Chapter 139 – The Voice Below

Chapter 139: Chapter 139 – The Voice Below

The report reached the academy before the eastern expedition had even settled into its second night. By the time Orion finished sending the details, the academy had already begun preparing additional equipment and personnel for a larger investigation. The discovery beneath the forest was no longer something that could be treated as a simple regional anomaly.

At the observation station, however, Orion had no intention of rushing the process. The students were allowed to rest while the researchers organized everything they had discovered. Maps of the underground structure covered one of the station’s tables, and several crystal instruments continuously displayed the faint energy fluctuations coming from beneath the forest.

Azrael stood over the largest map with Seraphina beside him.

"The passages beneath the circular structure all converge here," he said, pointing toward the center. "But the instruments can’t see beyond this point."

Seraphina studied the readings. "Because of the energy?"

"Partly."

She looked at him. "What else?"

Azrael was silent for a moment.

"Something is interfering with my perception too."

That answer caught her attention.

"You can’t sense through it?"

"Not completely."

Seraphina smiled faintly. "Then whatever is down there is doing something even the resonance can’t explain."

Azrael nodded. "That’s why we shouldn’t assume the structure is a ruin."

Before they could continue, Orion approached with one of the senior researchers.

"We’ve found something."

The researcher placed a small crystal container on the table. Inside it was a fragment of dark material recovered from the exposed portion of the structure.

"We removed this from the outer stone after scanning it," he explained. "We didn’t damage the structure. The fragment was already loose."

Seraphina leaned closer.

"It feels familiar."

Azrael reached toward it but stopped before touching it.

"The same resonance."

The researcher nodded. "Exactly. But there’s something unusual about it."

He activated the crystal container.

The fragment produced three extremely faint energy signatures.

Gold.

Black.

And colorless.

Marcus, who had been eating nearby, nearly choked.

"Again?"

Ryan looked over. "At this point, I’m starting to think those three colors follow them everywhere."

Elena crossed her arms. "Or perhaps they’re connected to what we’ve been investigating."

Marcus pointed at the fragment. "That’s what I said."

"You said it was following them."

"That could also be true."

Sophia laughed. "You two are going to argue about this for hours, aren’t you?"

Caelan shook his head. "Probably."

The researcher ignored the conversation and continued explaining.

"The three signatures aren’t equal. The golden and black energies are stronger, but the colorless one behaves differently. It doesn’t appear to produce energy of its own."

Seraphina looked at it carefully.

"Then what does it do?"

"We don’t know."

Azrael finally touched the container.

The moment his fingers came into contact with the crystal casing, his perception changed.

For an instant, the observation station disappeared.

He saw darkness.

Not empty darkness.

A vast underground space filled with enormous roots.

The roots surrounded something in the distance, something that appeared to be glowing faintly beneath layers of stone.

Then he heard a sound.

Not a word.

A breath.

The vision disappeared.

Azrael immediately withdrew his hand.

Seraphina noticed his expression.

"What did you see?"

"A chamber."

Orion stepped closer.

"Describe it."

"Roots. A large space beneath the structure. Something was inside."

"Did you see what?"

Azrael shook his head. "No."

Seraphina placed her hand against the container.

Her experience was different.

She felt warmth.

Then she sensed countless tiny forms of life connected to something much larger. The sensation wasn’t threatening. It was almost peaceful.

And then she heard something.

A faint voice.

Not from outside.

From beneath the earth.

"Return."

Seraphina’s eyes opened immediately.

Azrael looked at her.

"You heard something."

She nodded.

"What?"

She hesitated.

"It said one word."

Orion waited.

"Return."

The room became silent.

Marcus slowly lowered his food.

"That’s... definitely more interesting than yesterday."

Ryan sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."

Orion looked at the researchers.

"Can you determine whether the fragment transmitted anything?"

They checked the instruments immediately.

One researcher shook his head.

"Nothing detectable."

Azrael frowned.

"It didn’t transmit anything."

Everyone looked at him.

"It was a response."

Seraphina nodded slowly.

"I think so too."

Orion considered their words carefully.

"If the structure is responding to the twins, then we need to understand why before sending anyone underground."

The senior researcher agreed. "We could continue mapping the upper passages without entering them."

"Do it," Orion said.

The next several hours were spent studying the structure from the surface. Researchers placed detection crystals around the exposed entrance while instructors strengthened the surrounding protective formations. The students helped where they could, although most of the work required specialized knowledge.

Caelan assisted with mapping the forest.

Lyanna recorded changes in the vegetation.

Sophia and Elena monitored the wildlife returning to the area.

Marcus and Ryan were assigned to help move equipment, much to Marcus’s disappointment.

At one point, Marcus dropped heavily into a chair.

"I’ve fought monsters with less effort than this."

Ryan placed another equipment case beside him.

"Then consider this your physical training."

Marcus stared at him.

"I don’t like you."

"You’ve said that three times today."

"And I meant it every time."

The ordinary conversation helped keep the atmosphere from becoming too tense, but Azrael remained focused on the structure.

Something about the word he’d heard disturbed him.

Not because it sounded threatening.

Because it sounded familiar.

He couldn’t explain why.

Seraphina eventually joined him near the edge of the forest.

"You’re thinking about the word."

Azrael nodded.

"’Return.’"

She looked toward the buried structure.

"I don’t think it meant that we should return to the structure."

Azrael turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it was directed toward something else."

She placed her hand over her chest.

"When I heard it, I didn’t feel like it was asking us to come closer. It felt like something was remembering."

Azrael considered that.

"Remembering what?"

"I don’t know."

They stood quietly for a while.

Then Azrael sensed another pulse.

This one was different.

It traveled through the ground but didn’t reach the station.

Instead, it moved eastward.

Seraphina felt it too.

"That direction again."

Azrael nodded.

The resonance was moving farther east.

But this time, something had changed.

It wasn’t following the buried structure.

The buried structure was following it.

Azrael’s expression became serious.

"That’s new."

Seraphina looked toward the horizon.

"Then the structure isn’t the source."

"No."

He watched the distant forest.

"It’s part of the path."

Before they could tell Orion, the researchers’ instruments suddenly activated.

Several readings appeared simultaneously.

One researcher stared at the display.

"We’ve detected another fluctuation."

Orion immediately approached.

"Where?"

The researcher pointed east.

"About twelve kilometers from here."

The room became quiet.

The previous fluctuation had been six kilometers east of the station.

This one was farther.

The pattern was continuing.

Orion looked at Azrael and Seraphina.

"Can you sense it?"

Azrael closed his eyes.

For several seconds, there was nothing.

Then a faint pulse touched his perception.

"Yes."

Seraphina concentrated as well.

She felt it differently.

"There are living creatures near it."

The researcher checked the map.

"There’s a small settlement in that direction."

Orion immediately became serious.

"How large?"

"Less than a hundred people."

He looked toward the instructors.

"We investigate tomorrow morning."

Marcus stood up.

"Finally."

Elena looked at him.

"You’re happy about this?"

Marcus smiled.

"I was starting to think this expedition really was going to be boring."

Ryan sighed.

"I take back everything I said about wanting excitement."

Orion ignored them and turned toward the twins.

"You two remain with the group. We investigate as an expedition, not as a pursuit."

Azrael nodded.

"Understood."

Seraphina agreed.

As night settled over the observation station, the researchers continued watching the distant readings.

The buried structure beneath the forest remained silent.

The staircase remained untouched.

But the resonance had moved again.

Twelve kilometers farther east.

And this time, it was approaching a place where people lived.