Chapter 103 — The King Who Knows
The palace doors closed behind them.
The sound echoed through the entrance hall.
Brook looked back.
The doors were enormous, carved from dark stone with thin silver lines running through them.
There were no guards.
No visible weapons.
No traps.
That somehow made the place feel more dangerous.
Henry leaned toward Brook.
"Where is everybody?"
Brook looked around.
"That's what I'm wondering."
Sera ran her fingers over one of the walls.
The stone was covered in writing.
Not decoration.
Words.
Thousands of them.
Some were carved deeply.
Others were so faint they looked like scratches.
Sera frowned.
"I can't read all of this."
The woman leading them glanced back.
"You aren't supposed to."
Sera looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because most of it isn't meant for you."
Sera looked at Brook.
"That's reassuring."
Brook smiled.
"Welcome to Remus."
They entered another chamber.
A long table sat in the center.
At the far end was Hades.
He sat alone.
No advisers.
No guards.
No servants.
Just him.
Brook immediately noticed something.
Hades wasn't wearing a crown.
He didn't need one.
His presence filled the room without it.
"Sit."
Everyone sat.
Brook remained standing.
Hades looked at him.
"I said sit."
Brook pulled out a chair.
"Better?"
Hades studied him.
"No."
Brook sat anyway.
Henry looked like he was trying not to laugh.
Hades turned his attention toward him.
"You find something amusing?"
Henry's smile disappeared.
"No."
Hades nodded.
"Good."
Brook looked around.
"So you're King Hades."
"I am."
"We came here looking for information."
"I know."
"The Twelve Protected Places."
"I know."
Brook narrowed his eyes.
"You knew we'd come."
Hades leaned back.
"I knew someone would eventually."
"Us specifically?"
Hades looked directly at Brook.
"You are harder to ignore."
Brook said nothing.
Hades continued.
"You carry three ancient powers."
Michael became still inside Brook's mind.
Lucifer smiled.
Death looked toward Hades.
Brook's expression hardened.
"How do you know about them?"
Hades glanced toward the ceiling.
"Because Remus remembers."
Sera leaned forward.
"What does that mean?"
Hades looked at her.
"You touched my gates."
Sera frowned.
"The statues?"
"They aren't statues."
"I know."
Hades nodded.
"Good."
He stood.
The room changed.
The writing on the walls began glowing.
Sera's eyes widened.
Hades walked toward one of the walls.
"Word Magic isn't simply magic spoken aloud."
He placed two fingers against the stone.
"Words have weight."
The word STILL appeared beneath his hand.
Everything in the room stopped.
A falling piece of dust froze in the air.
Henry's eyes widened.
Brook couldn't move.
Neither could Sera.
Neither could Crowley.
Even Lucifer went silent.
Hades removed his hand.
The word disappeared.
Everything moved again.
Henry immediately looked at Brook.
"Did you feel that?"
Brook nodded.
Hades returned to his seat.
"That was one word."
Sera stared at the wall.
"What happens if you use more?"
Hades looked at her.
"That depends on the words."
Sera's expression changed.
"Can words change reality?"
"Yes."
"Can they create things?"
"Yes."
"Can they destroy things?"
Hades nodded.
"Yes."
Sera became fascinated.
Brook noticed.
Hades noticed too.
"You like it."
Sera hesitated.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because it has rules."
Hades smiled faintly.
"Good answer."
Brook leaned forward.
"Then tell us about Remus."
Hades looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you're one of the Twelve."
Hades's expression changed slightly.
"That is what you believe."
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Hades folded his hands.
"Remus is not one of the twelve Shinokunis."
"We know."
"No."
Hades's voice remained calm.
"You don't."
He stood again.
A large map appeared across the wall.
Twelve symbols.
Brook recognized Shinokuni-01.
Then Remus.
But there were ten others.
Brook stared.
"Those are the twelve."
Hades nodded.
"Yes."
Henry leaned closer.
"So there really are twelve protected places."
Hades looked at him.
"Yes."
Sera pointed toward the map.
"Then why aren't they all called Shinokuni?"
"Because Shinokuni is a name."
Hades looked at the twelve symbols.
"Not a classification."
Brook stared at the map.
"So all twelve developed independently."
"Not entirely."
Hades touched the first symbol.
"Some were built."
Then the second.
"Some were inherited."
Then the third.
"Some were hidden."
His finger moved to Remus.
"And some simply refused to die."
Brook looked at him.
"Which one is Remus?"
Hades answered:
"All three."
Crowley finally spoke.
"What happened to the original twelve?"
Hades's eyes moved toward him.
"Interesting question."
Crowley remained still.
Hades walked toward him.
"You know more than you pretend."
Crowley said nothing.
Hades stopped in front of him.
"You've been to Remus before."
Henry looked at Crowley.
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"You said you'd only been here once."
Hades looked at Crowley.
"He's lying."
Crowley sighed.
"I was here twice."
Brook stared.
"Why?"
Crowley looked toward Hades.
"Because Aldric sent me."
The room went quiet.
Hades's expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"Aldric."
He said the name carefully.
"That explains the mark."
Brook looked between them.
"You knew King Aldric?"
Hades nodded.
"I knew him."
"What was he like?"
Hades looked toward the map.
"Cold."
Brook almost laughed.
"You're one to talk."
Henry looked at him.
"Brook…"
Hades actually smiled.
A very small one.
"He was worse."
Brook's smile disappeared.
"How?"
Hades looked directly at him.
"He believed survival justified anything."
Crowley lowered his eyes.
