New World — Yae’s Chamber

  Steam still clung to the air.

  Yae shut off the shower and stood there for a moment, water sliding down her shoulders like it didn’t matter. She wrapped a towel around her hair, another around her body, then stepped out.

  The room was quiet. Too quiet.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and faced the mirror.

  Her eyes looked steady. Her expression didn’t.

  For a long breath, she didn’t move—just stared, like the glass might give her an answer if she stared hard enough.

  Then her gaze drifted to the bed.

  She reached out and ran her hand over the sheets, slow, almost careful… and stopped when her fingers hit the spot where he had been.

  Her throat tightened.

  She pulled her hand back like it burned.

  Isaac.

  The name didn’t leave her mouth, but it sat heavy behind her teeth.

  She stood abruptly and dressed fast—too fast, like staying in that room one more second would crack something she refused to let crack.

  (Some time later)

  Yae walked through the halls until the stone changed under her feet and the air smelled of ink, metal, and old magic.

  She entered a private chamber and sat down.

  Three mages arrived moments later—dirty, exhausted, robes scuffed as if they’d crawled out of the earth to get here.

  Yae didn’t waste time.

  “Any news?”

  One of them bowed deeper than the others, breath still uneven. “Yes, my queen… The amulet carries divine magic. We cannot alter it. We cannot… touch its structure.”

  Another mage stepped forward, voice quieter. “We can activate it. But—” he hesitated, eyes dropping, “—we can’t guarantee where it will take you. Or what it will bring back.”

  Yae’s fingers curled once against the armrest.

  “I see.” Her voice stayed calm. “Continue.”

  They bowed again.

  She rose from her chair, already turning away.

  “I want it ready today.”

  “Yes, my queen.”

  Yae left the room without looking back.

  But the moment the doors closed behind her… her jaw tightened.

  Because “ready” was not the hard part.

  The hard part was what she planned to do once it was.

  Limbo — Edge of Oblivion

  Goda and Isaac slid down a steep slope, boots scraping over loose stone—until the ground suddenly dropped away.

  They stopped hard.

  In front of them was the hole.

  Not just a pit—an enormous black mouth, curved and deep, swallowing sound. It looked like a frozen wave mid-crash, a tsunami made of shadow, ready to pull the world into itself.

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  Isaac’s breath caught.

  “What the—”

  Goda grabbed his arm before he could step wrong. “Yeah. Watch your footing.”

  Isaac swallowed and leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

  A line of souls—people and creatures—stretched toward the edge. Some walked in slow and silent. Some didn’t even hesitate, just jumped.

  No screams.

  Just… gone.

  Isaac stared, skin prickling.

  Goda lifted his chin, scanning. “There. Look.”

  Isaac followed his gaze.

  A small group stood near the line, talking fast and low—like they were trying to decide something before time ran out.

  Isaac’s heart kicked.

  “Tatsuo!”

  One of them turned.

  Tatsuo looked over his shoulder and saw Goda—and a stranger at Goda’s side.

  Before Isaac could take another step, two beasts moved in.

  A wolf-like creature grabbed Isaac by the front of his shirt. Another one caught Goda’s shoulder, holding him in place.

  The wolf snarled right in Isaac’s face. “Easy, idiot.”

  Isaac’s eyes flashed—then he forced himself to breathe. Fighting here, next to that hole, was suicide.

  Tatsuo stepped closer, gaze sharp.

  He leaned in and smelled Isaac—slow, deliberate.

  Tatsuo’s expression changed instantly. “A living one…”

  His voice dropped, almost disbelieving. “Here? In Limbo?”

  He stared Isaac up and down. “Who are you?”

  Isaac kept his hands open, palms out. “My name is Isaac. I came because of your mother—Yuno.”

  Tatsuo froze.

  For one second, he looked like he didn’t understand the words.

  Then his eyes widened. “My mother…?” His voice cracked. “That’s impossible. How—where is she?”

  “She’s in Mundus.” Isaac stepped forward half a pace, careful. “She’s worried. She asked me to find you… to talk to you. She hasn’t stopped thinking about you.”

  Tatsuo’s mouth trembled.

  He turned away fast, shoulders shaking.

