Chapter 66 — The Reason He Sent You

The connection with Darian had ended.

But his words remained.

Meet me at the mountain.

Before Kael could complete the Fourth Path.

And beneath the mountain—

the Ancient Sealed Entity had given him an even more disturbing warning.

“Don't trust either brother.”

Then another voice had answered.

“There are more than two.”

Kael stood motionless inside the ruined chamber.

The Verdant Gale Warden looked toward him.

“You're thinking too loudly.”

Kael glanced at it.

“I thought guardians couldn't read minds.”

“We can't.”

“Then how do you know?”

“You have the expression of someone who has discovered another problem.”

Kael sighed.

“Fair.”

He looked toward the mountain.

The questions were multiplying.

His father.

Darian.

The other Darven branches.

The Core.

The ancient structure.

The sealed entity.

And now—

another brother.

Kael opened the relay again.

Nothing.

Darian had closed the connection completely.

That meant he had wanted the conversation to end there.

Kael didn't like that.

But he understood something.

Chasing Darian blindly would be exactly what his enemy wanted.

So he would not rush.

He would prepare.

Kael took out his notebook.

He wrote several names.

Father.

Darian.

Unknown third branch.

Ancient Administrator.

Then beneath them:

Ancient Sealed Entity.

He drew lines between them.

His father had known about the inheritance.

Darian knew about the network.

The Ancient Entity knew about previous Darvens.

The unknown voice claimed there were more than two brothers.

And the old Darven records had mentioned multiple branches.

Kael stared at the page.

There was a simple possibility.

His father and Darian were not the only important Darven descendants.

There might be an entire branch of the family that had remained hidden.

And if so—

Kael didn't know who was loyal to whom.

He added one more line.

Never assume family = ally.

Then another.

Never assume enemy = liar.

He paused.

That second rule was harder.

Darian had clearly helped the Severance network somehow.

But that didn't prove his ultimate goal.

He could be manipulating everyone.

He could be working against them.

Or—

he could be pursuing something unrelated to both sides.

Kael closed the notebook.

“I need information before confrontation.”

The Warden nodded.

“Good.”

The guardian looked at the disabled anchor.

“You learned that from your enemies.”

Kael smiled.

“Apparently I'm collecting lessons.”

Kael left Ashen Ridge with the Warden.

The trip back took longer than expected.

Not because of enemies.

Because Kael kept stopping.

Every few kilometers—

he checked the network.

Every time the black signal appeared—

he analyzed it.

He found no active foreign connections.

No additional anchors.

No approaching armies.

It was almost too quiet.

Eventually, Kael stopped completely.

The Warden looked at him.

“What?”

Kael stared into the forest.

“Nothing.”

“That is not what your face says.”

Kael activated Network Sense again.

The underground paths were visible.

Three sections of the Fourth Path were active.

The fourth remained isolated.

But there was a faint disturbance around the deepest chamber.

Not black.

Not green.

Not crimson.

Something else.

Kael couldn't identify it.

“Something is inside the final section.”

The Warden's expression hardened.

“The Core?”

“No.”

Kael focused.

The disturbance moved.

Slowly.

Then stopped.

He opened his eyes.

“It noticed us.”

The mountain greeted Kael with silence.

The massive stone entrance opened before he reached it.

The Warden stopped outside.

Kael looked back.

“You aren't coming?”

“I will enter the guardian chamber.”

Kael frowned.

“Why?”

“Because I need to inspect the transfer.”

Kael nodded.

The Warden stepped toward the side passage.

Kael continued deeper alone.

He descended through the ancient tunnels.

Past the chamber where the Fourth Guardian had been imprisoned.

Past the Eastern connection.

Past the first sealing chamber.

Until he reached—

the deepest hall.

The Ancient Core was still there.

Silent.

Stable.

Kael immediately activated Network Sense.

Nothing looked different.

Yet his instincts told him something had changed.

He approached the Core.

The System appeared.

[Ancient Core detected.]

[Direct interaction prohibited.]

Kael stopped.

“I know.”

He didn't touch it.

Instead, he examined the surrounding structure.

The buffer remained intact.

The three Territory Lord Cores were gone.

The Ancient Core was separated from him by the temporary network barrier.

Everything looked stable.

Then—

a voice spoke.

“You're early.”

Kael turned.

Someone stood at the entrance.

Dark clothing.

Long black hair.

Crimson eyes.

No mask.

Darian.

His appearance was still disturbingly similar to Kael.

Older.

Sharper.

More experienced.

But unmistakably Darven.

Darian smiled.

“I expected you to bring the guardian.”

Kael's hand moved toward his katana.

“I expected you to bring an army.”

Darian laughed softly.

“Then we are both disappointed.”

Kael didn't relax.

“Why did you call me here?”

