Chapter 93 — The First Choice
The fortress had gone quiet.
Too quiet.
Smoke drifted through the broken halls while the surviving soldiers fled into the night.
Brook stood in the center of the ruined laboratory.
His sword hung at his side.
Blood covered his sleeve.
Across from him, Elias stared into the shaft where the creature had disappeared.
Neither spoke.
Henry finally broke the silence.
"So…"
He looked between them.
"Are we going to talk about everything we just saw?"
Elias didn't answer.
Brook did.
"Yes."
He turned toward Elias.
"You're going to tell us everything."
Elias looked at him.
"No."
Brook's expression hardened.
"You don't get to say no anymore."
Elias smiled faintly.
"You still think you can make me."
Brook took a step forward.
"I don't have to."
He looked toward the ruined laboratory.
"You brought us here."
Then he pointed toward the shaft.
"You showed us the vessels."
His eyes narrowed.
"And you let us see what you're becoming."
Elias's smile disappeared.
"I'm not becoming anything."
Brook stared at him.
"Then prove it."
Elias walked toward the center of the laboratory.
He stopped beside one of the shattered chambers.
"This place was built before the Walls were established."
Crowley watched him carefully.
"By whom?"
Elias touched the broken glass.
"Scientists. Soldiers. Kings."
Brook frowned.
"Kings?"
Elias nodded.
"Humanity wasn't united when the experiments began."
He looked around.
"Every faction wanted the same thing."
"Power," Henry said.
Elias shook his head.
"Survival."
He looked directly at Brook.
"The world outside was already dying."
Brook said nothing.
"Abominations were multiplying. Entire settlements were disappearing. The first Wall wasn't a sanctuary."
Elias paused.
"It was a desperate experiment."
Sera frowned.
"And the Sources?"
Elias looked toward Brook.
"They were discovered before the Walls."
Brook's expression changed.
"What?"
"Michael. Lucifer. Death. They weren't created by the experiments."
Elias shook his head.
"They were found."
Michael appeared inside Brook's mind.
He's telling the truth.
Brook stared.
Lucifer smiled.
Finally, someone asks the right questions.
Brook ignored him.
"Found where?"
Elias looked toward the ceiling.
"Beyond the world humans understood."
Crowley stepped forward.
"Enough."
Everyone looked at him.
Crowley stared at Elias.
"You know too much."
Elias smiled.
"So do you."
The atmosphere changed.
Brook noticed immediately.
"You two have been hiding things from us."
Crowley didn't answer.
Elias looked at him.
"You knew what B-00 was."
Crowley's jaw tightened.
"You knew what happened to the original program."
Silence.
"You knew the Maker existed."
Crowley finally spoke.
"I knew the name."
Brook looked at him.
"That's not what you said before."
Crowley looked toward the broken laboratory.
"I didn't know who he was."
Elias laughed quietly.
"You still don't."
Brook looked between them.
"Then why are you both afraid of him?"
Neither answered.
That was enough.
Brook turned away.
"We're leaving."
Henry looked surprised.
"What?"
Brook sheathed his sword.
"We have what we came for."
Elias frowned.
"You don't know what you came for."
Brook looked at him.
"I know enough."
They began walking toward the exit.
Then Elias spoke.
"Brook."
Brook stopped.
"You asked why I betrayed Xcution."
Brook slowly turned.
Elias's face was unreadable.
"I didn't betray you because I hated you."
Brook's eyes hardened.
"Don't."
"I betrayed you because I believed I could control what was coming."
Brook said nothing.
Elias continued.
"I was wrong."
Henry looked at him.
"So you're admitting it?"
Elias nodded.
"Yes."
Sera stepped forward.
"Then stop."
Elias looked at her.
"What?"
"Stop this."
Elias smiled sadly.
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because I've already crossed the line."
Brook stared at him.
"No."
Elias looked at him.
"I crossed it when I decided Kael was acceptable."
The room became silent.
Brook's expression changed.
Elias continued.
"I knew what could happen."
Brook's voice became quiet.
"And you let it happen."
"Yes."
Henry looked away.
Sera's fists tightened.
Elias didn't defend himself.
"I won't ask you to forgive me."
Brook stared at him.
"Good."
Elias turned toward the exit.
Brook watched him.
"You're leaving."
"Yes."
"Where?"
Elias stopped.
"North."
Brook frowned.
"Why?"
"Because that's where the next door is."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Door to what?"
Elias looked back.
"The Maker's kingdom."
The mysterious voice whispered inside Brook's mind.
Don't follow him.
Brook froze.
Elias noticed.
A small smile appeared.
"You heard him."
Brook didn't answer.
Elias stepped into the darkness.
"Good."
Then he disappeared.
