Chương 71: The House at the Center

The first blow against the door was followed by a second, heavier one, and the wooden frame groaned beneath the impact. Hana did not move. Neither did Leo. Only Rin reacted immediately, his curved blade already drawn as he positioned himself between Hana and the entrance, his eyes fixed on the thin gaps between the wooden planks.

"How many?" he asked quietly.

"Eight that I can hear," Leo replied. Rin glanced at him.

"You said eight."

"There may be more outside." Hana swallowed.

"There are more." Leo looked at her.

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"That is not what I asked." Hana's hands trembled slightly as she folded them together on the table.

"There could be twenty." Rin's expression hardened.

"Twenty?"

"They have been watching the roads for weeks. Maybe longer." Leo listened again. The people outside were not shouting. That was what concerned him. A group of twenty ordinary bandits would have made noise, threatened them, perhaps demanded money or food. These people were waiting. They knew who was inside. They knew Leo's name. And the man leading them had followed him before. The third impact came. This time, the door split near the lock.

"Leo." The voice outside belonged to the man from the forest.

"You've already cost us more than enough." Leo drew his sword. The blade slid from its sheath with a quiet metallic sound. Rin glanced toward him.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes."

"Who is he?"

"I don't know his name." The voice outside laughed.

"You never asked." Leo looked toward the door.

"Who are you?" A pause. Then:"Varek." The name meant nothing to Leo. Varek continued.

"I lead the group you encountered in the forest."

"You followed me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because of what you took." Leo's gaze shifted toward the black fragment lying on the table. Hana immediately noticed.

"So that's what they want." Leo looked at the fragment.

"You know what it is?"

"No."

"Then why are you afraid?" Hana's eyes remained on the stone.

"Because I know what happens to people who have them." The door cracked again. Rin stepped closer.

"Hana, we need another exit."

"There is one."

"Where?"

"Behind the stove." Rin moved toward it. Leo remained where he was. Varek spoke again.

"You don't need to fight us, Leo." Leo almost smiled.

"That sounds like a request."

"It is an offer."

"You surrounded a house."

"We want the fragment."

"And if I refuse?"

"You walk away." Rin stopped. Leo looked toward the door.

"That's all?"

"Yes."

"You don't want the other fragments?"

"We were paid to collect them."

"By whom?" Varek did not answer. Leo waited. Nothing. That silence was an answer of its own.

"Then you don't know who you're working for." Varek's voice became colder.

"Neither do you." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Leo's grip tightened around his sword.

"That is true." He turned toward Rin.

"Get Hana out." Rin frowned.

"And you?"

"I'll follow."

"You're going to fight them alone?"

"I didn't say that." Leo looked at the stove.

"Open the passage." Rin understood. He moved the stove aside. A narrow wooden panel was concealed behind it. Hana stood and pressed her palm against a section of the wall. The panel opened. Cold air entered the room. Rin looked back.

"Come on." Hana hesitated.

"My people." Leo answered before Rin could.

"They can defend themselves if they need to."

"They're civilians."

"Then get them away from the center." Hana looked at him.

"You know what will happen if they come inside."

"Yes."

"They'll search every house."

"Yes."

"And if they don't find the stone?"

"They'll hurt someone." Hana's face tightened. Leo's voice remained calm.

"Then we don't let them reach the houses." He stepped toward the door. Rin watched him.

"You really intend to stay?"

"For a little while."

"That sounds like a bad plan."

"It is." Rin almost smiled despite himself.

"You're strangely honest."

"I don't have time to lie." Hana disappeared through the passage. Rin remained. Leo looked at him.

"You should go."

"My brother disappeared here."

"You've found something more important now." Rin looked toward the door.

"My brother is still missing."

"And if you die here, you'll be no closer to finding him." Rin hesitated. Then he sheathed his blade.

"Five minutes." Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Five minutes?"

"I give you five minutes."

"Why?"

"So you don't have to fight twenty people alone." Leo considered arguing. Instead, he nodded.

