MY CHILDREN.
The voice echoed through Dinraal's bones.
He fell to one knee.
Around him, the ancient chamber disappeared beneath the sound.
The First Weapon lowered its enormous body until its head touched the ground.
Gilgamesh did the same.
Cleopatra stood perfectly still.
For the first time since Dinraal had met her, there was no sarcasm in her eyes.
Only fear.
Caesar slowly lowered his sword.
Alexander stared into the darkness below.
Then he smiled faintly.
Dinraal looked at him.
"Why are you smiling?"
Alexander glanced over.
"I'm trying not to panic."
"That is not working."
"I know, but I read a book once and the cover explicitly told me not to panic."
The ground opened farther.
Far below the chamber, something silver moved beneath layers of stone.
Dinraal stared.
At first, he thought he was looking at metal.
Then—
an eye opened.
It was larger than the ancient chamber.
Silver.
Ancient.
Watching.
Claire stopped breathing.
Johanna lowered her weapon.
Even Vael stepped backward.
Dinraal felt something reach toward him.
Not physically.
Inside.
The same place where the memories of humanity now lived.
The voice returned.
COME TO ME.
Dinraal stood.
Isolde grabbed his arm.
"No."
He looked at her.
"I don't think that's a request."
"Then refuse."
Dinraal almost smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind."
He stepped toward the opening.
Gilgamesh rose immediately.
"Wait."
Dinraal stopped.
The ancient king was staring at him.
"There's something you need to know."
Dinraal looked down at his hand.
The Mithril Gaunt was gone.
Only silver markings remained beneath his skin.
"I feel like that's becoming a theme."
Gilgamesh didn't smile.
"This time, it matters."
Caesar stepped forward.
Cleopatra followed.
Dinraal looked between them.
"What?"
Gilgamesh's eyes moved toward the darkness.
Then back to Dinraal.
"Your father came to Earth."
Dinraal became still.
"I know that."
"No."
Gilgamesh's expression darkened.
"You know that he visited."
Dinraal frowned.
"What else is there?"
Gilgamesh took a slow breath.
"He came for you."
Silence.
Isolde's grip tightened around Dinraal's arm.
Claire looked toward Gilgamesh.
"What do you mean?"
Gilgamesh said nothing.
Dinraal felt the answer before anyone spoke.
His heart began beating faster.
"Gilgamesh."
The ancient king finally looked at him.
"Bahamut could not have a child."
The world went quiet.
Dinraal stared.
"What?"
Caesar closed his eyes.
Cleopatra looked away.
Dinraal's voice became sharper.
"What did you say?"
Gilgamesh continued.
"Not naturally."
Dinraal took a step backward.
"No."
"Dinraal—"
"No."
The word came out harder than he intended.
Isolde moved beside him.
He barely noticed.
Gilgamesh's face filled with regret.
"Your father was dying."
Dinraal froze.
"What?"
The ancient king looked toward the floor.
"Long before the battle everyone believes killed him."
A memory entered Dinraal's mind.
Not through the Gaunt.
Through Bahamut.
Earth
Rain fell over an ancient city.
Dinraal stood in the middle of an empty street.
He recognized Earth immediately.
But this was not the ruined Earth from Eve's memories.
The city was alive.
Towers rose above the clouds.
Technology far beyond anything Dinraal had seen moved silently through the streets.
Yet beneath it all—
there was something ancient.
Something familiar.
Dinraal turned.
Bahamut stood beside him.
His father looked younger.
But not healthy.
His skin was pale.
His breathing was shallow.
Dinraal stared.
"Father?"
Bahamut did not hear him.
This was another memory.
A figure approached through the rain.
Gilgamesh.
A slightly younger version that looked almost identical to the man Dinraal knew.
He wore a long dark coat.
His expression was deeply annoyed.
"You're late."
Bahamut smiled weakly.
"I crossed half the galaxy."
Gilgamesh folded his arms.
"You're still late."
Bahamut laughed.
Then coughed.
Blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Gilgamesh's expression changed.
"Bahamut."
His father wiped the blood away.
"I'm fine."
Dinraal whispered, "I got that from him..."
Gilgamesh heard nothing.
But somewhere beyond the memory—
the real Gilgamesh closed his eyes.
Bahamut looked toward the enormous structure behind them.
Dinraal followed his gaze.
It was a palace.
No.
A fortress.
Built beneath the oldest city on Earth.
Its doors opened.
A man stepped outside.
Dinraal froze.
He knew him.
The Chancellor.
But not as he had appeared above the planet.
This man looked younger.
His uniform was different.
No imperial symbols marked his clothing.
Instead, a single silver emblem rested over his heart.
A circle.
Surrounded by seven stars.
The Chancellor approached Bahamut.
"Emperor."
Bahamut frowned.
"Don't call me that."
The Chancellor smiled faintly.
"Still pretending you dislike the title?"
"Yes."
Gilgamesh walked past them.
"Both of you are unbearable."
The Chancellor looked at him.
"Gilgamesh."
"Aurelius."
Dinraal stared.
Aurelius.
The Chancellor's name.
His father had never spoken it.
Not in the records.
Not in the stories.
Bahamut turned toward him.
"You're the Chancellor of Humanity."
Aurelius nodded.
"For now."
Dinraal's mind raced.
The Chancellor had once been something entirely different.
The ruler of the Empire.
Not merely Isolde's father.
He had been the Chancellor of Humanity itself.
When humans had long since become scattered across the stars.
Before humanity had begun disappearing.
Bahamut's expression became serious.
