Chapter 146: The Voice Beyond the Gate
The spear reached him first.
Instinct took over.
Seraph twisted his body just enough for the black spear to miss his heart.
Instead, it tore through his left shoulder.
Blood sprayed across the shattered archive floor.
The impact hurled him backward, smashing him through two stone pillars before he finally rolled to a stop.
Pain exploded through his body.
His vision blurred.
Halo’s voice echoed urgently.
[Critical injury detected.]
[Corrosive spiritual energy spreading.]
[Purging... unsuccessful.]
Seraph forced himself to his feet.
His left arm hung uselessly by his side.
The wound refused to close.
Black veins crept across his shoulder, devouring his spiritual energy.
"Seraph!"
Elder Song cut down two assassins before rushing toward him.
"Stay back!" Seraph shouted.
The old man froze.
A second spear slowly emerged from the swirling portal.
It wasn’t aimed at Seraph.
It was aimed at Elder Song.
Without thinking, Seraph lunged.
His soul blade met the spear head-on.
BOOM!
The collision shattered every remaining bookshelf inside the archives.
Ancient manuals scattered into the storm of spiritual energy.
Seraph slid across the floor, boots carving deep trenches into the marble.
His hands trembled.
"Impossible..."
The spear hadn’t broken.
Not even a scratch.
Halo’s tone became grim.
[Estimated strength exceeds Nascent Soul Realm.]
Seraph frowned.
"That’s impossible."
[Correct.]
[The owner isn’t here.]
[This attack crossed dimensions.]
His heart skipped a beat.
Someone was attacking from the other side of the portal.
Just how powerful were they?
The unseen voice echoed once more.
"Interesting."
It no longer sounded distant.
It sounded amused.
"You survived."
Every cultivator inside the archive stiffened.
Even the Reaper assassins lowered their heads.
The pressure in the room doubled.
Cracks spread across the walls.
Several weaker disciples outside the building collapsed unconscious.
Seraph steadied his breathing.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then...
"You are not yet worthy to know my name."
The words carried no anger.
Only certainty.
As though Seraph were an insect asking the heavens to introduce themselves.
Seraph gritted his teeth.
"I’ll ask again."
This time, the voice laughed.
Softly.
"I admire your courage."
"But courage without strength..."
"It is merely ignorance."
The portal expanded.
Dark mist poured from its center.
A single hand emerged.
Pale.
Elegant.
Covered in black runes.
It reached toward Yelena.
She resisted with everything she had.
"No!"
The runes burned brighter.
Her knees hit the floor.
Blood trickled from her nose.
"I won’t..."
The unseen figure tightened its fingers.
"You belong to me."
Yelena screamed again.
Seraph had heard screams before.
From beasts.
From dying cultivators.
From tortured prisoners.
None sounded like this.
This wasn’t pain.
This was someone having their soul torn apart.
His anger exploded.
Synchrony surged on its own.
Blue light erupted beneath his feet.
Soul energy and spiritual energy merged perfectly.
The archive shook violently.
Halo sounded shocked.
[Synchrony... ninety-three percent.]
"What?"
[You’re breaking your previous limit.]
Seraph ignored the warning.
He stepped forward.
Once.
Twice.
Every step cracked the floor.
The hand inside the portal paused.
"Oh?"
The voice finally carried interest.
"You’ve grown."
Seraph raised his soul blade.
"I don’t know who you are."
"I don’t care who you are."
"But she’s leaving with me."
The room fell silent.
Then...
The figure laughed again.
"Loyalty."
"An amusing weakness."
The black hand flicked one finger.
Invisible force exploded outward.
Seraph crossed his blade.
The impact still launched him through another wall.
Fresh blood spilled from his mouth.
Three ribs snapped.
His vision darkened.
Halo spoke rapidly.
[Internal bleeding.]
[Spiritual core destabilizing.]
[Recommended action: retreat.]
Seraph pushed himself up again.
"No."
[Probability of victory... less than one percent.]
"I said..."
He wiped the blood from his lips.
"...No."
Yelena stared at him.
Her expression changed.
Not cold.
Not empty.
Heartbroken.
"You idiot..."
The words escaped before she could stop them.
Seraph smiled.
There she was.
His sister.
Still buried beneath years of manipulation.
"You remembered."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I never..."
She struggled to speak.
"...forgot."
The confession echoed through the room.
The runes covering her body suddenly shattered.
One after another.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Commander Zero-Nine disappeared.
Only Yelena remained.
The portal trembled violently.
For the first time...
The unseen master sounded angry.
"So."
"You finally broke the seal."
The temperature dropped.
The portal widened until it nearly reached the ceiling.
A silhouette slowly formed inside the darkness.
Only its outline was visible.
Tall.
Robed.
Crowned by countless floating runes.
Its eyes opened.
Golden.
Ancient.
They locked onto Seraph.
"I have watched your growth since the day you were reborn."
Seraph’s breathing stopped.
Reborn?
The figure knew?
Halo fell completely silent.
Something Seraph had never experienced before.
Then, after several long seconds, Halo whispered...
Not with confidence.
Not with sarcasm.
But with fear.
[...He knows about Earth.]
Halo had gone silent.
Not because it chose to.
Because it couldn’t speak.
Seraph had never experienced that before.
The system that had guided him since his reincarnation now felt... afraid.
The golden eyes within the portal remained fixed on him.
"You’ve become far more troublesome than I anticipated," the ancient figure said.
Its voice carried no emotion.
It wasn’t angry.
It was simply stating a fact.
Seraph tightened his grip on his soul blade.
"You know me."
"I do."
"You know Halo."