"All right." The door exploded inward. Wood fragments flew across the room. Leo moved. Heavenly Demon Step. His body crossed the room in a blur. The first attacker barely had time to raise his sword before Leo struck him in the chest with the flat of his blade, sending him through the doorway and into the man behind him. The second swung from the side. Leo lowered his shoulder, allowed the blade to pass over him, and struck the man's wrist. The weapon fell. A kick to the knee dropped him.

Leo stepped through the opening. The settlement was already moving. Doors opened. People ran between houses. Some carried children. Others grabbed tools, knives, anything that could be used as a weapon. The attackers had surrounded the central house. They wore different clothing, but all of them carried the same black fragments around their necks or belts. Collectors. Not soldiers. That distinction became obvious immediately.

They fought like people who had learned violence for a purpose rather than people trained for war. Three rushed Leo together. The first used a spear. The second carried a short sword. The third held two knives. Leo waited. The spear came first. He stepped inside its range. The shaft struck his shoulder instead of his chest. He ignored the pain, caught the weapon beneath his arm, and pulled. The spear wielder stumbled forward. Leo's sword struck the man's ribs. The short-sword user attacked immediately. Leo turned.

Steel met steel. The impact forced the attacker backward. The dual-knife fighter came from behind. Leo sensed the movement before the blades reached him. He twisted. One knife cut across his sleeve. The other missed entirely. Leo drove his elbow into the attacker's jaw. The man staggered. The spear wielder recovered. Leo released the spear and drew a slow breath. The black fragment at his belt was warm. His Internal Energy had begun reacting to the stones carried by the attackers. He understood something then.

The fragments were not simply objects they carried. They were connected. And his Internal Energy was disturbing that connection. The attackers noticed it too. One of them shouted.

"His energy is reacting!" Another answered:"Don't let him touch the stones!" Leo's eyes sharpened. So they knew. That was useful. He stepped forward. The nearest man raised his sword. Leo's aura changed. A thin darkness gathered around his blade. Heavenly Demon Sword — First Form: Falling Star. The strike descended. The attacker blocked. His sword shattered. The force threw him across the street. Two others charged. Leo moved between them. One strike. Then another. He did not kill them. He had no reason to.

Every attacker who fell remained alive, but none could immediately stand. Rin appeared beside him.

"You said five minutes."

"It's been two."

"You're counting?"

"No." Rin glanced around.

"Then why did you say two?"

"I estimated." Rin shook his head.

"You're strange."

"So I've been told." A loud cry came from the northern side of the settlement. Leo looked. Three attackers had broken away from the main group and were moving toward the houses. Rin started after them. Leo caught his arm.

"Not that way."

"My brother—""Your brother isn't there."

"How do you know?"

"Because they're trying to separate us." Rin stopped. Leo pointed toward the western road. A man stood there. Older than the others. He was not wearing armor. His clothing was plain, but unlike the others, he carried no visible weapon. Varek. He stood calmly in the middle of the road. Watching.

"You finally noticed," Varek said. Leo walked toward him.

"What do you want?"

"The fragment."

"You said that already."

"And I meant it."

"Who hired you?" Varek smiled faintly.

"A broker."

"Name."

"Marrek."

"Where is he?"

"Dead." Leo studied him.

"Convenient."

"He died two months ago."

"And you continued the contract."

"Yes."

"Why?" Varek looked toward the mountains.

"Because the contract was simple."

"Collect the fragments."

"Exactly."

"How many have you found?" Varek's expression changed.

"Enough."

"That isn't a number."

"No." Leo's gaze hardened.

"Where are you taking them?"

"East." Rin stepped forward.

"To Shinkai?" Varek looked at him.

"You know the name."

"My brother went there." Varek's eyes moved to Rin's blade. Then he understood.

"Kaien." Rin's expression changed.

"You know him?" Varek did not answer. Rin took a step forward.

"Where is he?" Varek looked toward Leo. Then back at Rin.

"He entered the mountain."

"When?"

"Three years ago."

"And?"

"He came back." Rin froze.

