Chapter 145: Irus

The golden moon had stopped growing.

For several minutes, it simply hung between the three moons of Hildgard, incomplete and silent.

That silence was worse than the tremors.

Noah stood beside the academy window, staring at the sky.

The red moon remained on the left.

The blue moon remained on the right.

And between them, the unfinished golden crescent watched the city.

Noah could not shake the feeling that it was watching him.

"It’s getting brighter," Sophia said quietly.

Luna stepped closer to the window. "And the mana outside is becoming unstable."

Eric folded his arms. "So we’re just supposed to stand here and watch?"

Damien glanced toward the academy entrance.

"We should be leaving."

Nobody answered.

They all knew the transport platforms had already failed.

Hildgard wasn’t letting anyone leave.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

A familiar pressure crawled through his mind.

[Ragnarok Dead Zone Resonance: 12.8%]

His fingers tightened.

You’re getting stronger.

The voice came from somewhere behind his thoughts.

"Not stronger."

Noah froze.

"Closer."

His heartbeat skipped.

"What does that mean?"

The Dead Zone didn’t answer.

Instead, Noah felt something brush against his consciousness.

Not an attack.

Not yet.

It felt like someone standing on the other side of a locked door.

Waiting.

Deep beneath Hildgard, the ancient chamber had changed.

The enormous stone heart was no longer dormant.

Golden veins pulsed across its surface with every beat.

Balgard.

Sylthin.

Flaros.

The three medallions floated above the heart, rotating slowly.

Daniella stared at them.

"Alcris..."

He didn’t respond.

"Tell me you know what you’re doing."

Alcris’s expression remained calm, but his eyes betrayed him.

He didn’t.

"I thought I did."

Daniella’s face hardened.

"You dragged us into an underground chamber beneath an ancient city, activated three forbidden relics, and summoned that thing without knowing what would happen?"

"I never said I summoned anything."

"You heard the voice."

Alcris looked toward the golden crack hanging in the air.

"Yes."

A faint sound emerged from it.

A woman’s voice.

Soft.

Distant.

Almost impossible to understand.

"...inheritor..."

Daniella’s body stiffened.

Alcris slowly raised his head.

The golden crack widened by another inch.

"No," he whispered.

Daniella looked at him.

"What?"

"She shouldn’t be able to cross yet."

The golden light suddenly surged.

The entire chamber shook.

Daniella stumbled backward.

Alcris reached for her instinctively and caught her arm.

For one brief moment, brother and sister stood together.

Neither spoke.

Neither needed to.

They had both realized the same thing.

Whatever was behind that door was no longer waiting patiently.

It was forcing the door open.

Above them, Hildgard’s streets began to change.

Golden lines appeared between the stones.

One by one.

They spread through the city like veins beneath skin.

People screamed as the lights reached the academy district.

The protective barriers activated automatically.

BOOM!

The first barrier shattered.

Everyone inside the hall turned toward the windows.

Eric’s expression changed.

"That wasn’t normal."

Damien drew his weapon.

Sophia’s hand moved toward her magic focus.

Luna stared at Noah.

"Noah."

He didn’t answer.

His eyes had turned slightly crimson.

Not completely.

Just enough.

Laura noticed immediately.

"Noah?"

He slowly raised his hand toward his chest.

Something was beating there.

Not his heart.

Something deeper.

Something answering the pulse beneath Hildgard.

[Resonance: 13.0%]

The system flickered.

For a moment, another message appeared.

[UNKNOWN ENTITY IS ATTEMPTING CONNECTION.]

Noah’s breath caught.

A second line appeared.

[Connection rejected.]

The third line was different.

[Connection attempt repeated.]

Noah’s eyes widened.

"She knows I’m here."

Laura looked at him.

"Who?"

Noah stared at the golden moon.

"Irus."

The moment he spoke her name, every golden line across Hildgard illuminated at once.

The city went completely silent.

Even the moons seemed to stop moving.

Far beneath the earth, the golden crack opened wider.

A pale hand appeared on the other side.

Alcris stared at it.

Daniella slowly stepped backward.