The figure nodded once.
"I know what it truly is."
A chill ran down Seraph’s spine.
"Halo," he called inwardly.
No response.
"Halo!"
Still nothing.
Instead, a new notification appeared before his eyes.
[Emergency Protocol Activated.]
[Primary Functions Temporarily Locked.]
[Hidden Archive Unsealed.]
"What?"
Golden symbols flooded his vision.
Ancient text he had never seen before floated across his consciousness.
Then a single sentence appeared.
Creator Authorization Confirmed.
Before Seraph could understand its meaning, the figure inside the portal raised a finger.
A beam of black light shot toward him.
Too fast.
Too powerful.
He couldn’t dodge.
Yelena moved first.
"No!"
She threw herself between them.
The beam pierced straight through her abdomen.
Blood splashed across Seraph’s face.
Time seemed to stop.
Yelena looked down at the wound.
A weak smile appeared on her lips.
"So..."
"I finally protected you..."
Seraph caught her before she could hit the floor.
"No."
His voice cracked.
"No, no, no..."
Blood poured between his fingers.
The wound refused to close.
The ancient figure sighed.
"Love."
"Such an inefficient emotion."
Seraph slowly looked up.
His eyes no longer held fear.
Only rage.
Pure.
Silent.
Uncontrollable rage.
"You..."
His spiritual energy exploded outward.
The entire archive shook.
The remaining assassins stumbled backward.
Even Elder Song had to shield his eyes from the blinding blue light.
Halo’s voice suddenly returned.
Weak.
Distorted.
[Seraph...]
"You disappeared."
[I was... sealed.]
"Who is he?"
Silence lingered for several seconds.
When Halo answered, its voice was unlike anything Seraph had ever heard.
Heavy.
Ancient.
"He is one of the Seven Architects."
The words echoed through Seraph’s mind.
"What are the Seven Architects?"
"They are the ones who created the world barriers."
"They govern countless cultivation worlds."
"They erase civilizations that grow beyond their control."
Seraph froze.
"They... created this world?"
"No."
"They conquered it."
The ancient figure smiled.
"So."
"It remembers."
Halo’s tone sharpened.
"I never forgot."
The figure laughed.
"You always were the most disobedient."
Seraph’s heart pounded.
"You two know each other?"
"We were created together."
Created?
"What are you talking about?"
Halo remained silent for a moment.
Then...
"I was never just a cultivation system."
"I am the last surviving World Core."
Everything inside Seraph’s mind went blank.
A World Core?
"You deserve the truth," Halo continued.
"The day you died on Earth..."
"It wasn’t an accident."
Seraph’s breathing stopped.
"What?"
"You were chosen."
"I brought your soul here."
His grip on Yelena loosened.
"You..."
"I needed someone capable of changing fate."
"So I chose you."
Memories flooded back.
The truck.
The rain.
The blinding light.
The strange warmth before everything disappeared.
It hadn’t been random.
Halo had planned it.
"You used me."
"I asked for your life."
"I gave you another."
Seraph’s emotions twisted together.
Anger.
Confusion.
Gratitude.
Betrayal.
Before he could speak, the Architect interrupted.
"Touching."
"But your reunion ends now."
The portal behind him expanded until it swallowed half the archive.
Countless chains burst from the darkness.
Each chain radiated enough pressure to crush a mountain.
They rushed toward Seraph and Yelena simultaneously.
Halo shouted.
[Move!]
Seraph stood his ground.
"I won’t run."
His Synchrony reached its limit.
Soul.
Body.
Mind.
Everything became perfectly aligned.
Blue lightning danced around him.
The floor beneath his feet melted into glass.
Elder Song stared in disbelief.
"That aura..."
"It’s changing."
The chains descended.
Seraph swung once.
A crescent of blue light tore through the air.
Instead of stopping...
It sliced apart the first chain.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The Architect’s smile vanished.
"...Interesting."
Seraph stepped forward.
Another slash.
Five more chains exploded into fragments.
The remaining assassins instinctively retreated.
Even they had never seen their master’s power stopped.
Halo spoke rapidly.
[Listen carefully.]
[You cannot defeat him.]
"I know."
[But you can destroy the portal.]
Seraph looked toward the swirling gate.
"If the portal closes..."
"He’ll lose his connection to this world."
"And Yelena?"
[She stays.]
That was enough.
Seraph inhaled deeply.
Every strand of spiritual energy within several hundred meters rushed toward him.
The sky outside darkened.
Clouds rotated above Soul Cross Sect.
Lightning flashed.
Every cultivator looked toward the archives.
"What is happening?"
"Whose aura is that?"
"It can’t be Seraph..."
Inside the ruined building, the Architect finally frowned.
"You’re willing to burn your cultivation?"
Seraph smiled faintly.
"I can cultivate again."
"My sister..."
"I only get one."
He raised his soul blade.
Halo whispered one final instruction.
[Aim for the center of the gate.]
Seraph nodded.
He poured everything into one final strike.
His spiritual core cracked.
Blood streamed from his eyes.
His meridians screamed.
Yet he didn’t stop.
The blue blade above his head grew larger.
Ten meters.
Twenty.
Fifty.
Its light pierced the clouds.
The Architect’s expression finally changed.
For the first time...
He looked alarmed.
"You..."
Before Seraph could bring the blade down, a familiar voice echoed from behind him.
"Big Brother..."
He turned instinctively.
Yelena was standing.
The fatal wound through her abdomen...
Had completely disappeared.
And behind her...
A second Halo interface slowly appeared in the air.
[Synchronization Successful.]
[Second World Core Detected.]
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