Chapter 170: Reapers - Kael
The door trembles.
Not a tiny shake. Something... deeper. Like bones shaking. Like a planet... breathing.
I'm standing on the castle tower. Leah is in the room with the twins. Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba haven't come back yet. Kiran and Avi went to Side B's city for medical supplies—Avi's right hand got hurt in the last fight, the nerves need fixing.
I'm alone.
Facing the door.
And... something coming out of it.
Not one person. A group. About twelve of them. Wearing golden armor. Covered head to toe. No faces. Or more like, faces... hidden by light. Their heads are... balls of golden light. No features. Just... brightness.
They walk out of the door. Like coming down stairs. Step by step. Floating in the air. Golden armor reflecting blinding light under Side B's sun.
They stop about two hundred meters from the castle.
The leader... raises a hand. In his hand is... some kind of weapon. Not a gun. Not a sword. It's... a staff. The top has... a sphere. Something's spinning inside. Like a galaxy. Like... a tiny universe.
"Gatekeeper." The voice comes from the sphere. Not from their mouths. Because they don't have mouths. The voice is... artificial. Like a machine. Like an oracle. "Kael de Noct."
"Who are you?"
"Reapers." He says. "From... the Source."
"What source?"
"The source of everything." He says. "Side A's. Side B's. The door's. The crack's."
"The Forge's."
"We... harvest."
"Harvest what?"
"Harvest... errors." He says. "You... are errors."
"The de Noct family."
"Twins."
"Hybrids."
"Cracks."
"Doors."
"All of this..."
"Should not... exist."
"The world... should be..."
"Simple."
"Side A."
"Side B."
"Separate."
"No... door."
"No... connection."
"You..."
"Broke... the rules."
"So..."
"We must..."
"Fix it."
"Fix it?" I sneer. "You mean... kill?"
"Not kill." He says. "It's... reverting. Reverting."
"Turn you back into..."
"Basic elements."
"Blood."
"Bones."
"Energy."
"Then..."
"Redistribute."
"Make the world..."
"Clean."
I spread my wings.
Dark red. Just skeleton and a few feathers. Gatekeeper energy flows through my body. But weak. Forge fragments also flow through my mind, fighting for control.
"What if..." I say. "I refuse?"
"You have... no choice." The Reaper says.
He raises the staff.
The galaxy in the sphere... spins faster.
A golden beam shoots out.
Not at me. At... the castle.
I dodge.
But the beam is too fast. It hits the castle's east tower. The tower... turns to sand. Not an explosion. But... breaking down. Into basic particles. Like it never existed.
"No!" I rush toward the castle.
The Reapers move.
All twelve. They spread their wings at the same time—golden, metallic, like machines—surrounding me.
"Gatekeeper..." The leader says. "Your time... is over."
"A new era..."
"Has begun."
"No... door."
"No... hybrids."
"No..."
"Love."
"Only..."
"Order."
I fight.
Kin-Slaying Blade in hand. I slash at the nearest Reaper. The blade hits golden armor. Sparks fly. But the armor... no damage. Like cutting diamond.
The Reaper strikes back.
The staff sweeps across my wings. All the feathers fall off. The skeleton breaks. I fall.
I crash into the castle courtyard. The stone ground shatters. Several bones break. Blood pours from my mouth.
"Kael!"
Leah's voice. From inside the tower.
She rushes out. Silver-white wings spread. Holding... the twins? No. She left the twins by the door. Using her body to shield them.
"Don't touch them!"
The Reaper turns to her.
"Silver Moon." He says. "You're also... an error."
"The Primogenitor bloodline... should not... awaken."
"The Forsaken... should... stay forsaken."
"You..."
"Should..."
"Disappear."
He raises the staff.
Pointing at Leah.
I struggle. Crawl forward. Block in front of Leah.
The golden beam hits my back.
Pain.
Pain beyond any words.
Like being thrown into the sun. Like every cell... evaporating.
I scream.
The sound isn't human. It's some kind of... mix. The Gatekeeper's. The Forge's. The de Noct's.
The Reaper pauses for a second.
"Interesting." He says. "You have... two souls inside."
"Gatekeeper."
"And... Forge fragments."
"You're... merging."
"Not an... error."
"But..."
"A mutation."
"More... dangerous."
"Must... eliminate... first."
He raises the staff again.
This time.
Pointing at my head.
"Kael..."
Leah's voice behind me. Shaking. Crying.
"Leah..." I can barely breathe. "Take the kids... run..."
"I'm not leaving..."
"Go..."
The staff's light gathers. Like a volcano about to erupt.
Then—
The door trembles.
Even more violently.
A dark-silver beam shoots from the door. Hits the ground. Between us and the Reapers.
