Jade dismissed his profile.
The translucent screen disappeared from before his eyes, leaving the ancient room in silence once again.
Yet the strange connection he had felt earlier...
It was still there.
Faint.
Almost imperceptible.
But unmistakable.
Something inside this place was connected to him.
Jade slowly turned his head toward the crimson-thread drawing on the wall.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at it.
Then he shook his head.
"I'll figure you out eventually."
He couldn't afford to stand around forever.
Jade reached into his storage space and pulled out the ancient map.
He carefully unrolled it.
The parchment spread across his hands, revealing the markings he had been following since entering the citadel.
His eyes moved across the lines.
Corridors.
Rooms.
Passages.
Finally...
He found the location marked with a single letter.
S.
The treasure.
Jade's eyes narrowed.
"So that's where I'm supposed to go."
He folded the map again before slipping it away.
Then he left the mysterious room.
The corridor beyond was strangely quiet.
No Shadow Knights.
No traps.
No movement.
Only the faint echo of his footsteps followed him.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Eventually, the corridor opened into a much larger chamber.
Jade stopped.
His eyes widened.
Directly before him stood a staircase.
Not an ordinary staircase.
There were exactly eight steps.
Each one was made from ancient black stone.
The steps appeared almost perfectly preserved despite the age of the citadel.
At the top...
A strange altar waited.
It was enormous.
Circular.
Completely empty.
Its surface was so smooth that it almost looked polished.
Jade looked at the map.
Then at the altar.
The location matched.
This was the place marked S.
The treasure should be here.
But something immediately caught his attention.
Words had been carved into the wall beside the staircase.
Jade slowly approached.
The ancient characters glowed faintly beneath the dim light.
Fortunately, his understanding of the ancient language had improved enough to translate them.
He read the inscription.
> **The Eight Steps to Oblivion.**
>
> **But beware...**
>
> **There is a ninth step.**
Jade froze.
He read it again.
Then once more.
"...A ninth step?"
His eyes moved toward the staircase.
Eight steps.
Exactly eight.
No more.
No less.
Jade frowned.
"Then where is the ninth?"
He looked toward the altar.
Nothing.
No hidden staircase.
No secret passage.
No additional platform.
Just an empty altar waiting silently at the top.
Jade hesitated.
Every instinct told him this wasn't ordinary.
Yet curiosity eventually won.
He placed one foot onto the first step.
Nothing happened.
Jade waited.
Several seconds passed.
He carefully placed his other foot beside it.
Still nothing.
He frowned.
"So far..."
"...nothing."
Then he stepped onto the second.
The instant his foot touched the stone—
Something changed.
Jade's body became strangely heavy.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
His essence.
His blood.
His very existence.
It felt as though an invisible force had touched his body.
Jade immediately looked down at himself.
Nothing seemed different.
Yet he could feel it.
Something was happening.
"What..."
He took the third step.
The strange sensation intensified.
His breathing became slightly heavier.
His muscles felt different.
Not weaker.
Just...
Older.
Jade frowned.
He continued.
The fourth step.
The moment his foot touched the stone—
Jade froze.
His body changed.
His vision suddenly shifted.
His hands looked different.
Older.
Larger.
The skin on them was no longer that of a teenager.
Jade slowly raised one hand toward his face.
His fingers trembled.
"What the..."
He touched his cheek.
There were faint lines beneath his fingertips.
He immediately understood.
He was aging.
Not slowly.
Not naturally.
The staircase was stealing his youth.
Jade stared at the remaining steps.
For a moment, he considered turning around.
Then curiosity pulled him forward.
He stepped onto the fifth.
Pain spread through his body.
A strand of white hair appeared among his black hair.
Jade grabbed it.
His expression changed.
"...White?"
He pulled another strand forward.
Another.
And another.
His black hair was beginning to lose its color.
He swallowed.
"This isn't good."
Yet he continued.
The sixth step.
More white spread through his hair.
The black disappeared.
Gray replaced it.
His face became older.
His shoulders felt heavier.
His movements slowed.
Jade clenched his fists.
His strength was still there.
But his body no longer felt like the body he had spent years forging.
It felt...
Used.
Aged.
Worn.
He looked toward the seventh step.
For the first time, hesitation appeared in his eyes.
The inscription returned to his mind.
The Eight Steps to Oblivion.
He took the seventh step.
The change was immediate.
Wrinkles spread across his face.
His skin became loose.
His back bent slightly.
His joints began aching.
His bones felt strangely fragile.
Jade's breathing became heavier.
He felt weak.
Not weak like when his essence was depleted.
This was different.
It was the weakness of age.
The weakness of a body that had reached the end of its natural existence.
His knees trembled.
Jade stared at his hands.
They were old.
Very old.
He could barely recognize them.
"What..."
His voice sounded rougher.
Older.
He slowly raised his head toward the eighth step.
Only one remained.
The final step.
The step to oblivion.
Jade felt a chill crawl down his spine.
He shouldn't take it.
Every instinct screamed at him to stop.
But part of him still wanted to know.
What happened after the eighth?
What was the ninth step?
Where was the treasure?
What exactly was waiting on the altar?
Jade swallowed.
Then...
He stepped onto the eighth step.
The moment his foot touched the stone—
Everything changed.
His strength vanished.
His body became unbelievably weak.
His back hurt so badly that he could barely straighten it.
His bones felt as though they were melting inside his skin.
Every breath became difficult.
His heart beat slowly.
Too slowly.
Jade suddenly understood.
He was dying.
Not metaphorically.
Not eventually.
