Chương 64: The Archive Beneath Blackridge

The arrow struck the stone beside Leo's head. It shattered against the wall, sending a handful of splinters across his cheek. He did not flinch. The second arrow was already coming. Leo stepped forward and turned his shoulder, allowing it to pass through the space where his neck had been a moment earlier. His sword came free in the same motion. The archivist had already disappeared through the doorway.

"Move," Elias said from the other side. Leo followed. The stone door began closing behind them. Three figures appeared at the top of the stairs. The first wore a dark leather coat reinforced with metal plates. The second carried a crossbow. The third held a short staff. None of them wore a uniform. That told Leo enough. They were not city guards. The door slammed shut. The sound of the mechanism echoed through the corridor. Elias continued walking as though nothing had happened.

Leo followed him for several steps before speaking.

"You seem unusually calm."

"I have been hiding books from dangerous people for forty years."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It does if you have enough experience." The corridor descended gradually. Unlike the entrance above, the walls were perfectly preserved. Thin lamps had been embedded into the stone at regular intervals, each producing a pale blue light without flame or smoke. Leo glanced at one as he passed.

"Magic?"

"Partly."

"Partly?"

"The original builders understood magic differently from modern people." Leo looked at him.

"How?" Elias smiled.

"That's why you're here." They reached a circular chamber. Shelves covered the walls from floor to ceiling. Thousands of books. Scrolls. Stone tablets. Metal plates. Some were written in languages Leo recognized. Others were completely unfamiliar. At the center stood a circular table covered in dust. Elias placed his books on it.

"Blackridge was built almost nine hundred years ago." Leo remained near the entrance.

"And the archive?"

"Older."

"How much older?"

"We don't know." Leo studied the shelves.

"Then why does the city still exist?"

"Because people are very good at building new lives on top of old graves." Elias walked toward one of the shelves. He pulled out a thin book. Its cover was made from dark leather. There was no title. He opened it carefully.

"These records were written by the first archivists." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Leo approached.

"What do they say?"

"That the continent was not always divided into kingdoms."

"I assumed that."

"They also mention five systems of power." Leo's eyes narrowed.

"Five?"

"Magic. Aura. Chakra. Internal Energy." Elias paused.

"And something called Resonance." Leo said nothing. The old man watched him carefully.

"You recognized one of them."

"Chakra."

"You shouldn't." Leo's expression remained unchanged.

"Why?"

"Because chakra has been almost completely forgotten outside the eastern territories." That caught Leo's attention.

"Almost?"

"Some isolated communities still practice it." Leo remembered the distant eastern settlement he had once heard rumors about. Ninjas. A place separated from the kingdoms. A place where people supposedly used an energy unlike mana or aura. He said nothing. Elias turned another page.

"The records say the five systems were once studied together."

"Together?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because someone believed they were different expressions of the same underlying force." Leo frowned. That idea contradicted everything he had learned. Magic had structure. Internal Energy had circulation. Chakra had its own principles. Aura was cultivated through the body. They were not interchangeable. Elias closed the book.

"Then something happened."

"What?"

"The researchers disappeared."

"All of them?"

"Every known member." Leo looked around the archive.

"And the records survived."

"Some did."

"Who destroyed the others?" Elias did not answer immediately. Instead, he walked toward another shelf.

"This is where history becomes inconvenient." He pulled out a metal plate. A symbol had been carved into it. Seven circles surrounding a central point. Leo recognized the pattern. The seven pillars. His expression hardened.

"This." Elias nodded.

"The first key." Leo stared at the plate.

"The stones."

"Yes."

"What do they open?" Elias looked toward the far end of the archive.

"There are doors beneath the continent."

"How many?"

"Seven that we know of."

"And each key opens one?"

"Not exactly." Elias placed the plate on the table.

"The stones activate the doors. But activation is not the same as opening." Leo studied the symbol.

"What is on the other side?"

"We don't know."

"You said the third door opens from the other side."

"I said that because it does." Leo looked at him.

"You've seen it?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?" Elias's face became serious.

"Because the third door opened once." The room seemed quieter.

"When?"

"Two hundred and eleven years ago."

"What happened?"

"Nothing came through." Leo waited. Elias continued.

