Chương 75: The Passage of Two

The mountain trembled once more, but the movement was so subtle that it might have been mistaken for the settling of ancient stone if not for the way the blue light ahead of them flickered in response, growing weaker for a moment before returning with the same pale consistency.

Leo remained where he was, one hand resting near the hilt of his sword while he listened to the darkness behind them, and although the voice had spoken only a single sentence, its words had created a tension far more tangible than any creature could have managed. Three entered, and only two will leave. It sounded like a prediction, but Leo had learned long ago that predictions were often nothing more than attempts to make people behave according to someone else's expectations.

Rin was the first to break the silence.

"What did it mean?" Leo glanced toward him.

"I don't know."

"You usually have an answer."

"I usually have evidence." Rin looked back toward the silver-eyed man.

"And now?"

"Now we have a voice hiding beneath a mountain, a door that imitates people, and a man who claims he has been trapped here for two hundred and eleven years." The silver-eyed man did not react to the accusation. Instead, he walked toward the blue light.

"I never said I was trapped." Rin turned sharply.

"You said the door would not let you leave."

"Yes."

"That is the same thing."

"No," the man replied calmly.

"It is not." Leo watched him carefully.

"What is the difference?" The silver-eyed man stopped several steps ahead of them.

"The first means the door prevented me from leaving. The second means I was unable to leave." Rin frowned.

"You are playing with words."

"I am being precise." Leo understood why the distinction mattered. If the man truly could not leave because some external force physically prevented him, then the mountain was imprisoning him. If he simply lacked the ability to leave, however, then the problem might be connected to the nature of the door itself, or perhaps to the changes that had occurred inside him during the two centuries he had spent there. Leo continued walking.

"Then show us." The man looked at him.

"Show you what?"

"Why you cannot leave." The silver-eyed man remained silent for several seconds before finally turning toward the passage.

"Very well." The three of them continued upward. The passage was narrower than the chamber below, but unlike the corridors they had crossed earlier, its walls were not covered with the same silver inscriptions. Instead, small circular marks had been carved into the stone at regular intervals, each one containing a different pattern. Some resembled waves, others resembled branching trees, and several looked almost identical to the formations Leo had seen in the ancient records concerning Chakra and Aura.

One mark, however, was unmistakably different. It contained a spiral surrounded by three thin lines. Leo stopped. The symbol from Rin's brother's metal plate. Rin noticed it as well.

"That is Kaien's symbol."

"No," Leo said. Rin looked at him.

"It is the same symbol." Leo touched the carving lightly.

"Your brother did not create it." The silver-eyed man glanced over his shoulder.

"Correct."

"Then why was it on his plate?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Because he copied it." Rin's expression tightened.

"How do you know?"

"Because everyone who enters the mountain eventually begins copying symbols they believe are important."

"That makes no sense."

"It will." Rin clearly wanted to demand an explanation, but Leo continued forward before the argument could develop. The passage eventually widened into a circular chamber, and at its center stood a stone platform surrounded by six empty pedestals. Five of them held fragments of black stone. The sixth was empty. Rin stared at the fragments.

"These are the same." Leo approached the platform. They were indeed similar to the fragment he carried, each one black with a thin silver line running through its surface, but the lines differed slightly in shape. One curved like a crescent, another formed a broken triangle, and the third resembled a straight line interrupted by several small branches. Leo studied them without touching.

"These are not pieces of one object." The silver-eyed man nodded.

"They never were."

"Then why do they react to each other?"

"Because they were made for the same purpose." Rin looked at him.

"What purpose?" The man pointed toward the empty pedestal.

"To locate the people who can activate the boundary." Leo's attention shifted immediately.

"People?"

"Yes."

"Not doors?"

"No." The answer changed the meaning of everything. The fragments were not simply searching for places. They were searching for people. Leo remembered the mercenaries, the brokers, the attacks on villages, the black stones being collected across the eastern road. Whoever had organized the search might not have known the complete purpose of the fragments, but someone clearly understood that they were connected to individuals capable of interacting with these structures. Leo looked at his own fragment.

"And mine?"

"It found you."

"Why?" The silver-eyed man shook his head.

"I don't know." Leo accepted the answer. There was no value in forcing certainty where there was none. Rin moved toward the empty pedestal.

"Kaien came here." The silver-eyed man looked at him.

"Yes." Rin froze.

"You know that?"

"I know that someone came here carrying the same symbol."

