Lucas didn't sleep that night.
He sat at the edge of their camp, back against the exposed roots of the World Tree fragment, watching the horizon where the city lights should have been. They flickered now—unstable, dim, as if the world itself was losing confidence in its own shape.
Tomorrow.
He was certain of it.
In his first life, the signs had been the same. The System's silence. The way mana density rose without monsters appearing. The strange lightness in the air, like reality preparing to exhale.
Tomorrow, the survivors would be taken.
Not killed.
Reassigned.
Lucas closed his eyes, memories surfacing uninvited.
People vanishing mid-sentence. Streets emptying in heartbeats. Emergency shelters found abandoned, food still warm. Governments collapsing not from invasion—but absence.
And then—
The Merge.
Leon approached quietly, sitting beside him. "You've got that look again," he said. "The one you get before something bad happens."
Lucas didn't deny it. "If we're still here tomorrow morning," he said, "we won't be alone."
Leon frowned. "Meaning?"
"The System will extract remaining survivors," Lucas said. "Anyone still flagged as 'native human' without a bonded domain."
Elena emerged from the camp shortly after, cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders. "Extract to where?"
Lucas exhaled slowly.
"Sanctuary zones. Ancient cities. Places that existed before Earth was… Earth."
He gestured toward the skyline.
"These cities will disappear. Not destroyed—overwritten. Roads, towers, steel… all of it replaced by structures that remember older laws."
Elena's eyes widened. "Like dungeons?"
"Like history," Lucas corrected. "Elnor's history."
The ground trembled faintly, as if agreeing.
"In the merge," Lucas continued, "humans won't be alone anymore. The races that once shared Elnor will return."
Leon leaned forward. "You're saying myths are about to move in next door."
"Yes."
Lucas began counting on his fingers—not because he needed to, but because saying it out loud made it real.
"Vampires—noble houses first, bound by old compacts. Dragons—mostly dormant, claiming territories that used to be mountain ranges and fault lines. Elves will reclaim forests that don't exist yet. Dwarves will wake beneath cities that vanish overnight."
Elena swallowed. "And the others?"
"Beastmen will spread along frontier zones. Spirits and fairies will infest mana-rich regions—rivers, storms, ruins. And demons…"
He hesitated.
"Demons won't arrive all at once," Lucas said. "They never do. They slip in through contracts, cults, and desperation."
Silence stretched.
Leon broke it. "Where do we end up?"
Lucas looked at him.
"That," he said quietly, "depends on you."
Leon raised an eyebrow. "Me?"
"Yes. If your presence destabilizes the transfer, we get flagged. If not…" Lucas smiled thinly. "We get placed somewhere forgotten."
Elena hugged her arms. "I don't like the sound of that."
"You will," Lucas replied. "Forgotten places are where people like us survive long enough to matter."
Above them, the sky shimmered.
Not lightning.
Not clouds.
Lines—vast, transparent sigils stretching from horizon to horizon, too large to be read, too old to care if they were seen.
The System chimed.
This time, everyone heard it.
[Global Directive Initiated]
[Phase: World Integration]
[Status: Irreversible]
[Notice: All unaligned survivors will be relocated]
[Time Remaining: 23:59:12]
Elena's breath hitched. "It's really happening…"
Leon stood.
Power stirred beneath his skin—still sealed, still compressed—but awake.
"Then we don't wait to see where we're thrown," he said. "We prepare to survive wherever we land."
Lucas finally allowed himself a small, genuine smile.
Far above, beyond the sky, beyond the System's visible layers, ancient domains began to stir.
And the world that humans knew prepared to be forgotten.