The Fourth Key

Chapter 80 — The Fourth Key

The group left the mountain vault before sunrise.

Aether walked at the front.

Lyra remained beside him.

Aria and Seris followed closely behind, while Sylvara walked near the middle of the group.

Evelyn and her five warriors stayed farther back.

Aether didn't mind.

He had no reason to trust Evelyn yet.

But she hadn't given him a reason to treat her as an enemy either.

For now, that was enough.

Aether opened the Origin System.

[Origin Key Authority established.]

[Current Keys: 3/6.]

[Network Access: Partial.]

[Authority Range: Restricted.]

[Additional function unlocked.]

[Origin Key Tracking.]

Aether focused on the fourth key.

A faint direction appeared within his senses.

West.

Far beyond the mountain range.

"There."

Lyra looked at him.

"You found it?"

"Yes."

The group changed direction.

They traveled through a dense forest for several hours.

The deeper they went, the stranger the environment became.

The trees grew larger.

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Their roots twisted around ancient stones.

Some of the stones contained faint traces of Origin Energy.

Seris touched one.

"This place was cultivated."

Aether nodded.

"Or modified."

Suddenly—

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted ahead.

Everyone stopped.

Aether's Origin Sense expanded.

Multiple life signatures.

Then—

nothing.

The energy disappeared.

"Move."

They rushed forward.

A broken carriage appeared between the trees.

Several bodies lay nearby.

Aether examined the wounds.

"Energy burns."

Evelyn crouched beside one of the bodies.

"These people weren't ordinary travelers."

Aether looked at her.

"Blackridge?"

She shook her head.

"Different equipment."

Sylvara stepped toward the wreckage.

"I recognize this route."

Aether looked at her.

"From where?"

"From when I was being chased."

She pointed toward a large tree.

"There."

A faint green glow appeared beneath its roots.

Aether approached.

His Origin Sense detected a hollow space underground.

He moved the roots aside.

A narrow tunnel was revealed.

The group entered.

The passage descended deeper beneath the forest.

After several minutes, they found someone lying against the wall.

A young man.

His clothes were torn.

Blood covered one side of his body.

But he was alive.

He immediately raised a crystal.

"Stay back!"

Aether stopped.

"Relax."

The young man stared at them.

"Who are you?"

"We could ask you the same."

The man looked at the crystal in his hand.

"I found it."

Aether activated the system.

[Origin Key detected.]

[Key Type: Verdant Key.]

[Status: Active.]

[Compatibility with Aether Draven: 97%.]

Aether's eyes narrowed.

"The fourth key."

The young man looked confused.

"You know what this is?"

"Enough."

The man slowly lowered the crystal.

"Blackridge came after me."

Aether's expression hardened.

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"What happened?"

"I activated the crystal."

He pointed deeper into the tunnel.

"The ground opened."

Aether looked forward.

A faint green light illuminated the darkness.

The tunnel continued far beyond what they could see.

"What did you find?"

The young man shook his head.

"I didn't get far."

Evelyn stepped forward.

"Then someone else might."

Aether looked at the Verdant Key.

It was pulsing steadily.

The system reacted.

[Fourth Origin Key detected.]

[Current Keys: 4/6.]

[Network stability: 68%.]

[New region access detected.]

[Designation: Verdant Underground Network.]

Aether looked deeper into the tunnel.

"Verdant Underground Network..."

Seris frowned.

"That sounds like more than a passage."

Aether nodded.

"It is."

His Origin Sense stretched forward.

Thirty meters.

Then another chamber appeared within his perception.

Beyond it—

more tunnels.

And more life signatures.

Not beasts.

Humans.

Aether's expression became serious.

"There are people living down there."

Sylvara looked surprised.

"A civilization?"

"Maybe."

Aether looked toward the darkness.

The fourth key had not simply opened another ancient chamber.

It had revealed an entire underground network beneath the forest.

And if the network was still inhabited—

then they weren't the first people to discover it.

Aether tightened his grip on his weapon.

"Let's see what's down there."

The group moved forward.

Behind them, the Verdant Key pulsed once.

Somewhere deep beneath the forest—

something responded.