The exhaustion inside the Devil Horns' room was almost unbearable.
Nobody had properly rested.
Junyu was still imprisoned.
Mil had just been captured.
And somewhere beneath their feet, hidden deep below Noctharis Castle, an ancient prison waited.
The blue flames outside the windows flickered against the walls.
Far away, thunder rolled across the clearing sky.
Ikiro slowly stepped forward.
He forced himself to focus.
"Alright... let me try something."
He gathered his senses and opened his tracker.
Blue energy appeared between his hands.
A glowing screen slowly formed in front of him.
Lines began moving across it.
Locations shifted.
Energy signals flickered.
The other members watched in silence.
Everyone looked exhausted.
Michael finally broke the silence.
"Hey, Ikiro... will this even work?"
Ikiro didn't look away from the tracker.
"It will."
Across the room, Salim and Ton stood together.
For once, Ton wasn't joking.
He looked toward Salim.
"What will happen if this doesn't work out?"
Salim looked at him.
"It always works out, right?"
Ton stayed quiet for a moment.
"Yeah... it always does."
He lowered his voice.
"But what if it doesn't?"
Salim's expression changed.
The room suddenly felt quieter.
"Will we lose?"
Salim looked down at his bow.
For a second, even he didn't seem completely sure.
Then he gripped it tightly.
"Nah."
He looked back at Ton.
"We will win."
The tracker suddenly flashed.
BEEP.
Everyone turned.
Ikiro's eyes widened.
"I got it."
The entire crew rushed toward him.
"The location is here."
The blue screen changed.
A map of the castle appeared.
Then the signal moved.
Below the castle.
Deeper.
And deeper.
Until it reached a place beneath Noctharis itself.
Everyone stared at the location.
Their expressions slowly changed.
Ton stepped closer.
"That's... below the castle."
Ikiro nodded.
"But not just below it."
The tracker revealed ancient structures beneath the prison.
Ruins.
Collapsed pathways.
An entire underground city.
A city that had fallen long before the Black Meeting had ever existed.
The room went silent.
Ton stared at the screen.
"Now what?"
IN THE PRISON
The underground doors slowly opened.
Mil—still inside James's body—was thrown into the prison.
His body hit the stone floor.
Two swords were still lodged through his torso.
Yet Mil barely reacted.
His face was pale.
His body was exhausted.
But his mind remained focused.
Everything I did... was for the team.
The guards dragged him toward an empty cell.
Then one of them looked across the corridor.
Another cell stood in complete silence.
Inside it—
Junyu.
He appeared to be sleeping.
The guards glanced at him.
"Leave him."
They didn't wake Junyu.
They didn't disturb him.
Instead, one of them turned toward Mil.
He pulled out a small potion.
Mil's remaining eye narrowed.
"What is that?"
"A sleeping potion."
Mil tried to resist.
He moved his arm.
His body didn't respond properly.
He tried again.
Nothing.
His energy was gone.
His body was broken.
The guard forced the potion toward him.
Mil struggled.
But eventually—
he drank it.
His vision immediately began becoming blurry.
The blue flames from the corridor slowly disappeared from his sight.
The guards left.
The prison became silent again.
ABOVE THE PRISON
Ikiro stood in the center of the room.
The tracker remained open.
Everyone gathered around him.
"Okay."
He took a breath.
"Listen up."
His expression became serious.
"PHASE THREE."
The room fell silent.
"This has only three missions."
He raised one finger.
1: Reach the underground prison — Salim and Ton.
Salim adjusted his bow.
Ton's eyes narrowed.
Ikiro raised a second finger.
2: Find the code from the castle — Me and Michael.
Michael looked toward the ancient map.
"If that code opens the hidden passage, we get one chance."
Ikiro nodded.
"One chance is enough."
Then he raised his third finger.
3: Investigate the castle — Katsa.
Katsa immediately frowned.
"What?"
She stepped forward.
"What do you mean?"
Ikiro looked directly at her.
"I mean you have to see if there are any unusual activities happening in the castle."
Katsa listened carefully.
"Because there might be."
Her expression changed.
She understood.
Organization X.
Something was still happening.
Something they hadn't discovered yet.
Ikiro closed the tracker.
The blue light disappeared.
The room went dark again.
Outside, lightning flashed across the castle windows.
"Now everyone..."
They looked at each other.
No more planning.
No more waiting.
"It is time for the mission."
Salim picked up his bow.
Michael tightened his grip on Regicide.
Ton stood silently beside Salim.
Katsa took one last look at the others.
"Good luck."
Ikiro nodded.
"Phase Three begins."IN THE PRISON
Junyu stood beside the open pit.
The darkness below seemed endless.
Far beneath it, he could hear the distant roar of the sea.
In his hand was the rock.
Written across it were the words:
RUNA LOVES DARMEN.
Junyu stared at the message.
He looked into the darkness below.
It's time to finish this mystery.
The blue light from the ancient prison flickered across his face.
He tightened his grip around the rock.
Then—
Junyu stepped forward.
And jumped straight down into the open pit.
Holding the rock tightly in his hand.
Below him—
the darkness swallowed everything.