Chapter 11: Whispers Beyond the Gate
The echo of Kael's defeat still lingered in the air, a tremor that rippled through every corner of the academy. Ren stood in the aftermath, bloodied yet unbowed, his Codex still glowing faintly with the last remnants of forbidden magic.
But it wasn't over.
Not even close.
"The Sealed Entry has responded…"
A voice—ancient, layered, and neither male nor female—whispered from the Codex Nullum. Its pages flipped of their own accord, revealing a glowing script Ren couldn't read... yet could somehow understand.
A new page. One that shouldn't exist.
A Forbidden Entry, locked away since the age of gods.
Meanwhile, within the heart of the Council Sanctum, masked instructors and shadowed figures argued over Ren's awakening.
"He's not just a Scholar. He's a Trigger."
"The Codex was supposed to be inert."
"No… it was waiting."
A secret faction within the academy—known only as the Order of the Sealed Flame—voted to either bind Ren or use him. One among them, a woman with silver eyes and a golden mask, remained silent. Her vote would be the tie-breaker.
Elsewhere…
In the darkened corridors of the Library of Forgotten Tomes, Lira traced her fingers along ancient bindings.
"He's already broken two Seals," she whispered. "What happens if he breaks the third?"
The books whispered back.
Back in his dorm, Ren sat alone, bruised and mentally drained. But as he reached toward the Codex once more, something stirred.
A new weapon… or a new curse?
The words burned into the page:
[Void-Class Skill: Null Requiem – First Movement Unsealed]
And in his mind echoed the voice of something older than the gods.
"You are no longer a pawn. You are a herald."