The clash between Lyra and the masked leader split the heavens.
Silver and black light collided, creating waves of spiritual energy that swept across the Sea of Forgotten Time. Mountains on distant islands crumbled, and the once-calm sea rose into towering walls of water.
Lin Mo, Chen Yu, and Han Qiu were thrown backward by the shockwave.
Chen Yu struggled to stand.
"I can't even breathe..."
Han Qiu drove his spear into the ground to steady himself.
"This... is a battle beyond our realm."
High above the island, Lyra floated effortlessly.
Around her, twelve silver rings slowly revolved.
Each ring represented a different flow of memory.
Every movement she made caused forgotten moments to materialize in the air.
The masked leader laughed.
"So this is the true authority of the Second Hour."
"You preserve memories."
Lyra answered calmly.
"No."
"I preserve what deserves to be remembered."
She gently raised her hand.
The silver rings shot forward.
The masked leader thrust his black spear into the sky.
Darkness erupted from its tip, swallowing the approaching rings.
For a moment, the battlefield became a storm of black and silver.
Neither side gave ground.
Then...
**Crack.**
One of Lyra's silver rings shattered.
She took a small step backward.
A thin streak of blood appeared at the corner of her lips.
Lin Mo's heart sank.
"She's injured..."
The Guardian's voice echoed faintly from the silver watch.
> "She has only a fragment of her former strength."
> "Ten thousand years have weakened every Keeper."
The masked leader seized the opportunity.
With a roar, he spun his spear.
A massive black dragon burst forth, roaring as it raced toward the silver tree.
"No!" Lin Mo shouted.
The tree was the heart of the Second Trial.
If it fell—
Lyra disappeared in a flash of silver light, appearing directly before the dragon.
She spread both arms.
The dragon struck.
The island shook violently.
When the light faded, Lyra was still standing.
But deep cracks had spread across the trunk of the silver tree behind her.
Several shimmering leaves drifted into the sea.
Each leaf dissolved into light the moment it touched the water.
Lyra gently picked up one falling leaf.
She smiled sadly.
"So another memory returns to eternity..."
The masked leader lowered his spear.
"Enough."
"Surrender the Successor."
"I will grant you a peaceful end."
Lyra shook her head.
"A Keeper does not bargain with fear."
Meanwhile, Lin Mo stared at the silver watch.
The Roman numeral **II** glowed brighter than ever.
The First Hour had awakened during the trial.
Now...
The Second Hour seemed to be calling to him.
"What should I do?" he whispered.
The Guardian did not answer.
Instead, another voice echoed within his mind.
Aster.
> **"An inheritance is never taken."**
> **"It is accepted."**
Lin Mo looked toward the silver tree.
He understood.
The tree wasn't simply protecting the Second Hour.
It was waiting for someone worthy to inherit it.
Without another word, he began running toward Lyra.
Chen Yu reached for him.
"Lin Mo!"
"It's too dangerous!"
Han Qiu stopped Chen Yu.
"No."
"Look."
The silver mist was parting before Lin Mo, creating a clear path.
The sanctuary itself had acknowledged him.
The masked leader noticed immediately.
"He must not reach the tree!"
Three elite Eclipse Court cultivators charged toward Lin Mo.
They moved like shadows, their blades gleaming with black light.
Lin Mo took a deep breath.
**Tick.**
**Borrowed Second.**
Time froze.
Instead of attacking, he slipped between the three assassins.
As time resumed, they collided with one another, each disrupting the other's attack.
Before they could recover, Han Qiu's spear swept through, knocking them away.
Chen Yu followed with a torrent of water that forced them back.
For the first time, the three friends fought as one.
Lin Mo reached the base of the silver tree.
Lyra looked at him with quiet pride.
"You've made your choice."
She placed her hand over his.
The tree began to glow.
Its remaining leaves rose into the air, circling them like countless stars.
"The Second Hour..."
"...belongs not to those who remember the past."
"But to those who carry it into the future."
The Roman numeral **II** on the watch blazed with silver light.
The watch's hands began spinning.
One by one, the floating leaves entered the watch.
Every memory.
Every promise.
Every sacrifice.
Became part of the Chrono Heart.
A brilliant pillar of silver light shot into the sky.
The entire Sea of Forgotten Time trembled.
Even the masked leader stepped back.
"It awakened..."
"No..."
"It accepted him."
The light slowly faded.
Lin Mo opened his eyes.
The Roman numeral **II** now shone beside **I**.
He could feel a new power within him.
Not the power to stop time.
Not the power to see its rhythm.
But the power to remember perfectly.
Every technique he witnessed.
Every face he met.
Every lesson he learned.
Nothing would ever be forgotten again.
Lyra smiled.
"My duty is fulfilled."
Her body slowly became transparent.
"No..."
Lin Mo reached toward her.
"You can't leave."
She gently shook her head.
"I was never truly alive."
"I was only waiting."
She looked toward the silver tree.
The once-majestic trunk had turned to crystal.
"The sanctuary will not survive much longer."
"You must leave."
Before Lin Mo could speak again, the masked leader roared in fury.
"I won't allow it!"
He hurled his black spear directly at the silver tree.
The spear pierced the trunk.
For a heartbeat...
Everything became silent.
Then—
The Silver Tree shattered into millions of glowing fragments.
The sanctuary itself began to collapse.
The Sea of Forgotten Time had reached its end.