His body was approaching death.
His vision blurred.
His knees buckled.
Jade reached toward the wall to support himself.
His fingers trembled.
"Is this..."
"...the eighth step?"
His breathing became ragged.
"This is..."
"...oblivion?"
For the first time in the entire citadel...
Jade felt genuine fear.
Not fear of a monster.
Not fear of an enemy.
Fear of his own mortality.
He hadn't even realized how quickly the aging process had taken over until now.
He had thought he would remain trapped in this state forever.
That thought terrified him.
He immediately stepped backward.
The instant his foot left the eighth step—
The pressure weakened.
His body became slightly younger.
Jade froze.
He took another step backward.
Younger.
Another.
Younger.
He hurried down the staircase.
The seventh step.
The sixth.
The fifth.
The fourth.
The third.
The second.
The first.
Finally—
He stepped onto the floor.
The strange pressure disappeared completely.
Jade's body began returning to normal.
His wrinkles vanished.
His gray hair darkened.
His aching bones strengthened.
His back straightened.
His breathing stabilized.
Within moments...
He was himself again.
Jade stood motionless.
He stared at his hands.
Young.
Strong.
Healthy.
He slowly touched his hair.
Black.
His normal hair.
He released a long breath.
"...So I really was aging."
The realization sent chills through him.
He had initially thought the changes might be permanent.
He had even wondered whether he would simply remain old after reaching the final step.
If he had continued...
He might have died.
Jade looked toward the staircase.
Then toward the empty altar.
The inscription suddenly felt far more sinister.
The Eight Steps to Oblivion.
But beware...
There is a ninth step.
Jade's eyes narrowed.
"There are only eight steps."
He counted them again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nothing else.
His gaze slowly moved toward the altar.
Could the altar itself be the ninth step?
Jade's expression became serious.
"Does the ninth step lead to death?"
His eyes remained fixed on the empty platform.
"And if the altar is the ninth step..."
"...what happens when I stand on it?"
A cold sensation spread through his body.
He didn't want to find out.
Not yet.
Jade had already come dangerously close to death simply by touching the eighth step.
He wasn't willing to gamble his life on a theory.
"I'll wait for Kelvin."
If anyone knew more about this place, it would be him.
Jade turned away from the staircase.
Then suddenly stopped.
"...Wait."
Something was missing.
His eyes moved around the chamber.
The corridor.
The walls.
The altar.
Nothing.
Then he remembered.
"Where's Little Black?"
Jade frowned.
He hadn't seen the cat for quite some time.
"That little idiot..."
He immediately left the mysterious staircase chamber.
Instead of returning toward the main corridor, he followed the faint connection between them.
He moved through several ancient rooms.
One empty.
Then another.
Then another.
Finally...
Jade stopped before a partially open doorway.
Something was inside.
He could feel it.
A strange life force.
Very faint.
Very old.
And yet...
Alive.
Jade's expression changed.
He slowly pushed the door open.
Creak...
The room beyond was dimly illuminated by a few dying crystals.
An old chair sat in the center.
And upon it...
Was a skeleton.
Jade froze.
The skeleton was covered in jewelry.
Golden chains hung around its neck.
Several rings decorated its fingers.
A large jeweled necklace rested across its chest.
Even its empty eye sockets were surrounded by tiny crystals.
It looked less like a dead corpse...
And more like someone had deliberately dressed it as a king.
Jade's eyes narrowed.
Something was wrong.
He activated Beast Sense.
His expression changed instantly.
Life force.
There was life force coming from the skeleton.
Jade's blood ran cold.
"...It's alive."
He immediately looked toward Little Black.
The small black cat was standing only a few meters away from the skeleton.
And judging by the way its eyes sparkled...
It was far more interested in the jewelry than the danger.
Jade lowered his voice.
"Little Black."
The cat turned.
Jade raised one finger toward himself.
"Come back."
Little Black blinked.
Jade's voice became even quieter.
"That thing is alive."
For a moment, Little Black simply stared at him.
Then a strange voice suddenly appeared inside Jade's mind.
Oh...
Jade froze.
So shiny.
His eyes widened.
He stared at Little Black.
The cat stared back.
Jade's mouth slowly opened.
"You..."
He blinked.
"You can talk to me?"
Little Black tilted his head.
Obviously.
Jade stood completely still.
He had never known.
Little Black had apparently possessed the ability to communicate telepathically with him this entire time.
Or perhaps...
It had only recently learned how.
Jade didn't have time to investigate.
The skeleton's life force had begun fluctuating.
Something was waking up.
Jade immediately summoned his Obsidian Vine Shadow.
A black vine shot forward.
WHOOSH!
It wrapped around Little Black.
The cat was pulled backward.
Little Black's eyes widened.
Hey!
He opened his mouth to protest.
Jade immediately covered it with his hand.
"Quiet!"
Little Black tried to yell.
Jade tightened his grip.
"Don't make a sound."
The cat bit him.
Hard.
"OW!"
Jade instantly released him.
He stared at the bite mark on his hand.
Little Black sat proudly on the floor.
Its tail flicked from side to side.
Jade glared at him.
"You bit me!"
Little Black looked completely unapologetic.
Jade rubbed his hand before looking toward the jeweled skeleton again.
His expression became serious.
"You will thank me for this later."
Little Black stared at him.
Then slowly glanced back toward the skeleton.
For the first time...
Even the mischievous cat seemed to understand.
The shiny treasure wasn't worth dying for.
The skeleton remained motionless.
But its life force...
Was growing stronger.
Something inside that ancient body...
Was waking up.