The silver locket lay quietly in Jin's hand, as if it had always been there—gentle, weightless, but impossibly heavy.
He sat alone beneath the starlight pouring in from the open window, the moonlight casting fractured shapes across the marble floor of the divine palace. Outside, the world held its breath. Inside, time moved only for him.
As he opened the locket, a soft hum stirred the silence. No words—just warmth. And then came the memory… not like a flash, but like being pulled into the ache of the past.
It was the day the Entity returned.
Jin stumbled through the veil, answering the call.
And there—amid a torn expanse of warped reality—he saw him.
Lucias.
Laid across the shattered ground like a fallen comet, his body motionless, blood—no, essence—pooling in strange geometric shapes beneath him. Arcane sigils shimmered across his skin, fading like fireflies in the dusk.
Jin's breath caught in his throat. "No…"
He dropped beside him, hands already glowing, weaving threads of celestial healing. "You'll be fine. I'm here now."
Lucias opened his eyes. Weak, golden. "Brother…"
"Don't speak. I've got you," Jin said through gritted teeth. "You'll be okay. Just hang on."
Lucias gave a pained chuckle. "Still the same… Trying to fix everything."
"Shut up. I'm not losing you."
"You already have…" Lucias's voice cracked. "I sacrificed my life to summon my Master. It's the only a way to protect you."
The healing light faded.
Jin's hands trembled.
"No.No.No... you can't. Why did you do this ?"
Lucias's eyes shimmered. "I did. I saw what was coming. I saw what he was becoming…Zhel-vorah. And I knew... you were the only one who could face him and also you are my brother."
Jin clenched his fists, vision blurring. "I needed you here. Not gone."
Lucias smiled, weakly, but with peace. "You still have me. Just… not in the way you want."
He reached into his tattered robes, fingers fumbling, and pressed the silver locket into Jin's palm.
"Mother gave it to me. She said, 'When all light disappears, let the stars guide you home.'"
He looked into Jin's eyes. "I want you to have it now."
Jin shook his head. "Don't you dare talk like this is goodbye."
Lucias exhaled softly. "Jin… it was always going to be you."
Lucias' breath grew shallow. "Protect them, Protect the cosmology… your happiness… your light. And don't afraid I will always support you."
Tears slipped down Jin's face. "I wasn't strong enough…"
"You were," Lucias whispered. "Because you're still here."
His fingers clutched Jin's hand, tighter.
"I was never afraid to die, Jin. I was only afraid to leave you alone."
And then… his hand went still.
Silence. Deafening silence.
The battlefield was still. The stars dimmed.
The sigils stopped glowing.
His chest fell still.
And with one final, quiet breath, Lucias—his brother, his other half—was gone.
Jin blinked the tears from his eyes as the memory ended. The warmth of the locket pulsed once, as if acknowledging the weight of that moment. He stood in silence, heart aching—not just with grief, but with purpose.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
He turned, finding himself standing outside Daemon and Eirlys's room. The door was ajar, pale golden light spilling through. Inside, his two children lay curled in sleep—innocent, untouched by war, unaware of the storm that churned on the horizon.
He stepped in quietly.
Eirlys clutched her stuffed lion, her hair spread like moonlight over the pillow. Daemon mumbled something in his sleep, frowning for a second before relaxing again.
Jin knelt beside them. His fingers gently brushed their cheeks. He didn't say anything. Words felt… too small.
This might be the last time he saw them as they were—safe, dreaming, whole.
As he turned to leave, the corridor wasn't empty.
They were all waiting for him.
His mother, Eva, stood tall, her expression unreadable, but her eyes glistening.
His father, Han Jin-Hyukk, whose aged features looked years older from the worry in them.
Kaelros, arms crossed, unreadable and sharp as ever.
Arden, with the quiet of a man who had buried too many brothers.
Lysander, grinning faintly—but this time it wasn't confidence. It was resolve.
Rin, his mind already steps ahead, measuring the unfolding battle like a grand orchestra.
Athena, gaze distant as though hearing the strings of fate being pulled tighter.
Chris, once brother-in-law, now a blood-sworn sword at Jin's side.
Lillian, no longer the girl he protected—now a weapon with her own fire.
Lia and Velka, the two women who had defied death and time to be with him. One bore his soul. The other bore his storm.
"You weren't going to say goodbye?" Eva asked, voice soft, almost trembling.
"I couldn't," Jin whispered. "I don't want to hear anyone tell me not to go."
"But you knew we'd never let you walk alone," Velka said, stepping forward, eyes ablaze.
Kaelros nodded. "Whatever you face out there, you're not facing it without us. We made a pact, remember? You, me, Rin, Lysander, Arden… and Lia, Lillian we all fought Titans, Monsters."
He glanced toward Lia, who simply nodded.
"The old team," Arden murmured. "One last time."
But Jin shook his head. "Not everyone. Some of you need to stay. The children—"
"We've already decided," Athena cut in. "Eva, your father, and I will stay behind. We'll protect the children. And the realm."
"And if the rift closes behind us?" Jin asked.
"Then we trust you to open it again," said Eva, with a sad smile.
From the shadows, Eres and Nyxses, Jin's loyal shadow soldiers, emerged, ready to guard the bloodline he might never see again.
Jin finally stepped forward, lifting his hand.
A shimmering Astral Rift spiraled open before them—its edge glowing with celestial flames and unknown possibilities. The kind of gate you could never return from unchanged. From his shadow Bellon and Nyreth Came out.
He looked back one last time—eyes resting on the door to his children's room.
"I'll come back," he whispered, whether to them, to Lucias, or to himself—he didn't know.
Then Jin stepped through the rift.
And his family followed