Chapter 123 – Into the Northern Mountains
The northern mountains came into view just after sunrise.
From the academy, they had looked like a distant wall of gray stone. Now that the group had traveled several hours north, their scale was far more apparent. Jagged peaks stretched across the horizon, their upper slopes covered in snow despite the relatively warm season below.
Azrael walked at the front of the group, Astraeus secured at his side. Seraphina stayed beside him, her golden hair moving gently in the mountain wind.
Behind them were Caelan, Orin, Lyanna, Marcus, Ryan, Sophia, and Elena.
They had left the academy shortly after dawn.
No one had complained about the early departure.
The strange reports from the northern region had made everyone curious.
Marcus adjusted the pack over his shoulder.
"So we’re really going into those mountains?"
Elena glanced at him.
"You agreed to come."
"I know."
Marcus sighed.
"I’m simply trying to make sure I understand the terrible decision I’ve made."
Ryan laughed.
"You’ve made plenty of those."
"That’s different. Usually I make them somewhere safer."
Seraphina smiled.
"At least you’re honest."
The light mood lasted only a moment.
Azrael stopped.
Everyone immediately became quiet.
Seraphina looked at him.
"What is it?"
Azrael stared toward the mountains.
"The resonance changed."
Caelan’s expression became serious.
"How?"
"It was faint before."
Azrael narrowed his eyes.
"Now it’s stronger."
He could feel something beneath the stone.
Not an enemy.
Not exactly.
It was more like an echo.
A pattern buried deep beneath the mountain.
Seraphina closed her eyes.
She reached outward with her Genesis energy, allowing it to spread through the surrounding environment.
A few seconds later, her expression changed.
"The plants are reacting too."
Lyanna looked around.
"What do you mean?"
Seraphina opened her eyes.
"They’re growing toward the mountain."
Everyone looked around.
She was right.
Grass, roots, and even the branches of nearby trees subtly leaned northward.
It wasn’t enough to notice at first glance.
But once pointed out, the pattern became obvious.
Seraphina frowned.
"Life is responding to something underground."
Azrael nodded.
"So the reports were accurate."
Caelan tightened his grip around his spear.
"Then we should proceed carefully."
They continued.
By midday, the terrain had become considerably steeper.
The road had disappeared several kilometers earlier, forcing them to follow an old trail through the forest.
According to Orion’s map, the missing scouts had last been seen somewhere beyond the mountain pass.
The caravan had vanished several kilometers farther in.
There had been no bodies.
No destroyed wagons.
No signs of a monster attack.
They had simply disappeared.
That detail bothered Azrael more than anything else.
A normal attack left evidence.
This did not.
After another hour, they reached the first abandoned campsite.
Several broken wooden posts stood beside the trail.
Orin crouched beside one.
"Someone was here."
Lyanna examined the ground.
"Recently?"
"Not recently enough to tell."
Azrael walked toward the remains of the camp.
He noticed something half-buried beneath the dirt.
A piece of metal.
He picked it up.
It was part of an adventurer’s insignia.
The same symbol was engraved into its surface.
A golden circle.
A black circle.
And an empty space between them.
Seraphina immediately recognized it.
"The same symbol from the Tower."
Everyone looked at her.
Caelan frowned.
"You found this inside the Tower?"
Azrael nodded.
"More than once."
Marcus looked between the twins.
"So the ruins are connected to what happened inside?"
"Maybe," Seraphina said.
"But we shouldn’t assume they’re the same thing."
Azrael examined the insignia.
She was right.
The symbol was similar, but not identical.
The empty space was larger.
And there was another detail.
A thin line crossed through the center.
Seraphina noticed it too.
"This version is different."
Azrael turned the metal over.
There was writing on the back.
Only three words remained legible.
RETURN TO BEGINNING.
The rest had been damaged.
Ryan stared at it.
"That’s not ominous at all."
Elena sighed.
"Please stop saying things like that."
Ryan raised his hands.
"I’m just observing."
Azrael slipped the insignia into his pouch.
"We keep moving."
The mountain pass narrowed as they climbed.
The trees became thinner.
Eventually, they reached a cliff overlooking a deep valley.
Seraphina stopped beside Azrael.
Below them was an abandoned stone settlement.
Dozens of buildings filled the valley.
Their architecture was unlike anything they had seen near the academy.
Tall stone towers stood beside circular structures covered in faded symbols. Bridges connected several buildings, and at the center of the settlement stood a massive circular platform.
No people.
No movement.
No animals.
The entire settlement was silent.
Orin stared down.
"That’s a city."
Caelan nodded.
"An old one."
Lyanna pulled out the map.
"This isn’t marked."
Azrael looked at her.
"Then either the map is incomplete..."
