They were all prepared to leave the cave, bodies already turning toward the exit and thoughts fixed on what awaited beyond, when Dev suddenly raised his hand and ordered Ruby to stop, his voice calm but absolute, forcing everyone to freeze in place.
Dev's gaze moved slowly across the group Kai, Chiru, and the remaining members standing behind them before settling back on Ruby as he spoke, stating that none of them were listed for the awakening ceremony, and if they followed him openly it would immediately draw suspicion, leading to investigations, origin tracing, and eventually the exposure of truths that would place him in grave danger.
Ruby responded without hesitation, telling him to keep them inside his subconsciousness, explaining that they could remain there temporarily.
Dev's expression hardened as he replied that he would have to undergo the awakening first in order to obtain a Blood Soul, and if they were inside his subconscious during the awakening, he had no way of knowing what would happen to them.
"They can die," Ruby said, after barely a second of thought.
The words settled heavily.
Dev and the others turned toward her, not in shock, but in quiet condemnation for how easily she had spoken of it.
Dev asked what would happen to them after he placed them in his subconscious once the awakening was complete.
Ruby assured him that after awakening they would be safe within the subconscious, then paused and asked what type of subconscious he possessed.
Dev answered plainly, saying that his subconscious was a black ocean, endless and suffocating, that he had no idea how deep it truly was, and that everything within that space was dark, silent, and terrifying beyond description.
Ruby fell silent, clearly unsettled, and admitted that she had never heard of a subconscious manifesting as a black ocean or a completely dark space.
After thinking for a while, she said that as long as something already existed within it, they might not be devoured before he removed them, but she also confessed that her instincts warned against it, as they could survive or they could die and she could not be certain.
Dev decided not to choose yet, stating that they would think about it after the awakening, because first they had to go to his grandfather's grave and retrieve the fragment left behind.
They all mounted Ruby, and with a violent burst of speed she launched into the air, accelerating rapidly until she flew like a missile, reaching extreme velocity as everyone clung tightly to her feathers, gripping with all their strength.
Their destination lay nearly three hundred kilometers away, deep within the upper mountain range.
Ruby slowed as a structure appeared in her vision, descending carefully until they landed on solid ground, where the others dismounted behind her.
Before them stood a small palace spanning roughly thirty acres, its once white walls now rusted and dust choked by the Hollow World's influence, its structure so degraded that it looked as though it could collapse at any moment.
Ruby told Dev to enter alone, explaining that his grandfather's grave lay at the center of the palace, and that his grandfather had left a message stating that if Dev were truly his grandson, he would know how to retrieve the fragment.
Dev stepped forward, but Kai immediately asked to accompany him, warning that going alone could be dangerous.
Dev considered briefly before refusing, saying that his grandfather would not harm him, and that after fighting an army for twelve hours inside a palace, nothing about this place inspired fear anymore.
He passed through the gate, walked to the main door, placed both hands against it, and forced it open simultaneously, rushing inside without hesitation.
The palace interior was ruined broken pillars, dust-filled air, collapsed structures and at its center stood a grave, weathered and neglected like everything else.
Dev approached it, knelt, joined his hands, and spoke quietly, introducing himself as Dev Ravenclaw, his grandson, stating that he was ten years old and had come to retrieve the fragment left for him, while also asking about the prophecy Ruby had mentioned.
After praying, he rose and searched the palace, checking cabinets, rooms, and walls one by one, but found nothing familiar or useful.
With few options left, he examined the grave itself and noticed a small hole on its surface, barely large enough to fit a coin.
He remembered the coin his mother had given him, took it out, and pressed it into the hole.
A mechanical sound echoed through the palace as a broken pillar on the left repaired itself, revealing a glowing black rectangular fragment inside, emitting a dense dark aura unlike any fragment produced before.
Dev stepped closer and grasped it slowly, but flames erupted instantly, burning his hand and forcing him to release it, the fire vanishing as abruptly as it had appeared.
Remembering Ruby's words, Dev struggled to recall something anything that linked him to his grandfather, but after half an hour, nothing surfaced, as he had no memories of the man beyond the shared name Ravenclaw.
Outside, Ruby grew worried, while Kai, Chiru, and the others prepared to rush inside if something went wrong.
Realizing that his grandfather had been a reckless and feared man, Dev concluded that the test demanded fearlessness, and with that thought he seized the fragment again, enduring the flames as his skin burned, melted, and vanished, screaming in agony but refusing to release it.
The battle between Dev and the fragment lasted over two minutes, and when the flames finally ceased, a healing fragment emerged from the pillar which Dev activated immediately, restoring his destroyed flesh.
A diamond shaped dark fragment marked with a sword symbol has been in his left hand, and Dev understood that the rectangular fragment had been a trial of endurance meant to judge his worth.
When his healing finished, Dev exited the palace to find Ruby beating Kai, Chiru, Vaal, Karn, Sethr, and Rhex nearly to death as they clung desperately to her feathers.
Dev shouted, and everything stopped.
They rushed toward him, Kai immediately noticing Dev's still healing hand and asking what had happened, after which Dev explained everything and showed them the dark sword marked fragment.
Ruby examined it and said that it resembled a sword fragment but could not yet sense what made it special, then revealed that Dev's grandfather had researched it shortly before his death and advised fusing it with the Blood Soul first to understand its true value.
Without delay, they mounted Ruby once more and took flight toward the Pillar of the Dead.
But none of them knew that an existence had been waiting for them all this time, watching in silence from far beyond their awareness, as a lone figure sat upon a throne carved from darkness, his posture relaxed and unhurried, his body leaning slightly to one side while his left hand supported his head, fingers resting against his temple as if the passing of time meant nothing to him.
his face was not visible but he waited amused, unmoving, certain resting on his throne, laughing softly, as if the future unfolding before him was nothing more than an entertaining .