**Yueyin's Room — Same Night**
The shattered mirror had vanished.
Yueyin sat in front of where it once was — now, only a smooth wall remained. But her mark pulsed faster. Her breathing was shallow.
> *"I screamed…"*
> *"But no one came…"*
She turned to look at the moonlight — but there was **no moon** tonight.
Only a **black circle in the sky**. Like something had eaten it.
---
**Cloud Vein Pavilion — Morning**
Zeravon stepped into the training yard, where sparring rounds had resumed.
Disciples around him whispered, but not about him.
> "Did you see Yueyin today?"
> "She didn't report for array assignment."
> "Weird… I don't even remember what she was doing yesterday."
Zeravon's eyes narrowed.
> *"Why can't I remember seeing her yesterday either?"*
He walked toward the **eastern library**, hoping to find her. But a strange thing happened —
**The hallway leading there kept stretching.**
He would walk ten steps… and still be in the same place.
A **time loop**?
Or worse… a **memory maze**.
---
**Meanwhile – Yueyin in the Lower Chambers**
Yueyin stood before an old stone gate. Something had led her here.
> *"I've never seen this part of the sect…"*
But her hand moved on its own.
The stone door **responded to her mark**. It glowed — opened — and inside, she stepped into the **Ebon Spiral Prison**.
---
**Ebon Spiral Prison – Forbidden Vault**
The air here was thick.
Floating runes of **Old Script** moved around like dust motes.
Instructor **Mei Shan** (Mid Core Binding Realm) stood guard here — she turned sharply.
> "Who allowed you—"
But before she could finish, her eyes widened.
> *"You… carry the Sigil of the Unwritten."*
Yueyin didn't speak.
She couldn't.
The prison reacted — runes on the walls started spinning faster. From the deepest part, **a voice whispered**:
> *"Zeravon…"*
> *"She should not have come… but now, she is mine."*
Suddenly, the mark on Yueyin's hand began stretching… crawling up her arm like black ink.
Instructor Mei Shan stepped forward, her voice trembling.
> "Yueyin… do not listen to it! That voice… it was locked here by **your ancestors**!"
But Yueyin only blinked. Her pupils now had a faint spiral.
---
**Above Ground – Outer Courtyard**
Zeravon suddenly stopped mid-step.
His vision blurred.
He saw the sect around him — **but empty**.
No disciples.
No sounds.
Just wind… whispering one word again and again:
> *"Oblivis…"*
He stumbled backward — and Hai Lu (Mid Qi Forming Stage) caught him.
> "Senior Zeravon… are you alright?"
Zeravon looked at him — confused.
> "Do I… know you?"
Hai Lu flinched.
> "We've trained together. Twice."
Zeravon didn't respond.
Something inside him was rewriting itself.
---
**Realm of Silent Thrones — Upper Void**
The Nine Seated Watchers reconvened.
> "He is fragmenting."
> "No… he is anchoring."
> "Then what of the girl?"
> "She was never a real variable. She was the echo of a seal."
One of them turned toward a scroll of **living flesh**.
It now showed Yueyin's face — half-shadowed, half-light.
> "She is becoming the Vaultkeeper."
---
**Back in the Ebon Spiral Prison**
Instructor Mei Shan tried to summon a binding array — but the prison shattered her technique.
A spiral eye opened on the ground — looking directly at Yueyin.
> *"Welcome back, Broken Key."*
Yueyin took a single step forward.
Suddenly, her body trembled. Her voice — not hers — spoke:
> "I… never asked… to remember."
> "But you were **chosen** to remember what he must forget."
She fell unconscious.
And the vault sealed behind her — vanishing entirely from the sect.
---
**That Night – Zeravon's Room**
He sat still. Breathing slowly. Moonlight returned.
He opened his hand — a faint **spiral rune** was visible now on his palm too.
> *"She's not gone…"*
> *"She was taken. By something I once sealed."*
> *"But why… does my soul feel relief?"*
His voice trembled.
> "Was Yueyin… a seal too?"
---
**Meanwhile – Unknown Place Outside Time**
Yueyin floated inside a stasis field.
Dozens of symbols orbited her. Some old. Some newer. All of them spoke the same word:
> *"Unwritten…"*
And from behind her — a silhouette formed.
Tall. Radiant. Unmoving.
**Zeravon.**
But not *him now*.
Him from **before**.
His third eye opened — and Yueyin screamed.
---