The fingers curled around the edge of the opening.

And a woman’s voice whispered through the chamber.

"Found you."

Noah’s pupils contracted.

Inside his mind, the Dead Zone finally spoke.

"Now."

A pause.

"Run."

The golden moon opened its eye.

The golden moon opened its eye.

For one breath, nothing happened.

No explosion.

No tremor.

No sound.

Hildgard simply stared upward beneath the impossible sky.

Noah felt the gaze settle directly on him.

His vision blurred.

The academy hall disappeared.

The walls vanished.

For an instant, he stood somewhere else.

A vast darkness stretched endlessly around him.

In the distance stood a woman.

She was impossible to see clearly.

Long hair drifted around her as though she were underwater. A long dress moved gently despite the absence of wind.

Her eyes were closed.

She held something long in one hand.

A staff.

Or perhaps a weapon.

Noah couldn’t tell.

He took one step forward.

"Who are you?"

The woman’s eyes opened.

Golden.

Cold.

Beautiful.

And impossibly old.

"You already know my name."

Noah’s chest tightened.

"Irus."

Her lips curved slightly.

"Yes."

The vision shattered.

Noah stumbled backward.

Laura caught his shoulder.

"Noah!"

He looked at her, breathing heavily.

"I saw her."

Sophia immediately stepped closer.

"Who?"

"Irus."

Before anyone could respond, the academy shook violently.

BOOOOM!

Windows rattled.

Students screamed throughout the building.

Eric grabbed the nearest table to steady himself.

"What the hell was that?"

Damien looked outside.

Golden light was spreading across Hildgard.

"It came from beneath the city."

Laura’s eyes remained on Noah.

"You said you saw her?"

Noah nodded.

"She was behind something."

His voice lowered.

"A door."

Far beneath the city, Daniella was on the ground.

The chamber had become almost unbearably bright.

The three medallions spun faster above the stone heart.

Alcris stood several meters away, staring at the opening.

The woman’s hand had disappeared.

In its place stood a silhouette.

Daniella couldn’t see her face.

But she could see the outline of her body.

Long hair.

A flowing dress.

And something resembling a golden staff resting against the ground.

Daniella swallowed.

"Is that..."

"Yes."

Alcris’s voice was barely audible.

"Irus."

The silhouette took one step forward.

The golden crack widened.

A pressure descended upon the chamber.

Daniella’s knees buckled.

Alcris remained standing, but sweat ran down his face.

The three medallions suddenly stopped rotating.

Irus raised one hand.

Every golden line across the chamber responded.

The ancient heart began beating faster.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

Alcris’s expression changed.

"This isn’t supposed to happen."

Daniella looked at him angrily.

"You said you knew what these relics did!"

"I knew what they were supposed to do."

"That isn’t the same thing!"

Alcris didn’t answer.

The silhouette moved closer.

Only a few meters remained between her and the opening.

A golden eye became visible through the darkness.

Daniella instinctively raised her weapon.

Irus looked directly at her.

For some reason, she didn’t attack.

Instead, her gaze shifted toward Alcris.

"You gathered them."

Alcris swallowed.

"Yes."

"You opened the door."

"Yes."

A faint smile appeared.

"But you did not understand what was waiting beyond it."

Alcris’s face hardened.

"Tell me what you want."

Irus’s golden eyes shifted.

"Not you."

Silence.

"The inheritor."

Alcris clenched his fists.

"Noah."

Irus smiled.

"There you are."

Back at the academy, Noah suddenly grabbed his chest.

The Dead Zone surged inside him.

[Resonance: 13.4%]

Crimson light flickered across his eyes.

Laura stepped toward him.

"Noah!"

He looked up.

But for a fraction of a second, his expression wasn’t his own.

His eyes were colder.

Sharper.

Almost empty.

The Dead Zone whispered inside his mind.

"She found us."

Noah’s jaw tightened.

What happens now?

A pause.

"Nothing."

Another pause.

"Yet."

Noah looked toward the golden moon.

Its eye slowly closed.

But the golden light remained.

And beneath Hildgard, Irus finally stepped through the door.