Chapter 25: “Sibling Storm”

Eastern Expanse – Border of Leo's Dungeon Territory

The wind howled, not from the sky—but from the ground.

The earth breathed, shuddered, cracked.

And from the broken horizon, she walked in.

Myra.

Hair like a bleeding tide.

Eyes like broken galaxies.

A presence that twisted the rules of space like a whisper across a scream.

Leo stood at the gate alone.

He didn't wear armor.

He was the armor now—his soul woven into the dungeon walls, the system humming at his back like a second heartbeat.

No weapons. No summons. Just him.

And the cold burn of his stare.

She stopped ten paces from him.

The sky above didn't just darken—it vanished. As if reality decided to skip this scene entirely.

Myra tilted her head.

"So. You came out to greet me."

Leo's tone was flat.

"This is my territory. I decide who walks in."

She smiled—slow and sadistic.

"You always were the responsible one, huh?"

"Fourth-born. Elara's 'steady hands.'"

Leo didn't flinch.

"You remember her."

"That's rare."

She looked past him, into the horizon where the dungeon pulsed like a living heart.

"I remember everything."

"That's my curse."

"I even remember the parts she tried to delete."

Leo's gaze sharpened.

"What do you want, Myra?"

"A fight?"

"A hug?"

Her smile cracked.

And for one heartbeat—she looked young.

"I don't know."

"But I wanted to see the one sibling who didn't forget me."

"Didn't rewrite me into some mistake."

Dungeon Core – Observation Room

Naelia, Elias, and Cael stood around the scrying crystal.

No one spoke.

No one dared.

The tension between Leo and Myra was thick enough to bend time.

Cael muttered.

"If they fight… it'll level the entire eastern region."

Naelia clutched her hands together.

"Then why is Leo just standing there?"

Elias didn't take his eyes off the vision.

"Because he's not sure what hurts worse."

"The fact that she's here…"

"Or the fact that she's right."

The Field – Ten Paces Apart

Myra took a step closer.

The air rippled.

"You want to know what she told me?"

"Elara."

Leo didn't move.

"What?"

"That I wasn't ready."

"That I was… incomplete."

"That my soul was too sharp."

"She dropped me into the sea because she couldn't cradle a storm."

Leo's hands curled slightly.

"She said you needed more time."

Myra's laugh was bitter.

"She said I was her daughter."

"Then left me to drown in memories."

The system inside Leo pulsed.

Emotion Spikes Detected – Caution Mode Enabled.

Combat Potential Rising – Abyssal Energy Interference Detected.

He took a breath.

"Then why are you here?"

Myra's eyes burned.

"To see if any of you were real."

"To see if this—" she gestured to him "—was worth the pain."

"If I have siblings…"

"Or just other victims."

Leo stepped forward once.

Power thrummed in his veins.

"We're not victims."

"We're choices."

"And you don't get to be the storm and the martyr."

Her face twisted.

"Don't you dare—"

"You don't know what it's like—!"

"Screaming for centuries in a void of memories no one gave you!"

"Waking up to find twelve chairs at a table and none of them have your name!"

And then it broke.

The silence.

The tension.

The sky.

Myra struck.

Not physically.

Her scream became reality.

The ground cracked. The dungeon flinched. The sea behind her rose as if mourning.

Leo's eyes glowed.

He raised a single hand.

And caught her soul-flame in his palm.

It sizzled—burned—raged.

And then died.

He lowered his hand.

"You're not the only one who hurts."

"You just bleed louder."

She stood, shaking.

Tears began to run—not water, but glistening fragments of memory.

"So what now…?"

"You gonna kill me?"

Leo stepped forward again.

They were only three paces apart now.

"No."

"We're going to fix you."

"If you let us."

Myra laughed through tears.

"And if I don't?"

Leo looked at her with all the cold steel in the world.

"Then I'll contain you."

"Because even a storm can be trapped in a bottle."

"If the bottle's made strong enough."

Elara – Watching from Afar

She fell to her knees as the divine bond pulsed.

The Eleventh and Fourth were syncing.

"They found each other…"

"They heard each other…"

Tears slipped down her cheeks like starlight.

"Thank you…"

"For choosing each other."

Dungeon Core – Exterior

Myra stood still.

Then… she fell to her knees.

Not in defeat.

But in surrender.

"I don't want to be alone anymore…"

Leo knelt in front of her.

Placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Then don't be."

"We're your siblings."

"And you're still part of this family."

The system pinged.

Soul-Sync Achieved – Eleventh & FourthSystem Evolution Unlocked: "Linked Thread" Initiated.

Arc 1: Complete.