  “I…” He swallowed hard. “I didn’t expect…”

  The wolf creature snapped at him, tense. “Tatsuo, we don’t have time for this. We need to go into the hole before—”

  A sound cut through Limbo.

  Not loud—worse.

  A scraping laugh, like metal dragged across bone.

  Every head turned.

  Goda’s face tightened. “Shit. It’s them.”

  The wolf’s grip loosened. Fear flashed in its eyes.

  Tatsuo whispered the name like a curse. “Walkers…”

  The group scattered.

  Bodies moved at once—running, pushing, slipping on loose rock.

  And then—

  A Walker appeared like it stepped out of the dark itself.

  One brutal kick.

  The wolf creature flew backward—straight into the abyss.

  It vanished mid-fall. Like the hole swallowed it before it could even drop.

  Everyone froze in horror.

  The Walker laughed.

  Then it grabbed another soul—threw it in.

  Another.

  It was playing. Tossing people into Oblivion like it was nothing.

  Goda stumbled, his knee hitting the ground.

  Isaac caught him and hauled him up. “Move.”

  Isaac’s head snapped around—searching through the chaos.

  “Tatsuo!”

  He spotted him—running, pushing past the line, trying to escape the edge.

  Isaac lunged after him—

  —and something hit him with impossible force.

  He was yanked sideways and slammed into the ground.

  Stone cracked under his shoulder.

  A shadow leaned over him, amused.

  “A living one… here in Limbo.” The Walker’s voice was thick with laughter. “What a surprise.”

  Isaac rolled and sprang up, eyes glowing, body coiling to strike.

  The Walker didn’t flinch.

  It smiled.

  It lifted one hand.

  A ring on its finger lit up.

  Isaac’s stomach dropped—because the light didn’t look like normal magic.

  The Walker tilted its head, as if listening to something only it could hear.

  “I see.” Its grin widened. “A king… from Mundus.”

  Isaac went still. “How do you—”

  The Walker chuckled. “A strong one, too.”

  It raised its other hand.

  Another ring flared.

  The ground trembled.

  Pressure slammed down from above.

  Isaac and Goda were forced onto one knee like the air itself turned heavy.

  Isaac gritted his teeth. “What the hell is—”

  Two figures took shape beside the Walker, drawn out of nothing like smoke becoming flesh.

  Power poured off them in waves.

  Fall.

  Vilgas.

  Bigger. Sharper. Wrong. Like someone had taken them and overfed them rage.

  Isaac’s blood ran cold.

  He pulled Goda back, inch by inch, keeping his body between his father and them.

  “No…” Isaac breathed. “That’s not possible.”

  Goda’s eyes were wide, voice rough. “Then they really died…” He swallowed. “How?”

  “Not now,” Isaac snapped, low. “Not now.”

  Fall’s smile stretched slowly, satisfied. “Finally.”

  Vilgas’s stare was dead and hungry.

  Isaac flicked his gaze—just once—and saw Tatsuo nearby, half-hidden behind broken stone, staring at them in terror.

  The Walker laughed beside Fall and Vilgas like it owned the moment.

  “And just to make sure you die properly, great king…” The Walker’s hand lifted.

  Something dangled between its fingers.

  A severed cord.

  Isaac’s chest went tight instantly.

  He grabbed at his belt on instinct.

  The tether—Yuno’s tether—was gone.

  “No—”

  The Walker let the cut cord slip through its fingers.

  It vanished like smoke.

  Isaac’s face hardened.

  “Shit.”

  Frozen Lands — Yuno’s Laboratory

  Yu paced in a tight line beside the circle, boots scraping the cold floor.

  Her wings were tucked in, but her body couldn’t stay still.

  “He’s taking too long.”

  Yuno didn’t answer. Both hands stayed wrapped around the golden tether, knuckles pale. Her eyes never left the hole.

  The cord hung down into black… perfectly still.

  Then—

  It twitched.

  Once.

  Yu’s head snapped up.

  Yuno’s breath caught.

  The tether swayed again, stronger this time, like something on the other end had grabbed it.

  Yu stepped in fast, hope breaking through her fear.

  “Finally. That’s him—pull, now.”

  Yuno nodded once, already moving.

  They grabbed the tether together and pulled with anxious strength—fast, urgent, not thinking about anything except getting Isaac back.