Snow froze in midair. Time slowed.
Lucien's finger hovered near the trigger of the stolen rifle, but something in the woman's presence made every instinct scream to stop.
She stood no more than fifteen feet away her black silk veil fluttering despite the windless air. Her gaze, barely visible beneath her hood, shimmered gold.
Not like light. Like memory.
"Yul," she repeated softly.
Lucien's heart slammed in his chest. "I don't know that name."
The woman tilted her head. "You will."
Beside him, Hana stirred, groaning faintly. Her hand reached blindly for Lucien's arm, eyes fluttering open.
When she saw the woman, her breath caught.
"I've… seen her," Hana whispered. "In a dream. Or…"
"No," the woman said gently. "In your past life. When you stood beside Yul on the battlefield and chose to seal the Echo."
Lucien's grip tightened on the gun. "If you know who I was, then tell me. What do you want from us now?"
The woman didn't flinch. "I want to help you. Because everything that's happening now… we started it together, centuries ago."
Seoul – Argent Circle HQ, Midnight
Minjun stormed into the command chamber. Holographic feeds surrounded him: multiple angles of the failed monastery assault blinking red.
"Report."
"Seonwu neutralized four units. Lucien and Hana escaped down the eastern pass. Unknown third party interfered," said the lead technician.
Minjun clenched his fists. "Unknown?"
Commander Kwon cleared his throat. "Her interference caused the snowfield to stall in mid-motion. Whatever she is, she's not on our registry."
Minjun's gaze narrowed.
"No one interferes with the timeline."
He turned to Shin Dae-hyun's proxy feed.
"The girl has crossed the soul threshold," Minjun said coldly. "Do we proceed?"
Shin's voice crackled from the speaker. "Yes. Begin the Harrowing Protocol. It's time they remember what they buried."
Flashback – 980 A.D., Temple of Echoes
Lightning split the sky as Yul, Seonwu, and No-eul stood before a pulsing altar. Around them, the world was collapsing.
A voice from the depths whispered through cracked stone: "One must carry the burden, one must forget, and one must guard."
Yul had volunteered to seal the memory in his soul.
No-eul Hana's past self was sentenced to forget.
Seonwu, the guardian, was cursed to wander and remember.
But someone else had watched it all.
A woman cloaked in midnight.
And she'd whispered her own vow: "If the seal breaks… I will be the one who finishes the war."
Present – The Forest Ridge, Moments Later
Lucien helped Hana to her feet as the mysterious woman turned away.
"This is not the place," she said softly. "Follow me."
Lucien hesitated.
Then nodded.
They slipped through the trees, deeper into the snow-shrouded mountains, moving fast but silent. Raven Unit combed the opposite slope, unaware of their escape.
Minutes passed in tense silence before the woman stopped at the edge of a crumbling cliff. Below it: a stairway carved into the stone, long buried and recently unearthed.
She traced a sigil into the air. The cliff shimmered and opened.
"A Sanctuary of the First Echo," she said.
Inside, blue torches ignited on ancient walls carved with symbols some matching those Hana had seen in her visions.
Lucien followed, steadying Hana.
Only when the gate closed behind them did he finally ask, "Who are you?"
The woman removed her veil.
She was beautiful. Ageless. Her skin was pale like pearl, her eyes not human but celestial.
"I am Ae-rin. Once a Seer of the first court of echoes."
Hana's lips trembled. "You were there… when the dagger was first created."
Ae-rin nodded. "I was also there when you tried to destroy it."
Lucien stepped forward. "Then tell us. What is this dagger? What is the Echo?"
Ae-rin looked at them both.
"It's not an object. It's a being. A consciousness born from fractured time."
Lucien froze.
"You mean it's alive?"
"Yes," Ae-rin replied. "And worse it remembers every version of itself from every fractured cycle. It has grown smarter. Stronger. Hungrier."
Hana's hand went to her chest. "It's trying to awaken through me."
"Because you are the only one who sealed it before," Ae-rin said. "But now that you're crossing the soul threshold, it can access fragments of that power. That's why the Argent Circle wants you."
Lucien's voice dropped. "To awaken it?"
"No," Ae-rin said. "To control it."
Lucien's jaw clenched. "And what do you want?"
Ae-rin's gold eyes softened.
"I want you to finish what we all failed to do."
Meanwhile – Hidden Vault, Below Seoul
The crystalline heart glowed brighter. It pulsed in rhythm with Hana's soul.
Shin Dae-hyun stood before it, palms pressed to the glass.
Beside him, a technician trembled. "Sir, the resonance is syncing across timelines."
Shin smiled.
"Good. That means Yul is waking up too."
"Yul?" the technician asked.
"The warrior she loved. The one who bled for the seal."
The tech hesitated. "But he died in the collapse."
Shin's voice was ice.
"He reincarnated. We just didn't know who he'd be."
The pulse spiked.
A silhouette appeared in the glass.
A man.
Lucien's face.
Shin's grin widened
Back at the Sanctuary
Ae-rin sat across from them in a circle of candlelight. Around them, ancient instruments hummed.
She handed Lucien a black stone.
"This is a Soul Beacon. It will anchor your present self as your past awakens."
Lucien hesitated. "What if I don't want to remember?"
"Then you'll never be able to stop what's coming," Ae-rin said. "The Echo will manipulate you with fragments of who you were. Until it controls not just Hana but you."
Lucien stared at the stone.
The shadows in the flames whispered his name.
Yul.
Yul.
He closed his eyes and pressed the beacon to his chest.
It sank into him like breath into lungs.
His eyes snapped open.
And he remembered.
FLASHBACK – The Night Before the Sealing
Yul sat on the rooftop of the burning city, No-eul sleeping beside him. Her head on his shoulder.
Seonwu stood guard a few paces away, staring into the distance.
Yul whispered, "I don't want her to forget."
"She must," Seonwu said. "Or she'll be destroyed."
"But if she forgets me…" Yul's voice cracked. "Then what was it all for?"
Seonwu didn't answer.
Because some things, even warriors can't fix.
Present Day – Sanctuary
Lucien stumbled backward, breath catching. "I remember the night we fell."
Hana turned to him, eyes wide. "Yul…?"
He looked at her.
And for a moment it wasn't Lucien in those eyes.
It was a man from another age.
Her protector.
Her soul's twin.
"I remember you," he whispered.
Tears welled in Hana's eyes.
But before either could speak further, the torches blew out.
All of them.
Ae-rin stood instantly. "Something's wrong."
The walls began to shake.
Outside the sanctuary, reality cracked.
A tear in the air opened black fire and silver eyes staring through.
The Echo.
It had found them.
And it was no longer just watching.
It was coming through.