Darian walked into the chamber.

“Because you asked the right question.”

Kael stared.

“You mean my father.”

“Yes.”

“What did he know?”

Darian stopped.

“Enough to be afraid.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Of the Core?”

“Of what happens after the Core.”

Kael remained silent.

Darian looked toward the Ancient Core.

“You think your family spent generations trying to understand it.”

Kael frowned.

“Didn't they?”

“No.”

Darian looked back at him.

“They spent generations trying to stay away from it.”

Kael's expression changed.

“My father built the inheritance.”

“Yes.”

“He gathered all those records.”

“Yes.”

“He created the weapon blueprints.”

“Yes.”

“He prepared the pocket world.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Darian took several steps forward.

“Because he knew you would eventually need them.”

Kael frowned.

“That doesn't answer me.”

“It does.”

Darian pointed toward the Ancient Core.

“Your father discovered that the Darven bloodline was changing.”

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Changing how?”

“Every generation.”

“Why?”

Darian shook his head.

“That is the question nobody could answer.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“You know?”

“I know part of it.”

“Then tell me.”

Darian studied him.

“You are still at fifteen percent.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.”

Darian walked toward him.

“The bloodline doesn't simply unlock abilities.”

“It restores memory.”

“At ten percent, you gained Darven Forge.”

At thirteen—

“Armament.”

At fifteen—

“Fragments.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“You know my Bloodline Progress.”

“I have been watching it.”

Kael didn't like that answer.

Darian continued.

“At twenty percent, you'll remember the first name.”

Kael nodded.

“I know.”

“What you don't know…”

Darian pointed at Kael's chest.

“…is that the first name is not the origin.”

Kael froze.

“What?”

“The first name your bloodline remembers is simply the first name it was given after civilization discovered it.”

Kael thought of the ancient structure.

The voice.

The unknown name.

The bloodline existed before the Darven family.

Darian continued.

“The true origin lies deeper.”

“How deep?”

Darian looked at the Core.

“Beyond the network.”

Kael's expression changed.

The entity beneath the mountain.

The ancient Core.

The unknown bloodline.

They were all connected.

But not in the way he had imagined.

Kael finally asked the question that had haunted him since Darian's message.

“Why did my father send me here?”

Darian didn't answer immediately.

Kael's hand tightened around the katana.

“You know.”

“Yes.”

“Then say it.”

Darian looked directly into his eyes.

“Because the outside world had become unsafe for the bloodline.”

Kael frowned.

“That's it?”

“No.”

Darian's expression became serious.

“Your father knew there were people searching for the Darven bloodline.”

“I knew that.”

“He also knew that the people searching for it were not the only danger.”

Kael stared.

“Then what was?”

Darian pointed toward the mountain.

“The bloodline itself.”

Kael went silent.

Darian continued.

“Your father learned that every few generations, a Darven awakens too much of the old power.”

“And?”

“They begin remembering.”

“And?”

“They start looking.”

“For what?”

Darian's expression hardened.

“The Origin.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“And what happens?”

“They try to reach it.”

Kael already knew the next part.

“The Core.”

Darian nodded.

“Some succeeded.”

Kael's expression changed.

“Then why haven't I heard about them?”

“Because none returned.”

Silence filled the chamber.

Kael looked at the Core.

The first administrator.

The lost branches.

The sealed Darven records.

All the missing names.

Suddenly they made sense.

Some Darvens had disappeared not because they had been killed.

They had disappeared because they had gone looking for the Origin.

Kael's voice became quieter.

“My father knew this?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“Enough.”

“Then why didn't he tell me?”

Darian looked at him.

“Because you were a child.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“That didn't stop him from leaving me an inheritance.”

“The inheritance was designed to teach you.”

Darian paused.

“The truth was designed to wait.”

Kael said nothing.

Darian continued.

“Your father didn't want to throw you into the Core's history before you could survive it.”

“He knew the forest would be dangerous.”

“He knew.”

“He knew I would have to grow.”

“Yes.”

“He knew the inheritance would accelerate my growth.”

“Yes.”

Kael stared.

Then something clicked.

The rusty sword.

The forced awakening.

The books.

The weapons.

The pocket world.

The Legendary Beasts.

The bloodline.

The System.

His father had not randomly packed everything into a ring.

He had constructed an entire progression path.

Kael whispered:

“He built the inheritance so I could reach the point where I could handle the truth.”

Darian nodded.

“That was the plan.”

Kael suddenly remembered something.

“My father was Level 70.”

Darian smiled faintly.

“You're still thinking about that.”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn't compare his Level 70 to your Level 15 or 31 or 32.”

Kael frowned.

“Why?”

“Because your circumstances are completely different.”

Darian began counting on his fingers.

“Early System awakening.”

“Complete Darven inheritance.”

