The mountain felt quieter while they descended.
Not peaceful.
Just… different.
As though something inside it had finally gone back to sleep after centuries of waiting.
Cold wind moved endlessly across the upper slopes while snow drifted slowly through the early morning light. Behind them, the summit where the labyrinth rested had already disappeared beneath thick clouds again, hidden once more from the rest of the world like it had never existed at all.
Only the fragments of Vijaya resting beside Arin proved otherwise.
The weapon looked different now after combining with the second fragment.
Longer.
More complete.
The black-gold metal carried an overwhelming pressure even while wrapped carefully beneath layers of cloth. Ancient symbols continued glowing faintly across its surface every few minutes, almost like a heartbeat. And the closer Arin held it to himself—
the more stable his memories became.
That frightened him slightly.
Because for the first time since the cycles began returning—
the different lives inside his mind no longer felt separated completely.
Karna.
Aditya.
Arin.
The boundaries between them had started weakening.
Not enough to erase him.
But enough that sometimes memories no longer felt like memories anymore.
They felt personal.
Real.
The group continued descending through the narrow mountain paths carefully while silence settled between them for a while. Everyone looked exhausted after surviving the labyrinth. The journey upward alone nearly killed them, and what waited beneath the mountain had changed all of them in ways nobody fully understood yet.
Even Riven remained unusually quiet.
That alone told Arin how deeply the experience affected everyone.
Eventually Aira broke the silence first while climbing down across a steep ridge of black stone.
"…so."
She glanced briefly toward Arin.
"You're just casually carrying an ancient divine weapon now."
Riven immediately sighed.
"When you say it like that it somehow sounds even worse."
"It is worse."
Selene crossed her arms while carefully stepping across the icy trail.
"We nearly died like six times in that maze."
"Seven," Kael corrected calmly.
"…thank you, Kael."
Despite the exhaustion, a faint normalcy slowly returned to the group afterward. Small conversations. Complaints. Moments of silence that no longer felt entirely heavy.
But underneath everything—
questions remained.
Too many questions.
Because every answer they discovered only seemed to create something even more confusing afterward.
Eventually Darin looked toward Arin carefully.
"…that figure underground."
Everyone's attention shifted immediately afterward.
"The witness," Liora added quietly.
Silence followed briefly.
Then Riven frowned slightly.
"Yeah, I've been trying not to think about that thing because honestly it creeped me out more than the giant corrupted bear."
Kael nodded once.
"It knew too much."
"And it recognized him instantly," Selene added while glancing toward Arin.
Another silence settled afterward.
Then slowly—
everyone looked toward him.
Waiting.
Arin walked quietly for several seconds before answering.
"…I don't know who it was."
"That's reassuring," Riven muttered.
"But…"
Arin's expression darkened slightly.
"…I think I've seen him before."
The words immediately changed the atmosphere again.
Liora looked toward him sharply.
"When?"
Arin slowed slightly while trying to organize the fragments surfacing inside his mind.
Because the moment they mentioned the witness—
something had started returning.
Not fully.
A memory buried deep beneath others.
Aditya's life.
Late. Near the end.
Fragments surfaced slowly while they continued descending the mountain.
A ruined room beneath dim light.
Ancient writings spread across broken walls.
A voice speaking from darkness.
Arin's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…during my first life."
The group immediately became silent again.
"The life as Aditya?" Aira asked carefully.
He nodded once.
"I didn't remember it before."
Another fragment surfaced abruptly afterward.
Aditya standing injured inside an underground chamber somewhere far beneath the organization's territory. Blood covering his hands while Mira argued with someone hidden in shadows nearby.
No—
not argued.
Warned.
The memory sharpened slightly.
"You cannot stop the cycle by force."
That voice.
The same calm weight.
The same unnatural presence.
Arin stopped walking suddenly.
Everyone immediately noticed.
Liora stepped closer first.
"Arin?"
But he barely heard her.
Because the memory was becoming clearer now.
Aditya staring toward a figure wrapped in dark robes beneath flickering firelight. Golden eyes visible beneath the shadows while ancient symbols covered the walls surrounding them.
And then—
a name.
Not spoken fully.
Only partially remembered.
Arin pressed one hand lightly against his forehead while pain surged briefly through his head again.
"…Acharya…"
The word slipped out quietly.
Everyone froze instantly.
