The air inside the mirror dungeon felt heavy.
Harvie's breath was shallow as he stepped deeper into the labyrinth. Every reflection in the broken glass shimmered like it was alive. Behind him, Edna walked silently, her eyes still wide and shaken from what she saw earlier.
She had cried. She had screamed. And now, she was quiet.
Harvie looked back at her. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.
Edna gave a small nod, but her voice trembled. "I saw myself... burning you alive. That wasn't me, right?"
Harvie reached out and took her hand. "It wasn't you. Not the real you. I trust this Edna. And I'd choose you again and again, even if a thousand timelines break."
Her fingers tightened around his. Her eyes, red from crying, looked up at him. "Then… don't die again."
He smiled, though it was a tired one. "I'll try."
But fate wasn't going to let things be that easy.
The dungeon walls suddenly shook. Mirrors cracked. A loud ticking sound echoed.
> [SYSTEM ERROR: CORE SIGNATURE DETECTED. WARNING: TIME CODE BREACH IMMINENT.]
A large door ahead creaked open slowly. From inside, a deep voice, broken and robotic, called out:
"Bearer of UNLAMENTED. Return what is not yours."
Harvie stepped forward. Edna grabbed his arm, but he gently pulled away. "I have to face this."
He walked into the room.
Inside was a giant machine-like creature. It had a cracked glass face, with countless ticking gears behind it. Its arms were long, shaped like sharp clock hands. Its body was covered in rusted wires and glowing runes.
The Clockwarden.
"Who are you?" Harvie asked.
"I am the First," it said. "The Original Bearer of UNLAMENTED. I broke the chain. You restarted it."
Harvie's eyes narrowed. "You're the one who made the system?"
"No. I was the system. Until I broke apart."
Then it rushed at him.
Harvie dodged to the side, drawing his blade. But the Clockwarden was fast. Too fast. It struck with mechanical precision, each movement in perfect rhythm.
Harvie was hit. His body slammed into the wall. Blood spilled from his lips.
> [SYSTEM WARNING: BODY DAMAGE – 64%]
He wiped the blood. "I'm not dying here."
Harvie activated [Echo Bind]. Time around him stopped—just for 5 seconds. In that small moment, he dashed behind the Clockwarden, landing a deep cut into its core.
> [ECHO BIND – COOLDOWN: 24 HOURS]
The Clockwarden staggered, gears grinding.
But it laughed.
"Do you think you win, time thief? Every second you borrow… you pay in soul."
It unleashed a shockwave of broken time.
Harvie screamed as memories not his own flashed into his head—hundreds of deaths, forgotten lives, erased faces.
Edna rushed in, chanting a barrier spell. "Hold on!"
Harvie reached into his core. The [UNLAMENTED] seal glowed. He pushed all his mana into it.
"Let's finish this."
He jumped, driving his blade through the Clockwarden's cracked face.
The boss froze. Time broke around it. Then—
> [SKILL OBTAINED: FALSE RESURRECTION] [Create one puppet of yourself that takes one fatal blow in your place. Cooldown: 48 hours.]
The Clockwarden fell apart, glitching into pieces of light.
Harvie dropped to one knee, panting.
Edna ran to him. "Harvie!"
He looked up and smiled weakly. "I'm still here."
She hugged him tight.
Behind them, the mirrors of the dungeon shattered one by one, leaving only silence.
But deep within Harvie's system—something changed.
> [UNLAMENTED STABILITY: 12%] [NEW ERROR: "BURIAL PROTOCOL" – WAKING SOURCE: UNKNOWN]
The Clockwarden was gone. But the buried past? It was starting to wake up.