Chapter 185: Reflections Of Doors

Noah stared at the child sitting inside the sixth chair.

His own face.

His own hair.

His own eyes.

But the expression was wrong.

Too calm.

Too familiar.

Too old for a child.

Laura stepped beside him.

"Noah..."

He raised one hand.

"Stay back."

The child tilted his head.

"You always say that."

Noah’s grip tightened around Shadowfang.

"Who are you?"

The child smiled faintly.

"You already know."

"No."

"You just don’t remember."

Dead Zone stirred inside Noah.

Don’t listen to him.

The child looked directly at Noah’s chest.

"You still have him."

Noah froze.

"Who?"

The child’s black eyes shifted slightly.

"Me."

Dead Zone went silent.

Noah’s expression hardened.

"You’re saying you’re Dead Zone?"

The child shook his head.

"No."

He pointed at Noah.

"I’m what was left before he became Dead Zone."

A strange pressure filled the forest.

Roana, still leaning against the tree, stared at the child.

"No..."

The child looked at her.

"You remember me."

Roana’s breathing became uneven.

"I remember the room."

"Not enough."

"You were never supposed to be there."

The child’s smile disappeared.

"Neither was he."

He pointed at Noah.

The system suddenly appeared.

[UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED.]

[RAGNAROK SIGNATURE: NONE.]

[DEAD ZONE SIGNATURE: NONE.]

[HOST SIGNATURE: MATCH.]

Noah stared at the final line.

"How can your signature match mine?"

The child stood.

The restraints around the chair fell away.

Clang.

He walked toward Noah.

Every step made the forest tremble.

"I was you before they divided you."

Noah’s heartbeat accelerated.

"Divided me?"

The child stopped a few meters away.

"Your memories."

He touched his own chest.

"Your inheritance."

He touched his head.

"Your fear."

His finger pointed toward Dead Zone.

"And your shadow."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"They separated them."

The child nodded.

"Six times."

Roana suddenly spoke.

"Six subjects."

The child looked at her.

"Six attempts."

Noah glanced between them.

"What were they trying to create?"

The child smiled.

"Ragnarok."

Dead Zone reacted instantly.

Lie.

The child looked toward Noah.

"He’s afraid."

I am not.

"You are."

Dead Zone’s silence was answer enough.

The child continued.

"They wanted to create something that could inherit Ragnarok without being destroyed by it."

Noah’s expression darkened.

"And they failed."

"Not completely."

The child stepped closer.

"They created him."

He pointed at Noah.

"And they created me."

Noah felt a chill.

"Then what happened?"

The child’s expression became strangely sad.

"They realized there wasn’t enough room."

A golden pulse moved through Noah’s chest.

The forest vanished.

For a fraction of a second, Noah saw the white room again.

Six chairs.

Six children.

Five restrained figures.

And the sixth chair.

Himself.

But this time he saw something different.

There were six shadows behind the children.

One shadow stood behind each chair.

The first was crimson.

The second was golden.

The third was black.

The fourth was silver.

The fifth was completely white.

The sixth had no color at all.

Noah blinked.

The vision disappeared.

The child was still standing before him.

"Five pieces were removed."

He raised five fingers.

"One became Ragnarok."

A second finger.

"One became Dead Zone."

A third.

"One was sealed."

A fourth.

"One was erased."

A fifth.

"And one..."

He looked directly into Noah’s eyes.

"...was never separated."

Noah’s stomach tightened.

"What does that mean?"

The child smiled.

"It means you’re not carrying six things."

He stepped closer.

"You’re the place where they were put."

Noah’s system violently glitched.

[ERROR.]

[HOST STRUCTURE REASSESSMENT.]

[BODY: HUMAN.]

[SOUL: HUMAN.]

[INHERITANCE: UNRESOLVED.]

[ORIGINAL STRUCTURE: ████████.]

The child reached toward Noah.

Dead Zone suddenly took control.

Noah’s body moved backward.

Shadowfang appeared between them.

The child stopped.

"You’re still protecting him."

Dead Zone spoke through Noah.

"Stay away."

The child smiled.

"You always did."

Dead Zone’s crimson eye burned.

"Who am I?"

The child looked at him.

For the first time, his expression softened.

"You were the part that screamed."

Dead Zone froze.

The child continued.

"They removed you because you remembered."

A silence fell.

"You remembered what they did to the others."

Dead Zone’s voice became quiet.

"What did they do?"

The child looked toward the forest.

"Ask the White-Eyed Figure."

Noah’s eyes widened.

The child stepped backward.

"Or the Black-Eyed Figure."

The golden eye beneath the earth suddenly opened again.

The child looked upward.

"They’re watching."

The forest shook.

Something enormous moved beneath the roots.

The child’s body began dissolving into black particles.

Noah stepped forward.

"Wait!"

The child looked at him one final time.

"Next time you see me..."

His black eyes softened.

"...remember that I was the first one who tried to save you."

He disappeared.

The sixth chair remained.

Empty.

Noah stared at it.

Then a single message appeared on the system.

[MEMORY RECOVERY: 3.1%]

[FIRST SUBJECT IDENTIFIED.]

Noah’s breath caught.

A second line appeared.

[SUBJECT SIX: NOAH BLACKWOOD.]

Then the final line.

[STATUS: ALIVE.]

Noah slowly looked toward the empty chair.

Dead Zone whispered inside him.

That wasn’t a memory.

