Chapter 74: The Shrine That Time Forgot
The words lingered in the air.
The wrong shrine.
No one spoke.
The tiny mirror slowly dimmed until it reflected only their own faces once more.
Eric was the first to break the silence.
"...We’ve spent two days chasing the wrong place?"
Damien shook his head.
"No."
"I don’t think we’ve been chasing the wrong place."
He looked at the shattered mirrors scattered across the floor.
"I think..."
"...we’ve only been following the wrong destination."
Noah walked toward the small mirror.
The wooden sparrow remained beside it.
Patient.
Waiting.
He crouched.
"The wrong shrine..."
He whispered.
"So where is the right one?"
The sparrow chirped.
Once.
Then it flew.
Not forward.
To the left.
Straight toward what appeared to be a solid marble wall.
Eric sighed.
"Please don’t tell me..."
The sparrow landed on the wall.
The stone rippled like the surface of a calm lake.
Then...
It passed through.
Without resistance.
Luna smirked.
"A hidden passage."
Noah stepped closer.
He reached out carefully.
His fingers touched cold stone...
Then passed through it.
An illusion.
"Stay together."
Everyone nodded.
One by one...
They stepped through.
The world beyond was completely different.
Gone were the polished marble halls.
Instead...
A vast underground forest stretched before them.
Towering trees with silver bark reached toward a ceiling that resembled a night sky.
Blue flowers covered the ground.
Tiny glowing insects floated lazily through the air.
A crystal-clear river flowed silently between the trees.
Sophia’s eyes widened.
"...It’s beautiful."
Damien slowly looked upward.
"...Impossible."
There was no sunlight.
Yet everything glowed with a soft natural light.
Eric scratched his head.
"...How big is this place?"
No one answered.
Because...
No one knew.
The wooden sparrow flew toward the river.
It landed beside an ancient stone marker.
Unlike everything else...
The marker had writing that hadn’t faded.
Noah stepped closer.
The ancient letters slowly changed.
Becoming readable.
Those who seek truth...
Walk beside the river.
Those who seek power...
Cross it.
Eric looked at the calm water.
"...Seems straightforward."
Before anyone could move...
A loud splash echoed downstream.
Everyone turned.
A young deer burst from the trees.
It raced toward the river.
Without hesitation...
It leaped across.
The moment its hooves touched the opposite bank...
The animal froze.
Its body became completely still.
Like a statue.
Then...
It slowly crumbled into pale gray dust.
The dust scattered into the air.
Gone.
Silence.
Eric swallowed.
"...I vote we don’t cross."
Luna nodded immediately.
"Agreed."
Noah looked at the river again.
Then back at the inscription.
"Walk beside it."
He said quietly.
"We’re following the truth."
Not the shortcut.
The squad continued along the riverbank.
The underground forest remained eerily peaceful.
Too peaceful.
After nearly half an hour...
Sophia suddenly stopped.
"...Someone’s here."
A figure sat beside the river.
Fishing.
An elderly man wearing a wide straw hat.
Simple gray clothes.
Bare feet resting in the water.
He hummed softly while holding an old wooden fishing rod.
Eric blinked.
"...Another old man?"
The stranger chuckled without turning around.
"You sound disappointed."
Noah immediately recognized the voice.
Not because he’d heard it often.
But because it carried the same calm warmth.
The same impossible age.
As the Keeper.
The old fisherman slowly reeled in his line.
There was no fish.
Only...
A carved wooden sparrow.
He smiled as he held it up.
"They always find their way home."
He finally turned.
His face was unfamiliar.
Yet his amber eyes...
Were exactly the same as the Keeper’s.
"You’ve come farther than most."
He said gently.
"But the next path..."
His smile faded ever so slightly.
"...is one that even memories fear to walk."
Behind him...
The river suddenly curved sharply around a massive cliff.
Built into the cliff face...
Was a pristine shrine.
Untouched by time.
Untouched by decay.
Not ruined.
Not abandoned.
Exactly as it had appeared in the vision.
The wooden sparrow flew from Noah’s shoulder.
It landed quietly on the shrine’s stone steps.
Then bowed its tiny head.
As if...
It had finally brought them home.
The underground river flowed gently beside them.
Not a single ripple disturbed its surface.
The untouched shrine stood at the base of the towering cliff.
Its white stone walls gleamed softly beneath the underground sky.
There was no moss.
No cracks.
No signs of decay.
It looked...
