The veil of light flickered as Kaito stepped through it, and for a moment, it felt as if time itself paused.
There was no sensation—no sound, no air, not even the thud of his own heartbeat. It was like stepping into the center of a dream that had been frozen in place.
Then everything changed.
The chamber beyond was vast—impossibly vast. More than a chamber, it felt like an entire pocket dimension, detached from the physical world.
The sky above was a swirling canvas of starlight and void, constantly reshaping, whispering untold truths through its slow motion.
The floor beneath him was a mirror-black obsidian circle, cracked faintly at the edges, as though it had seen battles from forgotten ages.
At the very center of this grand hall stood a towering monolith. Midnight-black stone wrapped in silver vines of flowing script. The runes pulsed in rhythm, like the beat of a living heart.
Kaito took a slow breath, but even the air felt ancient—too heavy to be real.
