Chapter 183: Different Lane

The voice remained in the darkness.

"This time... don’t let them separate us."

Noah couldn’t move.

For the first time since entering the false Hildgard, even Dead Zone had nothing to say.

The Watcher trembled.

Its three crimson eyes stared at the narrow opening.

"No..."

Roana looked at it.

"You know that voice."

The Watcher didn’t answer.

"Who is it?"

Silence.

Roana stepped closer.

"Who is behind that door?"

The Watcher’s body began to distort.

Its crimson flesh peeled away in strips, revealing the countless memories beneath.

"CANNOT IDENTIFY."

Its voice glitched.

"CANNOT IDENTIFY."

Again.

"CANNOT..."

The third eye shattered.

Roana flinched.

The remaining two eyes turned toward Noah.

"YOU MUST NOT OPEN IT."

Noah looked at the door.

"Why?"

The Watcher didn’t answer.

Instead, the black door opened another inch.

A small hand appeared through the gap.

A child’s hand.

Noah’s breath caught.

He knew it.

Not because he remembered touching it.

Because something inside him recognized it.

Dead Zone finally spoke.

Noah.

I know.

That’s my hand.

Noah’s eyes widened.

"What?"

I remember.

The words sent a chill through him.

That room.

Dead Zone’s voice trembled.

I was there.

The Watcher suddenly lunged.

"No!"

Its remaining two eyes released beams of crimson energy.

Noah raised Shadowfang.

BOOM!

The first beam struck the blade.

The second curved around it.

Roana pushed Noah aside.

The beam tore through her shoulder.

"Roana!"

She crashed onto the ground.

Blood soaked her sleeve.

Noah’s expression changed.

The golden light around him surged.

"You..."

The Watcher turned toward Roana.

"THE HAND MUST NOT REMAIN."

Noah’s grip tightened.

Dead Zone’s voice became cold.

Now.

Noah disappeared.

He crossed the distance in an instant.

Shadowfang pierced through the Watcher’s chest.

CRACK!

The blade emerged from its back.

The Watcher froze.

Noah whispered:

"You’re not touching her again."

The Watcher’s two remaining eyes stared at him.

"YOU STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND."

Noah twisted the sword.

"Explain."

The Watcher’s body began collapsing.

"I WAS NEVER WATCHING YOU."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

The Watcher looked toward the door.

"I WAS WATCHING WHAT WAS INSIDE YOU."

Silence.

Noah felt Dead Zone stiffen.

No.

The Watcher continued.

"THE THING YOU CALL DEAD ZONE..."

Its crimson body cracked.

"...WAS NEVER THE FIRST ONE."

Noah’s heart stopped.

Dead Zone didn’t speak.

The Watcher’s remaining eye shattered.

Its body collapsed into a storm of crimson fragments.

And the false city began disappearing.

Buildings vanished.

Roads dissolved.

The three moons shattered into darkness.

Only the black door remained.

Roana struggled to stand.

"Noah..."

He didn’t answer.

His attention was fixed on the doorway.

The child’s hand was still there.

Then the door opened wider.

A small boy stepped through.

Black hair.

Pale skin.

A familiar face.

Young Noah.

But this time, his eyes weren’t white.

They were completely black.

Noah stared at himself.

The child looked directly at him.

"You’re late."

Noah’s breathing stopped.

Dead Zone finally whispered:

That’s not a memory.

The child smiled.

It’s me.

Noah’s blood ran cold.

The child raised his hand.

Behind him, somewhere in the darkness, something enormous moved.

"Come on."

He looked at Noah.

"They’re waking up."

The black door slammed shut.

BOOM.

The false Hildgard disappeared completely.

Noah woke on the forest floor.

Real Hrafnviðr surrounded him.

The transport was still nearby.

Sophia, Luna, Eric, Damien and Laura were standing around him.

Laura immediately rushed forward.

"Noah!"

He pushed himself upright.

Everyone stared.

Roana was lying several meters away.

Unconscious.

Blood covered her shoulder.

Laura’s expression changed.

"What happened?"

Noah looked at Roana.

Then at Shadowfang.

Then toward the forest.

He could still hear the child’s voice.

They’re waking up.

Noah slowly stood.

"I don’t know."

Inside his mind, Dead Zone whispered one final sentence.

But I remember the first chair now.

The forest was silent.

Too silent.

Noah stood beneath the dark canopy of Hrafnviðr, staring at nothing.

The false Hildgard was gone.

The black door was gone.

The child was gone.

But the words remained.

They’re waking up.

Noah slowly looked down at his hands.

They were shaking.

Not from fear.

From recognition.

"Dead Zone."

No response.

Noah frowned.

"Dead Zone."

A heartbeat echoed inside his chest.

THUMP.

Then a voice.

I’m here.

"You said you remembered the first chair."

Silence.

