The world felt too quiet for a day that could end everything.
The truce held — barely — its fragile peace stretching thin across the ruined farmlands like a spiderweb trembling in the wind. Jaehyun had less than twenty-four hours to prevent a war between humanity and Eidros's awakened legion.
And there was only one place left to look for answers.
Beneath his childhood home.
🌿 The Door Beneath the Roots
The cellar was already torn open — the blast marks still fresh.Jinwoo waited there, leaning against the broken frame, arms crossed.
"You're late," Jinwoo muttered.
"You blew up my basement."
"You wouldn't let me in if I knocked."
"Fair."
But there was no heat in the argument today. Just years of hurt that neither of them had the energy to ignite.
Together, they descended into the dark.And at the end of the stairway, hidden behind old farming tools and dust, was a metal door engraved with symbols that glowed faintly when Jaehyun approached.
It reacted to him — vines unfurling along his palm.
Jinwoo swallowed. "Our parents… really hid all this under our feet?"
Jaehyun didn't answer. His heartbeat was loud enough.
🌱 The Eden Archive
The door slid open with a sigh.
Cold air flooded out — sterile, metallic.The underground chamber was massive, walls covered in research screens, old machinery fused with roots and stone. A perfect blend of technology and nature.
As they walked deeper, lights flickered alive one by one.
A console blinked.— Voice Recognition Suitable —
— Play Last Log? —
Jaehyun's breath caught. He nodded.
The hologram flickered into shape:His mother. Tired eyes. Soil-stained gloves. Hair pulled back in a messy knot the way she used to when she was focused.
"Jaehyun… Jinwoo, if you're seeing this…"
Jinwoo stiffened beside him.
"…it means the Eden core has awakened."
Jaehyun felt his stomach drop.
His mother continued:"We never wanted to create monsters. We wanted harmony. But the council wanted control — they forced our hand. Eidros… he wasn't meant to be a weapon. He was meant to be a guardian."
Another figure appeared behind her — their father."But guardians need balance. Without the First Mother's seed, Eidros will rot into rage. Jaehyun… if she has chosen you, then you must do what we couldn't. Remind him what he was born for."
Static crackled.Faint crying in the background — a baby? A lab alarm?The recording started dissolving.
"Remember— balance is not won through roots or steel… but through those who choose both."
Then darkness.
The armies arrival...
A thunderous boom shook the ceiling.
Jinwoo cursed. "Military artillery. They found us."
Shouts echoed above.The war had come early.
Jaehyun grabbed the dryad baby tighter as the vines in the room trembled, reacting to his rising panic.
"We need to get to Eidros," he said.
"You're insane," Jinwoo snapped. "The army's going to wipe out every creature on sight."
"And Eidros will wipe out every human if we don't talk to him first."
Jinwoo stared at him — really stared — then exhaled."You always pick the stupidest impossible options."
"Thanks. You coming?"
Jinwoo clicked off his safety. "Always."
🌩️ The Heart of War
The battlefield was chaos.
Humans and monsters collided in violent waves — claws against steel, mana bursts against rifles. Smoke curled high into the sky. Screams drowned in the roar of collapsing earth.
And at the center stood Eidros, the Spore Sovereign, holding back dozens of corrupted beasts with a gesture — barely restraining his fury.
When he saw Jaehyun, the ground stilled.
"You return… empty-handed?" Eidros asked.
"No," Jaehyun said, stepping forward. "I return with the truth."
He held out the baby — not surrendering her, but showing her.The tiny dryad opened her eyes, glowing gold. A gentle pulse ripples outward, calming vines, stilling soldiers, lowering rifles.
A hush fell across the battlefield.
"She's not a weapon," Jaehyun said. "Not a core. Not a key. She's a child. A bridge. The balance you lost and the one humanity forgot."
Eidros's expression cracked—pain flickering through golden eyes."You ask me to trust the ones who destroyed our Mother?"
"No," Jaehyun said softly. "I'm asking you to trust me… the son of the two people who tried to save you."
He placed a hand to the soil.The land responded — blooming, trembling, reaching.The vines around Eidros eased.The monsters lowered their claws.
The truce re-formed, stronger this time — rooted in choice, not fear.
🌳 A Season Ends, a World Changes
Eidros bowed — not to humanity, but to the quiet power holding the world together.
"To balance, then," he whispered. "I will end the war."And with a sweep of his arm, the horde dispersed like shadows dissolving at dawn.
Jinwoo approached, shoulders sagging in relief."You actually did it," he breathed. "You stopped a war."
Jaehyun chuckled weakly. "No. She did."He looked down at the baby as she reached for a fallen petal.
Jinwoo lifted his gaze to the horizon."Season's ending, huh?"
Jaehyun exhaled, eyes on the calm fields."No," he said. "Just the first chapter."
🌙 EPILOGUE — The Seedling and the Storm
Night settled gently over the land.
The battlefield had already begun to heal — flowers sprouting through cracked soil, broken weapons swallowed by moss. A quiet that felt like promise.
Jaehyun stood alone at the edge of the forest, the dryad baby asleep on his shoulder.Eidros's faint silhouette watched from afar, neither enemy nor friend — something new in between.
Jinwoo emerged from behind him."So what now?"
Jaehyun smiled tiredly.
"Now… we rebuild."He looked toward the mountains where mana shimmered like hidden starlight.
"And then we prepare. Something bigger is coming."
The earth pulsed once — quietly warning.