The heartbeat echoed once more.
**THUMP.**
The sound rippled through the frozen city like an invisible wave. Buildings creaked. Ice cracked. Thousands of suspended snowflakes trembled in midair.
Beneath the streets...
Something was waking up.
Eira closed her eyes and pressed a hand against her silver watch.
Unlike Lin Mo's watch, hers had only one illuminated mark.
**III**
The symbol glowed with a pale blue light.
"I can't hold it much longer," she said quietly.
Lin Mo stepped beside her.
"What exactly is imprisoned down there?"
For several moments, Eira remained silent.
Then she answered.
"I don't know its true name."
"But the ancient records called it..."
> **The Devourer of Memories.**
Chen Yu frowned.
"Memories?"
Han Qiu looked around at the frozen citizens.
"So that's why no one is dead."
Eira nodded.
"I had only just awakened my watch when it escaped."
"I couldn't defeat it."
"So I used the Third Hour."
"I froze the entire kingdom..."
"...including myself."
Lin Mo looked at her in surprise.
"You trapped yourself too?"
She gave a faint smile.
"If I hadn't..."
"It would have escaped."
The Guardian finally spoke.
> "The Third Hour..."
> "...is Stasis."
Lin Mo listened carefully.
> "The First Hour observes."
> "The Second remembers."
> "The Third preserves."
> "Nothing within its domain may advance."
Another crack spread beneath the clock tower.
This time, the frozen ground collapsed completely.
A spiral staircase of black stone descended into darkness.
Ancient blue flames ignited one by one along the walls.
The heartbeat stopped.
Silence followed.
The kind of silence that warned of danger.
Eira looked toward the staircase.
"It knows we're here."
Lin Mo nodded.
"Then we go together."
Without another word, the five of them—Lin Mo, Eira, Chen Yu, Han Qiu, and Elder Mu—began descending.
Each step took them deeper beneath the frozen kingdom.
The air grew colder.
Not physically.
Spiritually.
It felt as though their thoughts themselves were slowing.
After several hundred steps, they reached an enormous underground chamber.
At its center stood a prison unlike anything Lin Mo had ever seen.
Twelve silver chains stretched from the walls.
Each chain was engraved with the crest of one of the Twelve Keepers.
Together they bound a massive crystal sphere.
Inside the crystal...
A shadow floated motionless.
Its shape constantly changed.
Sometimes it resembled a man.
Sometimes a beast.
Sometimes only a cloud of black mist.
No matter its form...
It had no face.
Elder Mu stared in disbelief.
"Twelve Keeper Seals..."
"How old is this place?"
The Guardian answered softly.
> "Older than the War."
Lin Mo approached the sphere cautiously.
His First Hour revealed countless streams of temporal energy flowing through the chains.
His Second Hour brought flashes of unfamiliar memories.
He saw Keepers forging the prison.
He saw Orion personally crafting the twelve chains.
He saw the First Keeper speaking solemnly:
> "If Memory itself is consumed..."
> "...Time will lose its meaning."
The vision vanished.
Eira pointed toward one of the chains.
"Look."
Everyone turned.
One chain had already snapped.
A second was covered in deep cracks.
A third pulsed with dark energy.
Lin Mo's expression hardened.
"It's breaking free."
Before anyone could react—
The shadow inside the crystal opened two silver eyes.
Not crimson.
Silver.
It smiled.
"So..."
"The heirs have returned."
Its voice was gentle.
Almost comforting.
"I've been alone..."
"...for such a very long time."
Chen Yu instinctively stepped backward.
"Why is it talking so calmly?"
Han Qiu answered,
"Because it wants us to lower our guard."
The creature laughed softly.
"Smart."
Its eyes turned toward Lin Mo.
"You carry Aster's blessing."
Then toward Eira.
"And Lyra's memory."
Its gaze lingered on both watches.
"How nostalgic."
Lin Mo frowned.
"You know the Keepers?"
The shadow closed its eyes.
"I knew them..."
"...before they became Keepers."
The chamber fell silent.
Even the Guardian seemed shaken.
"You lie," Elder Mu said firmly.
The creature chuckled.
"Perhaps."
"Or perhaps your histories are shorter than my life."
Without warning, the cracked chain finally broke.
**SNAP!**
The prison trembled violently.
Dark mist leaked from the crystal.
Where it touched the stone floor...
Ancient carvings disappeared.
Not broken.
Not burned.
Simply...
Forgotten.
Han Qiu looked down.
"The inscriptions..."
"They're gone."
The Guardian's voice became urgent.
> "Do not touch the mist!"
> "It doesn't destroy."
> "It erases."
The shadow smiled wider.
"Every memory you lose..."
"...becomes mine."
It stretched out one hand inside the crystal.
Another chain shattered.
**SNAP!**
The chamber shook violently.
The watches around Lin Mo's and Eira's necks began ringing in unison.
**Tick...**
**Tick...**
**Tick...**
Then, for the first time, Lin Mo noticed something impossible.
A **fourth** resonance answered from somewhere deep beneath the prison.
Not from his watch.
Not from Eira's.
Not from the shattered chains.
Another heir...
Was below them.
And judging by the sound...
They were trapped with the Devourer.