As though it had been built yesterday.
Eric stared.
"...Now that’s creepy."
Luna shook her head.
"No."
She looked at the perfectly clean steps.
"Creepy would’ve been ruins."
"This..."
"...is impossible."
The old fisherman quietly reeled in his line again.
Another carved sparrow emerged from the river.
He smiled.
"They always come back."
He gently released the sparrow into the water.
Instead of sinking...
It floated away like a leaf.
Noah stepped toward him.
"Who are you?"
The old man chuckled.
"Names become heavy after enough centuries."
He looked toward the shrine.
"You’ve already met one version of me."
Noah’s eyes narrowed.
"The Keeper."
The fisherman nodded.
"A memory."
"A guide."
"An echo."
"But not the whole man."
Before Noah could ask another question...
The old fisherman stood.
He looked toward the shrine with a complicated expression.
"Pity."
"For all these years..."
"...they’ve been knocking on the wrong door."
He pointed toward the ruined shrine they had originally sought.
"What everyone fears..."
"...is merely a shadow."
Then he turned toward the pristine shrine.
"But shadows exist because something real casts them."
Damien quietly absorbed every word.
"So the ruined shrine..."
"...was built later."
"Correct."
The fisherman smiled.
"It was made to hide this one."
Sophia looked surprised.
"Hide it?"
"Yes."
"From those who sought power."
Noah thought back to the inscription beside the river.
Those who seek truth... walk beside the river.
Those who seek power... cross it.
Nothing in this place had tried to kill them.
Every challenge had tested patience.
Judgment.
Purpose.
Not strength.
The wooden sparrow fluttered onto Noah’s shoulder.
It chirped once.
Then flew toward the shrine’s entrance.
The great white doors slowly opened.
Without anyone touching them.
Inside...
The shrine was breathtaking.
Rows of white pillars stretched into the distance.
Crystal lanterns floated silently overhead.
A shallow pool reflected the ceiling like a perfect mirror.
The air smelled faintly of cedar and rain.
At the center of the shrine stood...
A single stone pedestal.
Nothing rested upon it.
Eric looked around.
"...That’s it?"
"We came all this way..."
"...for an empty stand?"
The fisherman smiled.
"It’s only empty..."
"...because you’re looking with your eyes."
Noah slowly approached the pedestal.
The rusted iron key grew warm.
Warmer.
Warmer still.
When he reached the pedestal...
The warmth suddenly disappeared.
Everything became silent.
Even the river outside.
A single drop of water fell into the shallow pool.
Plink.
Ripples spread outward.
Not across the water.
Across the entire shrine.
The walls shimmered.
The pillars dissolved into light.
The floor beneath Squad Seven vanished.
They were no longer standing inside the shrine.
They stood in the middle of a bustling city.
Children laughed as they raced through wide stone streets.
Merchants called out their wares.
Musicians played cheerful melodies.
People smiled.
The underground forest was gone.
The shrine was gone.
Everything was alive.
Sophia whispered,
"...A memory."
The fisherman stood among the crowd.
Only now...
He wasn’t old.
He appeared to be a young man in his late twenties.
His white hair was shorter.
His back straight.
His eyes carried quiet determination.
He looked toward Noah.
"This..."
"...is the day everything changed."
The joyful sounds of the city suddenly stopped.
One by one...
People looked toward the distant horizon.
A bell rang.
Not once.
Not twice.
Seven times.
DONG...
DONG...
DONG...
The young Keeper closed his eyes.
"...They’re here."
Far beyond the city walls...
The sky began to darken.
Not with clouds.
With something else.
Something vast enough to blot out the sunlight itself.
Noah instinctively reached for Shadowfang.
His hand passed through it.
He couldn’t draw his weapon.
He couldn’t move.
He could only watch.
The memory wasn’t showing them a battle.
It was showing them...
The beginning.
The young Keeper looked toward Noah one final time.
Though he shouldn’t have been able to see him...
He smiled.
"...Watch carefully."
"...History is often remembered..."
"...by the victors."
His expression became solemn.
"...But truth..."
"...belongs to the witnesses."
The sky split open.
A colossal shadow descended from the heavens.
Its shape couldn’t be understood.
Every time Noah tried to focus on it...
It changed.
Beast.
Storm.
Mountain.
Void.
As if the human mind refused to comprehend its true form.
The memory trembled.
The city screamed.
And for the very first time...
Squad Seven witnessed the event that ancient history had erased.