"Something went in." A cold silence settled over the chamber.

"Who?"

"We don't know."

"Then how do you know something went inside?"

"Because there were footprints." Leo looked at the old man.

"Human?"

"At first."

"And afterward?" Elias shook his head.

"That's the part nobody recorded." Leo walked around the table.

"You've been studying this for forty years."

"Yes."

"Why?" The old man looked down at the metal plate.

"My daughter disappeared." Leo said nothing.

"Twenty-two years ago," Elias continued.

"She was an archivist here. She found a reference to the third door. She believed the official records had been altered."

"She opened it."

"No." Elias's voice became quieter.

"She tried." Leo understood the distinction. Someone had stopped her.

"Who?" Elias looked toward the entrance.

"The same people who are outside." A heavy impact shook the stone door. Dust fell from the ceiling. Leo turned.

"They followed us."

"They always do."

"How long will the door hold?"

"Long enough." Another impact. This time, a crack appeared. Leo drew his sword. Elias looked at him.

"You don't need to fight them."

"Then what?"

"There's another exit."

"Where?" Elias pointed toward the far wall. A narrow stone staircase disappeared into darkness.

"That leads to the old district." Leo looked at the staircase.

"Then why haven't you used it?"

"Because it passes the third door." Leo stared at him. The implication was obvious.

"You're asking me to walk past it."

"No." Elias shook his head.

"I'm warning you not to touch it." The main door cracked again. Leo started toward the staircase. After a few steps, he stopped.

"Elias."

"Yes?"

"If your daughter entered that door…"

"She didn't."

"You don't know that."

"No." The old man's eyes lowered.

"But I know she wasn't alone." Leo waited. Elias looked toward the dark corridor.

"The records mention six people entering the chamber that night."

"And?"

"Only five returned." Leo's hand tightened around his sword.

"Who was missing?" Elias answered quietly.

"My daughter." The stone door behind them finally broke. Three armed figures entered the archive. The man with the staff raised his hand.

"Elias Varn." The archivist sighed.

"Every time." The man looked at Leo.

"And you." Leo turned.

"Who are you?" The stranger's expression was unreadable.

"We are the ones who keep the doors closed." Leo glanced at the metal plate. Seven circles. Seven doors. Seven keys. He understood now why the organization had been collecting the stones. But he still did not understand what they were afraid of. The man raised his staff.

"Leave the archivist." Leo stepped forward.

"Why?"

"Because this doesn't concern you." Leo's sword lowered slightly. For the first time, he smiled.

"That is usually when it concerns me." The staff struck the floor. Magic exploded through the archive. Shelves collapsed. Books scattered. Blue lights shattered overhead. Elias shouted something, but the sound disappeared beneath the roar. Leo moved through the falling debris. He did not attack the staff-wielder. Instead, he went for the crossbowman. One step. Two. Heavenly Demon Step. The distance vanished. His sword struck the crossbow aside. The man's eyes widened. Leo's elbow caught his jaw. He fell.

The second attacker came from the left. Leo turned. Steel met steel. The impact echoed between the shelves. The man was fast. Faster than the forest guards. His blade carried a strange pressure that Leo immediately recognized. Aura. Not magic. Not Internal Energy. Aura. The two exchanged blows across the narrow aisle. Neither spoke. Leo watched his opponent's shoulders, hips, breathing, and footwork. The man fought like someone trained to kill in confined spaces. A short thrust. A horizontal cut.

A feint toward the ribs. Leo parried. The enemy changed direction. Leo stepped inside his guard. Heavenly Demon Sword — First Form: Moonless Edge. The blade stopped against the man's throat. A thin line of blood appeared. Leo did not cut deeper.

"Who sent you?" The man's eyes remained cold.

"The door." Leo's expression changed. Behind them, something moved in the darkness. Not one of the attackers. Not Elias. A sound came from beyond the third door. Three slow knocks. Leo turned his head. Elias went completely still. The old archivist whispered:"No." Another three knocks. Then a voice came through the stone. A woman's voice. Soft. Frightened.

"Father?" Elias dropped the lantern. Leo looked at him. The old man's face had lost all color.

"My daughter." The voice came again.

"Father…" Then the third door opened by itself. End of Chapter 64.