Chapter 145: The name she forgot
The mountain trembled, a deafening roar rolled across the valley as dozens of disciples rushed toward the eastern watchtower, alarm bells echoed through Soul Cross Sect, each strike louder than the last.
"Enemy breach!"
"The barrier has been damaged!"
"All inner disciples report immediately!"
Seraph Skye shot out of his courtyard without hesitation. His robe fluttered behind him as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Halo’s familiar voice rang inside his mind.
[Warning. Multiple hostile signatures detected.]
"How many?"
[Forty-three outside the barrier. Seven have already crossed inside.]
Seraph’s eyes narrowed.
"That’s impossible. The defensive formation should have detected them."
[It did. Someone disabled a section from within.]
A traitor.
His expression darkened.
The realization barely settled before a violent explosion erupted near the western residence halls. Flames climbed into the night sky, illuminating terrified disciples fleeing in every direction.
A wounded elder stumbled across the courtyard.
"They’re after the archives!" he shouted.
Seraph changed direction immediately.
The archives held centuries of cultivation manuals, forbidden records, and the Soul Cross Sect’s greatest secrets. If the enemy reached them, the damage would be irreversible.
He accelerated.
His Synchrony state spread through his body.
Soul and flesh became one.
Every heartbeat sharpened his senses.
Every breath slowed the world around him.
Three masked figures appeared ahead.
Without speaking, they attacked.
Black chains shot toward him.
Seraph stepped aside.
The first chain scraped the ground.
The second missed his shoulder by inches.
The third...
He caught it.
The attacker froze.
"What?"
Seraph twisted his wrist.
The chain snapped.
Before the man could react, Seraph closed the distance with a single step.
His fist struck the attacker’s chest.
The impact sent the masked cultivator crashing through a stone wall.
The remaining two exchanged glances.
"Synchrony..."
"So the reports were true."
They attacked together.
One drew twin curved blades.
The other summoned crimson talismans that exploded into dozens of burning spears.
Halo spoke calmly.
[Eight attack trajectories.]
"I see them."
Seraph slid beneath the first wave, kicked off the ground, and spun through the air.
His palm landed on the talisman user’s shoulder.
A pulse of spiritual energy erupted.
The man’s meridians locked instantly.
He collapsed without understanding what had happened.
The blade wielder lunged.
Fast.
Precise.
Experienced.
Steel clashed against Seraph’s newly forged soul blade.
Sparks scattered through the courtyard.
The masked cultivator smiled beneath his hood.
"I’ve waited a long time to meet the Inventor."
Seraph said nothing.
He simply watched.
Every movement.
Every shift of weight.
Every breath.
Then he noticed it.
A slight delay whenever the enemy switched hands.
An old injury.
He moved.
One feint.
One sidestep.
One strike.
The blade shattered.
The masked man staggered backward.
"You..."
Seraph drove his elbow into the man’s stomach before delivering a kick that launched him into the burning remains of a nearby pavilion.
Silence followed.
Only the crackling fire remained.
Halo interrupted.
[More enemies approaching.]
"How many?"
[Twenty-one.]
Seraph frowned.
"Too many."
Before he could move again, Elder Song landed beside him.
Blood stained the elder’s sleeve, but his eyes remained sharp.
"They’ve split into three groups."
"I know."
"They’re not here to destroy the sect."
Seraph looked toward the archives.
"They’re searching for something."
Elder Song nodded slowly.
"So you figured it out."
"What are they after?"
The elder hesitated.
For the first time since Seraph had met him, uncertainty crossed his face.
"A sealed record."
"What record?"
"It contains the names of every child who disappeared during the Reapers’ first experiments."
Seraph’s heartbeat skipped.
Yelena.
Agent-YN.
Jayde.
Pieces began fitting together.
"If they erase that record..."
"We lose our only proof."
Another explosion interrupted them.
This one came from the archives.
"No."
Seraph vanished.
The doors had already been blasted apart when he arrived.
Books burned.
Ancient scrolls floated through smoke-filled air.
Several elders fought desperately against black-robed invaders.
Bodies littered the marble floor.
At the center stood a woman wearing a silver mask.
Unlike the others, she made no attempt to fight.
She simply searched.
Drawer after drawer.
Shelf after shelf.
Almost calmly.
Seraph stepped forward.
"Looking for something?"
She paused.
Slowly, she turned.
Her silver mask reflected the firelight.
"You arrived earlier than expected."
Her voice...
Seraph froze.
Something about it felt painfully familiar.
Halo’s tone changed immediately.
[Seraph...]
"I know."
The woman tilted her head.
"I’ve heard much about you."
"I can’t say the same."
"No?"
She reached into her robe.
Instead of drawing a weapon, she produced an old wooden pendant.
A cracked pendant.
One Seraph had not seen since he was five years old.
His breathing stopped.
That pendant...
Yelena had carved it herself.
She had laughed when the carving came out crooked.
She had promised never to lose it.
It now rested in the stranger’s hand.
"Where did you get that?" Seraph asked quietly.
The woman looked down at it.
"I’ve always had it."
"You’re lying."
"Am I?"
She removed her mask.
Seraph’s pupils contracted.
Silver hair.
Gentle blue eyes.
The same face he had searched for over the years.
Older.
Colder.
Marked by countless battles.
But unmistakable.
"...Yelena?"
The woman stared at him without recognition.
"I’m sorry."
Her expression never changed.
"I don’t know anyone by that name."
Behind her, dozens of Reaper assassins suddenly emerged from the shadows.
Then Halo uttered six words that made Seraph’s blood run cold.
