Chapter 109: Chapter 104: The Descent to the True Heart (Part 1)
The ancient staircase seemed to descend forever.
Every step echoed through the abyss, the sound swallowed almost instantly by the oppressive darkness below. The battle raging above had faded into a distant rumble, like thunder beyond the horizon.
Only four figures continued downward.
John led the way.
Behind him came Aerion, his silver sword casting a gentle glow across the crystalline walls. Lythriel walked with her spear resting across her shoulders, though her eyes never stopped scanning their surroundings. Sylvara remained at the rear, occasionally touching the walls as she studied the countless runes carved into the crystal.
The air grew colder.
Not the ordinary chill of underground caverns.
This cold carried age.
It was the kind of cold found inside forgotten tombs and abandoned temples—air that had remained undisturbed for countless millennia.
John frowned.
"This place feels..."
"Ancient?" Aerion supplied.
John nodded.
"No."
He looked around carefully.
"It feels alive."
The others fell silent.
Even Lythriel, who usually dismissed such feelings as imagination, couldn’t deny the sensation.
The walls pulsed faintly.
The crystal beneath their feet glowed in rhythm.
Almost like a heartbeat.
...
Nearly half an hour passed.
Still, they had not reached the bottom.
"How deep is this place?" Lythriel muttered.
"I’ve climbed mountains shorter than this staircase."
Sylvara glanced downward.
"I don’t think we’re descending through ordinary space anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"The mana flow changed."
She knelt beside one of the glowing runes.
"It feels like we’re moving through layers."
John raised an eyebrow.
"Layers?"
"The Eternal Archive is folding space."
Aerion nodded slowly.
"I’ve heard legends."
"The oldest civilizations mastered spatial architecture."
"They built structures larger on the inside than the outside."
"So this staircase..." John began.
"...may not physically exist beneath the tower," Aerion finished.
"It exists within the Archive itself."
John let out a slow breath.
"The deeper we go..."
"...the farther we’re moving from the surface world."
No one liked that implication.
---
Another ten minutes passed.
Then—
The staircase ended.
The four emerged onto a massive circular platform suspended over an endless sea of darkness.
There was no visible support beneath it.
Only hundreds of colossal chains stretched into the abyss.
Each chain was thicker than an ancient oak tree.
Golden runes shimmered across every link.
John stepped forward carefully.
"What are these?"
Sylvara’s eyes widened.
"They’re not chains..."
"They’re seals."
Before anyone could respond—
The platform trembled.
**CLANG!**
One enormous chain shuddered violently.
A deafening metallic groan echoed through the void.
Then another.
And another.
One by one, every chain began vibrating.
John’s instincts screamed.
"Get ready."
Dark mana gathered around his claws.
Aerion slowly drew his sword.
Lythriel lowered her spear into a combat stance.
Sylvara began weaving defensive barriers.
Then—
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"...At last..."
The words were impossibly old.
Neither male nor female.
Every syllable seemed to resonate inside their souls.
"...Another dragon..."
John froze.
"You know what I am?"
Silence answered.
Then golden light erupted beneath the platform.
An enormous circle of runes appeared.
Ancient symbols rotated slowly.
The light expanded.
The darkness retreated.
A figure emerged.
Not a person.
Not a monster.
It resembled a knight crafted entirely from living crystal.
Its armor gleamed with golden inscriptions.
Six radiant wings extended from its back.
Its face was hidden behind a featureless helm.
It carried no weapon.
Yet every instinct John possessed warned him that this being was more dangerous than anything they had faced inside the Archive.
The guardian bowed slightly.
"Welcome."
Its voice echoed calmly.
"I am the First Warden."
"The final guardian before the Heart."
Lythriel blinked.
"You can talk?"
The Warden tilted its head.
"I have spoken since before your kingdoms learned language."
That answer only made the silence heavier.
Aerion stepped forward.
"We seek the one called Cassian."
"I know."
"Has he passed?"
The Warden nodded once.
"He entered."
