Chapter 175: The Second Heartbeat

The figure stood behind the golden door.

Noah couldn’t move.

It looked like him.

Same height.

Same messy hair.

Same posture.

But the eyes were completely white.

And unlike Noah, the figure wasn’t breathing.

Roana stepped backward.

"No..."

Laura looked at her.

"You know it?"

Roana shook her head.

"I’ve seen it."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"In your dreams?"

Roana nodded.

"Every time."

The figure behind the door slowly raised its hand.

Noah’s golden seal responded.

THUMP.

His chest tightened.

THUMP.

Golden veins spread across his arms.

Dead Zone immediately moved beside him.

"Don’t let it touch you."

Noah didn’t take his eyes off the figure.

"Why?"

"Because it isn’t you."

The figure smiled.

Dead Zone’s expression changed.

"That smile..."

Noah looked at him.

"You’ve seen it before."

Dead Zone didn’t answer.

The figure finally stepped through the doorway.

Its foot touched the forest floor.

Every crimson flame extinguished.

The collectors stopped fighting.

The Keeper lowered its weapon.

Even the Ancient One became completely still.

The figure looked around.

Then it looked at Noah.

"Hello."

One word.

Noah felt something inside his mind crack.

Not physically.

A memory.

A childhood memory he couldn’t remember having.

A bedroom.

Rain against a window.

A younger Noah sitting on the floor.

Someone sitting beside him.

A boy.

Same face.

Same eyes.

Except those eyes were white.

The boy was smiling.

You don’t have to be afraid.

The memory vanished.

Noah staggered.

"What..."

The figure smiled again.

"You remembered."

Noah stared at it.

"Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head.

"You already know."

"No."

"Yes."

The golden symbol beneath Noah’s skin brightened.

The figure stepped closer.

"I am the part of you they couldn’t erase."

Dead Zone suddenly attacked.

Shadowfang flashed through the air.

The figure caught the blade between two fingers.

Dead Zone’s crimson aura exploded.

The figure didn’t move.

Instead, it looked directly at him.

"You are still protecting him."

Dead Zone froze.

The figure’s white eyes narrowed.

"Even after they replaced you."

Noah’s expression changed.

"Replaced him?"

Dead Zone violently pulled Shadowfang free.

"Don’t listen."

The figure laughed softly.

"You really don’t remember."

Dead Zone swung again.

The figure vanished.

A heartbeat later, it appeared behind Noah.

Its hand hovered inches from the back of his head.

Roana screamed.

"Noah!"

The golden-black entity moved faster.

It slammed into the figure and drove it through three burning trees.

The forest shook.

The figure stood unharmed.

It brushed ash from its shoulder.

The Ancient One finally spoke.

"The Forgotten has awakened."

Noah turned toward it.

"The Forgotten?"

The Ancient One’s golden eye remained fixed on the white-eyed figure.

"The piece of the inheritor that was removed."

Noah’s breathing stopped.

The figure smiled.

"Now you understand."

The golden seal inside Noah’s chest cracked.

A thin line of white light appeared beneath the golden glow.

Dead Zone stared at it.

"No..."

The figure raised one hand.

The white light answered.

And Noah heard another heartbeat inside his chest.

Not his.

Not Dead Zone’s.

Something else.

Something that had been waiting for him to remember.

Thump.

Noah froze.

The sound came from inside his chest.

Thump.

Not his heartbeat.

Not Dead Zone.

Something else.

The white light beneath the golden seal pulsed again.

Dead Zone stared at Noah.

"Don’t let it open."

Noah swallowed.

"How?"

"I don’t know."

For once, Dead Zone sounded uncertain.

The white-eyed figure watched them from across the burning forest.

"You still don’t understand."

Its voice was calm.

"The seal was never designed to keep me out."

Noah’s golden eye narrowed.

"Then what was it designed to do?"

"To keep you from remembering me."

The words sent a cold sensation through Noah’s body.

The Ancient One shifted beneath the forest.

"Enough."

Its enormous golden eye focused on the white-eyed figure.

"You were removed for a reason."

The figure looked toward it.

"And yet I survived."

The Ancient One’s gaze hardened.

"Barely."

The figure smiled.

"Barely is still alive."

The Keeper suddenly moved.

Its enormous body blurred through the burning forest and appeared behind the white-eyed figure.

Its fist descended.

The figure raised one arm.

The impact created a massive shockwave.

Trees snapped.

The crimson flames vanished.

The ground split open beneath them.

The figure was pushed backward several meters.

The Keeper followed with another strike.

This time, the white-eyed figure caught its fist.

"You’re still protecting the prison."

The Keeper’s crimson eye burned.

"No."

It tightened its grip.

"I’m protecting the boundary."

The figure’s smile disappeared.

A burst of white energy erupted between them.

Both were thrown apart.

Noah barely remained standing.

Roana rushed toward him.

"Your chest!"

Noah looked down.

The golden seal beneath his skin had developed another crack.

White light leaked through it.

Roana’s face drained of color.

"That wasn’t supposed to happen."

Noah looked at her.

"You’ve seen this before."

Roana hesitated.

"In my dreams."

"What happened?"

"You disappeared."

Noah’s expression hardened.

"Where?"

Roana looked toward the white-eyed figure.

"Through that door."

The figure heard her.

Its head turned.

"You remember more than you should."

Roana raised her silver blade.

"I remember enough."

The figure’s white eyes narrowed.

"You remember the room?"

Roana’s hand trembled.

"The chains."

"The chair?"

"Yes."

"The man behind the glass?"

Roana’s breathing stopped.

Noah looked at her.

"What man?"

She didn’t answer.

The figure continued.

"He told you what to do."

Roana’s eyes widened.

"He told me to watch Noah."

"No."

The figure took a step forward.

"He told you to bring Noah back."

The forest fell silent.

Noah looked at Roana.

"Back where?"

Roana couldn’t answer.

The white-eyed figure smiled.

"That’s the question you’ve been avoiding."

Noah’s chest suddenly burned.

The second heartbeat accelerated.

THUMP.

White light exploded from the golden seal.

Noah dropped to one knee.

Dead Zone grabbed him.

"NOAH!"

A white line appeared across Noah’s chest.

Something pushed against the inside of the seal.

The system flickered into existence.

[CRITICAL WARNING.]

[THIRD SIGNATURE AWAKENING.]

[SEAL INTEGRITY: 3%.]

[HOST IDENTITY CONFLICT DETECTED.]

Noah stared at the final line.

His hands began shaking.

"What does that mean?"

The system answered.

[HOST IDENTITY: NOAH BLACKWOOD.]

The text glitched.

A second line appeared beneath it.

[ORIGINAL DESIGNATION:—]

The system abruptly shut down.

Noah looked up.

The white-eyed figure was standing directly in front of him.

It leaned closer.

And whispered:

"Ask yourself why your system never tells you who you were before Noah Blackwood."

The white light in Noah’s chest flared.

The second heartbeat became a roar.

And for the first time, Noah heard his own voice speak from inside the seal.

"Wake up."