Chapter 148: The Price of Ragnarok

Irus’s voice echoed across Hildgard.

"Give me Ragnarok."

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Thousands of students and citizens stared toward the golden moon.

They didn’t understand what Ragnarok was.

But they understood one thing.

The woman in the sky had called Noah by name.

And she wanted something from him.

Noah slowly raised his head.

"You came all this way just to ask?"

Irus’s expression remained calm.

"I did not come for you."

Her golden eyes sharpened.

"I came for what you carry."

Noah’s hand tightened around Shadowfang.

"You’re going to have to take it."

A faint smile appeared on Irus’s face.

"That can be arranged."

The golden fracture above Hildgard widened.

CRACK.

A wave of pressure swept across the city.

Academy barriers activated simultaneously.

Students were thrown backward.

Laura grabbed Sophia’s hand while Luna braced herself against a pillar.

Eric drove his weapon into the floor to keep himself upright.

Damien shouted over the pressure.

"She hasn’t even entered yet!"

Noah remained standing.

Barely.

Something inside him was holding the pressure back.

The Dead Zone.

"Don’t draw Shadowfang."

Noah frowned.

Why?

"Because she wants you to."

Noah looked toward Irus.

She was watching his sword.

Waiting.

He understood.

She wasn’t simply demanding Ragnarok.

She was trying to make him expose his power.

Noah slowly lowered Shadowfang.

Irus’s smile disappeared.

Deep underground, Alcris screamed.

Golden energy poured through his body.

His knees buckled.

Daniella rushed forward.

"Stop!"

Irus didn’t even look at her.

"Your brother volunteered."

"He doesn’t understand what you’re doing!"

Alcris struggled to remain conscious.

"I understand enough."

Daniella grabbed his shoulder.

"Alcris!"

His eyes met hers.

There was fear in them now.

Real fear.

"Daniella..."

She froze.

He had never sounded like that before.

"I can’t feel my mana anymore."

Daniella looked toward Irus.

"Let him go!"

Irus finally turned.

"He gave it willingly."

"He’s your tool!"

"No."

Irus’s golden eyes became colder.

"He is a bridge."

The ancient heart pulsed.

BOOM.

A golden thread shot from the heart into the sky.

It passed through the city.

Straight toward Noah.

Noah suddenly felt something pull against his chest.

[EXTERNAL EXTRACTION ATTEMPT DETECTED.]

His eyes widened.

[TARGET: RAGNAROK.]

The system flickered violently.

[WARNING.]

[EXTRACTION HAS BYPASSED OUTER DEFENSES.]

Noah stumbled.

Laura caught him.

"Noah!"

He gritted his teeth.

"She’s inside."

Sophia immediately raised her magic.

"Can I break the connection?"

"No!"

Noah forced the word out.

"Don’t!"

The golden thread tightened.

His consciousness was dragged downward.

He opened his eyes inside darkness.

This time, the Dead Zone wasn’t waiting for him.

It was fighting.

Golden chains surrounded the black wasteland.

Some had already broken.

Others stretched toward a distant black gate.

Noah stared.

"What is that?"

The Dead Zone didn’t turn around.

"The second boundary."

Noah looked at it.

"Second?"

"The first protects your consciousness."

It pointed toward the golden chains.

"The second protects Ragnarok."

Noah’s eyes widened.

"And you’re protecting it?"

The Dead Zone finally looked at him.

Its crimson eyes were cold.

"No."

It smiled.

"I’m protecting what happens after she reaches it."

A golden figure appeared beyond the chains.

Irus.

She stepped through the darkness.

Her feet touched nothing.

Her golden eyes remained fixed on Noah.

"So this is where you hide."

The Dead Zone moved between them.

"You shouldn’t have come."

Irus lifted her staff.

"You have no authority here."

The Dead Zone laughed.

"Neither do you."

Irus’s expression hardened.

Golden chains erupted from the darkness.

The Dead Zone raised one hand.

Black-red energy collided with them.

The entire inner world shook.

Outside, Noah screamed.

[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 18.7%]

Laura stared at him in alarm.

His crimson aura was beginning to spread across his body.

And deep within Noah’s consciousness, Irus took her first step toward Ragnarok.

The darkness trembled.

Golden chains stretched across the endless black space, each one wrapped around an enormous gate.

Behind that gate was something Noah couldn’t see.

Something that felt impossibly vast.

Irus stood several meters away.

The Dead Zone stood between them.

