"An oath broken is a fate rewritten."
Ash.
It clung to the shattered banners, once symbols of honor. It filled the air with silence louder than screams. Where once stood legends, now only ruin remained.
Seo Joon staggered through the carnage.
The great hall of the Oathbound Eclipse—his guild, his family—was in flames. Golden spires crumbled like paper. The chained eclipse crest lay broken beneath his feet, stained in the blood of heroes.
Everyone was gone.
He fell to his knees. His fingers curled around a cracked sword—his master's. Still warm. Still humming with the remnants of a vow now shattered.
> "You said we'd protect the balance... till the end," Seo Joon whispered.
A single voice echoed in his mind—calm, mechanical, unfeeling.
> [Initiating Transfer...]
[Selected Survivor: Seo Joon]
[Oathbound Protocol breached. Ascension triggered.]
The ground beneath him collapsed into nothingness. Darkness swallowed light. His body turned weightless. The world dissolved.
---
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn't on Earth.
A towering obsidian structure loomed above him, stretching endlessly into the void. Stairs spiraled upward into infinity. Doors marked with strange runes flickered with ancient power.
Before him, golden letters floated mid-air:
> Welcome to the Tower.
Floor 1: Trial of Awakening.
Survive. Ascend. Break your chains.
Seo Joon stood. Eyes burning crimson. The chains on his destiny—he would break them all.
> "This time, I swear… I won't lose anyone again."