Hajin opened his eyes to silence.

He was lying on his back, staring up at a ceiling that was not made of stone or wood or anything he recognized, it was something else entirely, smooth and luminous, glowing with a faint golden light that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

He sat up slowly, his body feeling strange, not heavy like it had been in the ruins, but light, almost weightless, as if the rules that governed his flesh did not apply in this place.

The room stretched out around him in every direction, vast and empty except for a single long table that sat in the center.

It was massive, carved from something dark and polished that reflected the golden light above, and around it were dozens of high-backed chairs arranged in a neat circle, each one ornate and ancient-looking, the kind of chairs that belonged to people who hold power over the world.

’Where am I,’ he thought, pushing himself to his feet while his eyes moved across the empty seats, ’this is not the ring world.’

The ring world was flowers and sky and soft breezes, this was something different, heavier, the air carried a weight that had nothing to do with mana and everything to do with the sheer presence of the place itself.

He thought back to the last thing he remembered, the statue, the spike through his chest, Vella’s hands pressing against his ribs while the world went white, and then nothing.

Then the Goddess.

She had appeared in the darkness, her wings folded behind her, her golden eyes finding him in the void like she had been waiting for him all along.

’You are making a habit of this,’ she had said, and he could hear the faint smile in her words even then.

She asked him something, a question that had pulled something out of him he did not know he was still carrying, and when he answered she had smiled, one that reached her eyes and made the void feel less empty.

’I will gift you knowledge while you are here,’ she had said, ’no better chance than this.’

Then the darkness dissolved and he was here.

He started walking toward the long table, his footsteps echoing in the vast silence, and the closer he got the more details emerged. The table was covered in faint etchings, lines and symbols that he did not recognize but felt familiar in a way that made his skin prickle.

’What is this place,’ he thought, running his fingers along the edge of the nearest chair, ’and why does it feel like I have been here before.’

A voice broke the silence, deep and resonant, carrying an authority that made the air itself feel heavier.

"Welcome to the meeting."

He spun around fast, his hand instinctively reaching for a weapon that was not there, and his eyes locked onto the far end of the table, where a figure was now seated.

It was humanoid but not human, its form shifting and indistinct, like looking at someone through water. It sat with its hands folded on the table, its head tilted slightly as it watched him with eyes that burned with a light he could not name.

His pulse climbed, his throat tightening as he stared at the thing sitting at the head of the table.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice coming out steadier than he felt.

The figure did not answer.

It just sat there, watching him with a calm, unreadable expression, and the silence stretched long enough that he started to wonder if it had heard him at all.

He took a step closer, his eyes narrowing as he tried to make out the details of its face, but the features kept blurring, shifting between one shape and another like a memory that refused to settle.

"Hello?" he said again, louder this time but still nothing.

The figure did not move, blink or react to his voice in any way, and a cold feeling started building in his stomach as he realized something was wrong with this place.

Then he heard another voice, this one coming from behind him, soft and distant, carrying a weight that made his spine go rigid.

"So, when is everyone else getting here?"

The voice was cheerful, bright in a way that felt out of place in the heavy silence of the chamber, and Hajin’s breath caught in his throat as he turned around.

Another figure sat at the table, this one different from the first, its form still indistinct but the presence rolling off it was warmer, gentler, carrying a resonance he knew.

’N-No way,’ he thought, his eyes widening as the realization hit him, ’that’s the Goddess.’

She sat with her hands folded neatly on the table, her head tilted slightly as she looked toward the figure at the far end, and the way she carried herself was nothing like the solemn, ancient presence he had met in the void, this was lighter, almost playful.

The first figure did not respond to her question, just sat there with its hands folded, watching her with the same calm, unreadable expression it had given him.

’She is not looking at me,’ he realized, his eyes darting between the two of them, ’she is not even acknowledging that I am here.’

The Goddess leaned forward a little, her voice carrying that same bright tone.

"Come on, you invited us all here," she continued, gesturing vaguely at the empty chairs around the table, "the least you can do is tell me when the others are arriving."

Still nothing from the first figure.

Hajin took a step back, his mind racing as the pieces fell into place.

’This is not real,’ he thought, looking at the way the light passed through both figures without reflecting, the way their edges blurred and shifted like smoke, ’this must be a memory, a recording of something that happened here.’

The Goddess was not talking to him, she was not even aware of his presence, she was talking to the figure at the head of the table, and whatever conversation they were having had happened long before he was born.

She let out a small sigh, her form flickering slightly as she rested her chin on her hand.

"You are always so quiet before these meetings," she said, her voice dropping into something softer, "it makes me nervous, you know."

The first figure finally spoke, its voice the same deep tone that had welcomed him, but directed at her instead.

"There is nothing to be nervous about," it said, "today is simply a formality."

"A formality," she repeated, her tone shifting into something sharper, "you summoned twelve of the most powerful beings in existence to a meeting and you are calling it a formality?"

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms while her form flickered again, and even in this fragmented state the irritation in her posture was clear.

"I do not like it when you are vague," she said, "it usually means you are hiding something."

The first figure did not respond to that either, just sat there with its hands folded while the silence stretched between them.

Hajin watched the exchange from where he stood, feeling like an intruder in a moment that was never meant for him.

’This is what they were like,’ he thought, looking at the Goddess’s cheerful form and the cold stillness of the other figure, ’before the betrayal and everything fell apart.’

Then the doors suddenly opened and he turned to look, ’huh, where those doors always there?’

Figures stepped through, one after another, their forms just as indistinct as the two he had already seen, their presence filling the chamber with a pressure that made the air feel thick.

They moved toward their seats without speaking, some tall, some short, some carrying an aura that made his skin prickle just from being in the same room, and each one took their place at the table like they had done it a thousand times before.

Hajin watched them file in, his body frozen in place as the weight of their combined presence pressed down on him, and realized the meeting was about to begin.