"What?"

"He came back." Rin's voice dropped.

"You're lying."

"I watched him."

"When?"

"Three years ago." Rin gripped his sword.

"What happened?" Varek's expression became unreadable.

"Your brother was the first person who entered Mount Shinkai and returned." Rin stared at him.

"What did he say?" Varek hesitated. Then:"He said the mountain wasn't a ruin." Leo remained silent. Rin's breathing changed.

"What did that mean?"

"I don't know."

"You spoke to him."

"For less than a minute."

"What happened after?"

"He left."

"Where?"

"Back into the mountain." Rin's face hardened.

"Then he never returned."

"No."

"Then why did you say he came back?"

"He came back once." Varek looked toward the eastern mountains.

"Then he went in again." A strange quiet settled over the settlement. Leo understood the implication. Kaien had entered Mount Shinkai. Returned. Then voluntarily gone back. That was not the behavior of someone who had simply become lost. There had been something inside that mountain worth returning for. Rin seemed to reach the same conclusion.

"My brother found something." Varek shook his head.

"He found a door." Leo looked at him.

"What kind?" Varek's expression changed. For the first time, uncertainty appeared in his eyes.

"A hollow one." Rin whispered:"The Hollow Gate." Varek looked at him sharply.

"Who told you that name?"

"My brother." Varek took one step backward. Then another. Leo noticed immediately. Fear. Not fear of Leo. Fear of the information Rin possessed.

"You should leave," Varek said. Rin raised his sword.

"Tell me where my brother is."

"I can't."

"You saw him."

"Three years ago."

"Then you know where he went."

"No." Varek's gaze shifted toward the mountains.

"He went somewhere none of us could follow." Leo asked quietly:"Why?" Varek looked at him.

"Because the mountain opened." The moment he finished speaking, the black fragments carried by the surrounding attackers began to vibrate. One fell from a man's belt. It struck the ground. A thin silver line appeared across the stone. Then another. And another. The fragments were responding to something beneath the earth. Everyone stopped. The vibration grew stronger. Leo looked toward Mount Shinkai. For a brief moment, the mountain seemed completely still.

Then a narrow column of pale light appeared high above the eastern ridge. Rin stared.

"What is that?" Varek whispered:"The signal." Leo's attention sharpened.

"What signal?" Varek looked at him.

"The mountain has opened again." Then the ground beneath the settlement shook. Not violently. Just enough to make every roof beam creak. A distant sound rolled across the mountains. A bell. One deep note. Then another. Then silence. Varek suddenly turned.

"Run." The attackers looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Leave the settlement." Varek's voice rose.

"Now!" Several of them obeyed immediately. Others hesitated. Leo did not. He looked toward the eastern mountains. Whatever had just happened had nothing to do with the fight. The fragments had reacted to something. The mountain had answered. And somewhere inside that mountain was a man named Kaien who had entered three years ago, returned once, and then gone back willingly. Leo sheathed his sword. Rin looked at him.

"We're going."

"Yes."

"To Mount Shinkai."

"Yes." Rin nodded. For the first time since they had met, there was no argument between them. They both knew where the road led. Behind them, the defeated attackers began retreating from the settlement. Hana emerged from the passage with several villagers. She looked toward the distant light. Her face became pale.

"It hasn't done that in seven years." Leo looked at her.

"What happened seven years ago?" Hana stared at the mountain.

"The first disappearance." Leo waited. Hana swallowed.

"And the beginning of everything." Rin stepped beside Leo.

"Then we should stop waiting." Leo looked toward the eastern horizon. Mount Shinkai stood beyond the forests and ridges, its upper slopes disappearing into the evening clouds. Three years ago, Kaien had gone there. Seven years ago, people had begun disappearing. Now the mountain had opened again. Leo started walking. Rin followed. Neither of them knew what waited beneath Mount Shinkai. But for the first time, the mystery had given them something concrete to pursue. A mountain. A missing man.

And a door that someone had been trying very hard to keep closed. End of Chapter 71.