Chapter 96: The Eyes Beneath the Castle

The pale eyes were still there.

Watching. Waiting. Rin stood completely still.

He didn’t know what frightened him more—the creature itself or the fact that it had been watching them this entire time.

Lucien noticed his expression.

"You see them again."

Rin nodded slowly.

"Yeah."

"How close?"

Rin looked toward the darkness.

"I don’t know."

The eyes blinked. Once. Then disappeared.

Rin’s heart skipped.

"That’s not normal."

Lucien gave him a tired look.

"Nothing about this place is normal."

Rin turned toward him.

"You said this thing existed before the fallen god."

"Yes."

"And you know what it is?"

Lucien hesitated.

"I know what it used to be."

Rin frowned.

"Used to be?"

Lucien nodded.

"Before this place became a prison, there was another structure beneath the castle. An ancient sanctuary."

Rin listened carefully.

"What happened to it?"

"The sanctuary was built to contain divine remnants."

"Divine remnants?"

"Fragments of beings who had lost their physical forms."

Rin looked toward the darkness.

"And the eyes?"

Lucien’s expression became serious.

"That is one of them."

Rin swallowed.

"So it’s a god?"

"No."

Lucien shook his head.

"Not anymore."

The silence that followed felt heavier than before. Rin crossed his arms.

"Okay. You can’t say something like that and then stop."

Lucien sighed.

"Long ago, a god was destroyed."

Rin’s eyes widened.

"A god can die?"

"Not easily."

Lucien looked at the broken chains around his wrist.

"When a divine being dies, its body may disappear. Its soul may disappear. But sometimes..."

He looked toward the darkness.

"...its authority remains."

Rin stared.

"The power survives?"

"Yes."

"And that’s what we’re dealing with?"

"Part of it."

Rin slowly exhaled.

"That sounds terrible."

"It is."

Another tremor shook the chamber. Dust fell from the ceiling.

BOOM!

Rin looked upward. The sound of magic echoed through the stone. Darkness. Then wind.

Kaelith and Sol were still fighting. Rin could almost imagine Kaelith’s expression.

He’s probably furious.

"Kaelith is getting closer," Rin said.

Lucien nodded.

"Then we need to leave."

Rin looked at the remaining chains.

"There are still some attached."

Lucien examined them.

"These are different."

"How?"

"The first chains were meant to restrain me."

He touched one of the remaining bindings.

"These are meant to keep something else restrained."

Rin’s expression changed.

"You mean..."

Lucien nodded.

"The thing behind us."

Rin slowly looked over his shoulder. Nothing. The darkness seemed completely empty.

"Then why are the chains breaking?"

Lucien didn’t answer immediately. Finally, he said:

"Because you arrived."

Rin blinked.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"That doesn’t make sense."

"It doesn’t need to."

Rin groaned.

"Everyone in this world has started using that sentence."

Lucien almost smiled. But the smile disappeared quickly.

"You have something inside your soul."

Rin became still.

"What?"

"I don’t know."

Lucien looked at him carefully.

"But the seal recognizes you."

Rin remembered the System’s message.

[THE SEAL RECOGNIZES HOST AS AN AUTHORIZED EXISTENCE.]

His expression darkened.

"That’s what the System said."

Lucien looked surprised.

"The System? But Sol.."

"What?"

"What did it tell you?" asked Lucien try to change the idea.

Rin hesitated.

"That the binding recognizes me."

Lucien stared at him. Then he whispered:

"That shouldn’t be possible."

"Why?"

"Because only the original divine authority could open these seals."

Rin looked at his hands.

"So what does that make me?"

Lucien shook his head.

"I don’t know."

A faint sound came from the darkness.

Clink.

Both of them turned. The pale eyes appeared again.

But this time... they weren’t looking at Rin.

They were looking at Lucien. Lucien’s face went pale.

"It’s awake."

Rin stepped between Lucien and the darkness.

"Stay behind me."

Lucien stared at him.

"You can’t fight that."

