They entered the castle.
The guards did not move. Not even a glance.
Zenkyou walked past them—
and that alone was enough.
But their eyes shifted as Shura passed.
Watching him.
Measuring.
Shura noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
Every guard stood perfectly aligned, their posture identical down to the angle of their shoulders. Even their breathing seemed controlled.
Nothing here happened carelessly.
The deeper they walked, the heavier the castle became around him.
Towering pillars rose like frozen spears, their dark surfaces carved with scars and histories worn smooth by time. Gothic arches curved high overhead, ribbed like the bones of something ancient and long dead.
And yet—
light filled the halls.
Golden. Warm.
Not like the Beacon outside.
This light felt softer.
Familiar.
Like sunlight slipping across skin.
Shura slowed without meaning to.
His chest tightened painfully.
I know this.
The corridor stretched endlessly ahead in perfect silence.
Not empty.
Restrained.
Even breathing felt too loud here.
Every footstep echoed once—
then disappeared completely.
As though the castle itself refused to remember sound.
Shura felt it immediately.
This place was not built for comfort.
It was built for judgment.
Then the hall opened.
At the far end—
she sat waiting.
Empress Rose.
One arm rested lightly against the throne as though the kingdom itself had shaped around her presence. The golden light bent softly across the black stone surrounding her, obedient in ways light should not have been.
Zenkyou knelt first.
Ren followed.
Then Yura.
Orin.
Shura hesitated before lowering himself slowly onto one knee.
Pain shot through his body instantly.
But that wasn't what made him tremble.
Pressure filled the room.
Invisible.
Absolute.
Orin spoke first.
"Your Majesty."
Measured. Controlled.
"We found him near the outer drift. Barely conscious. Severe impact damage, but no fatal injuries."
Zenkyou continued calmly.
"No records. No matching regional markings. He doesn't belong to any registered territory."
Silence followed.
Then Rose's gaze settled on Shura.
Gentle.
That made it worse.
"And yet," she said softly, "he finally arrived."
The words struck something deep inside him.
Pain exploded behind Shura's eyes.
The Viora inside his chest reacted violently.
Wind screaming.
Falling.
Endless gray swallowing the world above.
Then—
a voice breaking apart in grief.
Mother.
Shura gasped sharply.
"I remember."
The words shattered the silence of the hall.
His hand tightened against his chest.
"I remember… something."
Nobody interrupted him.
"There was light," he whispered.
He frowned, struggling to hold the fragments together.
"Not Beacon light."
A pause.
"Something bigger."
Images slipped through his thoughts like broken glass.
Wind.
Open space.
A sky that didn't feel closed.
His breathing quickened.
"…This place isn't right."
The hall remained silent.
"There was a sky," Shura said shakily. "Endless."
Another fragment surfaced.
A tree.
Massive beyond understanding.
Its branches stretching upward forever.
"A tree touching the heavens…"
His jaw tightened.
Then he looked directly at the Empress.
"Something terrible happened."
A pause.
"I don't know how."
His voice weakened.
"…I can't remember properly…"
Shura's breathing faltered.
"…but there was something above us."
Silence lasted exactly one heartbeat longer than it should have.
Then Orin laughed.
Short.
Disbelieving.
Yura gasped quietly before covering her mouth.
Orin rubbed his forehead with a tired sigh.
"Pressure sickness," Orin muttered. "Classic."
But Rose did not laugh.
She smiled.
Knowing.
"Enough."
The word silenced the room instantly.
Rose rose slowly from the throne.
The atmosphere shifted with her.
"What you believe you remember," she said calmly, "will fade."
Zenkyou frowned slightly.
"…Your Majesty?"
Rose ignored her.
Her eyes remained fixed on Shura.
"Memory is fragile," she continued.
"It reshapes itself to survive."
Orin spoke carefully.
"Then… there really is something above us?"
Rose turned her head slowly toward him.
Then pointed at Shura.
Rose pointed toward Shura without clarifying whether his words were madness or truth.
Ren swallowed visibly.
"That is enough for today," Rose said.
Final.
Absolute.
Shura's hands trembled.
"That's it?"
His voice cracked sharply through the chamber.
"You know the truth and you let people live down here?"
Nobody moved.
"Then why are we here?" Shura asked.
His voice shook now.
"Why does nobody know about the sky?"
"Look again."
Rose's voice cut through him instantly.
Shura froze.
"Look carefully at this kingdom."
Against his will, his eyes shifted.
Order.
Strength.
Life.
People surviving where survival should have been impossible.
Rose stepped closer.
"What do you see?"
Shura clenched his jaw.
"…A cage."
Her expression didn't change.
Shura stared at her.
"Then you knew."
Rose said nothing.
His breathing sharpened.
"You knew there was something beyond this place."
A pause.
"And nobody tells them?"
The hall remained still.
Shura looked around again.
The order.
The silence.
The massive walls stretching endlessly upward.
Then back to Rose.
"…Why?"
Rose's expression never changed.
"This kingdom has stood for longer than you can understand," she said calmly.
"It does not need fantasies."
Shura clenched his fists.
"But I remember it."
Fragments flashed again.
Wind.
Light.
Space without ceilings.
His voice tightened.
"There was a sky."
Rose watched him carefully.
Then:
"And what will you do with that memory?"
The question struck harder than anger would have.
Shura slowly lifted his head.
"I'll find it."
A faint shift passed through the hall.
Not shock.
Interest.
"I'll find whatever was taken from this world.
"I don't care how far this world goes."
His voice steadied.
"If there's something above us…"
His eyes locked onto Rose.
"…I'll reach it."
Several guards shifted slightly at the words.
Rose simply raised one finger.
Then tapped the air.
Shura never saw the force itself.
The world inverted instantly.
Stone slammed into his body hard enough to empty his lungs. Pain exploded through every nerve as his limbs collapsed beneath him like they no longer belonged to him.
Absolute pressure crushed him against the floor.
Rose laughed softly above him.
"You can barely stand."
A pause.
"And yet you speak of reaching imaginary worlds."
Blood filled Shura's mouth.
Still—
he forced his head upward.
"If it doesn't exist…"
He coughed hard.
"…then I'll make it exist."
The pressure intensified.
His body screamed.
But he kept speaking.
"I'll stay."
Another breath.
"I'll learn."
Pain tore through his chest.
"I'll understand this world."
His hands trembled against the stone.
"I'll endure."
Then finally:
"And when I know enough…"
He lifted burning eyes toward the throne.
"I'll reach the heart of this world."
Rose watched him carefully for a long moment.
Then—
she smiled.
"Very well."
Shura's breath caught.
"And when that day comes…"
She rested her chin lightly against one hand.
"I would like to see this imaginary sky for myself."
A pause.
"If you survive long enough."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"Welcome to Ossuarium, Shura."
Then, almost quietly enough to miss:
"…At last."
The room fell silent again.
Shura remained on the floor—
broken.
Burning.
But alive.
And for the first time since his fall—
he understood something terrifying.
This was not rebellion.
Not to them.
Not here.
He looked up at the throne.
At the woman already watching him like a long-awaited answer.
His defiance had not surprised them.
It had been expected.