Chapter 2673: Story 2674: The Door Within

Kael felt the heartbeat beneath his ribs.

Boom.

The sound shook the kingdom.

Boom.

White light burst from his chest, forcing everyone backward.

Lena covered her eyes.

“Kael!”

He remained standing.

His sword floated before him, surrounded by seven rings of light.

The seventh mark had disappeared.

In its place was a white symbol shaped like an ancient eye.

The black creature watched.

Then it spoke.

“OPEN.”

Kael gripped his sword.

“No.”

Ancient statues turned toward Kael.

Their stone faces cracked.

“Elarion.”

“Open.”

Kael felt memories enter his mind.

He saw worlds dying and stars collapsing.

He saw the First Father carrying seven children through endless darkness.

Then he saw something worse.

The Father was running from the black creature.

Kael saw fear in his eyes.

The white tree burned behind him.

“Take Elarion away!”

The Father shouted.

“I cannot!”

The woman cried.

“He is the key!”

The memory shattered.

He fell to one knee.

Lena rushed toward him.

“Kael!”

“I remember.”

“What?”

Kael looked at her.

“The door was never created to keep that creature outside.”

The First Father approached.

“Then you understand.”

Kael stood.

“The door was created to keep me inside.”

Silence followed.

Azael stared at Kael.

“You?”

“Something inside me was sealed before I was born.”

The crimson-eyed child stepped forward.

“That was why you became Azrael.”

Kael looked at him.

“And Elarion?”

“Elarion was the name before the seal.”

Elias’s golden veins brightened.

“Then what happens when the seal breaks?”

The ground split.

A white staircase emerged beneath Kael.

At its bottom stood the door.

But it was covered in black veins.

Something was breathing behind it.

Lena raised her weapon.

“We should destroy it.”

“No,” Adrian said.

He studied the symbols.

“This door isn’t an entrance.”

Kael turned.

“What is it?”

Adrian swallowed.

“A heart.”

The black creature laughed, fracturing the sky.

“Yes.”

The door opened slightly.

A red eye appeared in the darkness.

The eye looked directly at Kael.

Then a voice whispered,

“Elarion.”

“Who are you?”

“I am what you were before they gave you a name.”

The seventh symbol on Kael’s chest began glowing again.

Lena grabbed his arm.

“Don’t listen.”

But Kael heard another voice beneath it.

His own.

“Remember.”

He closed his eyes.

The memories returned.

He saw himself beneath the white tree.

Not as Azrael, but as something older.

Something that existed before the First Father.

Before the Beginning.

Before the first darkness.

The black creature suddenly stepped backward.

For the first time, it looked afraid.

Kael opened his eyes.

“What are you afraid of?”

The creature whispered,

“You.”

The heart-door opened wider.

Light and darkness erupted together.

Kael stepped toward it.

Behind him, Lena, Azael, Elias, the fifth child, the sixth child, and the First Father prepared themselves.

Kael raised his sword.

“If I am the door...”

He looked into the darkness.

“Then I will decide what comes through.”

Something on the other side smiled.

And the forgotten world began waking.