The Star Gate hummed.
Ancient symbols carved into its surface glowed brighter with every passing second.
Blue light spread across the underground city, illuminating ruins that had slept for thousands of years.
Nobody spoke.
Everyone stared.
Kael stepped closer.
"So this is the Star Gate..."
"It is," Orion replied quietly.
"It once connected hundreds of worlds."
Kael frowned.
"Hundreds?"
Aetherion answered.
"Before the war, the Core Alliance protected countless civilizations."
Kael looked at the towering structure.
"And now?"
Silence.
"Most are gone."
The words hung heavily in the air.
The stranger approached the gate, studying the glowing symbols.
"Can it still work?"
Orion placed a hand against the ancient stone.
The symbols beneath his palm shimmered.
"It has enough power for one activation."
A low rumble echoed through the city.
The gateway responded.
Its center slowly filled with swirling starlight.
It looked like a doorway into the night sky itself.
One of the scientists gasped.
"It's... beautiful."
Aetherion's voice grew serious.
"It is also dangerous."
Kael looked at the glowing portal.
"What's on the other side?"
Orion hesitated.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I know where it was supposed to lead."
His expression darkened.
"But thousands of years have passed."
"The destination may have fallen."
Or...
"It may be occupied."
The room fell silent.
Kael took a deep breath.
"If we stay here..."
"The Kings will come," Aetherion finished.
"If we leave..."
"We may find allies."
Kael looked at the swirling light.
Then at the ruined city behind him.
Earth was no longer safe.
Not after everything that had happened.
The stranger nodded.
"We go."
One by one, the surviving hosts prepared their equipment.
The scientists gathered the ancient records they had recovered.
Nobody knew if they would ever return.
Kael stood before the Star Gate.
White flames flickered softly around him.
He looked back one last time.
"This world..."
He whispered.
"I'll protect it."
Then he stepped forward.
The starlight swallowed him.
The others followed.
The portal erupted with blinding light.
For a brief moment—
Everything disappeared.
Silence.
Then...
Kael opened his eyes.
He wasn't underground anymore.
He stood beneath a sky unlike anything he had ever seen.
Three moons hung overhead.
A massive ring of shattered stars stretched across the heavens.
Ancient ruins covered the horizon.
The air carried a strange energy.
Alive.
Powerful.
Forgotten.
Kael slowly smiled.
"We're not on Earth anymore."
Aetherion answered.
"No."
A pause.
"Welcome..."
The wind whispered through the ruins.
"...to the First World."