Neither moved.

Until Irus raised her staff.

Golden light erupted from its tip.

BOOM!

The Dead Zone crossed its arms.

The impact sent black-red energy across the darkness.

Noah watched from behind.

He could feel every collision.

Every strike.

Every tremor.

It wasn’t his body they were fighting over.

It was something deeper.

Something he had never been allowed to see.

"What exactly is Ragnarok?" Noah asked.

The Dead Zone didn’t look at him.

"You’re asking the wrong question."

Another golden blast struck.

The Dead Zone deflected it.

Noah clenched his fists.

"Then what’s the right one?"

The Dead Zone finally glanced back.

"Why was it given to you?"

Noah froze.

Before he could answer, Irus attacked again.

This time, she disappeared.

The Dead Zone’s eyes narrowed.

She reappeared directly behind him.

Her staff swung downward.

CLANG!

Black-red energy exploded from the Dead Zone’s arm as he blocked it.

Irus’s golden eyes narrowed.

"You’re stronger than before."

The Dead Zone smiled.

"You noticed."

"You are not Ragnarok."

"Never said I was."

Irus pushed harder.

The Dead Zone slid backward.

His feet carved two deep trails through the darkness.

Noah stared.

For the first time, he saw something that unsettled him.

The Dead Zone was struggling.

Not losing.

But struggling.

Irus noticed too.

"You cannot maintain this indefinitely."

The Dead Zone’s smile widened.

"I don’t need to."

Outside, Noah’s body convulsed.

Laura held him tightly.

"Noah, stay with us!"

His eyes opened.

One was crimson.

The other remained normal.

Sophia stared at him.

"His eyes..."

Luna stepped closer.

"The aura is changing."

Dark red energy crawled over Noah’s arms.

Thin black lines appeared beneath his skin.

Eric raised his weapon.

"Is that him?"

Laura shook her head.

"I don’t know."

Noah suddenly spoke.

"It’s not me."

Everyone froze.

His voice sounded strained.

"But I’m still here."

Laura tightened her grip.

"Good. Stay here."

Noah looked at her.

For a moment, his expression softened.

Then the golden thread inside his chest pulled again.

He screamed.

[RAGNAROK EXTRACTION: 21%]

[WARNING: INNER BOUNDARY INSTABILITY.]

[DEAD ZONE INTERFERENCE: INCREASING.]

Damien stared at the system.

"Twenty-one percent?"

Eric’s expression darkened.

"That thing is actually extracting his power."

Noah forced himself upright.

"No."

He looked toward the golden moon.

"Not yet."

Deep underground, Alcris collapsed.

Daniella caught him.

"Alcris!"

He was barely conscious.

His face had gone pale.

"I can’t..."

He struggled to breathe.

"Feel anything."

Daniella looked at Irus.

"Stop this!"

Irus didn’t respond.

Her entire attention was focused on the connection above.

Alcris suddenly grabbed Daniella’s wrist.

"Get away from her."

"What?"

"Daniella..."

His voice weakened.

"I was wrong."

She stared at him.

"About what?"

Alcris looked toward the three medallions.

"I thought I was taking Ragnarok."

His eyes widened.

"I think..."

He swallowed.

"Something else is waking up."

Daniella looked at the ancient heart.

A black crack had appeared across its golden surface.

Not a golden crack.

Black.

It spread slowly.

One branch.

Then another.

Irus noticed it.

Her expression changed.

"No."

For the first time, fear entered her voice.

Daniella stared at her.

"What?"

Irus lowered her staff.

"That’s impossible."

The black crack reached the center of the heart.

CRACK.

A pulse of darkness erupted through the chamber.

The three medallions stopped glowing.

Every golden line went black.

And somewhere beneath the city, something opened its eyes.

Inside Noah’s consciousness, the Dead Zone suddenly stopped fighting.

Irus noticed.

"What are you doing?"

The Dead Zone looked toward the enormous gate.

A smile slowly formed.

"Listen."

Irus went still.

Noah heard it too.

A heartbeat.

Not from the city.

Not from the ancient heart.

From behind the gate.

BOOM.

Another heartbeat.

BOOM.

The Dead Zone turned toward Noah.

Its crimson eyes gleamed.

"That’s why you shouldn’t let her reach the other side."

Noah stared at the gate.

"What is behind it?"

The Dead Zone answered quietly.

"Ragnarok."

A third heartbeat shook the entire inner world.

And the enormous gate began to open.