"My brother."

"Most likely." Rin's jaw tightened.

"Most likely?" The man looked at him with an almost tired expression.

"I have been here for two hundred and eleven years. I have seen many people enter these chambers. I cannot identify every person by memory." Rin stared at him for a long moment before stepping away. Leo examined the empty pedestal. There were scratches around its base. Recent ones. Unlike the dust-covered stones elsewhere in the mountain, the marks had not been softened by time. Someone had moved the pedestal. Leo crouched. There was a small piece of fabric caught beneath it.

Rin immediately recognized the material.

"That belonged to Kaien." He knelt and picked it up with trembling fingers. It was dark blue cloth, torn along one edge, with a small stain of dried blood near the seam. Rin closed his hand around it.

"He was here." Leo nodded.

"He was." The confirmation should have brought relief. Instead, Rin looked toward the passage ahead with renewed urgency.

"If he was here, then he may still be alive."

"He is." Rin looked at Leo.

"How can you know that?" Leo pointed toward the floor. Fresh footprints crossed the dust beyond the chamber. They were not old. They were not preserved marks from three years ago. Someone had walked through this passage recently. Rin followed them with his eyes. His breathing became faster.

"Kaien." Leo stood.

"Stay behind me." Rin hesitated. Then he nodded. They followed the footprints. The silver-eyed man remained several steps behind them, but Leo noticed that he never looked at the tracks. Instead, his attention remained fixed on the walls. After several minutes, Leo finally asked, "What are you looking for?" The man answered without turning.

"Changes."

"In what?"

"In the mountain." Leo glanced at the wall.

"It is stone."

"It was." Leo stopped. The silver-eyed man continued walking for another step before realizing Leo had stopped.

"What does that mean?" The man turned.

"This place was constructed."

"I know."

"No." His expression became more serious.

"You know that someone built it. You do not know what it became afterward." Leo said nothing. The man placed his palm against the wall. For several seconds nothing happened. Then the stone moved. Not opened. Moved. The wall flexed beneath his hand like something alive beneath a layer of skin. Rin instinctively drew his blade. Leo's hand moved to his sword. The silver-eyed man removed his palm.

"It has started changing."

"What has?"

"The mountain." A low vibration passed through the floor. The footprints ahead disappeared into darkness. Then a sound came from somewhere beyond them. A metallic scrape. Followed by another. And another. Leo drew his sword. The silver-eyed man looked toward the darkness.

"That is not one of the doors." Rin tightened his grip.

"Then what is it?" The answer came from the darkness before the man could speak.

"Something that should have remained outside." A figure stepped into the faint light. It was Kaien. His clothes were torn, his face was pale, and blood had dried across one side of his chest, but he was standing upright and holding a short sword in one hand. Rin nearly ran toward him. Leo raised his arm.

"Wait." Kaien stopped. His eyes moved toward Leo. Then toward Rin. His expression changed. For the first time, genuine relief appeared on his face.

"Rin." Rin's voice broke.

"Brother." Kaien lowered his sword.

"Do not come closer." Rin stopped.

"Why?" Kaien looked past them. His eyes fixed upon the silver-eyed man. The moment he saw him, his expression became one of unmistakable fear.

"You brought him." Rin looked back. The silver-eyed man remained motionless. Kaien's grip tightened around his sword.

"I told you not to follow me." Rin stared at him.

"I have been looking for you for three years."

"I know."

"Then why did you leave without telling anyone?" Kaien lowered his gaze.

"Because I thought I could come back." Leo studied him.

"And you couldn't." Kaien looked at Leo.

"No." The answer was quiet. Honest. Then the mountain trembled again. This time the walls did not merely shake. They moved. A long crack opened behind Kaien, revealing another corridor that had not existed moments before. Cold air poured through it. Kaien looked toward the opening. His face lost what little color remained.

"It found us." Leo's eyes narrowed.

"What found you?" Kaien looked directly at him.

"The part of the mountain that is still alive." Something moved inside the newly opened corridor. Not a voice. Not a shadow. A physical presence. Heavy footsteps approached from the darkness, slow enough to reveal deliberate movement rather than instinctive wandering. Rin raised his sword. Leo stepped forward. The silver-eyed man remained behind them. Then Kaien whispered something that made all three of them look at him.

"It isn't coming for Rin." His eyes remained fixed on Leo.

"It came for you." End of Chapter 75.