Chapter 204 - 199: Beneath the Sixth Floor
The staircase seemed to have no end.
John kept one hand on the wall as he descended, though he didn’t really need the support. The deeper they went, the colder the air became.
Behind him, Aerion remained unusually quiet.
Darius was even quieter.
And Specimen 001—
The massive creature moved down the stairs without making a sound.
John glanced back.
"You sure you want to keep going?"
The creature’s golden eyes met his.
**Yes.**
"You don’t know what’s down there."
**Neither do you.**
"Fair."
They continued.
For several minutes, the only sound was their footsteps.
Then Darius stopped.
"Wait."
John turned.
"What?"
Darius pointed at the wall.
There were markings carved into the stone.
Not the symbols used by Project Evolve.
These were older.
Much older.
John ran his fingers over one.
"This wasn’t built by them."
"No."
Darius looked fascinated.
"The facility was constructed around this."
John looked at the staircase.
"So the secret came first."
"Exactly."
Aerion frowned.
"Then why would they build a laboratory here?"
John answered before Darius could.
"Because they found something."
Darius nodded.
"Something they thought they could use."
John looked at the symbols again.
"And probably didn’t understand."
---
The staircase finally ended.
They stepped into a cavern.
John stopped.
The space was enormous.
The ceiling was impossible to see.
Natural stone stretched in every direction, but the center of the cavern was different.
A massive circular structure stood there.
It looked like a temple.
Or perhaps a machine.
John couldn’t decide.
Tall stone pillars surrounded a black platform.
Symbols covered every surface.
At the center was a circular pool.
But there was no water inside.
Instead, darkness filled it.
Not ordinary darkness.
John couldn’t see the bottom.
Darius slowly walked forward.
"This is ancient."
"How ancient?"
"I don’t know."
He looked at the carvings.
"But older than anything in Ravencross."
Specimen 001 stopped.
The creature stared at the structure.
**This is it.**
John looked at it.
"You recognize this?"
**No.**
"Then how do you know?"
The creature looked toward the pool.
**I remember this place.**
John frowned.
"You’ve been here before?"
A pause.
**Before they captured me.**
That surprised everyone.
Darius stepped closer.
"How?"
The creature didn’t answer immediately.
Then:
**They brought me here.**
John’s expression hardened.
"Why?"
**To awaken it.**
The cavern suddenly became silent.
John looked at the black pool.
"What is it?"
The creature shook its head.
**We never reached this point.**
"Who is we?"
The creature looked at John.
**The first subjects.**
Darius went pale.
"There were others?"
**Many.**
John looked at the creature.
"What happened to them?"
The creature’s eyes dimmed.
**They died.**
---
John walked toward the circular platform.
The closer he got, the heavier the mana became.
But this wasn’t the same mana he’d felt from the laboratory.
This felt ancient.
Dense.
Almost primordial.
His instincts told him not to touch anything.
So naturally, he stopped.
"Nobody touches the platform."
Aerion nodded.
Darius agreed.
Specimen 001 simply watched.
John examined the symbols.
Some resembled the markings from the documents.
Others were completely unfamiliar.
Then he noticed something.
A symbol was repeated on several pillars.
A circle.
Three lines through it.
The same symbol used by Project Evolve.
John stared.
"They didn’t create their symbol."
Darius understood.
"They copied it."
John nodded.
"From here."
That meant the organization had discovered this place long before Project Evolve existed.
Perhaps this was where their entire ideology began.
---
Darius moved closer to one of the pillars.
"There are words."
John joined him.
The writing was ancient.
Darius struggled to translate it.
"Something about... a gate."
"Gate to where?"
"I don’t know."
He continued.
"There’s a warning."
"What does it say?"
Darius stared at the inscription.
Then slowly translated:
*"That which sleeps below must remain untouched."*
John looked toward the black pool.
"That’s pretty straightforward."
Darius pointed at another line.
"It continues."
John waited.
Darius swallowed.
*"When the seal weakens, the world above will hear its voice."*
Nobody spoke.
Then the voice came.
Not from the pool.
From everywhere.
**Open.**
John’s body immediately tensed.
Aerion drew his weapon.
Darius stepped backward.
Specimen 001 lowered its head.
The cavern trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
John looked at the pool.
The darkness inside it had changed.
There was movement.
Something was beneath it.
"Everyone back."
They moved away.
The circular platform began glowing.
One symbol after another activated.
John felt his skin crawl.
The ancient structure wasn’t simply reacting.
It was opening.
---
Then something unexpected happened.
Specimen 001 walked onto the platform.
John turned.
"What are you doing?"
The creature looked back.
**It knows me.**
"That’s not an answer."
**It is the only answer I have.**
The creature continued forward.
John grabbed its side.
"Wait."
The creature stopped.
John looked at its eyes.
