Chapter 140: The Shattering Echo Of Hildgard

The vibration stopped.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

The transportation platform remained intact, yet the atmosphere around it had changed. Students who had been complaining about the delayed departure were now whispering among themselves.

No one knew what to say.

Noah looked toward the center of Hildgard.

He could still feel it.

A faint pressure beneath his feet.

Like a heartbeat buried beneath layers of stone.

Thump.

His eyes narrowed.

Another pulse.

Thump.

The system appeared.

[Environmental Mana Disturbance Detected.]

[Source: Hildgard Underground Network.]

[Network Activity: Increasing.]

Noah dismissed the notification.

Laura approached him.

"Is it getting worse?"

"Yes."

"How bad?"

"I don’t know yet."

That answer wasn’t reassuring.

Damien looked toward the instructors.

"They’re evacuating the platform."

Eric folded his arms.

"So we really aren’t leaving."

Sophia sighed.

"Looks that way."

Luna suddenly looked down.

"Wait."

Everyone turned toward her.

She was staring at the pavement.

"There’s something beneath us."

Eric frowned.

"Besides the ground?"

Luna ignored him.

"Mana."

Noah crouched.

He placed his palm against the stone.

A strange sensation traveled through his hand.

Not heat.

Not cold.

Recognition.

His system flickered.

[Unknown Energy Detected.]

[Attempting Analysis...]

[Analysis Failed.]

Noah pulled his hand away.

"It isn’t normal mana."

Damien’s expression became serious.

"Can you identify it?"

"No."

That silence told them enough.

Across the city, Daniella stood inside the abandoned chamber.

The golden line beneath her feet had disappeared.

But the heartbeat remained.

Thump.

She looked toward the floor.

"Alcris..."

She had fought him.

She had followed his trail.

She had searched the library.

Now she was beginning to understand the scale of whatever he had found.

Daniella drew her weapon.

If Alcris was down there, she would find him.

If something else was down there...

she would deal with that too.

She stepped toward the stairs.

The deeper she went, the colder the air became.

The old stone walls were covered with markings.

Some had been scratched away.

Others were so worn that only fragments remained.

Daniella lifted a small light crystal.

The beam revealed something on the wall.

Three circles.

She stopped.

"So that’s what you’ve been looking for."

A voice came from behind her.

"You shouldn’t follow me."

Daniella turned.

Alcris stood on the stairs.

She stared at him.

"You knew I’d come."

"Yes."

"Were you going to tell me?"

"No."

Her expression hardened.

"Of course."

Alcris descended one step.

"You need to leave Hildgard."

Daniella laughed bitterly.

"You first."

"I can’t."

"Why?"

Alcris looked past her.

For the first time, Daniella noticed genuine fear in his eyes.

"Because it’s already started."

The ground trembled.

Daniella’s weapon tightened in her hand.

"What started?"

Alcris didn’t answer.

A golden glow appeared beneath them.

The walls began vibrating.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

And deep below the stairs came a sound neither of them had heard before.

A long, low pulse.

THUUUM.

Daniella’s expression changed.

Alcris whispered:

"The heart."

At the academy, Noah suddenly doubled over.

Laura grabbed his shoulder.

"Noah!"

He forced himself upright.

His eyes had briefly changed.

A deep red flicker.

Gone almost instantly.

The system appeared again.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 9.1%]

Noah stared at the number.

It had risen faster than before.

Inside his mind, Dead Zone stood before a vast darkness.

This time, it wasn’t smiling.

"Something beneath this city recognizes you."

Noah stared at it.

"Why?"

Dead Zone looked toward the darkness.

"That’s the question you should be asking."

The mental world went silent.

Above ground, Hildgard’s three moons slowly emerged into the evening sky.

And beneath them...

the ancient heart began to beat faster.

The heartbeat continued.

Thump.

The stone beneath Hildgard trembled.

Thump.

A few loose stones fell from the ceiling of the underground passage.

Daniella kept her weapon raised.

Alcris stood several steps below her, watching the darkness.

"What is that thing?" she asked.

"I don’t know."

Daniella looked at him.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I don’t know what it is."

For once, Alcris sounded completely sincere.

Another pulse shook the passage.

Daniella glanced at the walls.

The ancient markings were beginning to glow.

Three circles appeared in faint golden light.

Alcris immediately moved toward them.

"Don’t touch anything."

Daniella frowned.

"You’ve been touching them this entire time."

"Not these."

That caught her attention.

Alcris placed his hand against the wall beside the symbols.

A hidden section of stone shifted.

Daniella stared.

"You knew that was there?"

"I found it yesterday."

"And you didn’t tell me."

"You would have followed me."

"I followed you anyway."

Alcris gave her a tired look.

"That is exactly the problem."

The passage opened.

Beyond it was a vast underground chamber.

Daniella stepped inside.

Her eyes widened.

The chamber was enormous.

Ancient pillars surrounded a circular platform at its center. Faint golden lines ran through the floor, forming a pattern that stretched beneath the entire room.

At the center sat an enormous stone structure.

It resembled a heart.

Not an actual heart.

A massive magical core carved from black stone.

It pulsed with golden light.

Thump.

Daniella stared.

"Hildgard has this underneath it?"

Alcris nodded.

"Apparently."

"What does it do?"

"I don’t know."

She turned toward him.

"You’ve been studying this for days."

"I’ve been studying the medallions."

"And?"

Alcris looked at the structure.

"They aren’t keys."

Daniella’s expression changed.

"What?"

"They’re triggers."

Before she could ask what that meant, the three medallions appeared above the central platform.

Balgard.

Sylthin.

Flaros.

Daniella instinctively reached for her weapon.

"Where did they come from?"

Alcris looked equally surprised.

"They weren’t supposed to activate yet."

The three relics rotated.

Golden light spread across the chamber.

The stone heart responded.

THUMP.

The entire chamber shook.

Daniella stumbled.

Alcris caught himself against a pillar.

A voice echoed through the chamber.

"The inheritor has arrived."

Both siblings froze.

Daniella looked at Alcris.

"You heard that?"

"Yes."

The voice continued.

"The seal recognizes him."

Daniella’s eyes widened.

"Who is it talking about?"

Alcris didn’t answer.

He already knew.

Above ground, Noah suddenly stopped walking.

Laura looked back.

"Noah?"

He didn’t respond.

His eyes were fixed on nothing.

The system appeared.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 9.8%]

The number climbed.

9.9%.

Noah grabbed his chest.

A sharp pressure surged through him.

Laura caught his arm.

"Noah!"

He forced himself to breathe.

Inside his mind, Dead Zone stood completely still.

No smile.

No laughter.

Nothing.

Noah looked at it.

"You know what that voice was."

Dead Zone finally raised its head.

"Yes."

"What did it call me?"

A long silence followed.

Then Dead Zone answered.

"The inheritor."

Noah’s eyes widened.

Before he could ask another question, the mental world shattered.

The system flashed one final message.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 10.0%]

Noah stared at it.

For the first time, the number had reached double digits.

Across Hildgard, the ancient heart beat again.

And this time...

every person in the city heard it.