The ground didn't just break.
It unraveled.
Blackstone City tilted as if the world itself had lost balance.
Entire districts sank into widening cracks while crimson light erupted from beneath the earth like a second sun trying to rise through stone.
And at the center of it all—
The gate continued to ascend.
Massive.
Ancient.
Impossible.
Chains as thick as mountains stretched across its surface, each one engraved with glowing seals that screamed resistance against whatever lay beyond.
But they were failing.
One by one.
Lin Feng stood frozen on the rooftop.
Not from fear.
Not exactly.
From recognition.
"…I can read it," he muttered.
The words on the gate burned into his vision even though he had never seen that language before.
As if something inside him—
Already knew it.
HEIR OF THE SEALED THRONE
Su Yao grabbed his arm again.
"Lin Feng, we need to go. Now."
He didn't move.
The man from the shadows was already pale.
"…If that gate fully opens, the city is gone."
The older man descended from above, landing heavily on a fractured rooftop nearby. Even his golden aura looked unstable now, flickering under the pressure rising from below.
"This is beyond containment," he said quietly.
Lin Feng finally looked at him.
"…You said you could stop it."
A pause.
The older man didn't answer immediately.
Then—
"I said I could contain it."
Another violent tremor split the city in half.
The gate rose higher.
Now fully visible above the abyss.
And something behind it—
Moved.
Not fully seen.
Not fully formed.
But aware.
Lin Feng's breath slowed.
"…Something is inside that."
"Yes," the older man replied.
"And it has been waiting for you."
That sentence landed heavily.
Su Yao narrowed her eyes.
"Explain."
The older man didn't look away from the gate.
"Long ago, there was a being that ruled what lay beyond sealed existence."
A pause.
"It did not die."
"It was imprisoned."
The gate shuddered violently as more chains snapped.
"And every generation… a fragment of its existence escapes into the world."
Lin Feng's hand slowly tightened.
"…That creature below."
The kneeling monster.
The one that called him Heir.
The older man nodded once.
"Yes."
"But it is not the source."
Another crack echoed through reality.
"The source is what lies behind that gate."
The crimson light intensified.
The entire sky above Blackstone City warped.
Lin Feng felt it again.
That pull.
Stronger now.
Not just calling.
Recognizing.
His chest burned faintly where the markings had spread.
Su Yao noticed immediately.
"Your arm—"
The markings were moving.
Not spreading randomly anymore.
But aligning.
Like a map finding completion.
Lin Feng stared at his own hand.
"…It's reacting."
The man from the shadows stepped back slightly.
"That's not possible."
But it was happening.
The gate began to open wider.
A deep, grinding sound echoed through reality itself.
Not metal.
Not stone.
Something older.
The older man clenched his fist.
"…If it opens completely, not even I can stop what comes out."
Lin Feng finally exhaled.
Slowly.
Calmly.
"…So what you're saying is—"
He looked at the gate.
"That thing is looking for me."
Silence.
No one corrected him.
That was answer enough.
The air shifted again.
The voice returned inside Lin Feng's mind.
But this time—
It wasn't alone.
A second voice appeared.
Deeper.
Heavier.
Older.
"Finally…"
Lin Feng staggered slightly.
His vision blurred for a moment.
Su Yao caught him instantly.
"Lin Feng!"
But he barely heard her.
Because his consciousness was being pulled.
Not forward.
Not backward.
Downward.
Toward the gate.
And through it.
Images flashed violently inside his mind.
A throne.
Broken chains.
A world burning in crimson flame.
And a figure sitting upon endless darkness—
Watching him.
"…You are late."
Lin Feng gasped.
His knees nearly buckled.
"What… is that…"
The older man moved instantly.
"Break the connection!"
Golden energy surged toward Lin Feng—
But stopped abruptly.
The moment it touched him—
It was absorbed.
Silence.
Even the older man froze.
"…Impossible."
The gate opened further.
And then—
It spoke again.
Not in his mind this time.
But across the entire city.
"HEIR."
Everything stopped.
Even the collapsing buildings.
Even the fleeing fighters.
Even time itself felt like it hesitated.
Lin Feng looked up slowly.
Eyes reflecting crimson light.
"…Yeah?"
The voice from the gate deepened.
"COME HOME."
The final chain snapped.
The gate opened halfway.
And something inside—
Looked back.
Cliffhanger
Blackstone City went silent.
Because every living being felt it at once.
Something beyond the gate had made eye contact with Lin Feng.
And smiled.