[She remembers you... but she’s resisting it.]
Yelena’s eyes never left his.
For a heartbeat, the world fell silent.
The flames.
The screams.
The clash of weapons outside.
Everything faded beneath the weight of that single moment.
Seraph searched her face, desperate for even the smallest sign that she recognized him.
Nothing.
Only cold indifference.
The Reaper assassins spread out, cutting off every exit to the archives.
One of them stepped forward and knelt.
"Commander Zero-Nine. The record has been located."
The silver-haired woman extended her hand.
"Bring it."
The assassin presented an ancient jade scroll wrapped in faded golden silk.
Seraph’s heart sank.
The record.
They had found it.
He took a step forward.
"You won’t leave with that."
More than twenty assassins raised their weapons in unison.
Spiritual pressure flooded the hall.
Broken shelves splintered.
Loose pages swirled through the air like frightened birds.
Commander Zero-Nine calmly tucked the scroll into her spatial ring.
"You should leave."
Seraph stared at her.
"Yelena..."
"My name isn’t Yelena."
"It is."
"No."
"It was the first name Father taught you to write."
A flicker.
Barely noticeable.
Her fingers twitched.
Halo immediately spoke.
[Memory disturbance detected.]
Seraph continued.
"You hated vegetables."
No response.
"You cried because your first wooden sword broke."
Silence.
"You carved that pendant for me after saying your first one looked like a potato."
The corner of her lips moved.
Not a smile.
More like confusion.
Several assassins exchanged uneasy glances.
"Commander?"
She ignored them.
Seraph slowly lowered his sword.
"I searched for you."
Still nothing.
"I thought you were dead."
The silver-haired woman’s breathing became uneven.
A sharp pain flashed across her face.
Suddenly she grabbed her head.
Images flooded her mind.
A little boy chasing her through the courtyard.
Their mother laughing.
Snow falling over the Moonveil Clan.
A crooked wooden pendant.
Then—
Pain.
Chains.
Blood.
Dark laboratories.
Screams.
A man’s voice.
"Forget."
Everything shattered.
She staggered backward.
"No..."
One assassin hurried toward her.
"Commander, are you alright?"
She shoved him away with enough force to send him crashing through a bookshelf.
"I said..."
Her voice shook.
"Don’t touch me."
Seraph’s eyes widened.
That wasn’t the Reaper commander speaking.
That sounded like...
"Big Sister?"
For the first time...
She looked at him differently.
Not as an enemy.
Not as a stranger.
But as someone she almost knew.
A single tear escaped the corner of her eye.
"I..."
Her hand reached toward him.
Then her body froze.
Dark runes suddenly spread across her neck.
Halo reacted instantly.
[Mental suppression seal activated.]
"What?"
[Someone is controlling her.]
The runes climbed higher.
Across her cheeks.
Behind her ears.
Her eyes lost their softness.
The warmth disappeared.
She lowered her hand.
Her face became emotionless once again.
"Target identified."
Her voice was empty.
"Eliminate Seraph Skye."
Every assassin moved.
Seraph cursed under his breath.
"So that’s how they’re controlling her."
The first assassin struck.
Seraph sidestepped and drove his shoulder into the man’s chest.
Bones cracked.
The attacker flew backward.
Another appeared behind him.
A dagger stabbed toward his neck.
Seraph ducked.
The blade sliced only air.
He swept the assassin’s legs before smashing a palm into his ribs.
The floor cracked beneath the impact.
Three more rushed him.
Synchrony flared.
His perception expanded.
Time seemed to slow.
Every heartbeat became crystal clear.
Every movement became predictable.
He slipped between attacks like flowing water.
One punch.
One elbow.
One kick.
Three enemies fell.
But they kept coming.
"They’re not afraid of dying," Elder Song shouted as he fought nearby.
"They’re buying time!"
Seraph looked toward Yelena.
She wasn’t fighting.
She was standing before the broken archive shelves.
Drawing strange symbols into the air.
A formation.
"No..."
Halo’s voice became urgent.
[Spatial Formation.]
"What does it do?"
[Escape.]
Seraph dashed toward her.
Five assassins intercepted him.
He drew his soul blade.
Blue light erupted across the room.
One clean slash.
The attackers were thrown aside.
He reached the formation just as it activated.
"Yelena!"
She looked at him.
Just once.
The cold mask cracked again.
Her lips trembled.
"...Run..."
The whisper was almost inaudible.
Then another voice echoed from nowhere.
Cold.
Ancient.
Filled with absolute authority.
"Subject Zero-Nine."
"Return."
The runes covering her body blazed with crimson light.
She clenched both fists.
"No..."
Her knees buckled.
"I..."
The unseen voice spoke again.
"Obey."
Yelena screamed.
Not in fear.
In agony.
The sound tore through the archives.
Every assassin immediately dropped to one knee.
Even Elder Song stopped fighting.
The pressure filling the room was overwhelming.
Seraph had never felt anything like it.
Whoever was speaking...
Was far beyond anyone he had encountered.
The spatial gate expanded.
Wind howled through the room.
Yelena was slowly pulled toward it against her will.
She fought every inch.
Her fingers dug into the stone floor, leaving long cracks behind.
"Seraph..."
His eyes widened.
She remembered.
For that single instant...
She remembered everything.
"I’m sorry..."
The words nearly broke him.
He lunged forward.
"I’ve got you!"
Their hands were only inches apart.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
A black spear burst from the portal.
It shot straight toward Seraph’s heart.
Halo roared inside his mind.
[DODGE! NOW!]
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