Kael led Duke Marcus Marveil along the winding path towards his workshop, each step resonating softly against the polished stone floor. The Duke, a man who had seen wonders across his vast domain, found himself entranced by the marvels that lined the path. Unlike the candle-lit exteriors of most noble estates, the approach to Kael’s workshop was illuminated by steady, white light emanating from crystalline fixtures embedded in the surrounding walls.
As they approached the main entrance, the glass door before them hissed and slid open automatically with a serpentine grace, revealing the unknown beyond. The Duke halted in his tracks, his eyes widening in astonishment, an involuntary gasp escaping his lips.
"This... this door... It moved on its own?" Duke Marcus muttered, his voice a low whisper filled with awe. He took a cautious step forward, feeling the cool, sterile air from within brush against his skin like a ghostly caress. The silent promise of hidden secrets and untold power loomed just beyond the threshold, and the Duke’s heart raced in anticipation of what lay ahead.
Kael allowed himself a small smile. "It uses an array of simple enchanted mechanisms that sense motion and open automatically—a little convenience that I thought would be useful. Nothing too complex."
The Duke chuckled. "Nothing too complex, you say? The scholars in my court would spend decades deciphering something like this."
Kael said nothing, instead motioning the Duke further inside. The chamber was filled with an assortment of highly advanced tools and devices. Gleaming metalwork, arcane-infused mechanisms, and floating glyphs flickered in the dim light. The Duke ran his fingers over the smooth surface of a silver-plated device, shaking his head in disbelief.
Finally, Kael led him to a separate study, where an ornate console stood at the center of the room. Its base was adorned with unknown symbols, its surface a sleek obsidian with a single embedded spirit crystal pulsing faintly at its core.
"This is the console I recovered inside the ancient ruin I mentioned," Kael said, placing a hand on the device. "And this—" he touched the spirit crystal embedded within "—is the proof I promised."
The crystal glowed as a soft hum filled the chamber. A shimmering projection materialized above the console—an ancient recording. The figures in the vision bore unfamiliar suits, their clothes adorned with intricate sigils. Their language was old, yet Kael had deciphered it.
The message was clear: a warning.
It spoke of rifts that had opened five thousand years ago, of creatures that emerged to lay waste to entire civilizations. It spoke of mages sacrificing themselves to close these rifts and the grand spell that sealed them away.
The Duke, usually a man of composed thought, found himself frozen in place. "This... this technology... it’s beyond anything I have ever seen," he whispered. But as the message continued, his awe was replaced with grim understanding.
The final words of the recording echoed ominously. "We managed to seal the rifts with a prototype artifact. The Seal of Eternus should hold for approximately five millennia. But the calculations are clear: the seals will fail. When that happens, the rifts will reopen, and the chaos will begin anew. We started Project Golem in hopes of countering the creatures that had been roaming, but we ran out of time. If anyone is seeing this... know that our failure must not be yours."
The Duke turned to Kael, his voice tense. "But how do you know that we have only five years? The recording did not state a time limit."
Kael moved to another table, where a different spirit crystal rested within a metallic frame. He activated it, and another projection appeared—a countdown.
"Current Date: Stonesong 8th, Year 982 AK (Ardanian Kingdom Calendar). Time Remaining: 4 years and 282 days until seal failure."
The room fell into heavy silence.
Before the Duke could respond, Alice stepped forward, her usually impassive expression subtly solemn. She raised her hand, and from her spirit crystal, another projection formed. This time, it was not a message but a vision—footage from the past.
The image displayed a battlefield unlike any in their history. Towering, grotesque creatures with bodies composed of shifting shadows and pulsating veins of aether emerged from massive rifts. Cities burned as these entities rampaged through streets, annihilating anything in their path.
Hundreds of mages stood in formation, their hands raised as they chanted in unison to activate the seal. Their mana flared like luminous beacons, forming intricate geometric circles that interwove into a vast, planetary sigil. The air hummed with energy as the chant reached a crescendo. Suddenly, one by one, the mages collapsed—lifeless. Their mana, along with their very life force, drained completely, leaving their bodies reduced to withered husks.
But the rifts closed.
The Duke could barely breathe. "This... this is what awaits us?"
Kael’s voice was calm but firm. "Unless we act."
The Duke turned to him, a mix of urgency and hope in his eyes. "How? How do we prevent this?"
Without missing a beat, Kael turned to Alice, his gaze steady and determined.
Alice answered before Kael could. "I do not possess the knowledge of how the seal was originally formed, but I have located where it was placed. The seal is not singular—it is a network of smaller seals spread across the world. Each one is a node that connects to the others. To reestablish the seal, all must be activated simultaneously."
The Duke’s expression hardened. "And the last time this was done, every mage involved perished."
Alice nodded. "It was a dangerous gamble."
Kael’s mind reeled. There had to be another way. And then a memory resurfaced. Not from this world, but from his past life—his time as Ivan Mendoza. A story he once read, a webnovel where rifts opened and their closure required defeating the core entity within.
"What if it’s the same here?" he mused aloud.
The Duke and Alice turned to him. "What do you mean?" the Duke asked.
Kael exhaled, his mind racing. "In a book I once read, there was mention of something similar. A rift—a connection to another plane—could be stabilized or closed by eliminating the core entity that sustained it. If these rifts operate on a similar principle, there might be a way to seal them without resorting to mass sacrifice."
The Duke crossed his arms. "And you believe we can achieve this?"
Kael looked at the countdown once more, his jaw setting with determination. "We have no other choice but to try."
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