Chapter 217 - 212 — The Ones Who Came After
The mine was getting louder.
John could hear the rumbling from behind them as he led the group toward the surface. Dust fell from the ceiling every few seconds, and somewhere deeper in the mountain, metal scraped against stone.
They had only just found the second fragment.
Already, someone was coming for it.
John wasn’t worried yet.
But he wasn’t going to stay and find out how many enemies were on their way.
"Keep moving," he said.
Lythriel walked beside him.
"Do you still feel the fragment?"
John nodded.
"It’s inside the Legacy now."
"Can you feel what it can do?"
"Not yet."
Darius looked back toward the tunnels.
"What about those guardians?"
"They’re staying behind."
Aerion frowned.
"Are you sure they’ll stay there?"
John glanced over his shoulder.
The guardians stood motionless in the distance.
Their red eyes followed the group, but none of them moved.
"They’re protecting the chamber."
Cael walked several steps behind them.
He hadn’t said much since they left the chamber.
John noticed.
"You’ve been quiet."
Cael looked at him.
"I’m thinking."
"About?"
"The guardians."
John stopped walking.
Everyone else stopped with him.
"What about them?"
Cael hesitated.
"Their behavior changed when the fragment accepted you."
John waited.
Cael continued.
"My family recorded stories about these guardians. They were never supposed to recognize a bearer until the Legacy itself chose them."
"That’s what happened."
"Yes."
Cael looked uneasy.
"But there’s something you don’t understand."
John crossed his arms.
"Tell me."
"The guardians aren’t simply protecting the fragments."
John’s eyes narrowed.
"Then what are they protecting?"
Cael looked toward the darkness behind them.
"A seal."
The group became silent.
Aerion sighed.
"Of course there’s a seal."
Sylvara gave him a look.
"That doesn’t sound good."
"It usually isn’t."
John didn’t react to the joke.
"What kind of seal?"
Cael shook his head.
"I don’t know."
"You’ve spent generations guarding this place and you don’t know?"
"We were never allowed to enter the chamber."
John looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because the guardians would kill us."
Darius frowned.
"Yet they let John walk through."
"Exactly."
Cael’s voice became quieter.
"That has never happened before."
John thought about the golden flash in the guardian’s chest that Cael had noticed.
He hadn’t seen it himself.
But Cael clearly had.
"Something else happened."
Cael looked at him.
"You saw it."
"The guardian’s core changed color."
Cael nodded.
"It turned gold."
John’s expression became serious.
"What does that mean?"
Cael didn’t answer immediately.
"According to my family’s records, the guardians only turn gold when the Legacy has recognized its true bearer."
Lythriel looked at John.
"And what happens after that?"
Cael shook his head.
"The records don’t say."
John sighed.
"Convenient."
They continued toward the surface.
The tunnel gradually became brighter.
Cold mountain air reached them.
After several minutes, they finally emerged from the mine.
Night had fallen.
The moon was partially hidden behind the clouds.
John stepped outside and looked toward the mountains.
The forest below was dark and quiet.
Too quiet.
He raised one hand.
"Wait."
Everyone stopped.
John’s senses expanded.
He could hear the wind.
The trees.
Small animals moving through the undergrowth.
Then he detected something else.
Footsteps.
Several people.
Coming from the east.
John looked in that direction.
"Someone’s here."
Cael immediately became tense.
"How many?"
"Seven."
Darius reached for his weapon.
"Humans?"
"Yes."
John paused.
"At least, most of them."
Lythriel looked at him.
"Most?"
John’s eyes narrowed.
"There are two strange presences among them."
Cael’s expression changed.
"They’ve brought constructs."
John nodded.
"So they’re not just searching."
"No."
Cael looked toward the forest.
"They know."
A few seconds later, figures appeared between the trees.
Seven people.
Five wore dark traveling clothes.
Two were covered in heavy armor.
But those two didn’t move like normal warriors.
Their steps were perfectly synchronized.
Their faces were hidden behind metal masks.
John recognized the same red crystal in their chests.
"More guardians?"
Cael shook his head.
"No."
The two armored figures stopped.
One of the humans stepped forward.
He was a tall man with gray hair and a long black coat.
His eyes moved across the group before settling on John.
Then he smiled.
"So it really was you."
John said nothing.
The man looked at Cael.
"And you."
Cael’s expression hardened.
