The lake was too quiet.
After battle, silence should feel like peace.
Instead, the stillness spreading across the Moonwater Realm felt like the pause before a final verdict.
Jian remained kneeling on the frozen silver water, head lowered, blood dripping from his broken armour.
The shattered remains of the suppression seal floated around him like dead stars.
Across from him stood Yue Xiang.
Moonlight gathered around her like judgement made visible.
Her crescent blade remained in her hand, lowered—but not sheathed.
Mercy had been given.
Forgiveness had not.
Above us, the abyss serpent still coiled around the broken Moon Palace, its massive body trembling as black corruption bled from the cracks in its scales.
Without the suppression seal feeding it, the beast had weakened.
But it was not gone.
Not yet.
I stood several steps away, trying very hard not to collapse from exhaustion.
My ribs hated me.
My shoulder hated me.
My entire existence had filed a formal complaint.
Still, I stayed standing.
Mostly out of pride.
And because falling unconscious in front of moon goddesses felt like a bad strategy.
Yue Xiang's voice broke the silence.
"Look at me."
Jian obeyed immediately.
His face was pale beneath the moonlight.
No arrogance remained.
Only the kind of regret that arrived too late.
"You served at my side for twelve years," she said.
Her tone was calm.
Controlled.
That made every word heavier.
"You guarded the Moon Palace. You carried my seal. You stood beside me during the council judgement."
A pause.
"And yet you chose fear over trust."
Jian lowered his eyes.
"The Lunar Council said your mercy would doom us."
Yue Xiang stepped closer.
"No."
Her voice sharpened.
"They said my refusal to obey them would doom their power."
That hit harder.
Because it was true.
Not protection.
Control.
Always control.
Jian clenched his fists against the frozen lake.
"I thought if I could contain the abyss beast… if I could control it…"
His voice cracked.
"…then no one would ever threaten this realm again."
There it was.
Fear dressed as duty.
The same poison in every world.
I thought of Zhu Kain.
Of Ashborn.
Different methods.
Same disease.
Yue Xiang looked toward the abyss serpent above the palace ruins.
"The moment you try to chain fear instead of face it…"
Her eyes reflected the fractured blue moon.
"…you become the thing you feared."
Jian said nothing.
Because there was nothing left to defend.
The truth had already won.
ARINA's voice echoed softly.
"Heart knot resonance detected."
A blue panel unfolded.
Yue Xiang Heart Knot Source: Isolation / Burden / Betrayal Trust Path: Shared Responsibility
Different from Lian.
Lian's pain was betrayal through greed.
Yue Xiang's pain was loneliness through responsibility.
She carried everyone.
And everyone expected her to carry more.
No wonder her favourability started worse.
This wasn't hatred.
It was exhaustion.
The abyss serpent suddenly roared.
The floating palace shook violently.
Black moonwater exploded from its wounds as the beast thrashed against the remaining lunar restraints.
Yue Xiang's expression changed instantly.
Battle mode.
"The corruption remains."
Of course it did.
Peace was illegal in this universe.
She turned toward me.
"The suppression seal weakened the beast, but the abyss poison has already reached its core."
ARINA answered before I could ask.
Emergency Objective: Cleanse Abyss Core Failure Result: Moonwater Realm collapse within 6 hours
Six hours.
Practically a vacation compared to usual.
I crossed my arms.
"So how do we stop it?"
Yue Xiang looked toward the Moon Palace ruins.
"At the centre of the palace lies the Lunar Heart."
Her voice lowered.
"It is the original seal that binds the abyss creature."
Jian's head snapped up.
"No."
Interesting.
He sounded genuinely afraid.
Yue Xiang ignored him.
"If the Lunar Heart is corrupted, the beast cannot be sealed again."
Jian stood abruptly despite his injuries.
"My Sovereign, you cannot go there."
She looked at him.
"Explain."
His voice was tight.
"The council… they already opened the lower sanctum."
That was not the reaction I wanted.
He continued.
"They were searching for the hidden gate fragment beneath the Lunar Heart."
Everything clicked.
The Obsidian Covenant.
Again.
They weren't just destabilising sovereigns.
They were hunting fragments hidden beneath them.
Ashborn already knew.
Which meant—
"He's been here," I said.
Jian's silence was answer enough.
Wonderful.
Ashborn collected divine keys like trophies while I collected near-death experiences.
Yue Xiang's gaze turned colder.
"The Covenant reached my palace."
Her voice was ice.
"Then they will learn why that was a mistake."
That sounded promising.
And dangerous.
Mostly promising.
The panel blinked.
Main Quest Updated: Enter the Moon Palace Depths. Objective: Protect Yue Xiang, Recover Gate Fragment, Cleanse Lunar Heart
Triple objective.
Excellent.
I looked at Jian.
"Are you coming?"
He stared at me as I had personally offended logic.
"I betrayed my sovereign."
"Yes."
"And nearly destroyed the realm."
"Also, yes."
He frowned.
"Why would you trust me?"
I thought about that.
Then shrugged.
"I don't."
Fairness.
Important.
"But Yue Xiang spared you. That means either she sees something worth saving…"
I stepped closer.
"…or she expects you to earn it."
Yue Xiang said nothing.
Which somehow made the statement stronger.
Jian slowly lowered his head.
Then, for the second time that night, he knelt.
This time, not in defeat.
In choice.
"My blade returns to the Moon Palace."
Good.
Because fighting giant cursed moon monsters with fewer allies sounded inefficient.
The abyss serpent roared again.
The fractured moon above flickered.
Time was running.
Yue Xiang sheathed her crescent blade and turned toward the floating palace.
The moonlight around her sharpened.
Cold.
Beautiful.
Unstoppable.
"The Lunar Heart awaits."
She glanced at me once.
"And an outsider…"
I looked up.
For the first time since meeting her, her voice carried the faintest trace of warmth.
"Try not to throw architecture inside my palace."
I smiled despite the pain.
"No promises."
That almost became a smile on her face.
Almost.
Close enough.
We stepped toward the broken stairs leading to the floating Moon Palace.
Below us, the silver lake reflected three moons.
Above us, a corrupted beast waited.
And somewhere beneath the palace—
another gate fragment.
And perhaps—
another trace of Professor Mehra.
The Moon Sovereign had given her judgement.
Now came the deeper truth.