"At last…"
The whisper echoed through Lin Feng's mind.
Cold.
Ancient.
Impossible.
For a brief moment—
Everything disappeared.
The battlefield.
The city.
The collapsing streets.
The monstrous creature kneeling before him.
All of it faded.
Darkness remained.
Endless darkness.
Lin Feng stood alone within it.
"…Who are you?"
His voice echoed into the void.
No answer came immediately.
Then—
A figure appeared.
Not clearly.
Not completely.
Only a silhouette.
Tall.
Wrapped in shadows.
Ancient beyond comprehension.
And somehow—
Familiar.
The figure looked at him.
Then laughed softly.
"You have grown slower than expected."
Lin Feng frowned.
"…I don't even know who you are."
"Of course not."
The figure began walking toward him.
"Your memories were sealed."
That answer only created more questions.
"What memories?"
The figure stopped.
Then raised one hand.
Instantly—
Fragments appeared around them.
Broken images.
A battlefield.
A crimson sky.
Millions of warriors.
Mountains shattered by impossible power.
Entire worlds burning.
Lin Feng's heart skipped.
Because every image felt real.
Not like imagination.
Like memory.
"…What is this?"
The figure's voice became quieter.
"Your past."
Lin Feng stared.
"No."
Because that was impossible.
He remembered nothing like this.
Nothing at all.
The figure laughed again.
"You remember only one life."
The darkness trembled.
"But you have lived far more than one."
Before Lin Feng could respond—
The vision shattered.
Reality returned.
Instantly.
The ruined city reappeared around him.
The burning streets.
The collapsed buildings.
The kneeling creature.
And the unbearable pressure.
Lin Feng staggered slightly.
"Lin Feng!"
Su Yao grabbed his shoulder immediately.
"What happened?"
He looked at her.
Still trying to process what he had seen.
"…I heard a voice."
The man from the shadows went still.
Completely still.
"A voice?"
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
"Inside my head."
That answer visibly disturbed him.
"…That's impossible."
The crimson markings continued spreading across Lin Feng's arm.
Not quickly.
But steadily.
The creature below watched silently.
Waiting.
Almost patiently.
Then—
It spoke again.
"Heir."
The word echoed across the district.
This time—
The voice sounded different.
Not commanding.
Respectful.
The older man fighting nearby finally landed beside them.
Golden light surrounded him.
His expression was calm.
But his eyes—
Were serious.
Very serious.
"The seal is failing."
Lin Feng looked toward him.
"…I noticed."
A massive section of the city collapsed in the distance.
The older man ignored it.
His focus remained entirely on Lin Feng.
"Listen carefully."
The tone alone made everyone silent.
"You cannot stay here."
Lin Feng frowned.
"Because of this thing?"
"Because of what it wants."
A pause.
"And because of what is waking beneath the city."
The ground trembled again.
Stronger this time.
Deep beneath Blackstone—
Something enormous moved.
The pressure rolling upward felt ancient.
Far older than the kneeling creature.
Far worse.
Lin Feng could feel it now.
Calling to him.
Pulling at something deep inside him.
And that terrified him more than any enemy so far.
Because part of him—
Wanted to answer.
The older man noticed immediately.
His gaze sharpened.
"You feel it."
Not a question.
A statement.
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
"…Yeah."
Silence followed.
Then—
The older man sighed.
"That confirms it."
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Confirms what?"
For the first time since meeting him—
The older man hesitated.
Only briefly.
Then—
"You truly are the Heir."
Lin Feng rubbed his forehead.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Then perhaps you should start listening."
Fair.
The older man continued.
"Long before Blackstone City existed…"
Another tremor shook the district.
"…Something was sealed beneath this land."
The kneeling creature remained silent.
Listening.
Waiting.
"Generations sacrificed everything to keep it imprisoned."
A pause.
"But seals weaken."
Lin Feng looked toward the shattered earth.
"And now?"
The older man's gaze darkened.
"Now it is waking."
The pressure beneath the city surged again.
This time—
Several of the remaining seals across the district shattered completely.
Crimson light erupted from deep underground.
The creature lowered its head further.
Almost reverently.
And then—
The city shook harder than ever before.
Buildings collapsed.
Roads split apart.
The entire ground tilted.
People screamed.
Fighters fled.
Panic spread everywhere.
Because everyone felt it now.
Something enormous was rising.
Something ancient.
Something that should never have awakened.
Lin Feng stared at the widening abyss beneath the city.
Then—
The voice returned.
Inside his mind.
Stronger than before.
"Come."
Lin Feng froze.
"Claim what is yours."
The crimson markings spread further.
Reaching his shoulder now.
Burning.
Alive.
And beneath Blackstone City—
A gigantic crimson light suddenly ignited.
Visible even through the darkness below.
The older man's expression changed instantly.
For the first time—
Fear appeared.
"Impossible."
The man from the shadows looked downward.
His face pale.
"…It found him."
Lin Feng's pulse thundered.
Because deep inside—
He somehow understood exactly what they meant.
The abyss beneath Blackstone exploded open.
And from the depths—
A colossal gate began rising toward the surface.
Covered in ancient symbols.
Covered in blood-red chains.
And carved across its center—
Were words written in a language Lin Feng had never seen.
Yet somehow—
He could read them properly.
And the gate—
Was opening.