Chapter 155: Stop Holding Back
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The black void had disappeared.
Only the ancient heart remained, cracked and trembling in the center of the chamber.
Noah stared at the place where the stranger had vanished.
Why did Ragnarok choose an extra?
The question wouldn’t leave his mind.
Laura stepped closer.
"Noah?"
He looked at her.
"I don’t know what that thing meant."
"Neither do we."
Irus suddenly raised her staff.
"Enough."
Everyone turned toward her.
Her golden eyes settled on Noah.
"The connection has become unstable. You need to leave this chamber."
Noah tightened his grip on Shadowfang.
"You’re not taking me anywhere."
"I don’t intend to."
Her gaze shifted toward the damaged heart.
"I intend to end this."
She lifted her staff.
The three medallions rose from the ground.
Balgard.
Sylthin.
Flaros.
Golden energy gathered around them.
Alcris’s expression changed.
"No."
Irus glanced at him.
"You are finished."
Alcris forced himself away from the heart.
"You can’t destroy them."
"I can."
"They’re the only way to reach Ragnarok."
Irus’s expression hardened.
"That is precisely why they must be destroyed."
Alcris’s eyes widened.
"You’re giving up?"
"No."
Irus looked toward Noah.
"I’m preventing something worse."
Alcris suddenly lunged.
His body was exhausted, but desperation pushed him forward.
Irus barely moved.
A golden pulse struck him.
BOOM!
Alcris crashed into the stone floor.
"Alcris!"
Daniella rushed toward him.
Irus lowered her staff.
"Stay down."
Alcris coughed blood.
"You don’t get to decide that."
He tried to stand.
His legs shook.
His mana was nearly empty.
Yet he raised his weapon.
Daniella stared at him.
"Brother..."
Alcris looked at Noah.
"I started this."
His breathing was ragged.
"I’ll finish it."
Eric stepped forward.
"No."
Damien joined him.
"You’re done."
Alcris looked at them.
"You think you can stop me?"
Eric tightened his grip.
"We don’t need to beat you."
Damien raised his weapon.
"We just need to keep you away from Noah."
Alcris smiled weakly.
"Try."
Eric attacked first.
Their weapons collided.
CLANG!
Alcris slipped sideways and struck Eric across the ribs.
Eric flew backward.
Damien immediately followed.
A heavy strike forced Alcris to block.
The impact cracked the stone beneath his feet.
Alcris gritted his teeth.
His body was exhausted.
But his combat ability hadn’t disappeared.
He twisted, redirected Damien’s attack, and drove his elbow into Damien’s chest.
Damien staggered.
Eric returned.
Alcris ducked beneath the strike.
His weapon flashed.
Eric’s sleeve tore open.
Blood appeared.
"Damn!"
Alcris stepped backward.
"Stay down."
Eric wiped the blood from his arm.
"Not happening."
Damien stood beside him.
"We’re not letting you reach Noah."
Alcris’s eyes hardened.
"Then I’ll put both of you down."
Across the chamber, Laura faced Irus.
Sophia and Luna stood beside her.
Laura’s expression was firm.
"You’re not touching Noah."
Irus looked at her.
"You don’t understand what he’s carrying."
"Maybe."
Laura raised her weapon.
"But he’s still Noah."
Irus stared at her for a moment.
Something about Laura’s presence seemed to bother her.
"You resemble her."
Laura froze.
"Who?"
Irus’s expression immediately closed.
"Nothing."
Sophia stepped forward.
"You’re hiding something."
Irus raised her staff.
"I don’t have time for questions."
Golden energy exploded outward.
Laura, Sophia, and Luna raised their barriers.
BOOOOM!
The impact shook the chamber.
Laura slid backward.
Sophia’s barrier cracked.
Luna immediately reinforced it.
Irus walked forward through the fading light.
"You cannot win this."
Laura steadied herself.
"We don’t need to."
She looked toward Noah.
"We only need to keep you away from him."
Irus stopped.
For the first time, her eyes showed genuine irritation.
Noah stood between the two battles.
Eric and Damien were fighting Alcris.
Laura, Sophia, and Luna were holding back Irus.
Daniella was beside her wounded brother.
And beneath them, the ancient heart continued to crack.
BOOM.
Noah felt the Dead Zone stir.
What happens now?
It answered quietly.
"The ritual is collapsing."
Good.
"No."
The Dead Zone looked toward the cracking heart.
"It’s taking something with it."
Noah’s expression changed.
"What?"
The Dead Zone’s eyes turned toward him.
"Your restraint."
