Rain drummed steadily against the stained-glass windows of Blackwood Museum, turning the ancient building into a maze of shifting shadows. The halls were empty, save for the soft echo of footsteps that belonged to a single man.
Lucien Vale adjusted his glasses as he unlocked the door to the museum's underground archive. At twenty-four, he had earned a reputation for deciphering languages that no one else could read. While other archivists searched for fame through remarkable discoveries, Lucien preferred silence. Ancient books spoke more honestly than most people.
The heavy iron door groaned shut behind him.
Rows upon rows of forgotten relics stretched into darkness—cracked statues, broken weapons, faded scrolls, and shelves filled with manuscripts no visitor was ever allowed to see.
His supervisor had left a short note on his desk.
"Catalog the newly recovered artifacts from Saint Aurelius Cathedral. One sealed crate remains unopened."
Lucien frowned.
Recoveries from abandoned cathedrals usually contained ordinary religious relics, not museum-worthy treasures.
He approached the wooden crate resting alone in the center of the room.
It bore no shipping label.
Only a single symbol burned into the lid.
A circle.
Inside it...
Six silver wings.
The instant Lucien looked at the mark, a sharp pain pierced his head.
A battlefield flashed before his eyes.
Golden wings covered in blood.
A man dressed in white armor reaching toward him.
"Lucien..."
The voice sounded impossibly gentle.
Then—
Darkness swallowed everything.
Lucien stumbled backward, gasping.
"What... was that?"
His heartbeat hammered in his ears.
He shook his head and forced himself to focus.
"Probably exhaustion."
Picking up a crowbar, he broke the rusted nails one by one.
The lid creaked open.
Inside lay a book wrapped in layers of black silk.
It was strangely warm.
The cover looked alive, as though veins of silver light pulsed beneath weathered black leather. No title. No author's name.
Only the same six-winged emblem.
As Lucien reached toward it, every light in the archive flickered.
The room became deathly silent.
Even the rain outside had stopped.
His fingers brushed the cover.
The world shattered.
—
He stood beneath an endless white sky.
Towering pillars floated among the clouds.
Thousands of winged warriors filled the heavens.
Their swords blazed like stars.
Across from them surged an ocean of darkness.
Creatures without faces.
Without voices.
Without mercy.
At the center of the battlefield stood two figures.
One wore brilliant silver armor, six radiant wings spread behind him.
The other held a staff carved from black crystal, glowing with ancient runes.
Despite the chaos around them...
They smiled at each other.
The angel reached out.
"I'll find you again."
The mage's eyes filled with tears.
"No matter how many lives it takes."
Their hands touched.
A blinding pillar of light erupted into the heavens.
Then came a scream.
Not of pain.
Of unbearable loss.
—
Lucien awoke on the cold archive floor.
His entire body trembled.
The black book rested quietly beside him, untouched.
Except...
It was no longer closed.
Its first page had turned by itself.
Written in silver ink were words he had never learned, yet somehow understood.
The first seal has awakened.
The lost soul has returned.
Find the Commander before the seventh eclipse...
...or Heaven will fall.
A freezing wind swept through the archive.
Somewhere behind the shelves—
Someone whispered his name.
"Lucien."
He spun around.
No one was there.
Only darkness.
Far above the museum, hidden on the rooftop across the street, a man in a long black coat lowered his binoculars.
His silver eyes never left the underground window.
"So..." he murmured.
"You finally found it."
For the first time in a thousand years, relief softened his otherwise unreadable expression.
"I've finally found you again."
As lightning split the sky, the mysterious stranger turned and disappeared into the storm—unaware that another pair of crimson eyes watched both of them from the cathedral ruins, smiling as the ancient game began once more.
End of Chapter 1
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