— Entering the Restricted Zone —
When I woke the next morning, Selene was resting against my chest, and Clara's head was slumped against my shoulder.
I wasn't sure whether this technically counted as embracing both sides, but at the very least, we had survived the night.
I gently woke them. After a quick cleanup and a simple meal, we set out toward Ashcroft.
"Wait—"Just as we reached the fork in the path, Clara stopped and pointed at a weathered wooden sign.
"That's a warning marker the village put up."
Carved into the wood were blunt words:
RESTRICTED AREA — HAUNTED. DO NOT ENTER.
I sighed and shook my head.
"Let's go."
The path was barely passable. Years of abandonment had allowed wild grass and vines to swallow the trail completely. Even though traces of my passage from the night before were still faintly visible, pushing through the overgrowth with two people in tow was exhausting.
Once we broke through the vegetation, the land opened up abruptly.
The view stopped us in our tracks.
In daylight, the place was nothing like what I'd seen the night before. A stream ran gently through the clearing. Stone paths crisscrossed the ground. Partially collapsed earthen walls hinted at a settlement that had once been quiet, orderly—almost peaceful.
"Ah—there's a body!" Selene cried suddenly.
I followed her gaze.
Nyx. The streamer.
"That's such a waste..." Clara murmured. "She was the most authentic streamer online. No filters. No faking."
I couldn't stop myself from responding.
"She brought this on herself," I said sharply. "If she hadn't died here, she would've died somewhere else. Profiting by trespassing on places that don't belong to the living—how is that different from barging into someone's home with a camera, filming everything, judging everything, without caring how the occupants feel?"
I looked at her directly.
"You feel sorry for her. But who feels sorry for the spirits she disturbed?"
Clara lowered her head, startled. She clearly hadn't seen me lose my temper like this before.
"...Sorry," I said after a moment. "That wasn't aimed at you. I let my emotions get ahead of me."
"No, it's okay," she said quietly. "I think you're right. But... she died here. Shouldn't we report it?"
"Not yet," I replied. "After this is over."
I turned my attention to the surroundings.
Three sides of the clearing were enclosed by mountains. The fourth opened toward a lake.
It was obvious why the one-eyed Alrik had chosen this location. With minimal adjustment, it formed a near-perfect geomantic stronghold—the kind traditionally reserved for rulers.
He hadn't just been a fraud.
He'd known exactly what he was doing.
We moved deeper into the clearing.
Suddenly, I nearly tripped.
At my feet lay a black stone.
Not the black of soot or fire damage—but something deeper, as if the color had seeped into the stone itself. The surface wasn't stained; the darkness permeated the entire mass, making it look almost like coal.
I knelt and sniffed it.
Nothing. Just stone.
About twenty steps ahead, I spotted another.
Then another.
A realization struck me.
"Clara," I asked, "when that one-eyed man was alive... did he live around here?"
She scanned the area, frowning. "I'm not sure... but this does sound like what the elders described."
We continued searching.
Every twenty to thirty steps, there was another blackened stone.
I counted twice.
Seventy-two.
"I understand now," I said, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.
Selene and Clara stared at me blankly.
"Understand what?" Selene asked.
"This is the array Elena mentioned. The dark mass we saw last night—it was generated by this."
I took a breath, choosing my words carefully.
"There's an old occult array known as the Seventy-Two Chthonic Deity Array. It automatically gathers baleful energy during the nightly transition between living and residual forces. Anyone buried within it—regardless of who they were in life—will, after seventy-two years of convergence, exist in a state of sustained dominion. Absolute comfort. Absolute control."
Clara's eyes widened slowly.
"...That explains it. He died in the basement and left instructions not to move his body. He was placing himself inside the array."
"Exactly. And you mentioned that after his death, the area was quiet for decades. Likely seventy-two years to the day. Once the array completed, the disturbances began again—and the village was forced to evacuate."
"That's right! That's exactly what happened!" Clara said quickly.
Selene frowned. "You said Elena was confined in a 'cell' after she died. That cell... was part of this array, wasn't it?"
"Yes. Each node anchors one spirit. Seventy-two in total."I exhaled. "That's why Alrik said a new arrival requires an old replacement. The number cannot exceed seventy-two."
Clara's voice trembled. "So... there are bodies buried under here?"
"Yes," I said plainly. "And Elena's remains are among them."
Selene swallowed hard. "Then what do we do? Dig?"
"No. Digging won't work. The array consumes physical remains entirely. If we want any chance of retrieving what's left, the array itself has to be broken."
"Broken?" Selene whispered. "Can you even do that?"
I hesitated, then reached into my pack.
Three artifacts.
Each carried from Mount Kailash. Each with documented warding properties.
I handed the Lumin & Umbra Sigil to Selene.
The Aeonwood Relic to Clara.
I hung the Heavenly Cross around my own neck.
Then, again and again, I taught them how to activate the artifacts—slowly, carefully, correcting every mistake.
We worked until afternoon before we achieved proper synchronization.
After a brief meal in the car, we returned to the clearing and waited.
"Concealment charms?" I asked, probably for the fifth time.
"On us," they replied.
"Activation phrases memorized?"
"Yes."
They had followed me this far without hesitation.
That alone mattered more than I could say.
Around three in the morning, the dark mass returned.
The artifacts ignited simultaneously—burning red.
The palace was rising again.
The light meant suppression. The artifacts were resisting the array.
I'd never seen them react like this. I didn't know if they could overpower it—but they were pushing back with everything they had.
Then—
A thunderous crack split the air.
The ground shook. Dust and debris filled my vision.
Selene and Clara screamed. Even I flinched.
"Rhan! What was that?!"
As the haze cleared, the translucent palace stood there—intact.
My heart sank.
"...We failed," I said quietly. "The array's still holding."
The artifacts' light went out.
The palace hovered as before—silent tonight. No music. No indulgence. No revelry.
Then a voice roared from within, deep and furious, like a wounded beast.
"You dare suppress me with artifacts?"
The earth shuddered violently.
A figure emerged—radiating ghostly light.
Bald. One-eyed. One-eared.
Alrik.
The hatred in his gaze was overwhelming.
At last.
The confrontation we'd been avoiding had arrived.
I stepped out of the grass and walked toward him.
Selene and Clara flanked me, trembling—but they didn't retreat.
Their hands shook.
So did their bodies.
But they stood.