Chapter 106 — The Road Beneath
The darkness didn't lift immediately.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Brook stood with his sword raised.
Henry was somewhere to his left.
Sera was behind him.
Crowley—
Brook couldn't see Crowley at all.
Then a small light appeared.
Not from Hades.
From Henry.
Henry held up a narrow metal cylinder.
He twisted its base.
A pale flame ignited at the tip.
Brook looked over.
"Where'd you get that?"
Henry shrugged.
"Preparedness."
"You didn't have that five minutes ago."
"I didn't need it five minutes ago."
The light spread through the chamber.
Sera was standing beside one of the pillars.
Her face was pale.
Hades remained near the black pool.
Crowley stood closest to the darkness.
Brook frowned.
"Why are you over there?"
Crowley didn't turn.
"Because something is coming."
Henry sighed.
"Yeah. We got that part."
The sound returned.
A footstep.
Deep beneath them.
Then another.
Brook activated Death.
Nothing.
No lifeline.
He looked at Death.
"What is it?"
Death remained beside him.
I cannot see it.
Henry heard Brook speaking.
"That's never good."
Brook glanced at him.
"You can hear me?"
"I can hear when you're talking to yourself, yes."
"Lucifer."
I heard that.
Henry jumped slightly.
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
The footsteps stopped.
A voice came from the darkness.
"Who are you?"
Everyone froze.
It wasn't Azael.
It wasn't the pale creature.
The voice sounded young.
Almost human.
Hades stepped forward.
"Show yourself."
Nothing.
The voice repeated:
"Who are you?"
Sera looked at the darkness.
"Someone is there."
Crowley raised his weapon.
"We know."
"No."
Sera shook her head.
"I mean someone is physically there."
Brook looked toward her.
"What?"
Sera pointed.
"The words."
"What words?"
Sera walked toward the wall.
Hades immediately turned.
"Sera."
She stopped.
"Look."
Words were appearing across the stone.
One at a time.
WHO.
A second word appeared.
ARE.
Then:
YOU.
Sera stared.
"They're writing."
Hades's face became serious.
"Do not answer."
Henry looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because it asked a question."
Henry frowned.
"And?"
Hades looked directly at him.
"In Remus, words matter."
The question appeared again.
WHO ARE YOU?
Brook watched Sera.
She was thinking.
Not panicking.
Studying.
The pale creature noticed too.
It smiled.
"She's learning."
Hades turned sharply.
"Quiet."
The creature grinned.
"You can't stop her from understanding."
Sera stepped closer to the wall.
Brook grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?"
She looked at him.
"Trust me."
Brook didn't let go.
"Sera."
"I said trust me."
Brook released her.
She turned toward the wall.
Then spoke.
"My name is Sera."
The chamber shook.
Henry stared.
"Didn't Hades just say—"
Sera raised her hand.
A word appeared beneath the question.
SERA.
The chamber became still.
Nothing happened.
Henry blinked.
"That's it?"
Sera looked at the writing.
"No."
Another question appeared.
WHAT ARE YOU?
Hades immediately stepped forward.
"Sera."
She looked at him.
"I know."
Her expression changed.
She looked back at the wall.
"What I am is not what I am called."
The writing stopped.
Brook frowned.
The words slowly disappeared.
Hades stared at Sera.
"You answered without answering."
Sera looked at him.
"Word Magic has rules."
Hades nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"And rules can be interpreted."
For the first time, Hades looked impressed.
"Correct."
Henry smiled.
"Look at you."
Sera smirked.
"Don't make it weird."
The footsteps began again.
Closer.
Henry's expression changed.
"Okay. Now what?"
Brook looked toward the darkness.
"We find out what's walking."
Henry looked at his weapon.
"I vote against that."
Crowley moved forward.
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Crowley pointed toward the darkness.
"Nobody goes in."
Brook studied him.
"Why?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Brook stepped closer.
"Crowley."
Crowley finally looked at him.
"Because I know where that leads."
Silence.
Henry folded his arms.
"Great. Another secret."
Crowley ignored him.
Brook waited.
Finally, Crowley exhaled.
"The first time I came to Remus, Aldric sent me here."
Hades's eyes narrowed.
"You promised not to speak of that."
Crowley looked at him.
"I promised Aldric."
Brook's expression hardened.
"What did he send you to find?"
Crowley looked toward the darkness.
"The road."
Nobody spoke.
Brook remembered the creature's words.
You found the road.
Crowley continued.
"There was supposed to be a path connecting the twelve sanctuaries."
Sera frowned.
"Supposed to?"
"Nobody had ever confirmed it."
Henry looked at the floor.
"Until now."
Crowley nodded.
"The road was supposed to allow the rulers of the protected places to travel between them."
Brook looked at Hades.
"And it doesn't?"
Hades's answer was immediate.
"No."
"Why?"
Hades stared into the darkness.
"Because it was never meant for rulers."
A loud crack came from the darkness.
Everyone jumped back.
The pale creature began laughing again.
Brook pointed his sword toward it.
"What do you know?"
The creature smiled.
"I know what the road is."
"Then tell us."
"It is a path."
Brook's expression didn't change.
"Don't start."
The creature tilted its head.
"A path between twelve cages."
Henry looked at Hades.
"Cages?"
Hades's jaw tightened.
Sera noticed.
"That's why the twelve are protected."
Brook turned toward her.
"What?"
Sera walked toward the map on the wall.
"The protected places."
She pointed toward the twelve symbols.
"They're not simply protected from the outside."
Her finger moved between the lines.
