[INT. TEMPLE OF FORGOTTEN LIGHT — MORNING]
Light streamed through the shattered windows of the ancient temple.
A strange peace lingered after the battle, but it felt... fragile. Temporary.
Haruto and Airi sat side by side near the glowing altar, the watch and ring placed gently between them, faintly pulsing with light.
Airi's voice broke the silence.
"That name… Lyria. It echoed in my head all night."
Haruto stared ahead, his voice low.
"And mine… Alarion. I feel like I've carried it forever without knowing."
Above them, the sigils of the Light Gods flickered faintly — silent witnesses to their awakening.
Haruto clenched his fists.
"There's still more… something we're not seeing yet."
---
Suddenly — a ripple split the air.
Elios stepped out of the fold in time, his expression grim.
Elios:
"You've made your first step… but the rules of the divine are shifting faster than even time can track."
Airi turned sharply.
"You said we had time. But it feels like we're being pushed faster and faster."
Elios's golden eyes darkened.
"That's because… the Dark God is preparing to breach the barrier between divine realms."
Haruto stood up in shock.
"I thought no deity could cross into another's domain!"
Elios's voice was heavy.
"That's true. A God cannot step freely into another God's realm — unless they curse their own essence to corrupt the barrier. It's a slow, agonizing process... but he's been doing it for centuries."
---
FLASHBACK — DARK REALM
The Dark God, shackled by cursed chains, bleeding ichor from his divine form, whispered ancient spells.
Corruption oozed from his body, seeping into cracks in the fabric of space — slowly bleeding toward the mortal world.
---
BACK TO PRESENT
Elios continued, his voice barely above a whisper.
"He's almost through. And when he breaks in… not even the Time God will be able to hold him back."
Airi pressed a hand over her heart, her voice trembling.
"That's why the Time God was weakening… He's not just cursed — he's being invaded."
Elios nodded solemnly.
"And there's more. You've saved the Time God before. Three times now.
Each time you unknowingly pushed back the corruption.
But without your full selves… you're only delaying the inevitable."
Haruto stared at the watch, the gears inside whirring softly.
"Even with the watch's full power unlocked, I can't use it all.
Something's blocking me… like my soul is still sealed."
Elios stepped closer, voice serious.
"Because it is. The watch and the ring are only keys.
Until your true selves — Alarion and Lyria — awaken fully, your divine essence cannot synchronize."
---
The ground shuddered violently.
Elios's eyes sharpened.
"He's accelerating the curse.
And his next emissary… isn't like Tenma or the Warden.
It's something far worse."
Suddenly — a jagged tear split the air.
A burning dark sigil seared itself into the temple wall.
Elios's face went pale.
"He sent her…"
Haruto tensed, stepping in front of Airi.
"Her?"
A wave of icy darkness flooded the room.
From the burning sigil, a figure emerged — elegant, predatory.
Her black flame wings unfurled, dripping shadows with every breath.
Silver eyes gleamed with cruelty.
Velzara.
Velzara smirked, voice like velvet over a dagger.
"You two look adorable… still stuck between who you were and who you are.
Makes you easier to break."
Airi stepped forward without hesitation.
"We're not afraid of you."
Velzara's grin widened, predatory and knowing.
"Oh, you will be.
Because I don't just kill Light Gods…
I erase them from time itself."
---
TO BE CONTINUED…