Laura noticed Noah’s expression.

"Noah?"

He looked at her.

"I’m fine."

She didn’t believe him.

Neither did Sophia.

Eric glanced toward the unconscious Roana.

"Can someone explain what happened?"

Noah opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Before he could answer, Laura knelt beside Roana.

"She’s losing blood."

Damien immediately removed part of his coat and pressed it against the wound.

"Her shoulder took the hit. The bone might be damaged."

Luna looked toward the trees.

"Was that thing responsible?"

Noah nodded.

"Yes."

Sophia’s eyes narrowed.

"Did you kill it?"

Noah looked at Shadowfang.

The blade was completely black again.

"I don’t know."

That answer unsettled everyone.

Eric stood.

"We need to leave."

Noah looked at him.

Eric pointed toward the forest.

"Whatever happened here, the entire place feels wrong."

He wasn’t exaggerating.

The trees were moving.

Not from wind.

Their branches were slowly turning toward Noah.

One by one.

Laura noticed.

"Noah..."

He looked around.

Every tree faced him.

Dead Zone whispered inside his mind.

They’re listening.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"Keep moving."

The group gathered around Roana.

Laura helped support her weight while Damien carried most of it.

They began walking toward the transport.

Five steps.

Ten.

Then Noah stopped.

"Wait."

Everyone froze.

A faint sound had come from behind them.

Clink.

Metal against stone.

Noah slowly turned.

Nothing.

Another sound.

Clink.

Closer.

Shadowfang appeared in his hand.

Sophia raised her weapon.

"Something’s coming."

Noah stared into the darkness.

A thin golden line appeared between two trees.

It stretched vertically.

Like a door.

Laura’s face went pale.

"That’s..."

"Yes," Noah said.

The same symbol from the false city appeared beneath it.

ORIGIN.

Eric stepped backward.

"Wasn’t that destroyed?"

"No."

Noah’s eyes remained fixed on the glowing line.

"It followed us."

The golden line widened.

A small room appeared between the trees.

White walls.

White floor.

Six metal chairs.

Noah’s stomach tightened.

Dead Zone whispered:

The first chair.

Noah stepped forward.

Laura grabbed his arm.

"Don’t."

He looked at her.

"I need to know."

"Noah, every time you walk toward one of these things, something horrible happens."

"I know."

"Then why are you going?"

He looked at the room.

"Because whatever happened there happened to me."

Laura released his arm.

She didn’t agree.

But she understood.

Noah entered.

The others remained outside.

The room smelled sterile.

Cold.

Empty.

Five chairs were untouched.

The sixth was different.

Its restraints were broken.

Deep scratches covered the metal.

Noah approached it.

His heartbeat accelerated.

THUMP.

The room flickered.

For half a second, Noah saw himself sitting there.

A child.

Wrists restrained.

Eyes closed.

A figure standing behind him.

White eyes.

Noah blinked.

The vision vanished.

Dead Zone spoke.

I remember.

Noah stared at the chair.

"What happened?"

They put me there.

"Why?"

I don’t know.

A second memory surfaced.

A black-eyed figure stood beside the child.

Then a third presence entered.

The same shadow from before.

But this time, Noah heard its voice.

"Begin separation."

The room shook.

Noah stepped back.

"What separation?"

Dead Zone’s voice became faint.

Mine.

Noah froze.

They separated something from me.

The sixth chair suddenly lit up.

A system window appeared.

[MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED.]

[ORIGINAL INHERITANCE RECORD: DAMAGED.]

[RECOVERY: 0.7%]

Noah stared.

Then another line appeared.

[SUBJECT DESIGNATION: NOAH BLACKWOOD.]

He exhaled.

For a moment, relief.

Then the text changed.

[ERROR.]

[DESIGNATION DOES NOT MATCH ORIGINAL RECORD.]

Noah’s eyes widened.

Behind him, Laura shouted.

"NOAH!"

He turned.

The doorway had disappeared.

The white room was now sealed.

The other five stood outside, separated from him.

Laura struck the invisible barrier.

"Noah!"

He ran toward her.

His hand collided with something solid.

A transparent wall.

"I’m okay!"

Laura shook her head.

"No, you’re not!"

The lights above them flickered.

One by one, the five empty chairs began moving.

Their restraints opened.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Five chairs.

Five empty places.

Noah looked at them.

Dead Zone whispered:

We weren’t alone.

A sixth heartbeat began.

THUMP.

The system flashed.

[MEMORY RECOVERY: 1.0%]

Then a final message appeared.

[WARNING: ORIGINAL SUBJECTS ARE REACTIVATING.]

Noah’s expression hardened.

Outside the room, the forest suddenly erupted with golden eyes.

Hundreds.

Laura looked around in horror.

And somewhere deep beneath Hrafnviðr, something laughed.

"One has awakened."