Chapter 176: Wake Up

"Wake up."

The voice echoed through Noah’s consciousness.

He froze.

It was his voice.

But it didn’t sound like him.

The white light beneath his golden seal erupted.

BOOM!

Noah was thrown backward.

Dead Zone caught him before he hit the ground, but the force drove both of them several meters across the burning earth.

"Noah!"

Laura rushed toward him.

"Stay back!" Roana shouted.

Laura stopped.

The white-eyed figure stood exactly where Noah had been.

It hadn’t moved.

It simply watched.

Noah pushed himself upright.

His vision blurred.

The forest had changed.

The flames were gone.

The trees were frozen.

Everyone around him appeared motionless.

Laura.

Sophia.

Luna.

Eric.

Damien.

Even Roana.

Only three beings remained capable of movement.

Noah.

Dead Zone.

The white-eyed figure.

"What happened?" Noah whispered.

Dead Zone looked around.

"Time stopped."

The figure shook its head.

"No."

It raised one hand.

"The world stopped."

Noah frowned.

"What is the difference?"

The figure looked directly at him.

"The world can restart."

It pointed toward Noah’s chest.

"But what is waking inside you cannot be put back to sleep."

The second heartbeat sounded again.

THUMP.

The golden seal cracked further.

THUMP.

White light spread across Noah’s chest.

Dead Zone immediately grabbed Shadowfang.

"I’m cutting it out."

Noah looked at him.

"What?"

"The seal."

Dead Zone raised the sword.

"I don’t care what it contains. If it’s killing you, I’ll destroy it."

The white-eyed figure smiled.

"That is exactly what they wanted."

Dead Zone stopped.

Noah’s expression hardened.

"Who?"

"The people who created the inheritance."

The white-eyed figure stepped closer.

"They knew Ragnarok would eventually find you."

Its white eyes shifted toward Dead Zone.

"They also knew the failed inheritance would awaken."

Then back to Noah.

"And they knew the third would eventually remember."

Noah stared at it.

"Third."

The word felt wrong.

Dead Zone lowered Shadowfang.

"You’re saying there are three."

The figure nodded.

"Three things were placed inside the same vessel."

Noah’s golden eye flickered.

"Ragnarok."

The figure nodded.

"Dead Zone."

Another nod.

"And me."

Silence.

Noah’s chest tightened.

"You’re the third."

The figure smiled.

"No."

It placed a hand against Noah’s chest.

The white light exploded.

The world disappeared.

Noah found himself standing in a vast white chamber.

No forest.

No flames.

No Dead Zone.

No system.

Only a child sitting on the floor.

The child looked up.

It was Noah.

But younger.

Much younger.

Golden chains wrapped around his wrists.

A black sword rested beside him.

And behind him stood the white-eyed figure.

The younger Noah looked at it.

"Are they coming back?"

The figure knelt.

"They always come back."

"Will they hurt me?"

"Yes."

The child lowered his head.

The figure placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That’s why you have to forget."

The vision shattered.

Noah gasped.

He returned to the forest.

Dead Zone was staring at him.

"What did you see?"

Noah looked toward the white-eyed figure.

"You were there."

The figure nodded.

"I’ve always been there."

Noah’s hands trembled.

"Then why don’t I remember you?"

The figure’s smile faded.

"Because you asked me to make you forget."

Noah’s blood ran cold.

"You asked me?"

"Yes."

The white light inside his chest suddenly calmed.

The final crack stopped spreading.

For one brief moment, everything became still.

Then Noah heard a fourth heartbeat.

THUMP.

The white-eyed figure’s expression changed.

It looked toward the frozen forest.

"No."

Dead Zone raised Shadowfang.

"What?"

The figure turned toward Noah.

"That wasn’t me."

A golden eye opened in the sky.

Then another.

Then a third.

The world began moving again.

And every one of those eyes was staring at Noah.

The forest moved again.

The frozen flames snapped back to life.

Leaves crashed through the air.

The distant trees groaned as if Hrafnviðr itself had awakened from a nightmare.

And above them, three golden eyes stared down from the sky.

Noah looked upward.

His chest tightened.

The second heartbeat had disappeared.

The white light beneath his golden seal remained, but it had gone completely still.

Inside his consciousness, Dead Zone spoke.

Don’t look at them for too long.

Noah kept his eyes on the sky.

Why?

Because I don’t think they’re looking at us.

Noah’s expression changed.

The three eyes slowly rotated.

They weren’t focused on Noah.

They were looking through him.

Toward something deeper.

Something hidden.

The White-Eyed Figure stood several meters away, watching the sky in silence.

For the first time since appearing, it looked unsettled.

"You shouldn’t be here."

Noah turned toward it.

"You know them?"

The White-Eyed Figure didn’t answer.

One of the golden eyes blinked.

The entire forest shook.

The Ancient One lowered its enormous head.

"They have found the signal."

The Keeper immediately raised its weapon.

"Whose signal?"

The Ancient One remained silent.

Roana stared at Noah.

Her golden symbol was burning again.

"Noah..."

"What?"

She pointed toward his chest.

"It’s coming from you."

Noah looked down.

The golden seal beneath his skin had begun glowing.

But this time, there was something different.

A thin black line had appeared across its center.

Dead Zone immediately reacted.

That’s not mine.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

I know.

No. You don’t.

Dead Zone’s voice became quieter.

That mark wasn’t there before.

The Black-Eyed Figure appeared inside Noah’s consciousness.

Not physically.

Only as a distant silhouette.

Two black eyes opened within the darkness.

Noah stopped breathing.

You again.

The figure said nothing.

It simply raised one hand.

The black mark on Noah’s golden seal pulsed.

THUMP.

The three golden eyes above the forest suddenly disappeared.

The White-Eyed Figure looked toward Noah.

"What did you just do?"

"I didn’t do anything."

The White-Eyed Figure stared at him.

For the first time, genuine uncertainty crossed its expression.

"That wasn’t you."

Noah felt Dead Zone shift inside his consciousness.

He’s right.

Noah looked toward the White-Eyed Figure.

"Then who did it?"

Before it could answer, the forest erupted.

Every crimson-eyed collector collapsed simultaneously.

Their bodies dissolved into black smoke.

The Keeper staggered.

The Ancient One’s golden eye narrowed.

And from the center of Hrafnviðr, a gigantic black tree burst from the earth.

Its trunk twisted upward, covered in glowing golden symbols.

At its highest branch sat a single black feather.

Roana stared at it.

"That wasn’t here."

Laura stepped beside her.

"What is it?"

Roana shook her head.

"I don’t know."

The Ancient One finally spoke.

"The forest has chosen."

Noah looked toward it.

"Chosen what?"

The Ancient One’s golden eye shifted toward him.

"A witness."

The Black-Eyed Figure vanished from Noah’s consciousness.

The White-Eyed Figure disappeared from the clearing.

And the new tree began opening.

Inside its trunk was a doorway.

A doorway with Noah’s name carved into it.