Chapter 172: The Watcher’s Sin

The forest went silent.

Not quiet.

Silent.

No insects.

No birds.

Not even the rustle of leaves.

Only the crimson eyes remained between the trees.

Noah tightened his fists.

"How many?"

Roana didn’t answer.

She was staring deeper into the forest.

The eyes weren’t moving.

They were watching.

One by one, more appeared.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

Then dozens.

Some were low to the ground.

Others hovered high among the branches.

A few were barely visible behind the trees.

Sophia swallowed.

"There are too many."

Eric raised his weapon.

"Are they monsters?"

Roana shook her head.

"No."

Damien frowned. "Then what are they?"

Roana’s grip tightened around her silver blade.

"Observers."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"Like the Watcher?"

"No."

Her answer came immediately.

"These are something else."

A crimson eye suddenly blinked.

The entire forest responded.

Every eye closed.

Then opened simultaneously.

[SYSTEM WARNING.]

[MULTIPLE UNKNOWN SIGNATURES DETECTED.]

[ANALYSIS FAILED.]

Noah stared at the notification.

His system was struggling again.

That alone was unsettling.

Laura stepped beside him.

"Noah."

He looked at her.

"Something’s wrong with your shadow."

Noah glanced down.

His shadow stretched across the ground.

It was much longer than it should have been.

And there were two silhouettes inside it.

One belonged to Noah.

The other was standing behind him.

Dead Zone.

Except it wasn’t holding Shadowfang.

The sword lay several meters away near the remains of the battlefield.

Noah frowned.

"Dead Zone?"

The second silhouette slowly raised its head.

I told you.

Noah’s expression hardened.

They’re not here for you.

"Then why are they staring at me?"

The shadow’s golden slit opened.

Because I’m inside you.

Roana stepped backward.

Her face had gone pale.

"You can hear it?"

Noah looked at her.

"You can too?"

Roana didn’t answer.

Instead, she turned toward the trees.

The crimson eyes began moving.

Not toward Noah.

Toward Roana.

Every single one.

Her expression changed.

"No."

Laura noticed.

"Roana?"

Roana backed away.

"They found me."

Eric raised his weapon.

"Who?"

Roana’s silver blade trembled in her hand.

"The people who sent me."

Noah stared at her.

"You said you were sent to observe me."

"I was."

"By whom?"

Roana looked at him.

Her eyes were filled with something Noah hadn’t seen from her before.

Fear.

"By someone who doesn’t want you dead."

Noah frowned.

"That doesn’t sound reassuring."

"It isn’t."

A branch snapped.

One crimson eye moved closer.

Then another.

Figures emerged between the trees.

Humanoid.

Thin.

Their bodies were wrapped in dark cloth, almost identical to the clothing worn by the mysterious figure inside the realm.

But these figures had no faces.

Only one crimson eye on each forehead.

Sophia whispered:

"What are those?"

Roana raised her blade.

"Collectors."

The nearest figure stepped into the moonlight.

Three moons illuminated its body.

Then it spoke.

"Roana."

Her grip tightened.

The figure continued.

"Your observation period has ended."

Noah stepped in front of her.

The collector tilted its head.

"We did not come for the inheritor."

Its crimson eye shifted toward Roana.

"We came to retrieve our watcher."

Roana’s breathing stopped.

Noah looked back at her.

"Watcher?"

She said nothing.

The collector raised one hand.

Every crimson eye in the forest ignited.

And Roana whispered:

"They know what I did."

Roana didn’t move.

The collector’s words hung between the trees.

"They know what I did."

Noah looked at her.

"What did you do?"

Roana’s fingers tightened around her silver blade.

"I was supposed to observe you."

"We know that."

"I was also supposed to report everything I saw."

Noah’s expression hardened.

"And you didn’t."

Roana slowly shook her head.

"No."

The nearest collector stepped forward.

"You violated your assignment."

Another figure emerged beside it.

"You concealed information."

A third appeared.

"You interfered with the target."

Roana’s eyes lowered.

"And you allowed the target to survive."

The crimson eyes throughout the forest brightened.

Laura stepped closer to Noah.

"How many of them are there?"

"Enough," Roana whispered.

The nearest collector raised its hand.

Crimson chains erupted from the ground.

Roana reacted instantly.

She slashed downward.

Her silver blade severed the first chain.

Another came from behind.

She twisted aside, but a third wrapped around her ankle.

Noah moved.

Golden light flashed across his arm.

He grabbed the chain before it could drag Roana away.

The metal burned his palm.

[UNKNOWN MATERIAL DETECTED.]

[PROPERTY: SOUL-BINDING.]

Noah pulled.

The chain snapped.

Roana fell backward.

"Stay behind me."

She stared at him.

"Why?"

Noah glanced over his shoulder.

"Because apparently everyone in this forest wants to collect you."

A faint smile almost appeared on her face.

Almost.

Then the collectors attacked.

Crimson chains erupted everywhere.

Sophia raised a barrier.

Luna fired a concentrated blast through the trees.

Eric and Damien charged the nearest collectors while Laura moved toward Roana.

The forest exploded into motion.

Noah ducked beneath a chain and drove his fist into a collector’s chest.

The impact sent it flying through three trees.

It landed on its feet.

No blood.

No reaction.

It simply tilted its head.

"Interesting."

Noah frowned.

"I’m getting tired of that word."

The collector vanished.

Noah barely raised his arm before a crimson blade struck him across the chest.

He was thrown backward.

"NOAH!"

He crashed against a tree.

Pain spread across his ribs.

The collector approached.

Its single crimson eye narrowed.

"You possess the second signature."

Noah froze.

The collector continued.

"And something else."

Its eye shifted toward Noah’s shadow.

"Something that does not belong to you."

The shadow behind Noah moved.

Dead Zone emerged halfway from it, crimson eye burning.

The collector stopped.

For the first time, it stepped backward.

Dead Zone smiled.

"Now you recognize me."

The collector’s body trembled.

"You..."

Dead Zone raised his hand.

Crimson energy gathered around his fingers.

"You came looking for the wrong prisoner."

He vanished.

The collector’s head snapped sideways.

Dead Zone appeared behind it.

Shadowfang was suddenly in his hand.

Noah’s eyes widened.

Where did you get that?

Dead Zone looked at the blade.

"I took it."

The collector turned.

Too late.

Shadowfang swept across its chest.

A crimson wound opened.

But instead of blood, darkness spilled from the cut.

The collector staggered.

Dead Zone stepped closer.

"You should have stayed away."

The collector’s eye flickered.

"Dead Zone..."

The name made Roana’s face change.

Noah noticed.

"You know what that is?"

Roana stared at Dead Zone.

"I know what they called it."

"What?"

Roana swallowed.

"The failed inheritance."

Dead Zone stopped.

The forest seemed to hold its breath.

Noah slowly looked toward him.

"Failed?"

Dead Zone’s crimson eye narrowed.

Roana’s voice became quieter.

"They were never afraid of Ragnarok."

She looked at Noah.

"They were afraid of what happened when someone tried to inherit it before."

The collector’s wound began closing.

And from deep within the forest, something much larger answered with a roar.