Chapter 19 — The Debt of the Darven

Something breathed behind the fifth door.

Slowly.

Deeply.

The sound echoed through the underground chamber.

Kael didn't move.

His eyes remained fixed on the First Darven.

“You said my father stole the sword.”

The man nodded.

“And you said my family lied to me.”

“Yes.”

Kael's grip tightened around the Darven katana.

“Then tell me the truth.”

The First Darven smiled.

“You aren't ready for the truth.”

Kael's expression darkened.

“I've heard that enough times.”

He raised the katana.

“So either explain…”

His Metal Control activated.

“…or I'll make you.”

The ancient Darven laughed.

“You?”

A wave of pressure suddenly swept through the chamber.

Kael's knees buckled.

He immediately dropped to one knee.

His entire body felt as though a mountain had been placed on his shoulders.

[Warning.]

[External pressure detected.]

[Mana circulation disrupted.]

Kael gritted his teeth.

The First Darven hadn't even moved.

“This,” the man said, “is the difference between knowing about power…”

His crimson eyes flashed.

“And actually possessing it.”

Kael forced himself upright.

His arms trembled.

He could barely breathe.

But he stood.

The First Darven's smile faded.

“Interesting.”

Kael wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.

“You're not going to kill me.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because if I wanted you dead, you would never have reached this chamber.”

Kael narrowed his eyes.

“Then why bring me here?”

“I didn't.”

The First Darven pointed toward the System.

“The inheritance did.”

Kael froze.

The System suddenly appeared.

[Warning.]

[Foreign entity attempting to interfere with inheritance information.]

The First Darven looked directly at the translucent screen.

“You still use that thing.”

Kael's eyes widened.

“You know the System?”

The man laughed.

“I knew the System before your ancestors learned how to speak its name.”

The First Darven

The pressure disappeared.

Kael immediately took several deep breaths.

The First Darven walked toward the center of the chamber.

Ancient dust moved beneath his feet.

“My name is not important.”

Kael frowned.

“You called yourself the First Darven.”

“A title.”

“Then what are you?”

The man stopped.

“For now?”

He looked at his own hands.

“A prisoner.”

Kael stared at him.

“A prisoner?”

“Yes.”

“Then why do you have so much power?”

The First Darven pointed toward the five doors.

“Because the prison was built around me.”

Kael looked at the doors.

The first four were destroyed.

The fifth remained closed.

“What are behind them?”

“Parts of your inheritance.”

Kael's eyes widened.

“The inheritance was divided into five parts?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then what?”

The First Darven looked at him.

“Five trials.”

Kael immediately understood.

The previous inheritance stages.

The strange monsters.

The black crystal.

The gatekeepers.

The masked figure.

All of them.

“They were preparing me.”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

The First Darven's expression became serious.

“To decide whether you deserve to know the truth.”

Kael's jaw tightened.

“I hate that answer.”

“You should.”

The Sword

Kael raised the Darven katana.

“You said this was yours.”

The First Darven looked at it.

For the first time, his expression changed.

Not anger.

Not fear.

Regret.

“That sword was forged before the Darven family existed.”

Kael stared.

“Then who forged it?”

“I did.”

The blade began vibrating faintly.

Kael felt his Metal Control react.

The First Darven continued.

“I created it for one purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“To kill something that could not be killed.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“What?”

The man didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward the fifth door.

Something breathed again behind it.

BOOM.

The chamber shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Kael instinctively stepped backward.

The First Darven remained completely still.

“The sword failed.”

Kael looked at his katana.

“It failed?”

“Yes.”

“Then why is it important?”

“Because the thing it was created to kill…”

The First Darven looked at Kael.

“…still exists.”

Silence.

Kael's heart began beating faster.

“Where?”

The First Darven pointed toward him.

Kael froze.

“No.”

The man nodded.

“Not inside you.”

He pointed toward Kael's chest.

“Connected to you.”

The Fifth Door

The enormous door began opening.

Slowly.

A thin line of crimson light appeared.

Kael immediately summoned his weapons.

The Darven MP-01 appeared in his hand.

The Darven SR-01 floated behind him.

The Darven GL-02 hovered beside him.

The First Darven glanced at the weapons.

“You've already begun rebuilding the arsenal.”

Kael frowned.

“How do you know?”

“I can see the bloodline through the metal.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Then you know what I'm capable of.”

“No.”

The First Darven smiled.

“I know what you could become.”

The door opened another meter.

A low growl echoed from behind it.

Kael's weapons moved into position.

“Is that the trial?”

“No.”

The First Darven stepped backward.

“It is the reason for the trial.”

Kael stared at him.

“What does that mean?”

“You'll find out.”

The First Darven raised his hand.

The five doors suddenly lit up.

[Hidden Inheritance Trial — Phase One.]

[Objective updated.]

Survive.]

Kael's eyes widened.

“Survive what?”

The First Darven disappeared.

His final words echoed through the chamber.

“Your own blood.”

