Chapter 116 – The Ones Who Separated Them
The staircase carried them upward.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
The events of the First Heaven were still fresh in their minds.
Genesis and Oblivion had been united.
The First Heaven had known about them.
And their mother had admitted that their separation had been deliberate.
But one question remained.
Who had separated them?
Seraphina walked beside Azrael.
"Do you think the next floor will show us?"
Azrael shook his head.
"Maybe."
"You don’t sound convinced."
"The Tower has been giving us pieces."
He looked ahead.
"It hasn’t given us enough to understand the whole picture."
Seraphina smiled.
"Then we’ll collect the pieces."
Azrael nodded.
"Exactly."
The staircase ended.
The moment they stepped onto Floor 35, the atmosphere changed.
There was no sky.
No ground.
No buildings.
They stood inside a massive circular chamber.
At the center was a table.
Around it were seven empty chairs.
Behind each chair stood a massive symbol.
A crown.
A sword.
A wing.
A dragon.
A shadow.
A flame.
And an empty circle.
Seraphina looked at them carefully.
"Seven."
Azrael frowned.
"Seven realms?"
Lyanna shook her head.
"Maybe."
The Tower System appeared.
[Tower System]
Floor: 35
Trial Type: Historical Identification
Objective: Identify the Seven Seats
Condition: Determine what each seat represented.
Restriction: The records cannot be altered.
Caelan walked around the chamber.
"The symbols must represent ancient rulers."
Azrael approached the first.
The crown.
A memory appeared above it.
An enormous throne.
A being sat upon it.
But the figure’s face was obscured.
The memory disappeared.
Azrael moved to the sword.
Another memory appeared.
A battlefield.
Thousands of swordsmen stood beneath a silver banner.
Then the memory vanished.
The dragon revealed an ancient dragon civilization.
The shadow revealed a world consumed by darkness.
The flame revealed an endless sea of fire.
The wing revealed Heaven.
But the seventh...
The empty circle showed nothing.
No memory.
No image.
No sound.
Seraphina touched it.
Nothing happened.
She frowned.
"Why is this one different?"
Azrael studied it.
"Because it wasn’t a realm."
Lyanna looked at him.
"Then what was it?"
"I don’t know."
Suddenly, the seven chairs began glowing.
A voice echoed through the chamber.
"Before the realms were divided..."
Seraphina looked up.
"...there were seven who governed existence."
The chairs filled with silhouettes.
One after another.
Seven beings.
The first carried a crown.
The second held a sword.
The third possessed enormous wings.
The fourth had dragon horns.
The fifth was covered in shadows.
The sixth burned with endless flames.
The seventh...
Was completely featureless.
No race.
No form.
No identity.
Just an empty silhouette.
The voice continued.
"They were not gods."
"They were custodians."
Azrael’s eyes narrowed.
"Custodians of what?"
The memory continued.
"Existence."
The seven beings stood around something enormous.
A sphere of golden and black energy.
Genesis and Oblivion.
The seven custodians surrounded them.
Then—
One of the figures stepped forward.
The winged one.
He raised his hand.
Chains appeared.
Golden chains wrapped around the golden force.
Another figure raised his hand.
Black chains wrapped around the black force.
Seraphina’s eyes widened.
"They separated them."
Azrael’s expression hardened.
"So it wasn’t one person."
"It was all seven."
The memory continued.
Genesis and Oblivion struggled.
The two forces tried to return to each other.
The seven custodians strengthened the chains.
The universe shook.
Stars disappeared.
Entire worlds were consumed by the conflict.
Then the empty seventh figure stepped forward.
The figure raised one hand.
Everything stopped.
Genesis became silent.
Oblivion became silent.
The separation was complete.
Seraphina whispered:
"The seventh one..."
Azrael stared.
"It was the one who actually stopped them."
The memory shifted.
The seven custodians stood together.
The winged figure spoke.
"If they remain united, their power will eventually surpass our ability to control it."
The sword-bearing figure nodded.
"They cannot be allowed to remain together."
The dragon figure spoke.
"Then the cycle must be broken."
