Chapter 150: Primordial Awaken

The academy fell silent.

Noah stood in the center of the ruined hall.

Crimson energy surrounded him.

Black patterns crawled across his skin, spreading from his neck toward his arms. The aura wasn’t wild. It was controlled, almost unnaturally calm.

Laura stared at him.

"Noah..."

He turned toward her.

For a moment, his eyes were completely normal.

"I’m still here."

Laura exhaled.

"Good."

Noah looked at his hands.

The Dead Zone’s presence had become stronger.

Much stronger.

[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 23.6%]

The number flickered.

23.8%.

Noah frowned.

"It keeps increasing."

Sophia stepped closer.

"Can you stop it?"

"I don’t think so."

Eric looked toward the golden moon.

"Maybe we should get him out of Hildgard."

Noah shook his head.

"We can’t."

Damien frowned.

"Why?"

"Because the thing connected to me is already inside the city."

Nobody answered.

That was the part they hadn’t wanted to hear.

Deep underground, Alcris was barely standing.

Golden light surrounded him.

Every breath hurt.

Daniella stood beside him, weapon raised toward Irus.

"You’re not taking him."

Irus looked at Alcris.

"I don’t need to."

The golden thread connecting Noah to the chamber suddenly tightened.

Alcris’s body jerked.

His remaining mana was ripped from him.

He dropped to one knee.

"Alcris!"

Daniella caught him.

Irus watched without emotion.

"The ritual has enough energy."

Alcris looked up.

"You used me."

"Yes."

His expression hardened.

"You promised..."

"I promised nothing."

Daniella’s anger erupted.

"You’re going to pay for this!"

She charged.

Irus raised one hand.

Golden energy exploded outward.

Daniella was thrown across the chamber.

She hit the ground hard.

Alcris tried to stand.

His legs failed.

"Daniella..."

She pushed herself up.

"I’m fine."

"You’re lying."

"So are you."

Despite everything, Alcris almost smiled.

Almost.

Then the ancient heart gave another pulse.

BOOM.

A black crack spread across its surface.

Irus turned toward it.

Her expression changed.

"No."

The crack widened.

Something dark leaked from inside.

Not mana.

Not magic.

Something far colder.

Irus stepped backward.

Alcris noticed.

"You’re afraid."

Irus ignored him.

"Seal the heart."

Alcris laughed weakly.

"You’re the one who wanted this."

"I said seal it!"

Daniella looked at her.

"What is inside?"

Irus’s eyes remained fixed on the crack.

"The consequence."

Inside Noah’s consciousness, the battle had changed.

The golden chains binding the inner boundary were breaking.

One after another.

CRACK.

Irus stepped backward.

The Dead Zone advanced.

Noah watched them.

"What are you doing?"

The Dead Zone didn’t look at him.

"Ending this."

Irus raised her staff.

"You cannot control what comes after."

The Dead Zone smiled.

"Neither can you."

Irus attacked.

Golden light filled the darkness.

The Dead Zone disappeared.

For one second, Noah couldn’t see anything.

A collision shook his consciousness.

When the light faded, the Dead Zone was standing over Irus.

Its hand was around her throat.

Irus’s eyes widened.

"You..."

The Dead Zone leaned closer.

"You’re not taking him."

It threw her across the darkness.

Irus crashed against the invisible boundary.

The golden light around her flickered.

Noah stared.

"You beat her?"

The Dead Zone looked back.

"No."

It glanced toward the enormous gate.

"I delayed her."

The gate shook.

A deep crimson light leaked through the opening.

Noah felt his heartbeat synchronize with it.

BOOM.

His body reacted.

BOOM.

The Dead Zone’s eyes narrowed.

BOOM.

Something beyond the gate moved.

Irus slowly stood.

For the first time, genuine fear appeared on her face.

"No..."

Noah looked at her.

"What?"

She stared beyond the gate.

"It heard you."

Noah’s blood ran cold.

"What heard me?"

Irus didn’t answer.

The Dead Zone did.

"Ragnarok."

The gate opened another fraction.

A massive crimson eye appeared beyond it.

Noah couldn’t breathe.

The eye wasn’t looking at Irus.

It wasn’t looking at the Dead Zone.

It was looking directly at him.