"They're containing something."
The chamber went silent.
Henry stared.
"Oh."
Brook looked toward the darkness.
"The locks."
Hades nodded once.
The pale creature smiled.
"Now you're beginning to understand."
Something struck the wall.
Once.
The entire chamber shook.
Crowley stepped in front of the others.
Brook looked at him.
"Move."
"No."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Crowley didn't look back.
"Whatever is behind that door cannot reach the city."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"Neither can you."
Crowley finally turned.
"If it comes through, I'll close the passage."
"How?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Henry stepped beside him.
Brook looked between them.
"What are you doing?"
Henry shrugged.
"Helping."
"You don't know what he's planning."
"I know."
Brook stared.
"And you're okay with that?"
Henry looked toward the darkness.
"No."
A pause.
"But I'm not letting him stand there alone."
Crowley glanced at Henry.
"You don't have to."
Henry smiled faintly.
"Yeah, well, you didn't ask."
Brook watched them.
For once, Henry wasn't joking.
Crowley looked away.
"Idiot."
Henry grinned.
"That's basically a thank you."
Sera was studying the wall.
Brook walked toward her.
"What are you thinking?"
She didn't look away from the words.
"The road is responding to us."
"How?"
"It keeps asking questions."
Brook looked at the wall.
WHO ARE YOU?
The question had returned.
Sera touched the stone.
"This isn't a monster."
Brook frowned.
"You sure?"
"No."
She looked at him.
"But I think it's a test."
Hades heard her.
His eyes moved toward the wall.
"Perhaps."
Sera noticed his reaction.
"You knew."
"I suspected."
Henry looked over.
"You really need to stop saying that."
Nobody laughed.
Hades walked toward Sera.
"If the road is asking questions, it may be deciding whether to open."
Brook looked toward the darkness.
"Open to what?"
Hades's voice became quieter.
"The next sanctuary."
Brook stared.
A loud impact shook the chamber.
The footsteps stopped.
The question on the wall vanished.
New words appeared.
ONE MAY ENTER.
Henry looked around.
"Absolutely not."
Sera read the words again.
"One."
Crowley immediately stepped forward.
"I'll go."
Brook grabbed his shoulder.
"No."
Crowley looked at him.
"I've been on the road before."
"That doesn't mean you're going alone."
"The road said one."
Brook's grip tightened.
"Then we'll find another way."
Crowley looked at him.
"There isn't always another way."
Brook stared at him.
Henry stepped between them.
"Hold on."
Both looked at him.
Henry pointed toward the writing.
"It said one may enter."
Sera frowned.
"Yes."
Henry smiled.
"It didn't say one person."
Brook stared at him.
Henry walked toward the pale creature.
The creature immediately stepped back.
"What are you doing?"
Henry pointed toward it.
"You're coming."
The creature smiled.
"No."
Henry nodded.
"Okay."
He turned toward the wall.
The creature's eyes narrowed.
Henry looked back.
"You know, that's strange."
"What?"
"The road says one may enter."
The creature stared at him.
Henry smiled.
"And you were the first thing to come out of it."
Silence.
Sera's eyes widened.
Crowley looked at Henry.
The pale creature's smile disappeared.
Henry pointed toward the darkness.
"You're part of the road."
The writing across the wall began glowing.
The creature whispered:
"No."
The question appeared again.
WHO ARE YOU?
Brook watched.
Henry stepped toward the creature.
"Good question."
The creature backed away.
Brook suddenly understood.
The road wasn't asking them.
It was asking the creature.
The pale figure looked around the chamber.
For the first time, it was trapped.
Sera slowly spoke.
"You said you were the word that was forgotten."
The creature stared at her.
Henry looked toward the wall.
"Then maybe it forgot you too."
The creature's expression twisted.
The black pool began shaking violently.
Brook stepped forward.
The creature screamed.
The sound wasn't human.
Words appeared across every wall.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
WHO ARE YOU?
WHO ARE YOU?
WHO ARE YOU?
The creature dropped to its knees.
Hades stared.
"Impossible."
Crowley looked at him.
"What?"
Hades's face had gone pale.
"The road recognizes it."
Sera looked toward the creature.
"As what?"
The creature slowly lifted its head.
Its black eyes were no longer empty.
Fear filled them.
Then it whispered:
"I don't know."
Everything stopped.
The words disappeared.
The suspended water fell.
Brook grabbed Sera.
Hades threw up a hand.
"STILL."
The water froze inches above them.
But the darkness below the chamber—
opened.
A stone doorway emerged from beneath the floor.
Ancient.
Covered in twelve symbols.
One symbol began glowing.
Not Shinokuni-01.
Not Remus.
Another.
The doorway slowly opened.
Beyond it—
Brook saw a forest.
A different forest.
Sunlight.
Red leaves.
Mountains in the distance.
The pale creature crawled backward.
"No."
A voice came from beyond the doorway.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Simply curious.
"Are you coming through?"
Brook stepped toward the door.
Crowley grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Brook looked at him.
"Why?"
Crowley stared at the world beyond the doorway.
"Because that's not where the road was supposed to go."
Brook looked again.
The red forest remained still.
Then something moved between the trees.
A figure.
Standing far away.
Watching.
Brook's Death Source activated.
A lifeline appeared.
Human.
One.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
The figure raised a hand.
Brook couldn't hear the voice this time.
But the words appeared in his mind.
Welcome, strangers.
The doorway widened.
And somewhere beyond Remus—
another protected place had opened its eyes.
End of Chapter 106