Noah tightened his grip around Shadowfang.

"Then what was it?"

Dead Zone answered.

An introduction.

The sixth chair remained empty.

Noah stared at it.

The words on the system window refused to disappear.

[SUBJECT SIX: NOAH BLACKWOOD.]

[STATUS: ALIVE.]

His fingers tightened around Shadowfang.

"That doesn’t make sense."

Dead Zone remained silent.

Noah looked inward.

"You said the child wasn’t a memory."

It wasn’t.

"Then where did it come from?"

A pause.

I don’t know.

Noah frowned.

That answer had become increasingly rare.

Dead Zone always had something to say.

Even when he was wrong.

Now, there was only uncertainty.

Laura approached carefully.

"Noah."

He turned.

She glanced toward the empty chair.

"Is it gone?"

"Yes."

"What was that thing?"

Noah looked at the chair again.

"I don’t know."

Eric walked over, still covered in dirt.

"That’s becoming your favorite answer."

Noah gave him a brief look.

"Unfortunately."

Sophia examined the ground around the chair.

"There aren’t any footprints."

Damien crouched beside the crater.

"And no sign of whatever brought it here."

Luna looked toward Roana.

"Except her."

Everyone turned.

Roana was still leaning against the tree.

Her breathing had become steadier, but her face remained pale.

Laura immediately moved toward her.

"How bad is the wound?"

Roana glanced at her shoulder.

"Bad enough."

"That’s not an answer."

"I’ll survive."

Noah walked over.

"Roana."

She looked at him.

"You knew that child."

Roana didn’t respond.

"You said you remembered the sixth chair."

"I did."

"Did you remember him?"

Her eyes shifted toward the empty chair.

"Not until now."

Noah waited.

Roana closed her eyes.

"I saw him once."

"When?"

"Before you entered the academy."

Noah’s expression changed.

"Before?"

Roana nodded.

"I was younger. I was taken to that room."

Laura frowned.

"You were a child too?"

"Yes."

Roana looked at Noah.

"And he was there."

The forest seemed to grow colder.

"What did he tell you?"

Roana’s lips parted.

"He told me not to open the sixth door."

Noah stared.

"Sixth door?"

Roana nodded.

"There were six doors in that place. Five led to the chairs."

She looked at the empty space where the sixth chair had been.

"The sixth didn’t lead anywhere."

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Because there was no room behind it."

Dead Zone suddenly spoke.

There was.

Noah’s expression changed.

What?

There was a room.

Dead Zone’s voice was faint.

I remember the door.

Noah looked toward Roana.

"Where was it?"

She pointed toward the ground.

"Below us."

The earth trembled.

Everyone froze.

A deep metallic sound rolled through Hrafnviðr.

CLANG.

Noah looked down.

Another.

CLANG.

Something was pulling against chains beneath the forest.

Roana whispered:

"The sixth room."

The ground split.

A narrow staircase appeared beneath the roots.

Unlike the false room, this one was real.

Ancient stone.

Black walls.

Golden symbols carved into every step.

Noah stared into the darkness.

Laura immediately grabbed his arm.

"You’re not going down there alone."

Noah looked at her.

"I wasn’t planning to."

Eric sighed.

"Of course we’re going."

Sophia nodded.

"We’ve already come this far."

Damien drew his weapon.

"Whatever is underneath us, I’d rather meet it together."

Luna looked at Roana.

"Can you walk?"

Roana pushed herself away from the tree.

"Yes."

Laura frowned.

"You shouldn’t."

"I don’t have the luxury of staying behind."

Noah looked at the staircase.

Dead Zone whispered:

Something is calling.

"What?"

Not you.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

Dead Zone hesitated.

Then:

Me.

Noah stared into the darkness.

A faint crimson glow appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Not an eye.

A symbol.

The same broken-crown mark associated with Ragnarok.

But beneath it was something Noah had never seen.

A second symbol.

A black circle divided by six lines.

The system appeared.

[ANCIENT STRUCTURE DETECTED.]

[DESIGNATION: UNKNOWN.]

[RAGNAROK SIGNATURE: 0.03%.]

[DEAD ZONE SIGNATURE: 0.03%.]

Noah frowned.

Both signatures were identical.

Then the system changed.

[WARNING.]

[SIGNATURES ARE NOT ORIGINATING FROM THE HOST.]

Noah’s eyes widened.

The glow at the bottom of the stairs intensified.

Dead Zone whispered:

Someone else is using our signatures.

A voice echoed from below.

Not the child’s.

Not the Watcher’s.

Not the White-Eyed Figure’s.

A new voice.

Calm.

Ancient.

Almost human.

"You took long enough."

Everyone froze.

Noah raised Shadowfang.

"Who’s there?"

Silence.

Then the voice answered.

"The sixth room remembers you."

The golden symbols on the stairs ignited one after another.

"Come down, Noah Blackwood."

Noah took one step.

The voice continued.

"Before the others wake."

Noah stopped.

"The others?"

A low laugh echoed from beneath the earth.

"You really don’t remember."

The staircase shook.

Behind Noah, every tree in Hrafnviðr suddenly turned black.

And far above the forest, hidden beyond the clouds, two distant lights appeared.

One white.

One black.

Watching.

Noah looked down the staircase.

Shadowfang began to vibrate.

Dead Zone whispered:

We should leave.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

"You’ve never said that before."

Exactly.

Noah took another step.

And the darkness below opened its eyes.