Chapter 142: Hildgard Trembles

The sound rolled across Hildgard.

Not a bell.

Not an explosion.

A heartbeat.

THUMP.

Windows rattled.

Street signs shook.

The water inside fountains rippled outward in perfect circles.

For several seconds, the entire city went silent.

People stepped out of shops and looked toward the ground.

Academy students gathered in courtyards.

Instructors immediately began issuing orders.

"What was that?"

"Everyone stay inside!"

"Check the barriers!"

Nobody had an answer.

Then the heartbeat came again.

THUMP.

This time, the three moons above Hildgard flickered.

The red moon dimmed.

The blue moon followed.

The scarlet-violet moon remained bright.

A strange golden glimmer appeared between them for less than a second.

Most people missed it.

Noah didn’t.

He stood in the academy courtyard, staring upward.

Laura stood beside him.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"I don’t know."

Noah’s system appeared.

[Environmental Mana Disturbance: CRITICAL]

[Source: Hildgard Underground Network]

[Host Resonance Increasing.]

His eyes widened.

The next notification appeared.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 10.0%]

Laura noticed his expression.

"Noah?"

He dismissed the system.

"I need to sit down."

"You’re pale."

"I’m fine."

She gave him an unimpressed look.

"Don’t start."

Noah almost smiled.

But another pulse interrupted them.

THUMP.

He grabbed the railing beside him.

Inside his mind, Dead Zone stood beneath a black sky.

The ground beneath its feet was covered in faint golden cracks.

Noah looked around.

"What is happening?"

Dead Zone stared at the horizon.

"Hildgard is waking."

"You said that before."

"This is different."

Noah’s expression hardened.

"How?"

Dead Zone looked directly at him.

"It knows you’re here now."

Deep beneath the city, Daniella had stopped breathing.

The stone heart filled the chamber with golden light.

Alcris stood before it.

Neither sibling spoke.

The voice returned.

"Ten percent."

Daniella looked at Alcris.

"What does that mean?"

Alcris didn’t answer.

She grabbed his arm.

"What does ten percent mean?"

He pulled free.

"I don’t know."

"You’re lying again."

"No."

His eyes remained fixed on the heart.

"I really don’t know."

Daniella stared at him.

For once, she believed him.

That frightened her.

The three medallions rotated faster.

Balgard.

Sylthin.

Flaros.

A golden beam rose from the center of the platform and disappeared into the ceiling.

Alcris’s face changed.

"What?"

Daniella looked up.

"What is it?"

He whispered:

"The ritual isn’t drawing power from the medallions."

"Then what is it drawing from?"

Alcris slowly looked toward the surface.

His expression became grim.

"Everything."

Across Hildgard, lights began shutting down.

One district.

Then another.

Mana crystals dimmed throughout the city.

The academy barriers flickered.

The transportation platforms went completely dark.

Panic finally began spreading.

And beneath the streets, the ancient network continued activating.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Noah looked toward the old district.

For a brief moment, his vision changed.

He saw golden lines beneath the entire city.

They stretched through streets, buildings, academies and ancient ruins.

All of them converged toward one point.

The underground heart.

Noah’s breathing slowed.

He understood something.

Hildgard wasn’t simply sitting on top of an ancient system.

Hildgard was part of it.

The system appeared one final time.

[Warning.]

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 10.2%]

Noah stared at the number.

Inside his mind, Dead Zone smiled for the first time in days.

"Now it begins."

The third heartbeat came harder.

THUMP.

The academy courtyard shook.

Several students lost their balance. A stone railing cracked near the training grounds, and a shower of dust fell from the surrounding buildings.

This time, nobody called it a minor disturbance.

Instructors rushed through the courtyard, ordering students away from the older structures.

"Everyone inside!"

"Stay away from the eastern district!"

"Don’t use the transportation platforms!"

The last command caused a wave of confusion.

They had already discovered the platforms weren’t working.

Now the instructors sounded genuinely afraid.

Eric looked toward Noah.

"What exactly is happening?"

Noah stared toward the eastern district.

"I don’t know."

Damien frowned.

"You’ve said that a lot lately."

"I know."

Sophia approached.

"Can you feel something?"

Noah nodded.

"Under the city."

Luna looked toward the pavement.

"Like before?"

"Stronger."

Laura remained silent.

She had felt it too.

But unlike Noah, she wasn’t sensing only mana.

She was remembering.

The fountain.

The woman.

Three moons.

And a golden light.

Her hand slowly moved toward her chest.

"I’ve seen this."

Everyone looked at her.

Laura swallowed.

"Not this exact moment. But something like it."

Noah turned toward her.

"Your memory?"

She nodded.

"I think my family knew this would happen."

Deep underground, Alcris stood before the ancient heart.

Its golden light had become intense enough to illuminate the entire chamber.

Daniella shielded her eyes.

"What happens if that thing reaches one hundred percent?"

Alcris stared at the heart.

"I don’t know."

"Alcris."

"I said I don’t know."

The irritation in his voice vanished almost immediately.

He looked at his sister.

"I thought I understood the medallions."

Daniella stared at him.

"You don’t?"

"No."

He looked back toward the relics.

"I thought they were a way to reach something."

"And now?"

"They’re waking something."

Daniella’s expression hardened.

"Something that can hurt people?"

Alcris didn’t answer.

That was answer enough.

Daniella stepped closer.

"Stop it."

Alcris looked at her.

"I can’t."

"You can."

"No."

His voice was quiet.

"If I stop now, everything I’ve done becomes meaningless."

Daniella stared at him.

"That isn’t a reason."

"It is to me."

The three medallions suddenly spun faster.

The heart released a powerful pulse.

THUMP.

The chamber shook violently.

Daniella stumbled.

Alcris caught her before she fell.

For one brief moment, they looked at each other.

The anger disappeared.

They were simply brother and sister again.

Daniella whispered:

"You’re going to get yourself killed."

Alcris released her slowly.

"Maybe."

He turned toward the heart.

"But I’m already too far in."

Above them, Hildgard began to crack.

Not collapse.

Not yet.

But fractures appeared along ancient buildings.

Golden light leaked through the pavement in several districts.

People screamed when they saw it.

Academy barriers activated automatically.

The city gates sealed.

And every bell tower in Hildgard began vibrating.

No bells rang.

They simply trembled.

Noah watched from the academy courtyard.

His system appeared.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 10.7%]

The number flickered.

10.8%.

His chest tightened.

Dead Zone appeared in his mind.

It stood beneath the black sky, staring toward a distant golden light.

Noah walked toward it.

"Is this because of Alcris?"

Dead Zone didn’t answer.

"Tell me."

A long silence.

Finally:

"He thinks he’s opening a path to Ragnarok."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"And he’s not?"

Dead Zone turned toward him.

"He’s opening a path to me."

Noah’s blood ran cold.

The mental world disappeared.

He opened his eyes.

Across Hildgard, another heartbeat sounded.

THUMP.

This time, something answered from beneath the city.

A deep roar.

And the three moons above Hildgard briefly aligned.

For the first time...

a fourth light appeared between them.