The shadow figure asked:
"And if existence collapses?"
Silence.
Then the empty figure answered.
"It will not."
Everyone froze.
The voice was strangely calm.
"Existence will adapt."
Azrael’s expression changed.
"That’s wrong."
Seraphina looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because the previous records already showed us what happens when Genesis and Oblivion are separated."
He looked toward the memory.
"Creation without ending becomes unstable."
"And ending without creation does the same."
The memory continued.
The seven custodians created separate vessels.
One would carry Genesis.
One would carry Oblivion.
The vessels were sent into different parts of existence.
Then the seven erased the records.
The truth disappeared.
The First Heaven’s history was rewritten.
The current gods inherited the remnants.
And the original cycle was forgotten.
Seraphina’s hands tightened around her staff.
"They knew."
Azrael nodded.
"They knew the consequences."
"But they did it anyway."
The memory suddenly changed.
A small chamber appeared.
Their mother stood inside.
She was younger than the version they had seen before.
Her eighteen wings were folded behind her.
Standing opposite her was the winged custodian.
Their conversation began.
"You cannot continue."
Their mother shook her head.
"They will eventually be reunited."
"Then they must be stopped."
"They are not weapons."
The custodian’s voice became cold.
"They are more dangerous than weapons."
"They are the foundation of the cycle."
"And that is exactly why they must remain divided."
Their mother stepped forward.
"You are destroying the balance you claim to protect."
The custodian looked at her.
"We are preserving existence."
"No."
Her voice became firm.
"You are preserving control."
The memory shook.
Golden symbols appeared.
Then everything went dark.
Seraphina stood frozen.
"Mother knew."
Azrael nodded.
"She opposed them."
Lyanna looked toward the empty seventh chair.
"Then why didn’t she stop them?"
Azrael didn’t answer immediately.
Because the answer was obvious.
She couldn’t.
Not alone.
And perhaps that was why she had eventually created another plan.
The twins.
The Tower System appeared.
[Historical Reconstruction Complete.]
[Major Lore Fragment Unlocked.]
Recovered Information:
The separation of Genesis and Oblivion was intentional.
Seven ancient custodians participated in the separation.
Their purpose was to preserve control over existence.
The identity of the seventh custodian remains unavailable.
Seraphina stared at the final line.
"The seventh one..."
Azrael looked at the empty chair.
"That’s the one I want to know about."
"Why?"
"Because the others were afraid of Genesis and Oblivion."
He pointed toward the empty symbol.
"But that one wasn’t."
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed.
"And it was the one that completed the separation."
Azrael nodded.
"Which means it may know more than all the others."
The seven chairs suddenly disappeared.
Only the empty seventh symbol remained.
Then—
A single word appeared beneath it.
Not a name.
A title.
THE ORIGIN CUSTODIAN
The chamber fell silent.
Azrael stared.
"Origin..."
The moment he spoke the word—
His head suddenly throbbed.
A flash appeared.
A white tree.
A crystal lake.
The old master.
Then another image.
A young Azrael.
Standing beside someone.
He couldn’t see their face.
The memory vanished.
Azrael staggered.
Seraphina immediately caught him.
"Azrael!"
"I’m fine."
She looked worried.
"What did you see?"
Azrael closed his eyes.
"I don’t know."
He opened them again.
"But I think..."
He looked at the empty symbol.
"...I’ve seen that title before."
The Tower System appeared one final time.
[Floor 35 Complete.]
[Historical Archive Updated.]
[Origin Custodian: Identity Sealed.]
[Further investigation requires deeper Origin Understanding.]
The staircase appeared.
Seraphina looked at Azrael.
"You remembered something."
"Maybe."
"Then we’ll recover it."
Azrael looked at her.
A faint smile appeared.
"Together."
They began walking toward the staircase.
This time, however, Azrael didn’t look back at the seven empty chairs.
He was thinking about something else.
The memory he couldn’t fully recall.
The unknown person beside him.
And the strange feeling that the Origin Custodian wasn’t merely part of ancient history.
It was connected to him.
Somehow.