Noah suddenly felt heat spread through his chest.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 31.7%]
He staggered.
The crimson aura returned.
This time, darker.
Thicker.
The Dead Zone whispered:
"And once that reaches its limit..."
Noah looked at his trembling hands.
"What’s going to happen?"
The Dead Zone smiled.
"I stop holding back."
Noah felt the heat spreading through his chest.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 31.7%]
The crimson aura around him thickened.
Black streaks appeared through it.
Laura noticed immediately.
"Noah..."
He didn’t answer.
His eyes remained fixed on Alcris.
Eric and Damien were still fighting him.
But something had changed.
Alcris was exhausted.
His movements were slower.
His breathing was ragged.
Yet he continued.
CLANG!
Eric’s weapon collided with his.
Alcris twisted and struck Eric across the shoulder.
Eric stumbled.
Damien attacked from the side.
Alcris blocked.
The impact forced him backward.
"You’re finished!" Damien shouted.
Alcris gritted his teeth.
"Not yet."
He pushed Damien away.
His weapon trembled in his hand.
Daniella watched from a distance.
"Alcris..."
He looked at her.
She could see it.
His determination was gone.
What remained was desperation.
He had already lost control of the situation.
But he couldn’t admit it.
Across the chamber, Irus was slowly overpowering Laura, Sophia, and Luna.
Their combined barriers were beginning to crack.
Sophia’s breathing became heavier.
"We can’t hold her forever."
Luna nodded.
"I know."
Laura looked toward Noah.
His aura had become darker.
"Something is happening to him."
Irus heard her.
"That’s the problem."
Laura looked at her.
"What?"
Irus’s golden eyes shifted toward Noah.
"The Dead Zone is becoming active."
A sharp crack echoed through the chamber.
CRACK.
Everyone turned.
The ancient heart had split down the middle.
Golden light poured through the fracture.
Alcris froze.
"No..."
Irus immediately stepped backward.
"Get away from it."
Alcris stared at the heart.
"You said destroying it would end the ritual."
"It will."
"Then why is it still active?"
Irus didn’t answer.
The heart pulsed.
BOOM.
Noah’s aura surged.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 36.4%]
His head lifted.
His crimson eyes were becoming darker.
Eric stepped away from Alcris.
"Guys..."
Damien looked at Noah.
"What the hell is happening to him?"
Noah slowly turned.
His expression was blank.
Laura took one step toward him.
"Noah?"
He looked at her.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then his eyes softened.
"Laura..."
She exhaled.
"You’re still there."
Noah nodded.
"I’m trying."
The Dead Zone whispered inside his mind.
"Stop."
Noah frowned.
Stop what?
"Fighting me."
Noah’s expression tightened.
I’m not fighting you.
"You are."
The crimson darkness spread across his vision.
"Every time you resist, the boundary becomes stronger."
Noah looked toward the others.
I can’t let you take over.
"Not yet."
The Dead Zone stepped closer inside his mind.
"But you’re running out of time."
Alcris suddenly moved.
He lunged toward Noah.
Damien shouted.
"NO!"
Eric attacked.
Alcris blocked the strike and pushed past him.
He reached the edge of Noah’s crimson aura.
His hand extended.
"Ragnarok!"
Noah looked at him.
Alcris’s fingers touched the aura.
The world went silent.
A massive crimson pulse exploded outward.
BOOOOOOM!
Alcris was thrown across the chamber.
He crashed into the ancient heart.
The remaining stone shattered.
Daniella screamed.
"ALCRIS!"
He fell motionless.
The three medallions flew into the air.
Balgard.
Sylthin.
Flaros.
Their golden light flickered once.
Twice.
And went dark.
Irus stared at them.
"The ritual..."
She looked at Noah.
"...is over."
Noah slowly raised his head.
But something was wrong.
The crimson aura wasn’t disappearing.
It was growing.
[RAGNAROK DEAD ZONE RESONANCE: 48.9%]
Laura stepped toward him.
"Noah?"
He didn’t respond.
His eyes were no longer completely crimson.
Black had begun swallowing the color.
The Dead Zone’s voice echoed inside his mind.
"You wanted to know what happens when I stop holding back."
Noah felt his consciousness slipping.
No.
"This is the last warning."
The chamber trembled.
Irus raised her staff.
"Everyone move away from him."
Sophia looked at her.
"Why?"
Irus stared at Noah.
"Because I can no longer control the ritual."
Her voice became quieter.
"And neither can he."
Noah’s vision darkened.
The last thing he heard before the darkness consumed him was the Dead Zone whispering:
"Let me drive."