[El'Vertigo Keep — Crypt Levels, Descent Chamber 3]
The old crypt tunnels beneath the Keep had long been sealed off—officially decommissioned, unofficially forgotten. Only a few within the El'Vertigo household even knew the doors existed. But Pablo knew. He'd played here as a child, chasing shadows he thought were ghosts.
Now, they whispered back.
He descended in silence, Viora flickering along his spine, a protective coil. Frost lined the walls, growing thicker with every step.
Then—he saw it.
A corpse. Bent backward, mouth frozen open, hands clawing at empty air. His Kargal insignia had shattered in the cold. Pablo crouched beside him, breath fogging.
"Ice-killed," he murmured. "But not instantly. He fought it..."
Something scraped behind him.
Pablo spun, hand raised, ready to strike—
Only a glint of steel. A mirror. A broken shard from an old ceremonial mask.
But in the reflection, he didn't see himself.
He saw Aurex Vellan.
Once regal. Now gaunt. Hollow-eyed. Wrapped in frost-covered cloth. And smiling.
"You're so close, boy."
Pablo fell back. The vision shattered into frost.
He wasn't alone anymore. And something down here wanted him to remember.
[El'Vertigo Keep — Outer Defense Ring, Disguise Checkpoint]
Kiro walked with a soldier's gait, helmet sealed, biometrics spoofed through the corpse's iris patterns. The Kargal checkpoint scanned him once—twice—then let him pass.
"You're late," one officer grunted. "Crypt patrol rotation was called off. All units reassigned to Ice Killer watch duty."
"Copy that," Kiro replied, keeping his voice low.
He moved past the checkpoint into the inner tiers. Towers of jagged alloy pierced the sky, and at the very peak—
The Keep.
A false mountain of blackstone. Jagged and unnatural. The El'Vertigo family ruled from its summit, and the Vaults ran beneath like cancer.
System: Traces of frozen Viora detected below this structure. Anomaly correlates with Subject Aurex.
"So this is where he's hiding..."
He turned toward the service lifts. The disguise would only hold for so long.
And somewhere beneath, the Ice Killer walked again.