"Or this place wasn’t supposed to be found."
Seraphina looked toward the center of the settlement.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"There."
Azrael followed her gaze.
At the center of the circular platform was the same symbol.
Golden circle.
Black circle.
Empty space.
But unlike the smaller versions they had seen before, this one was enormous.
It had been carved directly into the stone.
Seraphina could feel something coming from it.
Not danger.
A pull.
A strange sense of familiarity.
She placed one hand against her chest.
"Azrael..."
"I feel it too."
The twins exchanged a look.
Caelan noticed.
"What is it?"
Seraphina hesitated.
"I’m not sure."
She looked toward the ruins again.
"It feels like something is remembering us."
Azrael didn’t answer immediately.
Then he started down the mountain.
"Let’s find out what."
They reached the abandoned settlement before sunset.
The moment Azrael stepped onto the central road, his perception expanded.
The city wasn’t empty.
Not completely.
There were traces everywhere.
Footprints preserved in dust.
Broken tools.
Abandoned homes.
Half-finished meals turned to stone.
A child’s wooden toy lying beside a doorway.
People had lived here.
Then something had happened.
Seraphina entered one of the homes.
She gently touched a stone table.
"These people weren’t fleeing."
Caelan entered behind her.
"How can you tell?"
"If they had been escaping, they would have taken supplies."
She pointed toward several storage containers.
"Food remained."
She looked at the doorway.
"There are no signs of violence either."
Azrael examined the walls.
"No battle."
Seraphina nodded.
"They simply left."
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"An entire city?"
"Yes."
Azrael looked toward the center of the settlement.
"At the same time."
Everyone followed his gaze.
The central platform suddenly emitted a faint pulse.
THUM.
The ground vibrated beneath their feet.
Several people immediately reached for their weapons.
The pulse came again.
THUM.
Seraphina’s Genesis energy reacted.
Golden light briefly appeared around her hand.
Azrael’s Oblivion resonance responded at the same moment.
Black energy flickered around Astraeus.
The central symbol illuminated.
Golden.
Black.
Then white.
The empty space between the two circles filled with light.
A voice echoed through the abandoned city.
Not ancient.
Not threatening.
Simply recorded.
"Those who carry the separated forces..."
The group froze.
"...have returned."
Seraphina stared at the platform.
"Returned?"
Azrael stepped forward.
"Who recorded this?"
The voice continued.
"The separation was never meant to be permanent."
The twins exchanged another look.
The recording continued.
"But the cycle cannot be restored by returning to the past."
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed.
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
The voice answered immediately.
"Choose what comes next."
The light faded.
Silence returned.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Marcus finally broke the silence.
"I think I preferred the monsters."
Ryan nodded.
"Same."
Caelan ignored them.
His eyes remained fixed on the platform.
"That wasn’t a random message."
"No," Azrael said.
"It was meant for us."
Seraphina walked toward the symbol.
Azrael followed.
As they approached, the empty space between Genesis and Oblivion began glowing brighter.
Then something appeared.
A staircase.
Not leading upward.
It descended beneath the platform.
Stone steps slowly revealed themselves as the floor separated.
Cold air rose from below.
Lyanna looked into the darkness.
"There’s something underneath the city."
Azrael drew Astraeus.
Seraphina summoned a sphere of golden light.
"Then that’s where we’re going."
They descended together.
The others followed closely behind.
After several minutes, the staircase ended.
They entered a vast underground chamber.
Unlike the abandoned city above, this place was perfectly preserved.
White stone walls surrounded a circular room.
At the center stood two enormous statues.
One was formed from golden crystal.
The other was carved from black stone.
Between them stood a third statue.
Unlike the other two, it had no color.
Its face was deliberately featureless.
Seraphina slowly approached it.
The moment she stepped forward, the statue’s eyes opened.
Azrael immediately moved in front of her.
A voice filled the chamber.
"You have learned that Genesis and Oblivion were separated."
The twins stood ready.
The voice continued.
"But that is only the beginning."
A faint light appeared beneath their feet.
Three symbols emerged across the floor.
Genesis.
Oblivion.
And the same empty symbol they had seen throughout the Tower.
Seraphina stared at the third symbol.
"What is that?"
The voice answered.
"It is what your predecessors failed to understand."
Azrael’s expression hardened.
"What?"
The chamber became completely silent.
Then the answer came.
"Choice."
The three symbols illuminated simultaneously.
And for the first time since entering the northern mountains, the twins understood that whatever had happened here was not simply a remnant of the past.
Someone had deliberately left a path for them to follow.
Not a trial.
Not a command.
A choice.
Azrael looked at Seraphina.
She smiled faintly.
"Together?"
He nodded.
"Together."
They stepped forward.
And the door behind the three statues opened.