Chapter 274: Halburn’s Last Record

The silver light surrounding Arthur slowly faded. He flexed his hand, the golden armor that had appeared across his forearm disappearing as his Beast Manifestation faded, leaving his arm looking completely normal again.

He stared at it a moment longer. "That’s incredible."

Vedas gave him a proud smile.

Arthur looked toward him. "I wonder how much of your strength I can actually use."

Vedas shrugged. "We’ll find out."

Mithra smiled. "Preferably somewhere that isn’t directly above our heads."

Arthur glanced at the ceiling. "That’s probably a good idea."

Sun nodded. "Finally, someone is thinking sensibly."

Arthur started walking. "I’ll test it later."

Sun’s expression immediately fell. "I knew that was coming."

Luna laughed softly.

The group continued deeper into the passage, the ancient road gradually changing, the warm stone beneath their feet becoming smoother, almost polished, while the walls began displaying strange carvings. Unlike the ruins above, these didn’t depict Beasts or the Five Mirrors. They showed people. People carrying books. People carrying stone tablets. People standing around enormous shelves.

Athena slowed down. "An archive."

Luna looked around. "Here?"

"Probably."

They continued until the passage suddenly opened into a massive chamber. Arthur stopped. Rows upon rows of stone shelves stretched across the room, thousands of tablets filling them, some collapsed onto the floor, others still perfectly preserved. Large circular mechanisms were built into the walls, each one surrounded by ancient symbols.

Athena’s eyes immediately lit up. "Oh."

Arthur looked at her. "That’s the face you make when you find something interesting."

She ignored him and walked deeper into the chamber. "This is extraordinary."

Luna followed her. "What is it?"

"Records." She touched one of the stone tablets. "Historical records, most likely. Maybe even personal accounts."

Luna looked around. "There are so many."

Arthur walked between the shelves. "How old do you think this place is?"

Athena glanced at the architecture. "Older than the city above us."

Sun stopped. "Of course it is."

"You sound surprised," Arthur laughed.

"I’m not surprised anymore. I’m tired."

Mithra giggled. Eden flew toward one of the shelves. "Look!"

Arthur turned. She was pointing toward a strange circular stone structure embedded in the wall, and he approached it. "What is that?"

Athena immediately followed. "Don’t touch it yet."

He pulled his hand back. "I wasn’t going to."

"You were."

"Maybe," he smiled, and she sighed.

The mechanism was covered in symbols. Luna stepped closer. "I recognize some of these."

"Endou?" Athena asked.

"Yes." She traced one with her finger. "But these are different."

"Different how?"

"They’re older."

Athena’s expression became serious. "Older than the Endou symbols we’ve seen?"

Luna nodded slowly. "I think so."

Arthur looked between them. "So this place existed before the Endou Tribe?"

"Possibly," Athena said. "Or these may be from an earlier period of the tribe."

Luna remained silent, her fingers still resting against the stone. Arthur noticed her expression. "You okay?"

She didn’t answer immediately, looking around the archive instead. "My ancestors..." She swallowed. "They were guardians of the Mirrors."

"That’s what we’ve learned," he said.

"But every time we find something new, it feels like there’s another part of their history they never told us."

"That doesn’t necessarily mean they were hiding it from you," Athena said.

Luna gave a small smile. "Maybe." She looked down. "Or maybe they were afraid that someone would find this place."

Arthur was about to answer when Athena suddenly stopped, her eyes locking onto something near the back of the chamber. "Wait."

Everyone looked toward her. She walked quickly between the shelves, Arthur following. "What did you find?"

She stopped in front of a stone pedestal, a circular indentation carved into its center. Beside it was a symbol Arthur recognized immediately.

The King’s Mark.

His expression changed.

Athena noticed. "So you’ve seen that symbol before."

"Yeah."

She didn’t press him, examining the pedestal instead. "This mechanism is different from the others."

Luna approached. "What does it do?"

"I’m not sure." She carefully brushed dust away from the surface, then froze. There was writing underneath, not Endou writing, not the ancient symbols they’d been translating. A language she already knew.

She read the first line, her eyes widening.

Arthur noticed. "What?"

She didn’t answer, brushing more dust away, then whispered, "Halburn."

Luna’s eyes widened. "What?"

Athena looked up. "This isn’t merely an Endou archive." She pointed toward the pedestal. "Halburn was here."

Luna rushed forward. "Are you sure?"

"That’s his name."

She stared at the writing, saying nothing for several seconds, then her voice grew quiet. "Halburn..."

Arthur looked at her. She’d heard his name countless times throughout their journey, but this was different. They’d seen his journal. His markings. His memories. They’d followed the path he left behind. But now they were standing in a place where Halburn himself had once stood.

Luna slowly touched the stone. "He really came here."

Athena nodded. "Yes."

Luna’s eyes began to glisten. "My grandfather told me stories about him." She laughed softly, though there was sadness in it. "He always said Halburn was a strange King. He would disappear for months, come back with some artifact nobody had ever seen before, and refuse to explain where he found it."

Sun raised an eyebrow. "That sounds familiar."

Arthur looked at him. "Why are you looking at me?"

"You know why."

Mithra laughed. Luna smiled for a moment, then her expression softened again. "He wasn’t just searching for legends." She looked at the pedestal. "He actually came this far."

"Yeah," Arthur nodded.

Athena examined the mechanism. "There may be a record."

"A record?"

"Halburn appears to have left something here." She pressed her hand against the circular indentation. Nothing happened.