Another memory fragment hit immediately afterward.
The witness standing silently while Aditya demanded answers.
"Why are you helping us?"
And the witness answering softly—
"Because I once failed him too."
Arin's breathing became uneven briefly afterward.
Then suddenly another word escaped his mouth before he fully realized it himself.
"…Putra."
Silence.
The wind across the mountain suddenly felt louder afterward.
Riven blinked slowly.
"…okay that sounded important."
Liora stared toward Arin carefully.
"Acharya Putra…"
Kael frowned slightly while thinking.
"That sounds ancient."
"It is," Arin answered quietly.
Another fragment surfaced.
Aditya searching through old texts while Mira slept nearby. The same title appearing repeatedly across ancient records connected to the cycle itself.
Not a name.
A title.
The son of the teacher.
The disciple who remained after destruction.
Arin slowly looked upward toward the distant clouds covering the summit behind them.
"…that's what someone called him."
"The witness?" Selene asked quietly.
Arin nodded.
"I think…"
He hesitated briefly afterward.
"…I think he existed before even my first remembered life."
Nobody spoke for several moments.
Because that implication alone changed everything.
If the witness existed before Karna—
before Aditya—
before Arin—
Then the cycle itself was far older than any of them realized.
Darin looked uneasy afterward.
"But if he knew you before… why didn't he explain anything?"
Arin's expression hardened slightly.
"Because he wasn't trying to guide me."
Another pause.
"He was waiting."
The realization settled heavily inside him while fragments continued resurfacing slowly.
Aditya arguing with the witness years before the war against the organization ended. Demanding answers about the cycle. About fate. About why suffering repeated endlessly across lives.
And the witness refusing every time.
Not out of cruelty.
But necessity.
Because apparently some truths could not be understood too early.
Liora looked toward Arin quietly afterward.
"…you trusted him."
The statement surprised him slightly.
But after thinking for a second—
he realized she was right.
Aditya had trusted the witness eventually.
Not completely.
But enough.
Enough to continue searching for Vijaya even after learning how dangerous the cycle truly was.
Another silence settled across the group while they continued descending lower into the mountain ranges. The air gradually became warmer the farther they moved away from the summit while forests slowly replaced snow-covered cliffs again.
But now the atmosphere felt different between them.
Heavier.
Because every answer connected to something even older waiting beneath the surface.
Eventually Riven broke the silence again.
"…okay, so let me get this straight."
He pointed toward Arin while carefully avoiding slipping off the rocky path.
"You're Karna."
Arin sighed quietly.
"…technically."
"You lived another life as Aditya."
"…yes."
"You and Liora were basically fate-bound lovers in both lives."
Liora immediately looked away slightly.
Riven continued anyway.
"There's an immortal weapon trying to reassemble itself."
Nobody corrected him.
"And now we know some ancient creepy mentor guy called Acharya Putra has apparently been watching all this happen across multiple lifetimes."
Silence.
Then Kael nodded once.
"When you summarize it like that, our lives sound insane."
"They are insane," Aira answered immediately.
For the first time since leaving the labyrinth, Arin almost smiled slightly afterward.
Just slightly.
Because despite everything—
the group still remained themselves.
Still normal in small ways.
And somehow that mattered more now.
The journey downward continued for several more hours afterward.
Eventually the mountain path opened into lower valleys covered in dense forests once again. Rivers cut through the terrain while distant sunlight finally reached them properly after days spent surrounded by snow and darkness.
The world looked ordinary again.
But none of them felt ordinary anymore.
Especially Arin.
Because the closer the fragments of Vijaya moved toward completion—
the more memories continued returning.
Not all at once.
Gradually.
And some frightened him more than others.
Fragments of war.
Fragments of death.
Fragments of things he still didn't fully understand.
But above everything else—
one realization continued growing clearer.
The witness knew far more than he ever revealed.
And somehow…
Arin felt certain they would meet him again eventually.
Not by coincidence.
By design.
The thought lingered heavily in his mind while the group stopped near a river later that evening to rest briefly before continuing toward the kingdom revealed by Vijaya's light.
The crimson beam still remained visible faintly against the distant horizon now that night approached again.
A kingdom waiting somewhere beyond the forests ahead.
And the second light—
the darker one—
still lingered quietly at the edge of Arin's senses.
Watching.
Waiting.
Like something already knew he would eventually come searching for it too.