They left the fortress before sunrise.
No one spoke during the journey.
Brook walked at the front.
Henry stayed beside him.
Sera followed.
Crowley remained behind them.
The road was quiet.
Eventually Henry spoke.
"Do you believe him?"
Brook thought about it.
"Some of it."
"Which parts?"
"The parts he didn't want to tell us."
Henry nodded.
"And the rest?"
Brook looked toward the horizon.
"I don't know."
Lucifer appeared inside his mind.
He's afraid of you.
Brook frowned.
"Who?"
Elias.
Michael looked toward Lucifer.
No.
Lucifer smiled.
Yes.
Michael shook his head.
Elias is afraid of what Brook will become.
Brook looked between them.
"What's the difference?"
Lucifer answered:
He fears the man you are.
Michael continued:
And what you could become.
Brook looked ahead.
"What does he think I'll become?"
Neither answered.
Then Death spoke.
Something he cannot see the end of.
Brook stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Death looked toward the horizon.
Your lifeline changes when Lucifer takes control.
Brook's expression hardened.
"What?"
Michael immediately looked at Death.
Explain.
Death stared at Brook.
When the Hell Source rises, your lifeline becomes difficult to see.
Brook swallowed.
"So Lucifer is changing me."
Lucifer smiled.
I'm revealing you.
Brook frowned.
"That's not comforting."
It wasn't meant to be.
The group reached Shinokuni-01 by afternoon.
The gates opened.
But something was wrong.
No guards greeted them.
No civilians were walking the streets.
Brook stopped.
"Where is everyone?"
Crowley immediately drew his weapon.
"Something happened."
They entered the city.
Empty.
Not abandoned.
Empty.
Doors were open.
Shops were untouched.
Weapons remained on tables.
A child's toy lay in the middle of the street.
Henry picked it up.
"Where did everyone go?"
Brook looked around.
His Death Source activated.
Lifelines.
Hundreds.
Brook's eyes widened.
"They're alive."
Henry looked at him.
"Where?"
Brook closed his eyes.
The lifelines weren't inside the houses.
They were beneath them.
"Underground."
Crowley looked toward the street.
"Again."
Brook nodded.
"Someone moved them."
Sera looked around.
"Why?"
A voice came from behind them.
"Because they were looking for you."
Brook spun around.
A lone soldier stood at the end of the street.
He was wounded.
Badly.
Brook rushed toward him.
"Who did this?"
The soldier struggled to breathe.
"They came through the southern gate."
"Who?"
"People…"
He coughed.
"Black coats."
Brook froze.
"Elias."
The soldier shook his head.
"No."
Brook frowned.
"Then who?"
The soldier looked terrified.
"They weren't with Elias."
Crowley stepped forward.
"How many?"
The soldier whispered:
"One."
Brook's expression changed.
"One person did this?"
The soldier nodded.
"He walked through the city."
Brook stared.
"Did he fight?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
The soldier looked toward the ground.
"Everyone followed him."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Followed him where?"
The soldier pointed beneath the street.
"Underground."
Then his eyes closed.
Brook looked at Crowley.
"We're going down."
Crowley nodded.
They found the entrance beneath the central square.
A massive staircase descended into darkness.
Brook went first.
Henry followed.
Sera.
Crowley.
The deeper they went, the stronger the pressure became.
Brook felt Lucifer stirring.
Someone interesting is down here.
Brook frowned.
"You know who?"
Lucifer's smile appeared.
No.
"Then how do you know?"
I can smell Hell.
Michael looked at him.
There is no Hell presence here.
Lucifer's smile faded.
That's the problem.
Brook stopped.
"What?"
Lucifer looked toward the darkness.
Something is pretending not to be Hell.
Brook's expression hardened.
"Can you sense it?"
Lucifer nodded.
Yes.
Michael stepped forward.
And I don't like it.
Brook gripped his sword.
"Then we're close."
They continued.
The tunnel opened into a massive underground city.
Thousands of civilians stood silently.
Every single one was staring toward the same direction.
At the far end stood a figure.
Tall.
Black coat.
Face hidden.
Brook stopped.
The figure slowly raised one hand.
Every civilian turned toward Brook.
Then the figure spoke.
"Brook."
Brook's heart dropped.
The voice.
The same voice that had been speaking inside his mind.
Lucifer's smile disappeared.
Michael went completely still.
Death stared at the figure.
Brook whispered:
"The Maker."
The figure tilted its head.
"No."
Brook frowned.
The figure took one step forward.
"I'm not the Maker."
Silence.
Then it smiled beneath the hood.
"I'm the one who serves him."
Brook raised his sword.
The figure laughed.
"And he wants you alive."
End of Chapter 93