Arthur looked at the mechanism. "Maybe it needs the King’s Mark."

Athena looked at him. He hesitated, then stepped forward and placed his hand over the indentation. The King Mark immediately illuminated.

CLICK.

The mechanism activated, ancient gears turning inside the wall, a thin beam of golden light emerging from the pedestal and expanding into a figure.

A man wearing golden armor appeared before them. Arthur recognized him immediately.

Halburn.

But this version was different from the memory they’d seen before. He looked older, his armor damaged, his face exhausted, cuts across his arms and several cracks in his armor. He stood silently for several seconds. Then the recording began.

"If you’re seeing this..." Halburn looked toward the recording device. "...then you’ve reached the Earth Archive."

Luna covered her mouth. Arthur remained silent.

"I don’t know how long this record will remain." He glanced toward something outside the recording. "But I’ve reached the Earth Mirror."

Luna’s eyes widened. Athena leaned forward.

"The path beneath the city was more dangerous than I expected. The Beasts guarding the route were stronger than anything I had encountered before."

Arthur looked at Sun. Sun looked back. Arthur smiled slightly, and Sun immediately shook his head. "Don’t."

Arthur looked back at the recording.

"I thought reaching the Mirror would be the difficult part." Halburn gave a tired laugh. "I was wrong."

The recording shifted slightly, and behind him Arthur could see a massive stone chamber, something enormous standing in the distance, though the recording was too damaged to make out what it was.

"The Earth Mirror responds differently from the others."

Athena’s expression sharpened. "Different how?" Of course, Halburn couldn’t hear her.

"The Mirror recognizes something." He looked toward his own hand. "The King’s Mark."

Arthur’s expression changed, his own mark beginning to glow faintly. Vedas noticed, and so did Athena, but neither said anything.

Halburn lowered his hand. "Yet it still would not open."

Luna whispered, "Why?"

He looked exhausted. "I tried everything." He looked toward the enormous chamber behind him. "I tried force. I tried the ancient mechanisms. I tried using the Mark." He shook his head. "Nothing."

The recording flickered, his voice growing slightly distorted. "Perhaps that was the point." He looked directly toward the recording. "The Mirrors were never meant to be taken."

Arthur frowned.

"They were meant to be understood."

The recording flickered again, his face disappearing for a moment before returning, his expression solemn. "If someone reaches this place after me..." He paused, his eyes lowering. "I hope they understand what I failed to."

The recording ended, the golden figure dissolving. Silence filled the archive.

Nobody spoke. Luna remained staring at the empty space where Halburn had stood, her eyes wet.

Arthur glanced toward her. "Luna."

She quickly wiped her eyes. "I’m fine."

He didn’t push. Luna looked down at her hands. "He was here." Her voice trembled. "After everything we’ve seen... he was actually standing here."

Athena quietly nodded.

Luna took a breath. "I thought the stories were exaggerated." She gave a small laugh. "That he had gone farther than anyone else. That he had found things nobody else could find." She looked toward the passage ahead. "But he really did."

Arthur looked at the darkness. "He didn’t make it through the door."

Luna nodded. "No."

He tightened his grip on Dusk. "Then let’s finish what he couldn’t."

Luna looked at him. His expression was calm. Not triumphant. Not arrogant. Just certain.

She smiled through the remaining tears. "Okay."

Athena turned back toward the stone pedestal. "There’s more."

Arthur looked over. "What?"

She’d noticed something beneath the recording mechanism, a thin stone panel that had opened, a rolled piece of material inside. She carefully removed it and unrolled it across the pedestal.

A map.

Arthur leaned over it. It showed the ancient underground city, the eastern district, the residential district, the lower city, and finally a massive region beneath everything.

Athena traced the markings. "This is where Halburn went after entering the city."

Arthur followed the route. "It goes deeper."

"Much deeper."

Luna pointed toward the bottom of the map. "What is that?"

A large section had been marked with a series of symbols. Athena studied them, her expression changing. "Chief Beast territory."

Sun immediately stepped backward. "No."

Arthur looked at him. "We haven’t even said anything."

"I know where this is going."

Arthur pointed toward the map. "It looks like Halburn had to cross this entire area to reach the Earth Mirror."

Sun sighed. "Which means we’re going to have to cross it too."

"Probably."

Sun looked at the ceiling. "Why did I come here?"

Mithra laughed. Kong grinned. Eden bounced excitedly. Vedas looked toward the map while Arthur studied the route, dozens of Beast markings scattered across it, some small, others enormous, all of them surrounding the path leading toward the oldest section of the underground city.

He smiled. "Looks like he left us a shortcut."

Sun stared at him. "That is absolutely not what that map means."

Arthur laughed. Athena shook her head. "I agree with Sun."

"You’re both ruining my optimism," he said.

Mithra giggled, and Luna finally laughed as well, the sadness in her expression not completely gone, but lighter now. She looked down at Halburn’s map. "He came this way."

"Then we’ll follow."

She looked toward the darkness. "Maybe we’ll finally find out what he couldn’t."

Arthur tightened his grip on Dusk. "Let’s go."

The group gathered around the map one final time. Far beneath them, something enormous moved, the sound traveling through the stone. A distant roar. Then another.

Arthur looked toward the passage, his smile slowly widening. "Sounds like they’re waiting for us."

Sun closed his eyes. "I hate that you’re excited."

Arthur started walking. "I know."

And one by one, the others followed him into the darkness Halburn had once walked through.