"I thought your family had finally disappeared."
"Most of them did."
The man’s smile disappeared.
"Thanks to yours."
John glanced at Cael.
"You know him."
"Yes."
The stranger stepped closer.
"My name is Varin."
John remained silent.
Varin looked toward the mountain.
"The second fragment has awakened."
John’s expression didn’t change.
Varin smiled.
"You don’t need to answer."
He pointed toward John.
"The Legacy is practically screaming from inside you."
Lythriel stepped forward.
"Stay back."
Varin looked at her.
"You don’t understand what you’ve involved yourself in."
"You don’t know me."
"I don’t need to."
His eyes returned to John.
"The Legacy doesn’t belong to one person."
John finally spoke.
"Neither does the decision to take it."
Varin smiled.
"Then we agree on something."
He raised his hand.
The two armored constructs stepped forward.
Darius prepared himself.
Aerion moved beside him.
Sylvara quietly began gathering healing magic.
John lifted his hand.
"Nobody attack yet."
Lythriel looked at him.
"Why?"
John stared at Varin.
"Because he’s here to talk."
Varin gave a quiet laugh.
"You’re observant."
John’s expression remained calm.
"If you wanted to kill us, you wouldn’t have announced yourself."
Varin nodded.
"Correct."
"Then say what you came to say."
Varin looked toward the mountain.
"The second fragment was never supposed to awaken."
John frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the first fragment was already taken."
John’s eyes narrowed.
There it was again.
The same statement Cael had made.
Someone had found the first fragment before him.
But this time, John noticed something.
Varin wasn’t talking about the first fragment like someone searching for it.
He was talking about it like someone who knew exactly what happened.
John took a step forward.
"You know who has it."
Varin’s smile faded.
"I know what happened to it."
"That’s not what I asked."
"I know."
The wind passed between them.
John waited.
Finally, Varin spoke.
"The first fragment was never meant to be separated from the others."
John’s Dragon Core pulsed.
A faint warmth moved through his chest.
Varin noticed.
"See?"
His expression became almost satisfied.
"The Legacy is reacting."
John ignored him.
"What happened to the first fragment?"
Varin looked toward the sky.
"It was used."
"For what?"
"To create something."
Everyone became silent.
John’s expression hardened.
"What?"
Varin looked directly at him.
"A vessel."
John felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"What kind of vessel?"
Varin didn’t answer.
Instead, one of the masked constructs suddenly turned its head.
Its red eyes pointed toward the mountain.
Then the other did the same.
Varin’s expression changed.
"Too late."
John turned.
The ground beneath the mountain began to shake.
Not the mine.
The entire mountain.
A deep sound came from somewhere far below.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The guardians inside the mine began moving.
Their red eyes changed to gold.
Cael’s face went pale.
"No..."
Lythriel looked at him.
"What?"
Cael stared at the mountain.
"The seal."
John’s eyes narrowed.
"What about it?"
Cael swallowed.
"It’s opening."
The mountain shook again.
A crack appeared across the rocky slope.
Golden light poured through it.
Varin took several steps backward.
For the first time since arriving, he looked genuinely afraid.
John looked at him.
"You knew this would happen?"
"No."
Varin’s voice was quiet.
"I knew the fragment would awaken."
He stared at the glowing crack.
"I didn’t know the seal would respond."
John’s Dragon Core suddenly pulsed harder than ever before.
The second fragment answered.
Then the first.
For one brief moment, John felt both fragments at the same time.
And beneath them...
Something else.
Something ancient.
Something that wasn’t part of the Legacy.
John’s eyes narrowed.
"Everyone back."
Lythriel immediately obeyed.
The ground split.
A massive golden eye opened beneath the mountain.
John stared into it.
It wasn’t a dragon.
It wasn’t a construct.
It wasn’t anything he had encountered before.
The eye slowly focused on him.
Then a voice echoed across the mountain.
**"The bearer has returned."**
John froze.
Cael dropped to one knee.
Varin stepped backward.
Even the constructs became motionless.
The voice came again.
**"After all this time..."**
John’s Dragon Core shook.
Not from fear.
Recognition.
Something inside the Legacy had recognized the presence below them.
And John suddenly understood why the second fragment had refused to synchronize.
It wasn’t waiting for him to become stronger.
It had been waiting for him to meet **what was sealed beneath the Ashen Range.**
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200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
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