“Ancient bloodline compatibility.”

“Thousands of pages of accumulated research.”

“Rare materials.”

“Advanced weapon blueprints.”

“An entire pocket world.”

“Legendary Beast information.”

“Early access to high-quality equipment.”

“System-guided progression.”

“And an environment full of enemies.”

Kael nodded.

Darian continued.

“Your father had some of those advantages.”

“But not all.”

“He had the bloodline.”

“He had the family."

“He had knowledge.”

“He had weapons.”

“But your inheritance was assembled from everything the Darven family learned before him.”

Kael stared.

“So I'm receiving generations of accumulated knowledge at once.”

“Yes.”

“That explains the speed.”

“Partly.”

Darian looked toward Kael's katana.

“You also have another advantage.”

Kael waited.

“You aren't building your power from one discipline.”

“You combine everything.”

Metal Control.

Magic.

Weapon forging.

Firearms.

Swordsmanship.

Network authority.

Intelligence.

The inheritance was designed to make those systems feed into one another.

Darian smiled.

“That is why your growth is so fast.”

Kael nodded slowly.

“But my father's Level 70…”

“Was earned without the exact path you're following.”

Darian's voice became quieter.

“And Level 70 is not low.”

Kael agreed.

A Level 70 fighter had been strong enough to dominate almost everyone in the surrounding world.

His father had reached that level while carrying family responsibilities and preparing for the massacre.

Even at Level 70, he had sacrificed everything to get Kael away.

The comparison wasn't fair.

Kael looked down.

“I thought I was somehow becoming stronger than he ever was.”

Darian shook his head.

“Not yet.”

Kael looked up.

“Not even close.”

That answer was strangely reassuring.

It meant there was still a mountain ahead.

Darian's expression changed.

“Now listen carefully.”

Kael's attention sharpened.

“You have advantages.”

“Yes.”

“You will probably continue growing much faster than ordinary people.”

“Yes.”

“But the people who understand your bloodline…”

Darian looked toward the Core.

“…also understand exactly how dangerous that makes you.”

Kael's hand tightened.

“The Severance Order?”

“Some.”

“The entity?”

“Perhaps.”

“The hidden branches?”

“Definitely some of them.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“And you?”

Darian smiled faintly.

“I understand enough to know I shouldn't fight you yet.”

Kael didn't expect that answer.

“Why?”

“Because you're still learning.”

He looked at Kael.

“And because I don't know what you'll become.”

Kael stared.

“Then why are you helping me?”

Darian's expression became unreadable.

“I'm not.”

He turned toward the exit.

“I am protecting my own objective.”

Kael raised the katana.

“What objective?”

Darian stopped.

“To reach the Origin before the others do.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“And you need me?”

Darian looked over his shoulder.

“Yes.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“I won't help you.”

“I know.”

“Then why tell me?”

Darian smiled.

“Because eventually you'll realize that our objectives may overlap.”

He disappeared into the tunnel.

Kael didn't chase him.

Something felt wrong.

Not because Darian was lying.

Because he had been strangely honest.

The chamber became quiet.

Then—

the Ancient Core pulsed.

Kael looked at it.

The black barrier around it began flickering.

The System appeared.

[Unknown external signature detected.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

Not Darian.

Not the Severance Order.

Not the Network Predator.

Something else.

The Ancient Core displayed a memory fragment.

For only a moment—

Kael saw three figures.

His father.

Darian.

And another young man.

They stood together.

All three were much younger.

Kael's breath stopped.

The third man looked almost exactly like them.

Another brother.

The memory vanished.

Kael stared at the empty space.

Then the System displayed:

[Bloodline memory fragment incomplete.]

[Third Darven branch confirmed.]

[Identity: Unknown.]

Kael's eyes hardened.

The voice from the sealed entity echoed again.

“There are more than two.”

For the first time—

Kael understood that the warning had not been metaphorical.

There really were more.

And one of them had been standing beside his father.

Maybe even before the Darven family massacre.

Kael clenched his fists.

“My father…”

The mountain trembled.

A final notification appeared.

[Bloodline Progress: 15%.]

[Next Memory Threshold: 20%.]

Then—

[New objective detected.]

Recover the Lost Darven Branch

Objective: Identify the third branch and determine its connection to the Darven inheritance.

Progress: 0%

Warning:

Branch location unknown.

Kael stared at the objective.

Three sections of the Fourth Path were restored.

The final section remained.

Darian was hunting the Origin.

The Severance Order was still active.

A third Darven branch existed somewhere.

And the Ancient Sealed Entity was watching everything.

Kael slowly sheathed his katana.

He was no longer simply trying to become strong enough to survive.

He was beginning to uncover a history that had been deliberately buried.

And somewhere in the darkness—

someone else was already uncovering it too.