Chapter 169: Golden and Shadow

"Noah Blackwood."

The voice whispered his name again.

This time, the entire realm heard it.

The crimson sky trembled. The fractured floor stopped collapsing. Even the Watcher’s reconstructed body froze, its countless eyes turning toward the mouth beneath the golden seal.

Noah stood motionless.

Every instinct screamed at him to respond.

To ask who was calling.

To demand an explanation.

But the ancient prisoner’s warning echoed through his mind.

Do not answer.

Dead Zone grabbed Noah’s arm. "Don’t."

"I wasn’t going to."

"Your heartbeat says otherwise."

Noah looked down.

Golden light pulsed beneath his skin, responding to the voice below. Each pulse made the seal rotate another fraction.

The mouth beneath it widened.

"Noah Blackwood," it repeated. "You have carried the wrong name."

The words struck him harder than any weapon.

The shadow behind him leaned forward, its golden slit glowing.

It remembers you.

Noah turned sharply. "What does that mean?"

The shadow did not answer.

Instead, it reached toward the seal.

Dead Zone moved instantly, driving Shadowfang through its arm. The blade pinned the shadow to the fractured ground.

The silhouette twisted, but Dead Zone pressed his foot against its chest.

"You’re not touching him."

You still think protection makes you different from the ones who imprisoned us.

Dead Zone’s crimson aura intensified.

"Keep talking."

"Stop!" Noah shouted.

Both figures turned toward him.

Noah’s chest tightened. The golden seal was opening faster now, and he could feel something pulling at the edges of his consciousness.

Not trying to enter.

Trying to make him remember.

A vision struck.

A child stood in a room made of white stone. His hands were bound with golden chains. Three figures watched from behind a glass wall.

One wore a crown.

One carried a black sword.

The third had no face.

The child looked up.

Noah recognized the eyes.

His own.

A voice spoke from behind the glass.

The vessel must forget before the inheritance can begin.

The vision fractured.

Noah fell to his knees.

"Stop showing me this!"

The mouth beneath the seal fell silent.

Then it whispered:

"You were never the vessel."

The golden seal split down the center.

A column of darkness erupted from the opening, swallowing the crimson light around it. The Watcher’s body was dragged toward the abyss, its limbs tearing apart as invisible forces pulled it downward.

EXTRACTION GATE: 18% → 41%.

HOST IDENTIFICATION ERROR.

RAGNAROK SIGNATURE: UNSTABLE.

The ancient prisoner screamed and tore another chain from its shoulder.

The golden-black entity rushed forward, striking the seal with its damaged palm.

The explosion forced the opening shut for a single second.

A single second was all Noah needed.

He seized Shadowfang.

Dead Zone released the shadow and turned toward him.

"What are you doing?"

Noah stood, blood running down his arms.

"If it wants me to answer..."

Golden light gathered around the sword.

"...I’ll make it listen instead."

He raised Shadowfang toward the golden seal.

The voice beneath the floor whispered one final time.

"Remember who you were."

Noah brought the blade down.

The seal shattered.

And something on the other side began screaming.

The scream tore through the realm.

It was not loud.

It was worse than loud.

The sound entered Noah’s bones, slipping beneath his skin and clawing through his consciousness. The crimson sky folded inward, while fragments of the shattered seal floated around him like pieces of broken glass.

Every fragment contained an image.

A battlefield.

A burning city.

A child kneeling beneath golden chains.

And a black sword buried in someone’s chest.

Noah stumbled backward, clutching his head.

"Make it stop!"

The scream intensified.

Dead Zone seized his shoulder, but even he staggered beneath the pressure. Crimson energy leaked from his body in uncontrolled bursts.

The ancient prisoner dropped to one knee.

"No..."

The golden-black entity stood before the broken seal, its damaged hand slowly regenerating.

"What have you released?" it asked.

The prisoner lifted its head.

"Not released."

Its stitched eyes opened fully, revealing empty golden light.

"Recognized."

A crack appeared in the darkness beyond the shattered seal.

Something pressed against the other side.

A fingertip emerged.

Pale.

Thin.

Covered in symbols that moved like insects beneath the skin.

The Watcher’s reconstructed body suddenly turned toward it.

All its eyes opened.

UNKNOWN ENTITY CONFIRMED.

IDENTIFICATION:—

The system notification collapsed into a string of unreadable symbols.

The Watcher began retreating.

Not strategically.

Desperately.

Its crimson body stretched toward the sky, attempting to escape the realm entirely. But black threads erupted from the shattered seal and wrapped around its limbs.

The Watcher struggled.

Its eyes flickered between Noah and the emerging hand.

The shadow behind Noah whispered:

It remembers what happened last time.

Noah forced himself upright. "What happened?"

The shadow turned toward him.

You survived.

Before Noah could demand more, the pale hand gripped the edge of the broken seal.

The darkness opened wider.

A figure began pulling itself through.

Only one shoulder and part of its head were visible, but its presence crushed the surrounding realm. Golden symbols ignited across the floor, and the remaining chains beneath the prison snapped one after another.

The ancient prisoner roared and lunged.

The golden-black entity moved with it.

Both struck the emerging figure simultaneously.

Their attacks collided against an invisible barrier.

The impact sent them flying.

Dead Zone raised Shadowfang.

"Now, Noah!"

Noah understood immediately.

He stepped forward, golden light gathering around his body. Dead Zone’s crimson aura wrapped around the sword, while Noah’s energy flowed through the blade.

For the first time, their powers did not clash.

They aligned.

The system appeared between them.

DUAL SIGNATURE SYNCHRONIZATION DETECTED.

COMPATIBILITY: 3%.

WARNING: SYNCHRONIZATION MAY CAUSE PERMANENT INTERNAL DAMAGE.

Noah gripped Shadowfang tighter.

"Three percent is enough."

Dead Zone’s crimson eye narrowed.

"Don’t slow me down."

"Don’t lose yourself."

They launched forward.

The emerging figure finally turned its head.

A single eye opened beneath the darkness.

Not crimson.

Not gold.

Completely white.

Noah’s sword reached it.

The figure raised one finger.

The blade stopped inches from its eye.

But this time, Noah did not stop pushing.

Golden light surged through his arms. Dead Zone’s crimson energy exploded around the sword, and the realm beneath them began collapsing completely.

The figure’s finger trembled.

A thin line appeared across its white eye.

For the first time, it spoke.

"Ragnarok."

Noah froze.

The figure’s eye shifted toward him.

"Why are you wearing his inheritance?"

Dead Zone’s aura erupted.

Noah’s grip tightened.

And the figure smiled.