And the system flashed a single warning:

[RAGNAROK HAS BECOME AWARE OF THE HOST.]

The crimson eye stared at Noah.

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t breathe.

Even the Dead Zone had stopped smiling.

For the first time since Noah had encountered it, that strange presence seemed genuinely cautious.

The enormous gate remained only partially open.

Beyond it, Noah could see nothing except darkness.

And that single eye.

"What..."

Noah swallowed.

"What is it looking at?"

The Dead Zone answered quietly.

"You."

The eye shifted.

Noah felt something pass through him.

Not pain.

Recognition.

His entire consciousness trembled.

[RAGNAROK AWARENESS: DETECTED]

[SYSTEM ERROR.]

[CLASSIFICATION IMPOSSIBLE.]

The messages flickered and disappeared.

Noah stared at the empty space where they had been.

"The system can’t measure it."

The Dead Zone looked toward the gate.

"It was never meant to."

Irus slowly pushed herself upright.

Her golden hair drifted around her face.

She stared at the crimson eye.

"You shouldn’t be awake."

The eye didn’t move toward her.

It remained fixed on Noah.

Irus’s expression hardened.

"You hear me."

Nothing.

She tightened her grip on her staff.

"You were supposed to remain dormant."

Still nothing.

The Dead Zone glanced at her.

"You’re talking to something that doesn’t care about you."

Irus’s eyes narrowed.

"And you think it cares about you?"

The Dead Zone smiled.

"No."

It looked at Noah.

"That’s what makes it dangerous."

Noah suddenly felt his feet leave the ground.

His consciousness was being pulled toward the gate.

"Wait!"

He reached backward.

The Dead Zone grabbed his wrist.

"Don’t."

Noah struggled.

"It’s calling me!"

"That’s exactly why you shouldn’t go."

The pull became stronger.

Noah’s body moved another step.

The Dead Zone dug its feet into the darkness.

For the first time, Noah saw something unexpected.

The Dead Zone was actually trying to hold him back.

"Why are you stopping me?"

The Dead Zone’s expression darkened.

"Because you don’t know what will happen if you answer."

Noah stared at the crimson eye.

"What if I want to know?"

The Dead Zone looked at him.

"You won’t like the answer."

The gate trembled.

The eye slowly began to close.

Noah’s chest tightened.

"Wait!"

The crimson eye opened one final time.

For a fraction of a second, Noah heard a voice.

Not from Irus.

Not from the Dead Zone.

Something deeper.

Something that seemed to come from beyond the gate.

"Inheritor."

Noah froze.

The eye closed.

The gate slammed shut.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire inner world was swallowed by darkness.

Noah’s eyes snapped open.

He was back in the academy.

Laura was holding him.

"Noah!"

He gasped for air.

Sophia looked frightened.

"What happened?"

Noah couldn’t answer immediately.

His body was trembling.

Laura crouched beside him.

"Tell me."

He looked at her.

"I heard it."

"Heard what?"

"Ragnarok."

Silence.

Eric exchanged a glance with Damien.

Before anyone could respond, the golden moon above Hildgard flickered.

Once.

Twice.

And vanished.

The city plunged into darkness.

Deep beneath Hildgard, Irus stared at the ancient heart.

The black crack had stopped spreading.

The three medallions had fallen motionless.

Alcris lay unconscious.

Daniella knelt beside him.

"Irus."

The woman didn’t respond.

Daniella stood.

"What just happened?"

Irus slowly lowered her staff.

"The ritual failed."

Daniella stared at her.

"Failed?"

Irus looked toward the darkness above.

"No."

Her voice became quieter.

"We failed to control what it awakened."

Daniella’s eyes narrowed.

"What did it awaken?"

Irus didn’t answer.

She looked at Noah’s direction.

Her golden eyes carried something unfamiliar.

Concern.

"The boundary has closed."

Daniella glanced at Alcris.

"Is Noah safe?"

Irus paused.

"For now."

Daniella’s expression hardened.

"And you?"

Irus turned toward her.

"I am not finished."

A golden glow returned to her eyes.

"Neither is Ragnarok."

Above them, Hildgard remained silent.

But beneath the silence, the ancient heart continued beating.

Once.

BOOM.

Twice.

BOOM.

And somewhere inside Noah’s consciousness, something answered.

BOOM.