Chapter 87 — The Thing Without a Lifeline
The chamber trembled.
Stone fell from the ceiling.
Brook couldn't move.
Not because he was afraid.
Because Death's words were still echoing inside his head.
It has no lifeline.
Brook stared into the crack.
The creature continued pulling itself upward.
One hand.
Then an arm.
Then a shoulder.
Its body was covered in black, hardened flesh that looked almost like stone.
There was no face.
Only a smooth, pale surface where one should have been.
Henry raised his sword.
"What the hell is that?"
Crowley didn't answer.
Sera looked at him.
"Crowley."
Still nothing.
Kael stepped forward.
"That's not helping."
Crowley finally spoke.
"I've never seen anything like it."
Brook looked at Death.
"You really can't see its lifeline?"
Death shook his head.
There isn't one.
Lucifer's usual smile was gone.
That's not supposed to be possible.
Michael watched the creature carefully.
Everything that lives has a connection to something.
Brook frowned.
"Then what is that?"
Michael looked at him.
Something that shouldn't exist.
The creature's head slowly turned toward Brook.
It had no eyes.
Yet Brook knew it was looking directly at him.
Then it spoke.
The voice sounded like several voices layered together.
"B-01."
Brook tightened his grip.
"How do you know me?"
The creature took another step.
The ground cracked beneath its foot.
"Because you were made from what remains."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Of what?"
The creature didn't answer.
Instead, it raised one hand.
The Sources inside Brook reacted violently.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Brook fell to one knee.
Henry grabbed him.
"Brook!"
Brook pushed himself up.
"I'm fine."
Lucifer's voice echoed.
No, you're not.
Brook clenched his teeth.
"Not helping."
I'm being honest.
Michael appeared beside Lucifer.
Something is pulling at the Sources.
Brook looked at them.
"Can it take them?"
Michael didn't answer immediately.
Then:
It is trying.
Brook's eyes widened.
"Then we're leaving."
Brook grabbed Henry.
"Get everyone out."
Henry nodded.
"What about Elias?"
Brook looked across the chamber.
Elias was standing completely still.
His eyes were fixed on the creature.
Brook shouted:
"Elias!"
Nothing.
Brook ran toward him.
He grabbed Elias by the shoulder.
"Elias!"
Elias finally blinked.
"What?"
"Move!"
Elias looked at Brook.
Then at the creature.
"You don't understand."
Brook's patience snapped.
"Then explain while we're running."
Elias shook his head.
"It doesn't want me."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
"It wants you."
The creature moved.
Fast.
Much faster than its size suggested.
Brook shoved Elias aside.
The creature's hand slammed into Brook's chest.
He was launched across the chamber.
He crashed into a stone wall.
Henry shouted.
"Brook!"
Brook dropped to the floor.
His vision blurred.
The creature approached.
Michael appeared inside his mind.
Get up.
Brook tried.
His body wouldn't respond.
Brook.
"I'm trying."
Lucifer appeared beside him.
Stop fighting it.
Brook looked at him.
"What?"
Lucifer pointed toward the creature.
You're treating it like something you can overpower.
Brook struggled to breathe.
"Then what do I do?"
Lucifer smiled faintly.
Think.
Michael nodded.
Observe.
Brook closed his eyes.
The world slowed.
He listened.
The creature's footsteps.
The cracking stone.
Henry shouting.
Kael attacking.
Sera's energy.
Crowley's weapon.
And beneath all of it—
nothing.
No heartbeat.
No lifeline.
No spiritual connection.
Brook opened his eyes.
"I see."
Lucifer smiled.
There he is.
Brook stood.
The creature turned toward him.
Brook marked the wall.
White light appeared.
The creature charged.
Flash.
Brook vanished.
The creature's fist smashed into empty air.
Brook appeared behind it.
Strike.
His sword cut across its back.
Nothing.
No blood.
No reaction.
Brook teleported again.
The creature turned.
Brook appeared on the opposite side.
Strike.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Brook frowned.
"It doesn't feel pain."
Michael answered:
Then stop trying to hurt it.
Brook looked at the creature.
"Okay."
He marked the ground beneath himself.
Then the ceiling.
Then the far wall.
The creature charged.
Brook disappeared.
Flash.
Ceiling.
Flash.
Wall.
Flash.
Floor.
He moved faster and faster.
The creature began turning.
Brook wasn't attacking.
He was confusing it.
Henry suddenly understood.
"He's trapping it!"
Brook appeared behind the creature.
He grabbed its arm.
Teleportation activated.
Flash.
The creature disappeared with him.
They reappeared inside a narrow stone corridor.
Brook immediately teleported away.
The creature slammed into the walls.
Brook marked the entrance.
Flash.
He appeared outside.
The corridor collapsed.
Massive stones buried the creature.
Everyone stared.
Kael lowered his weapon.
"Did you just teleport a monster into a wall?"
Brook breathed heavily.
"Basically."
Kael grinned.
"That's actually pretty cool."
Brook smiled.
"Thanks."
Lucifer laughed inside his mind.
Finally, someone appreciates creativity.
Michael remained calm.
It won't hold it for long.
Brook's smile disappeared.
"Of course it won't."
The rubble moved.
Everyone prepared themselves.
The creature emerged.
Damaged.
But still standing.
Brook stared.
"Okay."
Henry stepped beside him.
"Plan?"
Brook looked at the creature.
"Run."
Kael blinked.
"That's the plan?"
"Yes."