"Will she see me?"
Aurelius looked toward the fortress.
"That depends."
"On?"
Aurelius glanced toward Gilgamesh.
The ancient king sighed.
"Whether she likes you."
Bahamut looked offended.
"I'm charming."
Gilgamesh stared at him.
Aurelius stared at him.
Bahamut waited.
Neither answered.
Dinraal almost laughed.
Then Bahamut coughed again.
This time, he did not hide the blood.
The humor vanished.
Aurelius's face became grim.
"How long?"
Bahamut looked away.
"Not long."
Gilgamesh stepped closer.
"You should have told us."
"I did."
"You told us you were tired."
"I was tired."
Gilgamesh grabbed him by the collar.
Dinraal froze.
The memory of his father did not resist.
Aurelius immediately stepped forward.
"Gilgamesh."
"Stay out of this."
Bahamut looked at his friend.
"You done?"
Gilgamesh stared at him.
Then released him.
"No."
Bahamut straightened his clothing.
"Good."
The doors behind them opened.
Everyone turned.
A woman walked from the darkness.
Dinraal stopped breathing.
Eve.
She looked exactly as she had inside the Gaunt.
Silver hair.
Simple clothing.
Ancient eyes.
But here—
she was alive.
Not a memory.
Not a voice.
Alive.
Bahamut stepped forward.
Eve stopped him with a raised hand.
"Do not."
Bahamut stopped.
Dinraal's father looked almost nervous.
Dinraal stared.
The Emperor of the Draec Empire was nervous.
Gilgamesh smiled.
Aurelius covered his mouth.
Eve looked toward them.
"Neither of you."
Gilgamesh immediately stopped smiling.
Aurelius straightened.
Dinraal almost wished he could remember this moment later.
Bahamut bowed his head.
"I came to ask something."
Eve stared at him.
"You came to ask for something."
Bahamut looked up.
"That too."
Eve's expression did not change.
"What?"
The rain fell between them.
Bahamut took a breath.
"A blessing."
Silence.
Dinraal stared.
Eve slowly tilted her head.
"No."
Bahamut blinked.
"I haven't explained."
"You said blessing."
"Yes."
"The answer is no."
Gilgamesh looked at Aurelius.
Aurelius looked at Gilgamesh.
Neither appeared surprised.
Bahamut sighed.
"Please."
Eve stared at him.
Then something changed.
Not her expression.
Her attention.
She looked inside him.
Dinraal could feel it.
Eve saw something.
Something wrong.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You are dying."
Bahamut became silent.
Eve looked toward Gilgamesh.
"You brought a dying man to me."
Gilgamesh folded his arms.
"He brought himself."
Eve turned toward Aurelius.
"And you?"
The Chancellor answered carefully.
"I advised against the journey."
Bahamut looked at him.
"Traitor."
Aurelius ignored him.
Eve returned her attention to Bahamut.
"You want to live."
Bahamut shook his head.
"No."
That answer surprised everyone.
Even Gilgamesh.
Even Aurelius.
Dinraal stared at his father.
Eve did not move.
Then—
"What do you want?"
Bahamut looked toward the rain.
For a long time, he said nothing.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet.
"A son."
Dinraal forgot how to breathe.
The rain seemed louder.
Eve's expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
Gilgamesh lowered his head.
Aurelius looked away.
Bahamut continued.
"I will not survive forever."
Eve said nothing.
"My Empire won't survive forever either."
The memory changed.
Dinraal saw something inside his father's mind.
War.
The Ashen.
The First Weapon.
A thousand possible futures.
Bahamut had known.
He had known that something was coming.
"I need someone who can survive what comes after me."
Eve's voice became cold.
"You want to create a weapon."
Bahamut immediately shook his head.
"No."
"Then why ask for my blood?"
Dinraal froze.
There it was.
The truth.
Bahamut looked directly at Eve.
"Because humanity needs to survive."
Eve's eyes hardened.
"Humanity has survived without you."
"I know."
"Humanity survived before your Empire."
"I know."
"It will survive after it."
Bahamut's expression broke.
"I don't know that."
Silence.
Dinraal stared at his father.
For the first time—
he saw fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for the future.
Bahamut slowly lowered himself to one knee.
Dinraal's eyes widened.
"Father."
Eve looked down at him.
The ruler of an empire.
The man who had buried the First Weapon and the Ancient Mother herself.
The man everyone had feared.
Knelt before a woman history had forgotten.
"I am not asking you to save me," Bahamut said.
"I am asking you to give my son a chance."
Eve stared at him.
"Your son does not exist."
"Not yet."
The Chancellor stood beneath the rain.
Dinraal looked at him.
The Chancellor was younger.
But his eyes were the same.
Cold.
Careful.
Tired.
He approached Eve.
Bahamut looked up.
"Aurelius."
The Chancellor ignored him.
Eve watched.
Aurelius bowed his head.
"I will speak plainly."
Gilgamesh groaned.
"Oh, good."
Aurelius continued.
"Humanity is dying."
The rain seemed to stop.
Dinraal looked at him.
Aurelius's voice remained calm.
But Dinraal could hear the grief beneath it.
"Not today."
He looked toward the stars.
"Perhaps not tomorrow."
His eyes returned to Eve.
"But the numbers continue falling."
Eve said nothing.
"The law is accelerating."
Gilgamesh's expression darkened.
Aurelius continued.
"Every human death strengthens those who remain."
Bahamut looked at him.
Aurelius's voice became quieter.
"And that strength creates fear."
Dinraal watched.