The number lingered in Adrian's mind.
4%.
The final seal was dying.
Every second mattered.
Yet standing before the Last Keeper, Adrian felt as though time itself had slowed.
The ancient figure remained motionless at the center of the chamber.
Watching.
Waiting.
Its silver eyes reflected the floating crystals around them, giving the impression that entire galaxies lived behind its gaze.
No one spoke.
Finally, Kai broke the silence.
"...So when you say you're the Last Keeper of the truth, that's either going to be incredibly helpful or incredibly dramatic."
The figure looked at him.
For a brief moment, Adrian thought it might ignore the comment.
Instead, it replied.
"Both."
Kai blinked.
"...I respect the honesty."
The Keeper's attention returned to Adrian.
"The bond grows stronger."
Adrian looked at his wrist.
The mark was glowing steadily now.
Not flaring.
Not pulsing.
Glowing.
As if it had entered a new stage.
"I've noticed."
"You are close."
The words sent a chill through him.
"Close to what?"
The Keeper was silent for several seconds.
Then it answered.
"Remembering."
The chamber fell quiet.
Adrian frowned.
"Remembering what?"
The Keeper's expression didn't change.
"Who you are."
The words hit harder than expected.
Kai immediately looked at Adrian.
"Oh, I don't like that."
Neither did Adrian.
Because somewhere deep inside, part of him had begun asking the same question.
The bond had always felt familiar.
The Threshold had felt familiar.
Even the Origin felt familiar.
As though pieces of him recognized things his mind did not.
The Last Keeper slowly stepped away from the platform.
Ancient armor shifting softly.
"You believe this story began with you."
A pause.
"It did not."
The floating crystals brightened.
Symbols awakened across the floor.
A circle of silver-black light spread outward from the platform.
The chamber responded.
Listening.
The Keeper continued.
"You believe it began with Auren."
Another pause.
"It did not."
The elder watched silently.
Her face growing paler with every sentence.
The Last Keeper looked toward the distant ceiling.
Toward the forgotten city above.
Toward ages long gone.
"It began before memory."
The symbols on the floor erupted with light.
Suddenly—
Images filled the air.
Not projections.
Memories.
Entire scenes unfolding around them.
A world appeared.
Beautiful.
Vast.
Silver towers stretched across endless landscapes.
Cities floated among clouds.
Brilliant rivers of light flowed through the sky itself.
Adrian stared.
The vision from Chapter 75.
But complete.
Alive.
This was the civilization that built the prison.
The civilization that came before everything.
The Last Keeper's voice echoed through the memory.
"We called ourselves the Firstborn."
Silence.
The name felt important.
Ancient.
Heavy.
The image shifted.
Thousands of people filled the cities.
Living.
Thriving.
Laughing.
A world untouched by war.
Untouched by fear.
Untouched by darkness.
Then the vision changed again.
The sky cracked.
A massive fracture spread across reality itself.
Silver-black energy poured through the wound.
The beautiful cities trembled.
The Firstborn panicked.
Chaos spread.
And from beyond the fracture—
Something looked back.
The memory ended abruptly.
The chamber became silent.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
Finally, Adrian found his voice.
"What was that?"
The Keeper answered quietly.
"The beginning."
The same words Auren had used.
The same warning.
The same mystery.
The Keeper continued.
"The fracture was not natural."
The elder frowned.
"Then what caused it?"
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in the Keeper's eyes.
"We never learned."
A pause.
"Only what emerged from it."
The chamber grew colder.
Instinctively colder.
Even without details, everyone understood.
Whatever emerged had changed everything.
The Keeper looked at Adrian.
"The bond was discovered shortly after."
The mark pulsed.
Responding.
Listening.
The Keeper nodded.
"As the voice told you."
Adrian froze.
The voice beyond the door.
The Keeper knew about it.
The realization made his pulse quicken.
"You know what's behind the Origin."
The Keeper's expression darkened.
"Partially."
Not reassuring.
Not even slightly.
The elder stepped forward.
"Tell us."
The Last Keeper was silent.
Then it slowly shook its head.
"No."
The response shocked everyone.
Kai threw up his hands.
"Seriously?"
"You are not ready."
Kai groaned loudly.
"I am so tired of hearing that."
The Keeper ignored him.
Its gaze remained fixed on Adrian.
"Knowledge without understanding destroyed the Firstborn."
The floating memories shifted again.
This time showing war.
Cities burning.
Entire continents collapsing.
Silver-black storms tearing through reality.
And in the center of it all—
The door.
The same door Adrian had seen beyond the Origin.
The same impossible door.
Standing open.
Only slightly.
The memory vanished.
Silence followed.
The implication hit like a hammer.
The Firstborn hadn't built the prison first.
The door had come first.
The prison had come later.
Built in response.
Built out of fear.
Built out of necessity.
Adrian's heart pounded.
"Something came through."
The Keeper didn't answer.
Which was answer enough.
The mark suddenly flared.
Hard.
A whisper brushed against Adrian's thoughts.
Closer.
He stiffened.
The voice again.
The one beyond the door.
Stronger than before.
Much stronger.
The Keeper noticed immediately.
Its expression hardened.
"Time is ending."
Another tremor rolled through the chamber.
Far stronger than any before.
Cracks appeared along several pillars.
Floating crystals flickered.
The forgotten city itself was beginning to react.
Then—
A projection appeared above the platform.
Not created by the Keeper.
Not created by the Sanctuary.
The Origin itself.
The image showed the final seal.
Broken.
Cracked.
Failing.
And in its center—
A number.
2%
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Because they all understood.
There wasn't much time left.
The Last Keeper looked directly at Adrian.
Its ancient eyes filled with something he hadn't expected.
Concern.
Not for the world.
Not for the seal.
For him.
"The choice is almost upon you."
Adrian swallowed.
"What choice?"
The Keeper looked toward the darkness beneath the city.
Toward the Origin.
Toward Lyra.
Toward the door.
Then it spoke the words Adrian had been dreading.
"You must decide who was right."
Auren.
Or Lyra.
Seal the door.
Or open it.
Protect the prison.
Or uncover the truth.
The Keeper's voice softened.
"The future will follow your answer."
The chamber trembled violently.
A deafening crack echoed from below.
The projection flickered.
The number changed.
1%
And somewhere beneath the forgotten city—
The final seal began to collapse.