The Creature Behind the Door

The fifth door opened completely.

Kael immediately felt the pressure.

It was enormous.

Much greater than the Level 19 Metallic Predator.

Greater than the Stonefang Guardian.

Even greater than the strange black-armored creature that had tested him.

The System flickered.

[Threat Analysis.]

[Attempting analysis.]

The screen distorted.

[Level: ???]

[Grade: ???]

[Species: ???]

[Potential: ???]

[Threat: Unmeasurable]

Kael's face went pale.

“Seriously?”

Something stepped through the doorway.

At first, Kael saw only a silhouette.

Then two crimson eyes opened.

The creature was enormous.

Its body was covered in black metallic armor.

But it wasn't a monster Kael recognized.

It had four arms.

Each arm carried a different weapon.

A sword.

A spear.

A massive axe.

And a strange ancient firearm.

Kael's eyes widened.

“That weapon…”

The creature's head slowly turned toward him.

Then—

It spoke.

“Darven.”

Kael froze.

Its voice sounded strangely familiar.

Not because he had heard it before.

Because it sounded like his father's voice.

Kael's heart stopped.

“Dad?”

The creature tilted its head.

For one terrible moment—

Kael thought he was looking at his father.

Then the illusion disappeared.

The voice changed.

“Wrong.”

The creature raised its sword.

“I am what your bloodline remembers.”

Kael's eyes widened.

The System appeared.

[Warning.]

[Bloodline memory manifestation detected.]

[This entity may not be physically real.]

Kael stared at the message.

“May not?”

The creature attacked.

Kael barely raised his katana.

CLANG!

The impact sent him flying.

He crashed into the stone floor.

Pain exploded through his shoulder.

His MP-01 fell from his hand.

Kael rolled away as the ancient sword struck the ground.

BOOM!

Stone shattered.

Kael immediately activated Metal Arsenal.

The MP-01 flew back into his hand.

He fired.

The creature blocked the shots with its sword.

Kael switched to the GL-02.

He fired again.

The explosion forced the creature backward.

Kael didn't wait.

The SR-01 appeared.

He fired at its head.

The creature moved.

The shot missed.

Kael cursed.

“Too fast!”

The creature charged again.

Kael activated Metal Control.

His katana flew from his hand.

The blade attacked from the side.

The creature blocked.

Kael pulled.

The blade changed direction.

Again.

Again.

Again.

For several seconds, Kael controlled the sword independently.

The First Darven's words echoed in his mind.

The sword was mine.

Kael suddenly understood.

The sword wasn't responding because he was strong.

It was responding because—

It remembered.

Kael poured more mana into it.

The Darven crest began glowing crimson.

[Bloodline Resonance increasing.]

[Metal Control temporarily enhanced.]

[Metal Control: 45 → 49]

Kael's eyes widened.

“For only a few seconds…”

He smiled.

“That'll be enough.”

He pulled the katana toward himself.

Then charged.

The creature raised all four weapons.

Kael didn't attack it directly.

He attacked the floor.

The katana shattered the stone beneath them.

The creature lost its footing.

Kael immediately fired the GL-02.

The blast threw the creature backward.

Before it could recover—

Kael fired the SR-01.

The creature blocked.

But Kael was already moving.

He slid beneath its attack.

Grabbed the katana.

And struck.

SLASH!

A crack appeared across the creature's armor.

The creature stopped.

Kael froze.

For the first time—

He had damaged it.

Then the creature smiled.

“Good.”

Kael's expression changed.

The creature's wound began closing.

“You learned quickly.”

Kael's eyes widened.

It wasn't trying to kill him.

It was testing him.

Again.

Just like the black-armored creature.

Just like the Fifth Gate.

Kael took several steps backward.

“So this is another test.”

The creature lowered its weapons.

“Yes.”

“Then why are you trying to hurt me?”

“Because the inheritance cannot judge potential.”

It pointed its sword at him.

“Only choices.”

Kael breathed heavily.

His shoulder hurt.

His mana was dropping rapidly.

But he understood.

The objective wasn't victory.

It was survival.

He looked around the chamber.

Five doors.

Four broken.

One open.

And strange metal pillars surrounding the room.

Kael smiled.

He finally saw it.

The trial wasn't asking him to defeat the creature.

It was asking him to understand the chamber.

Kael raised his hand.

Metal Control.

Every metallic object in the room responded.

The ancient pillars moved.

The creature's eyes widened.

Kael pulled.

The pillars slammed together.

BOOM!

The creature was trapped between them.

Kael didn't attack.

He ran.

The creature broke free almost immediately.

But that was enough.

Kael reached the opposite side of the chamber.

A glowing mark appeared beneath his feet.

[Trial condition detected.]

[Survival duration: 10 minutes.]

Kael stared.

“Ten minutes?”

The creature raised its weapons.

Kael sighed.

“Fine.”

He raised his katana.

“I can survive ten minutes.”

The creature charged.

And the Fifth Gate's first true trial began.