Kael laughed.
"Finally, a plan I understand."
They sprinted toward the exit.
Crowley stayed behind.
Brook looked back.
"Crowley!"
"Go!"
Crowley raised his weapon.
The creature charged him.
Crowley met it head-on.
The collision shook the entire chamber.
Brook stopped.
Henry grabbed him.
"Come on!"
Brook looked at Crowley.
Crowley was being pushed backward.
Brook started to turn.
Henry held him.
"He told us to go!"
Brook clenched his fists.
Then—
Crowley released something.
Not a Source.
Not an ability Brook had ever seen.
A pressure filled the chamber.
The creature stopped.
Crowley's eyes became cold.
"Enough."
The creature hesitated.
Crowley raised his hand.
A black mark appeared across his palm.
Brook froze.
He had seen that symbol before.
The crown.
The same symbol from the coin.
Crowley looked at the creature.
"You don't belong here."
The creature recoiled.
Brook stared.
Crowley turned toward them.
"Now go."
Brook finally moved.
They reached the surface.
The ground behind them collapsed.
The forest shook.
Everyone stumbled into the open.
Sera looked around.
"Where's Crowley?"
Brook turned.
The entrance had completely collapsed.
"He's still down there."
Henry looked worried.
"He's not dead."
Brook shook his head.
"I know."
Kael looked at him.
"How?"
Brook closed his eyes.
Death appeared.
The lifelines around him became visible.
Henry.
Sera.
Kael.
Then—
Crowley.
A faint line stretched beneath the earth.
Still alive.
Brook opened his eyes.
"He's alive."
Everyone relaxed.
Then Elias emerged from the collapsed entrance.
Blood covered his face.
Henry rushed toward him.
"Elias!"
Elias barely stood.
Brook looked at him.
"You knew that thing was down there."
Elias shook his head.
"No."
"You knew what it wanted."
"Yes."
"Which is?"
Elias looked at Brook.
"You."
Brook stared.
"Why?"
Elias looked away.
"Because you're the only one who can contain all of them."
Brook's expression hardened.
"You mean the Sources."
Elias nodded.
"Michael. Lucifer. Death."
Brook looked at him.
"How do you know about Death?"
Elias didn't answer.
Brook stepped closer.
"Elias."
"I've seen what happens when they aren't contained."
Brook frowned.
"Where?"
Elias looked toward the collapsed entrance.
"Inside me."
Silence.
Henry stared at him.
"What?"
Elias's expression became distant.
"They didn't just put one Source inside B-00."
Brook's eyes widened.
"What did they put inside you?"
Elias looked at him.
"Nothing that survived."
Brook didn't understand.
Elias continued:
"That's why I'm still alive."
Brook stared.
"You were supposed to contain something?"
Elias nodded.
"I failed."
He looked toward Brook.
"You didn't."
The ground suddenly shook again.
A low sound came from beneath them.
Everyone looked toward the collapsed entrance.
A hand broke through the rubble.
Brook raised his weapon.
But the hand wasn't the creature's.
Crowley pulled himself out.
Blood covered his coat.
Kael rushed toward him.
"You okay?"
Crowley stood.
"Fine."
Brook stared at the black symbol on his palm.
Crowley noticed.
He closed his hand.
Brook stepped closer.
"What did you do down there?"
Crowley looked at him.
"Survived."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting."
Brook sighed.
"Of course."
Crowley looked at Elias.
Their eyes met.
Something passed between them.
Elias immediately looked away.
Crowley noticed.
He said nothing.
They returned to Shinokuni-01 late that night.
Nobody celebrated.
They had found answers.
But every answer had created three more questions.
Brook sat alone on the roof.
The city lights stretched below him.
Michael appeared beside him.
Lucifer sat on the edge.
Death stood behind them.
Brook looked at the three.
"Do you know what that thing was?"
Michael shook his head.
No.
Brook looked at Lucifer.
Lucifer shrugged.
Not yet.
Brook looked at Death.
Death stared into the city.
It had no ending.
Brook frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Death looked at him.
Everyone has one.
Brook was quiet.
Then Lucifer smiled.
You did good today.
Brook looked at him.
"Really?"
You didn't overpower it. You outthought it.
Michael nodded.
That is what mastery looks like.
Brook smiled.
"Thanks."
Lucifer looked at Michael.
Was that a compliment?
Michael nodded.
Yes.
Lucifer laughed.
I need to mark this day.
Brook laughed.
For a few seconds, the three beings weren't frightening.
They weren't powers.
They were companions.
And Brook realized something.
Maybe mastering the Sources wouldn't mean becoming their master.
Maybe it meant learning how to live with them.
Far away, beneath an abandoned structure…
Elias stood before the black emblem.
The mysterious voice returned.
You saw it.
Elias stared at the emblem.
"Yes."
And now you understand.
"No."
Silence.
Elias's expression hardened.
"I understand that you lied to me."
The voice became quiet.
Careful.
Elias looked into the darkness.
"Who are you?"
Nothing.
Elias continued:
"You know Brook."
Silence.
"You know B-00."
Nothing.
"You know the Sources."
Still nothing.
Elias clenched his fists.
"And you know what happened to me."
The voice finally answered.
I know everything you were.
Elias froze.
The voice continued:
But you still don't know what you are.
The emblem went dark.
Elias stood alone.
And for the first time…
he wondered whether the mysterious voice had been manipulating him from the very beginning.
End of Chapter 87