The black water drained away as quickly as it had surged, revealing the cathedral's hidden undercroft. The space was larger than Elias had imagined, its walls lined with ancient carvings that told a story far older than the church above. Eleven skeletons hung suspended in midair, each impaled through the left eye socket by a single silver nail. Their bones gleamed unnaturally in the dim light, preserved by some dark magic.

Lira coughed beside him, covering her nose. "They've been here all along?"

The Index stood before them, its patchwork body swaying slightly. The five mouths that made up its face twisted into a grotesque smile. "Waiting," it said, all five voices speaking in unison. "Just as you will wait."

Before Elias could react, the creature's arm lashed out. Gold stitching unraveled from its wrist, forming a whip made of fused fingerbones. Elias barely managed to dodge as the whip cracked against the cathedral steps, sending fragments of marble flying.

Pain flared up his corrupted arm—the gold veins had spread to his shoulder now, pulsing with a heat that made his vision swim.

The bone mask in his pack vibrated faintly, its whisper barely audible over the chaos.

"One nail to break the chain."

Lira didn't hesitate. She raised Ate Rosario's pistol and fired. The baybayin-etched bullet struck the Index's central mouth, silencing one of its voices in a spray of black ichor. The creature staggered but didn't fall. Its remaining four mouths chanted faster, the words vibrating through the air like a swarm of angry wasps.

"First guardian betrayed, last guardian paid. The King remembers, the King awaits."

Elias's grip tightened on the Spanish pistol. He could feel the weight of its history, the centuries of anger and resistance forged into its metal. But before he could take aim, the ground beneath them trembled again.

From the shadows of the undercroft, something stirred.

A twelfth skeleton emerged—not hanging like the others, but standing upright. Its bones were darker, as if scorched by fire, and its empty eye sockets seemed to fix directly on Elias.

The Hollow King's voice filled the chamber, not from the box, not from the mask, but from the very air itself.

"You were always meant to join us, Elias. The final guardian. The last sacrifice."

Lira grabbed his arm. "Don't listen to it. That's what it wants."

But Elias couldn't look away. The twelfth skeleton raised a bony hand, pointing at the empty space beside it.

Waiting.