"You don’t have to do this."
**If I leave, it will awaken anyway.**
John’s expression changed.
"How do you know?"
**Because that is why they made me.**
John froze.
Darius looked at the creature.
"You were created to contain it."
**Not contain.**
The creature looked at the pool.
**Feed it.**
Silence.
John’s face hardened.
"What?"
**They modified my body so I could absorb mana. They believed they could use me as a vessel.**
Darius finally understood.
"That’s why you’re a mana-eater."
The creature nodded.
**They wanted me to consume the energy around the seal.**
John stared at the pool.
"And then?"
**They planned to control whatever awakened.**
John laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because the stupidity of it was unbelievable.
"They wanted to control something they didn’t even understand."
Darius sighed.
"That’s usually how disasters begin."
---
The pool moved.
A ripple spread across the darkness.
Then another.
John stepped backward.
"Something’s coming."
The creature suddenly roared.
The sound echoed through the cavern.
The platform cracked.
A massive wave of energy exploded outward.
John crossed his arms.
The force pushed him back several meters.
Aerion crashed against a pillar.
Darius fell.
The cavern shook violently.
Then the black pool split open.
A column of darkness rose from its center.
It reached toward the ceiling.
John stared.
Inside the darkness, he saw something.
Not a body.
A shape.
An outline.
Too large to understand.
Then an eye opened.
John froze.
The eye was enormous.
It filled the entire column.
It looked directly at him.
And John heard a voice inside his head.
**You are not of this world.**
John’s blood ran cold.
Darius looked at him.
"John?"
John didn’t answer.
The voice continued.
**Yet you carry the scent of many worlds.**
John’s eyes narrowed.
"What are you?"
The creature didn’t answer.
Instead, the eye focused on him.
**Interesting.**
The pressure suddenly disappeared.
The eye closed.
The darkness collapsed.
Everything went silent.
John remained standing.
His hand was tightly gripping his sword.
Aerion slowly stood.
"What happened?"
John looked toward the pool.
"I don’t know."
Darius approached cautiously.
"Did you hear something?"
John hesitated.
"Yes."
"What?"
John looked at him.
"It spoke to me."
Darius’s face changed.
"What did it say?"
John didn’t answer immediately.
He didn’t want to tell them that the thing had somehow recognized that he didn’t belong to this world.
Because he didn’t understand what that meant.
Instead, he said:
"It said we’re not supposed to be here."
Darius looked at the pool.
"That’s all?"
"For now."
---
Then they heard footsteps.
Human footsteps.
John immediately turned.
Lights appeared at the far end of the cavern.
Dozens of people were descending the staircase.
Guards.
Researchers.
And at the front—
Lord Armand Veyr.
John’s expression hardened.
"So you followed us."
Veyr stopped.
He looked at the ancient structure.
Then at Specimen 001.
His expression wasn’t angry.
It was almost relieved.
"You found it."
John raised his sword.
"Stay where you are."
Veyr smiled.
"You still don’t understand."
"Then explain."
Veyr looked toward the black pool.
"We’ve spent years trying to reach this chamber."
John’s eyes narrowed.
"And now?"
"Now you have opened the way."
John glanced at the platform.
"We didn’t open anything."
Veyr laughed.
"You did."
Darius stepped forward.
"What are you talking about?"
Veyr looked at him.
"The seal responds to mana."
He pointed toward John.
"Especially yours."
John’s expression changed.
"Mine?"
Veyr nodded.
"We’ve studied your group since you entered the Silverwood."
Lythriel’s absence suddenly became obvious.
John’s eyes narrowed.
"You’ve been watching us."
"Of course."
Veyr’s smile widened.
"You destroyed our facility."
"You freed our specimens."
"You interfered with our research."
"And yet..."
He looked at John.
"You’ve brought us exactly what we needed."
John raised his sword.
"You made a mistake."
Veyr looked amused.
"What mistake?"
"Thinking I’m going to let you use this thing."
Veyr’s smile disappeared.
Then he raised his hand.
Every guard behind him drew their weapons.
"Unfortunately..."
He looked at John.
"You don’t have a choice."
The ancient symbols around the cavern suddenly activated.
The ground shook.
The black pool began glowing again.
And this time—
The voice returned.
**Open.**
John looked toward the darkness.
Then toward Veyr.
He finally understood.
This wasn’t a rescue mission anymore.
It wasn’t even an investigation.
They were standing in the middle of something that had been planned for years.
And Veyr had just arrived to finish it.
John slowly raised his sword.
"Everyone."
Aerion stepped beside him.
Darius prepared his magic.
Specimen 001 lowered its head.
John looked at the armed guards.
"Don’t let anyone reach that platform."
The first guard charged.
John moved.
The battle beneath Ravencross had begun.
---
100 ps = 1 extra Chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter