in the middle of the formation.

But as they continued down the next massive corridor, the ambient atmosphere shifted, growing increasingly heavy. Already the high walls had changed. It wasn’t just star signs, maps, art - there were murals. Nobles lounging and conversing in yards. Grand feasts of olde. Battles. Triumphant galas. Mage circles and phantasmal beasts.

“Wait a second,” Arjuna said suddenly, stopping. “Didn’t we just walk straight for about ten minutes? But it feels like we’ve gone way deeper than that… and it’s sort of odd. Everything is quite pristine aside from the walls.”

Leila glanced back at him, her expression a little uneasy. “That’s because we kind of did. The entrance isn’t just a door. It’s… tied to the Royal Family’s signature magic I think. Something that they specialized in. Spatial magic.”

Nassor raised an eyebrow. “So we’re not even in the same place anymore?”

“... I-I don’t know!” Leila huffed. “I told you. There’s a bunch of places just like this, but smaller, all around the country. They're not coincidences. They can't be. These sites - they're linked. Deliberately. Maybe even directly to one another ”

Kazan groaned. “Of course it’s not a normal tomb. Why would it be? We're probably wandering through some High Magic nonsense right now… way above my measly little support spells.”

“Your spells will be sufficient,” Leila said simply, her fingers tracing a relief carved into the ancient sandstone. “Relaaaax. But give me a moment. This is…”

Three massive crests were deeply etched into the pillar: her own family’s Geometric Star, a Weeping Eclipse, and a jagged Horned Serpent. But someone had violently defaced the serpent emblem, gouging deep scratches into the stone as if trying to erase it from history. Beneath the ruined carvings, ancient script read: "When the Crown fractures and the Serpent bleeds, the Star must strike where the Trinity meets."

“Hmm. A riddle? Odd. This section is a transit hall. It should be completely—”

The torches went out. All of them. At once.

Then – footsteps.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each one reverberated through the black tiles like a war drum, accompanied by a soft, persistent crackling. Like distant fireworks. Like something enormous barely containing itself.

It rose from a downward staircase none of them had noticed before.

They saw the helmet first. Rectangular. Severe. Carved from the same glossy black material as the floor tiles - as if the tomb itself had assembled a soldier from its own bones. A cross-shaped visor split the face. And behind it, two pale blue orbs burned with quiet, ancient intelligence.

The rest followed slowly. Deliberately.

Pauldrons etched with the same star maps as the pillars, glowing faintly gold along every carved line. A breastplate bearing a single massive crest - a crown above a geometric star, cracked cleanly down the center, the crack itself sealed with hardened Star Magic that pulsed like a slow heartbeat. Gauntlets ending in fingers too long, too precise. No weapon. It didn't need one.

Star Magic crackled visibly through every seam of its armor. Not decorating it. Powering it.

It reached the top of the staircase. Stood still. And looked directly at Leila.

“TRAITOR.”

Arjuna’s eyes widened, understanding exactly what those words meant.

The air itself shattered with a deafening CRACK . The guardian hadn't merely moved—it exploded forward.

Glossy black tiles spiderwebbed beneath its feet as compressed Star Magic gathered around its gauntlet, condensing into a jagged javelin of brilliant violet and gold.

Arjuna's eyes widened. "LEILA!” He hurled himself sideways, slamming into the noble heiress and driving her to the polished floor.

The corridor flashed.

Pain .

A violent, burning pain ripped across his body. The magical javelin carved diagonally across his left shoulder and ribs instead of piercing his chest outright, shredding cloth and flesh alike before exploding into shimmering fragments against the far wall.

"Gh—!"

Arjuna crashed hard against the black tiles, rolling several times before skidding to a stop.

For a heartbeat...Everything was silent. Red blood running down his arm. Fingers trembling. Breathing heavy.

Kazan was next to him in a flash, staff glowing gold as healing magic poured into the wound.

"Hold still!"
"I am…!"

Arjuna winced, forcing himself upright against one of the ancient pillars. Blood still seeped between his fingers, but the flow had already begun to slow beneath Kazan's frantic spellwork.

He caught Kazan's eye, then gave the healer one small nod.

I'm still here.

Fight.

Kazan hesitated only a moment before returning the nod. "...Don't you dare move too much."

"I'll try."

Nassor only needed to look back once. His own breathing had gotten heavy, knuckles turning white as he gripped his spear tighter - but he knew that look on his brother’s face.

Without another word, Nassor lowered his center of gravity, silver serpent spear sliding naturally into both hands.His heartbeat slowed. His breathing steadied. The grin was gone. In its place...

Pure focus.

With one explosive step, the spearman launched himself toward the Royal Guardian, racing to seize the initiative before it could conjure another javelin.

This was no longer a scouting expedition. It was survival.