The instant the heavy vault door creaked opened, Asher and Seraphine crept in, fast, quiet.
The chamber was filled with rows upon rows of ancient tomes, scrolls, and arcane artifacts, all behind reinforced glass cases. The lights in the room were dimmed as a series of enchanted lamps illuminated the space, throwing strange shadows across the walls covered in runes and symbols, the marks of taboo knowledge.
Asher let out a breath, his silver eyes roving over the expansive collection. "This is it," he muttered. "The Guild's secrets… what they've kept from the world."
Seraphine crouched beside a set of naive drawers covered in unfamiliar script. She traced her fingers along the markings, her expression growing tight. "These are more than just Guild documents. Some of these … these are Architect records."
Asher's heart pounded. Even in this bastion of order, the Architects, the real forces behind the world's order, had left traces. That implied that whatever lay inside this vault was worth far more than Guild intelligence.
"We need to find out what the hell they've been hiding," he added. "Fast."
Seraphine ran her fingers over the rune-marked glass case in front of her, whispering an incantation. The lock clicked open easily without resistance. Inside, rows of tattered papers sat preserved, every page written in a cursive, almost alien-looking script.
She gingerly extracted one of the older scrolls, spreading it out on a nearby table. As soon as she read the opening lines, her breath caught.
"Asher," she whispered. "You need to see this."
He leaned in, looking over her shoulder. His gaze hardened as he read:
"Cycle #314: Target - Asher Vance.
Title: Sorcerer of Ruin
Status: Dead (Last Cycle)
Reincarnation Probability: 98%.
His pulse pounded in his ears.
There it was. His name, appearing in a document that had no business existing. Not just Asher Vaelthorne — his original name, the name he'd had before he was reincarnated.
"How…" His voice was hoarse. "How do they know this?"
Seraphine turned the page, fingers shaking. Under his, dozens more individual names followed — hundreds, each with their own cycle numbers and status. A handful had been marked as erased. Others were still active.
"They've been following reincarnations," Seraphine whispered. "Not just you—hundreds, thousands of people who've lived through other lifetimes."
Asher clenched his fists. His memories of his past life only returned after his demise in the fantasy world. But this document established something terrible.
"They know I was going back," he said, voice low. "They expected me."
Her face white, Seraphine turned the next page.
"The Architects..." she said in a whisper. "They're deciding who gets reincarnated and who doesn't."
Asher's breath felt heavy. He balled his fists to steady himself. The truth was overwhelming, but he couldn't afford to be immobilized by it.
He stepped away from the scroll and approached another case full of black-bound books. Their covers bore the insignia of the Guild — but when he reached out to open one, he felt his fingers shocked by an invisible barrier.
"Goddammit," he muttered, shaking off the sting.
Seraphine trickled a hand over the book, her magic humming against the invisible seal. "This is top-level protection," she said. "They don't want to have this reading by anyone."
Asher drew a dagger, running its enchanted edge along the book's lock. The metal resonated, and then, in a flash of blue light, the barrier broke.
Seraphine smirked. "That works too."
Asher opened the book and instantly saw a name scrawled across the first page.
"Aethernis – The Architect of the Cycle.
His hands tightened. "Aethernis…" he repeated. "That's the Architect we battled in the ruins."
Seraphine read the page, her eyes widening. "It says here Aethernis wasn't always an Architect. He was elected—raised by something called the Eternal Will."
Asher's stomach twisted. "The Eternal Will?"
Seraphine flipped the page. Now this says the Eternal Will is what makes someone be an Architect. It's characterized as… a conscious entity, something that directs the flow of reincarnations and determines who ascends to power."
Asher's mind raced. If this was all the work of the Eternal Will—of deciding who returned and who ascended and who died in the flames for every sin of the past—then that meant his fight wasn't just with the Guild or the Architects.
It was against the same system that ruled existence.
Before they had time to calculate the full gravity of what they'd just heard, Reed's voice crackled in their earpieces.
"Guys—bad news. You need to get out. Now."
Asher tensed. "What's happening?"
"They know somebody's in the vault. The security alarms across the building just activated. Enforcers are mobilizing — you have two minutes, max."
Seraphine cursed quietly under her breath. "Damn it, they must've had a silent tripwire.
Asher scooped the book up, cramming it into his satchel. "We are not walking away with nothing. Move!"
The two ran toward a hidden exit of the vault, a side passage they had discovered earlier. Hollow footsteps and the clanging of metal echoed through the halls as they neared the door.
"They're closing in on you," Seraphine said.
Asher turned, his hand going up. From his palm sent a surge of dark energy, reverberating across the corridor. The oncoming guards were knocked backward, buying them precious seconds to flee.
Seraphine hit the exit rune with her hand and opened the hidden passage. The stone wall shifted and a narrow tunnel appeared underground.
"Go!" Seraphine sailed forward, and Asher yelled, diving in after her.
The instant they stepped through, the stone closed behind them, and the Guild's enforcers beat against the other side.
They were safe. For now.
The tunnel went for miles beneath the city, taking them deep underground, far from the Sovereign's Vault. They walked in silence for a long time, still reeling with what they had discovered.
Finally, Seraphine spoke. "So, what now?"
Asher breathed a little as he looked down at the book in his hands.
"We fight the Guild no longer," he said, quiet but firm. "We fight the system itself."
Seraphine gave him a knowing glance. "That's a tall order."
Asher smirked. "Yeah. But I've already died once." He glanced at her. "What can possibly go wrong?"
"No, no, no," Seraphine sighed, shaking her head. "Let's hope we never find out."
And they kept walking, going deeper into the unknown — toward a future where the cycle would either be shattered … or take them again.