In the beam... someone walks out.
No. Not a person.
It's...
De Noct.
The first Gatekeeper.
Who came out of the bell.
His body is made of dark-silver light. No solid form. But has a clear outline. Long hair. Wings. Vertical pupils.
"Reapers." He says. Voice like a bell ringing. Like the earth's core vibrating. "You... have crossed the line."
"De Noct..." The Reaper's voice shows... change for the first time. Like surprise. Like... fear? "Aren't you... sleeping?"
"Yes." He says. "But my... descendants. My... family. Are being... attacked."
"I... wake."
"To... protect."
"This is..."
"The Gatekeeper's... duty."
"You..."
"Cannot..."
"Touch them."
The Reapers step back.
One step. Two steps.
"De Noct..." The leader says. "You... are also an error."
"The first... error."
"You created... the door."
"You created... the connection."
"You..."
"Should be..."
"The first... eliminated."
De Noct smiles.
That smile... isn't human. It's something... ancient. Like mountains. Like oceans.
"Come." He says.
The Reapers move.
All twelve. Attack at once.
Staff lights weave together. Like a net. Like a cage.
De Noct spreads his wings.
Dark-silver. Massive. Covering half the sky.
He charges at them.
The battle.
Not a battle I can understand.
Energy colliding. Rules tearing. Physical laws... rewriting.
The sky changes color. From blue to gold to dark silver to... black.
Then...
Silence.
De Noct stands in place.
The Reapers... fall to the ground.
Golden armor... shatters. Like glass. Like... eggshells.
Their light... goes out.
Dead? Or... retreated?
De Noct turns.
Looks at me.
His eyes... are dark-silver. Different from my ice-blue. Different from Leah's silver-gray.
Something... more ancient.
"Kael." He says.
"...Ancestor?" I gasp.
"Yes." He says. "Also... you."
"Me?"
"You carry... my bloodline. My... memory. My... fragments." He says. "The Perfect Him... is also part of me."
"We..."
"Are... the same person."
"Scattered across..."
"Three thousand years."
"Now..."
"Must..."
"Become one."
I freeze.
Become one?
What does that mean?
De Noct reaches out a hand.
Touches my forehead.
Dark-silver light floods in.
I feel... memories. Not adding up. But... merging. My memories. His memories. The Perfect Him's memories. The Forge's memories.
All...
Flowing into...
One river.
"The door... needs... a new Gatekeeper." He says. "Not old. Not incomplete. But... whole."
"Are you..."
"Willing?"
"To become..."
"Whole?"
I look at Leah.
She's holding the twins. At the castle entrance. Tears on her face. Blood on her arms.
I look at the sky.
The door spins. Dark-silver. Pure.
But in the distance.
More golden light points... approaching.
Reapers. Not just twelve.
Hundreds. Thousands.
From the deepest part of Side A.
From the Source's... direction.
Coming.
"I'm willing." I say.
"But..."
"I have one condition."
"What?"
"Protect them." I say. Pointing at Leah. The twins. Xiao Qi. Xiao Ba. Kiran. Avi. Everyone.
"Even if..."
"I..."
"Am no longer me."
De Noct nods.
"I promise." He says.
Then—
He merges into me.
Like water merging into water.
Like light merging into light.
I...
Change.
Wings... regrow. Dark-silver. Not dark red.
Vertical pupils... change color. Ice-blue and dark silver mixed.
Body... taller. Stronger. More... ancient.
I stand up.
Look at the approaching golden light points.
"Reapers." I say. Voice not mine. It's... ours. "You want to... eliminate?"
"Come."
"Try."
"But remember."
"What you're facing..."
"Is not... one person."
"It's..."
"De Noct."
"Three thousand years."
"Generation after generation."
"All..."
"United."
"This is..."
"Family."
"This is..."
"Protection."
The golden light points...
Stop.
Like they're...
Something...
Held back.
Then...
They...
Pull back.
Not running away.
But...
Reassessing.
"We will... return." A voice comes from far away. Like an echo. "When... the door... collapses. When... you... weaken."
"We... will... return."
"To harvest..."
"Everything."
The light points...
Disappear.
The sky...
Turns blue again.
I...
Or rather...
We...
Stand before the castle.
Leah runs toward me.
But stops three meters away.
Looking at my eyes.
"Kael...?" She asks.
"...Here." I say. Voice is mixed. Ancient and young. "I'm always... here."
"But..."
"I'm also..."
"Not just... him anymore."
Leah's tears...
Fall.
But she smiles.
"I know." She says.
"No matter who you are..."
"You..."
"Are still here."
"That's enough."
She hugs me.
Tight...
Dark-silver wings...
Wrap around her.
Like...
Protection.
Like...
Forever.