John’s heart sank.
"How long ago?"
"By your measure..."
"...thirty-three minutes."
Lythriel cursed under her breath.
"We’re behind."
John clenched his fists.
"Then let us through."
The First Warden remained motionless.
"I cannot."
"Why?"
"Because none may approach the Heart without proving themselves."
John’s wings twitched.
"We don’t have time for trials."
"You misunderstand."
The Warden’s golden eyes brightened beneath its helm.
"The trial has already begun."
The platform suddenly dissolved.
John’s footing disappeared.
The world shattered like broken glass.
---
John opened his eyes.
Warm sunlight touched his scales.
Birds sang overhead.
A gentle breeze rustled through emerald trees.
He frowned.
"What..."
The battlefield was gone.
The Archive had vanished.
Instead—
He stood inside a peaceful forest.
One he recognized.
His breathing stopped.
"No..."
This wasn’t possible.
It was the valley where he had first awakened after being reborn.
The lake shimmered beneath the morning sun.
Flowers swayed gently in the wind.
Everything looked exactly as it had years ago.
He heard laughter.
Small footsteps approached.
John slowly turned.
A tiny black dragon hatchling stumbled clumsily toward the lake.
His younger self.
The hatchling tripped over a rock and rolled several times before standing again with an annoyed squeak.
John stared silently.
"I..."
"It remembers."
A voice echoed behind him.
The First Warden.
Yet now the guardian wore no armor.
Instead, it appeared as an elderly man with silver hair and glowing golden eyes.
"This is your beginning."
John narrowed his eyes.
"An illusion?"
"A memory."
The old man looked toward the hatchling.
"The Heart remembers every soul that enters."
"Why show me this?"
"To remind you."
The hatchling wandered toward the lake, gazing curiously at his reflection.
"So much has changed," John whispered.
The old man smiled faintly.
"Has it?"
John frowned.
Before he could answer—
The peaceful sky darkened.
The forest trembled.
The memory began changing.
Trees burned.
Smoke filled the air.
The lake turned black.
The hatchling looked around in confusion.
Then came the roar.
One John knew all too well.
A corrupted beast burst from the trees, just as it had on the day his peaceful life had ended forever.
The younger John froze in fear.
The old man watched silently.
"What will you do?"
John stared at the scene.
"I already know how this ends."
"Do you?"
The beast lunged.
The hatchling closed his eyes.
John instinctively moved.
His body blurred forward.
His claws sliced through the monster—
Only to pass harmlessly through it.
His attack had no effect.
The scene continued exactly as history remembered.
John watched helplessly as his younger self narrowly escaped through luck and instinct.
He clenched his fists.
"I can’t change it."
"No."
The old man replied.
"But can you accept it?"
John remained silent.
He remembered every painful moment that followed.
The loneliness.
The hunger.
The countless battles for survival.
The companions he had lost.
The blood he had spilled.
Everything had begun here.
The memory slowly dissolved.
The old man’s voice echoed one final time.
"This is only the first trial."
"The Heart does not judge strength."
"It judges the soul."
Far away, somewhere beyond the illusion, another voice rang out.
Cassian’s laughter.
"So close, dragon..."
"...and yet you’re already too late."
John’s crimson eyes snapped open with renewed determination.
"No."
He took a step forward, the illusion around him beginning to crack.
"I won’t let the past chain me."
The entire memory shattered into countless fragments of light.
Somewhere in the darkness beyond, the First Warden watched in silence.
For the first time in thousands of years...
The ancient guardian smiled.
"Excellent."
"But the second trial..."
"...will be far more difficult."
Far below, in the deepest chamber beneath the Eternal Archive, Cassian finally stood before a colossal sphere of radiant gold wrapped in countless ancient chains. As he stretched out a trembling hand toward the True Heart, the first of the chains cracked with a deafening roar that shook the entire hidden realm. Above, John felt the tremor beneath his feet.
He was running out of time.
---
100 ps = 1 extra Chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter
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