Hades continued.
"That belief eventually destroyed him."
Brook looked at Crowley.
"What did Aldric send you here for?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Hades did.
"Information."
Brook frowned.
"About what?"
"The Twelve."
"Why?"
"Because Aldric discovered something."
Hades turned toward the map.
"He believed the twelve sanctuaries were connected."
Brook looked at the symbols.
"They are."
"Not politically."
Hades touched the center of the map.
"Something connects them physically."
The symbols began moving.
Lines appeared between them.
Brook's expression changed.
A network.
A giant pattern spanning the entire world.
Hades pointed toward the center.
"Every protected place sits upon a node."
Sera stared.
"And what's in the center?"
Hades didn't answer.
Brook stepped closer.
"What's in the center?"
Hades looked at him.
"You."
Brook froze.
The lines shifted.
Every path converged toward a single point.
Brook's chest tightened.
Michael appeared beside him.
That is impossible.
Lucifer smiled.
Apparently not.
Death stared at the map.
The lifelines are connected.
Brook looked at him.
"To the sanctuaries?"
Death shook his head.
Through them.
Brook's expression hardened.
"Then what are the sanctuaries?"
Hades answered.
"Locks."
Silence.
Henry slowly stood.
"Locks for what?"
Hades looked toward the floor.
"That is the question your enemy is trying to answer."
"Elias."
Hades nodded.
"Yes."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"You know him."
"I know of him."
"Have you met him?"
"No."
Brook frowned.
"Then why are you so certain?"
Hades looked at him.
"Because men like Elias always leave the same fingerprints."
Brook waited.
"Ambition."
Hades continued.
"Fear."
A pause.
"And the belief that they are smarter than everyone else."
Brook thought about Elias.
He couldn't disagree.
Hades walked toward the window.
"Your enemy doesn't want Remus."
Brook followed him.
"What does he want?"
Hades looked out across his city.
"Access."
"To the other sanctuaries?"
"Eventually."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Then he'll come here."
Hades nodded.
"He already has."
The room became still.
Sera looked around.
"What?"
Hades pointed toward the wall.
A single word appeared.
LISTEN.
Everyone went quiet.
At first, Brook heard nothing.
Then—
a faint tapping.
Three taps.
Pause.
Two taps.
Pause.
Three.
Crowley immediately drew his weapon.
"That's not Remus."
Hades nodded.
"No."
The word on the wall changed.
BELOW.
Brook looked at the floor.
"Someone's under the palace."
Hades turned toward him.
"Yes."
Brook looked at Crowley.
"You knew?"
"No."
Hades walked toward the center of the room.
The stone floor split apart.
A staircase appeared.
Brook stared.
"You're taking us down there?"
Hades nodded.
"Yes."
Henry frowned.
"Why?"
Hades looked at Brook.
"Because whoever is beneath my palace has been there for three days."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Since we arrived?"
"Since before you arrived."
Hades stepped onto the staircase.
"Which means they weren't waiting for you."
Brook followed.
"They were waiting for you."
Hades looked back.
"Perhaps."
The staircase descended into darkness.
Sera stayed beside Brook.
"Do you think this is Elias?"
Brook shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Elias would've wanted us to know he was there."
Sera nodded.
"Then who?"
Brook looked at Hades.
"I don't know."
Lucifer appeared.
I do.
Brook glanced at him.
"Who?"
Lucifer's smile had disappeared.
Something old.
Michael appeared.
How old?
Lucifer looked down the staircase.
Older than Remus.
Brook stopped.
"What?"
Hades continued walking.
Brook caught up.
"You heard him?"
Hades didn't turn around.
"I hear more than you think."
Brook narrowed his eyes.
"Can you hear my Sources?"
Hades stopped.
He turned.
"No."
Brook relaxed slightly.
Hades continued:
"But I can hear you."
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Hades looked directly at him.
"It means you're loud."
Henry laughed.
Brook looked back.
"Not helping."
They reached the bottom.
A massive underground chamber opened before them.
Ancient pillars surrounded a circular pool.
The water was perfectly still.
At the center stood a small stone platform.
On it—
a book.
Old.
Black.
Untouched.
Sera immediately stopped.
Her eyes widened.
"That's Word Magic."
Hades nodded.
"Yes."
She took a step forward.
Hades raised one hand.
"Don't touch it."
Sera stopped.
"Why?"
"Because it doesn't belong to Remus."
Brook looked at the book.
"Then whose is it?"
Hades's expression became colder.
"I don't know."
Brook looked at the pool.
His Death Source activated.
The water had no lifeline.
The book had none either.
But beneath the water—
something did.
Brook's eyes widened.
"There."
Hades looked at him.
"What do you see?"
"Something alive."
The surface of the pool rippled.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
a hand emerged.
Sera stepped backward.
Henry drew his weapon.
Crowley raised his.
Hades didn't move.
The hand grabbed the edge of the stone platform.
A figure slowly pulled itself from the water.
Pale skin.
Long wet hair.
Eyes completely black.
It looked at Hades.
Then at Brook.
Then at Sera.
Its gaze stopped on the book.
It whispered:
"Too late."
Hades's voice was calm.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiled.
"I am the word you forgot."
Sera's face went pale.
"What does that mean?"
The figure looked at her.
Then spoke a single word.
"Silence."
Sera's mouth opened.
No sound came out.
Brook's eyes widened.
Hades immediately raised his hand.
The chamber exploded with magic.
And for the first time since entering Remus—
King Hades looked genuinely angry.
"Leave her alone."
End of Chapter 103