"I don’t have to."

Rin looked at the chains.

"I just have to understand them."

The System appeared.

[HOST.]

"Yes?"

[CAUTION.]

"About what?"

The System remained silent for several seconds.

Then a new message appeared.

[THE ENTITY IS NOT ATTACKING.]

Rin frowned.

"What?"

[IT IS OBSERVING.]

"Why?"

[UNKNOWN.]

Rin looked toward the eyes.

"Can it understand us?"

[YES.]

Rin’s stomach dropped.

"Then..."

He slowly raised his voice.

"Can you understand me?"

The eyes didn’t move. Rin continued.

"We don’t want to hurt you."

Lucien looked at him like he had completely lost his mind.

"Rin..."

"Just wait."

The eyes blinked. Once.

The chains around Lucien suddenly stopped moving. Rin stared.

"It heard me."

Lucien’s expression changed. Then the voice came.

Not from a mouth. Not from the darkness. From inside the walls themselves.

"You returned."

Rin froze. Lucien’s eyes widened.

"I know that voice."

Rin turned toward him.

"You do?"

Lucien nodded slowly.

"I heard it once."

"When?"

"Before I was imprisoned."

Rin looked toward the eyes.

"What did it say?"

Lucien swallowed.

"It called me by my old title."

Rin waited. Lucien whispered:

"Guardian."

The chamber fell silent. Rin looked at the chains.

"You were guarding this thing?"

"No."

Lucien shook his head.

"I was guarding the prison."

He looked toward the darkness.

"It was already here."

Another tremor shook the castle. This time, the walls cracked.

A burst of black energy traveled through the ceiling. Rin immediately recognized it. Kaelith.

"He’s close."

Lucien nodded.

But the mysterious eyes suddenly moved. They shifted toward the ceiling. Then back toward Rin.

"The Demon King has returned."

Rin’s eyes widened.

"You know Kaelith?"

The entity remained silent.

Then—

"He should not have survived."

Rin’s expression hardened.

"He did."

A faint vibration passed through the chamber.

"So did you."

Rin stopped breathing. Lucien stared at him. The words echoed through the prison.

So did you.

Rin slowly looked at the eyes.

"What does that mean?"

No answer.

"Who am I?"

Silence.

"Why did you call me Ael?"

The eyes narrowed slightly. Then the entity whispered:

"Because that was the name you carried when this prison was built."

Rin’s heart stopped. Lucien looked at him in shock.

"That isn’t possible."

Rin couldn’t speak. The System flickered violently.

[ERROR.]

[MEMORY CONFLICT DETECTED.]

[HOST MEMORY DOES NOT MATCH ENVIRONMENTAL RECORDS.]

Rin stared at the messages.

"No..."

Another tremor shook the chamber. Then a familiar voice echoed from the corridor.

"RIN!"

Rin’s eyes widened.

"Kaelith!"

The entity’s pale eyes turned toward the entrance. For the first time... they seemed afraid.

And Rin realized something terrifying. Whatever was hiding beneath the castle wasn’t afraid of him.

It wasn’t afraid of Lucien. It was afraid of Kaelith.

A moment later, the stone wall at the end of the corridor exploded outward. Wind rushed through the chamber.

Sol’s voice followed.

"RIN!"

Kaelith stepped through the dust. His clothes were covered in traces of the battle, and dark magic still surrounded him.

His red eyes immediately found Rin. Then Lucien. Then the chains.

Finally— the pale eyes.

Kaelith stopped. The entire chamber went silent. His expression changed.

Not anger. Not surprise. Recognition.

"...You."

The mysterious entity stared back at him. And then, for the first time since Rin had seen it— the eyes closed.

As if in fear. Kaelith slowly raised his sword.

"Stay away from Rin."

The darkness trembled. And the voice whispered one final sentence:

"You still remember me."

Kaelith’s eyes widened. Rin looked between them.

"Kaelith..."

The Demon King said nothing.

Because for the first time... he looked genuinely afraid.