Chapter 174: The Eye Beneath Hrafnviðr

The golden eye opened beneath the forest.

Noah felt its gaze before he could see its full shape.

The ground beneath his feet disappeared.

For one terrifying instant, it felt as though the entire forest had become weightless.

Trees hung above him.

Flames floated in midair.

Even the collectors were suspended like statues.

Only the golden eye continued moving.

It looked directly at Noah.

[WARNING.]

[UNKNOWN ENTITY DETECTED.]

[SYSTEM RESPONSE:—]

The notification abruptly vanished.

Noah stared at the empty space where the system should have been.

"The system..."

Dead Zone looked at him.

"It can’t see this thing."

The Keeper slowly lowered itself to one knee.

The collectors followed.

Roana’s face had gone pale.

Laura stepped closer to Noah.

"What is that?"

Roana shook her head.

"I don’t know."

The golden eye blinked.

The entire forest shook.

A gigantic shape began rising beneath the earth.

Roots snapped.

Trees collapsed.

The crimson flames were swallowed by golden light as something enormous pushed its way through the ground.

Noah saw part of a head.

Then a massive armored forehead.

Golden plates covered its surface, carved with symbols Noah had never seen before.

Its body remained buried beneath the forest.

Yet even what had emerged was larger than the transport they had arrived in.

The Keeper bowed its head.

"Ancient One."

A low vibration rolled through the forest.

"Keeper."

The Keeper’s crimson eye flickered.

"You have failed."

The giant eye shifted toward it.

"No."

The earth trembled.

"I have waited."

The Keeper slowly raised its head.

The Ancient One’s attention returned to Noah.

"The inheritor stands before me."

Noah stepped forward.

"Why are you calling me that?"

Silence.

Then the Ancient One spoke.

"Because the blood remembers."

Noah froze.

"My blood?"

The golden eye narrowed.

"Not yours."

Dead Zone’s crimson aura immediately flared.

"Don’t."

The Ancient One ignored him.

"His."

The word seemed to strike Dead Zone directly.

Crimson energy exploded from his body.

He raised Shadowfang and charged.

"Stop!"

Noah reached for him.

Too late.

Dead Zone swung Shadowfang with everything he had.

The blade struck the Ancient One’s exposed armor.

The impact sent a golden shockwave through the forest.

Dead Zone was thrown backward.

Shadowfang flew from his hand.

It landed several meters away.

Dead Zone rolled across the burning ground and slammed into a tree.

Noah rushed toward him.

"Are you okay?"

Dead Zone slowly stood.

His crimson eye remained fixed on the Ancient One.

"I hate that thing."

The Ancient One spoke again.

"You always did."

Dead Zone froze.

Noah looked at him.

"You know it."

"No."

Dead Zone’s voice was quieter.

"I remember it."

The distinction sent a chill through Noah.

Before he could ask anything else, the Ancient One’s golden eye moved toward Roana.

"And the watcher."

Roana tightened her grip on her silver blade.

"I didn’t know."

"You were not meant to know."

Noah looked between them.

"What does that mean?"

Roana’s expression tightened.

The Ancient One answered.

"She was sent to observe you."

Noah already knew that.

But the next words made everyone freeze.

"She was not sent by the people you believe."

Roana’s eyes widened.

The Keeper slowly turned toward her.

Even the collectors looked confused.

Noah stepped closer.

"Roana."

She said nothing.

"Who sent you?"

Her lips parted.

For several seconds, no words came.

Then she whispered:

"I don’t know."

The Ancient One’s eye narrowed.

"That is a lie."

Roana’s face changed.

And every crimson eye in the forest suddenly turned toward her.

The collectors raised their weapons.

The Keeper stood.

Dead Zone retrieved Shadowfang.

Noah stepped between Roana and the others.

"What did you do?"

Roana looked at him.

Her expression was no longer frightened.

It was resigned.

"I remembered."

A golden symbol appeared across her palm.

Noah’s golden seal responded immediately.

And somewhere beneath Hrafnviðr, another ancient door began opening.

The golden symbol on Roana’s palm pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

With every pulse, the ancient door beneath Hrafnviðr groaned.

Noah stared at her.

"You remembered what?"

Roana looked down at her hand.

"I don’t know where to begin."

"Start with the truth."

Her eyes lifted.

"The person who sent me..."

She hesitated.

"I have never seen their face."

The collectors shifted.

The Keeper’s crimson eye narrowed.

Even the Ancient One remained silent.

Roana continued.

"I received instructions through dreams. Every time I slept, I was standing inside a white room. There was a door in front of me."

Noah’s expression tightened.

"A door?"

Roana nodded.

"Behind it, someone spoke."

"What did they say?"

"Your name."

The golden seal inside Noah’s chest pulsed.

Roana noticed.

"They told me to find Noah Blackwood. Watch him. Follow him. Record his movements."

She closed her fingers around the symbol.

"But there was one instruction I wasn’t supposed to question."

Noah waited.

Roana whispered:

"If the inheritor remembers, kill him."

Silence.

Laura stepped forward.

"You were ordered to kill Noah?"

Roana looked at her.

"Yes."

Sophia’s weapon immediately came up.

Luna moved beside her.

Eric and Damien followed.

Noah raised one hand.

"Wait."

Roana looked at him.

"I never followed that order."

"Why?"

Her eyes softened.

"Because I watched you."

Noah frowned.

"You were supposed to."

"No."

Roana shook her head.

"I watched you when you weren’t fighting. When you were asleep. When you were injured. When everyone else thought you were fine."

Her grip tightened.

"And eventually, I realized the person they described wasn’t the person I was seeing."

The collectors suddenly moved.

Noah turned.

"Behind me!"

Crimson chains erupted from the ground.

Laura summoned a barrier.

Sophia and Luna fired simultaneously.

The first wave shattered against their attacks.

The second wave came from above.

Roana raised her silver blade and cut through three chains.

A fourth wrapped around her wrist.

Noah grabbed it.

The metal immediately burned his palm.

The Keeper charged.

Its massive fist slammed into the ground.

The shockwave scattered the collectors and threw Noah backward.

Dead Zone stepped forward.

"Enough."

Crimson energy exploded around him.

He disappeared.

A collector’s head snapped sideways.

Shadowfang carved through its shoulder.

Another attacked.

Dead Zone blocked.

A third came from behind.

Noah intercepted it with a golden-coated fist.

The collision shook his injured arm.

He ignored the pain.

The Ancient One watched everything.

Then its golden eye shifted toward the ancient door beneath the forest.

The door had opened another inch.

A voice emerged from behind it.

Soft.

Almost human.

"Noah."

He froze.

Roana looked terrified.

"That voice..."

Noah turned toward her.

"You recognize it?"

Roana slowly nodded.

"I’ve heard it every night."

The voice came again.

"Noah Blackwood."

The golden symbol on Roana’s palm burned brighter.

The Ancient One suddenly spoke.

"The door remembers her."

Roana stared at it.

"What does that mean?"

The Ancient One’s eye focused on her.

"You were not chosen to watch him."

A pause.

"You were chosen to lead him here."

Roana’s face went blank.

Noah felt his stomach drop.

The door beneath Hrafnviðr opened wider.

Golden light spilled through the gap.

And behind it stood a familiar silhouette.

Noah’s silhouette.

But its eyes were completely white.