Arjun Mehra had discovered another universal truth.
Whenever an ancient monster started panicking, everyone else should panic too.
Unfortunately, he had only discovered this truth after an ancient monster had already started panicking.
The chamber was silent.
Not ordinary silence.
The kind of silence that existed just before something catastrophic happened.
The horned creature stood frozen several meters away, its massive body trembling.
Its crimson eyes remained fixed on Aisha Kapoor.
Aisha, meanwhile, looked equally confused.
“The what?” she asked.
The creature swallowed.
“The…
Fox Queen.”
Arjun slowly turned toward her.
She slowly turned toward him.
Neither of them spoke.
The system chose that exact moment to have a complete emotional breakdown.
☠️ CATASTROPHIC ERROR ☠️
Memory Seal Destabilization Detected
Subject:
Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Princess
Recovery Progress:
0.001%
Threat Assessment:
UNKNOWN
Recommendation:
PANIC IMMEDIATELY
“I’m already panicking!” Arjun shouted.The creature flinched.
Aisha blinked.
“Who are you yelling at?”
He opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
“Stress.”
Aisha stared at him.
“Your stress levels have names and titles?”
“…Yes.”
For some reason, she looked like she was actually considering the possibility.
That worried him more than if she had called him insane.
The creature cleared its throat.
Or at least, it attempted to.
The resulting sound resembled an earthquake suffering from emotional trauma.
“My lord.”
“No.”
The creature blinked.
“No?”
“No.”
“But you are the Keeper.”
“I’m a zoo employee.”
“You carry the authority.”
“I carry student loan debt.”
The creature seemed genuinely confused.
It turned toward Aisha.
“The Keeper has become strange.”
“Tell me about it,” she muttered.
Arjun pointed at the creature.
“First of all, what are you?”
The creature straightened.
For the first time since emerging from the seal, a trace of pride appeared in its expression.
“I am Varkhaz.”
The chamber shook.
“First General of the Seventh Demon Legion.”
More shaking.
“Warden of the Southern Abyss.”
The ceiling cracked.
“Devourer of Heavenly Mountains.”
A large piece of stone fell from above.
Arjun nodded.
“Okay.”
Varkhaz blinked.
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
“Do you not fear me?”
Arjun stared at the seven-meter-tall horned monster capable of shaking reality simply by introducing itself.
Then he remembered that said monster had bowed to him five minutes ago.
“A little.”
The demon looked relieved.
“Good.”
Aisha stepped forward.
“Excuse me.”
Both Arjun and Varkhaz turned toward her.
“Did you call me the Fox Queen?”
Varkhaz froze.
“Oh.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The demon hesitated. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
For the first time since meeting him, Arjun noticed genuine fear in the creature’s eyes.
Not fear of him.
Fear of her.
“You…
don’t remember?”
Aisha frowned.
“Remember what?”
Silence.
The system activated.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
Historical Information Request Detected
Access Permission:
Denied
Reason:
Host Clearance Insufficient
“What?”
The Host is currently ranked: Pathetically Unqualified.
“That’s rude.”
It is also accurate.
Varkhaz slowly lowered himself to one knee.
“My apologies.”
Aisha crossed her arms.
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“No.”
“Then answer.”
The demon looked toward Arjun.
Then toward Aisha.
Then back toward Arjun.
“My lord.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“May I tell her?”
Arjun stared.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Because you are the Keeper.”
“I literally feed pandas.”
Varkhaz looked genuinely conflicted.
Before he could answer, the chamber suddenly trembled.
Not from Varkhaz.
From somewhere else.
A deep rumbling echoed through the darkness beyond the broken seal.
The demon’s face changed instantly.
Fear.
Pure fear.
“No.”
The word escaped his lips like a prayer.
The rumbling grew louder.
Stone cracked.
The air itself began to vibrate.
The system exploded.
🚨 EMERGENCY ALERT 🚨
Additional Seal Failure Detected
Number of Active Seals Remaining:
47
Number of Failing Seals:
1
Probability of Disaster:
Increasing Rapidly
Arjun blinked.
“Forty-seven?”
Correction.
Forty-six.
“Oh, that’s worse.”
Varkhaz rose to his feet.
“We have to leave.”
Aisha looked surprised.
“You?
Afraid?”
The demon looked at her.
“My Queen.”
“I’m not your queen.”
“You will be.”
That was not reassuring.
The rumbling intensified.
Something moved in the darkness beyond the chamber.
Something enormous.
Even Varkhaz took a step backward.
Arjun’s survival instincts finally gave up and began writing a will.
“What is that?” he asked.
The demon’s expression darkened.
“The reason I was imprisoned.”
Also horrifying.
A massive cracking sound echoed through the chamber.
A fissure appeared in the far wall.
Then another.
Then another.
Something on the other side moved.
A gigantic eye opened.
Not red.
Not yellow.
White.
Completely white.
It stared at them.
Arjun’s body stopped functioning.
The system stopped functioning.
Reality itself appeared to stop functioning.
The eye blinked.
Then a voice echoed through the chamber.
A voice older than mountains.
Older than oceans.
Older than fear.
“…Keeper.”
Arjun wished it hadn’t known his name.
Varkhaz dropped to both knees.
“My lord.”
“No.”
The demon’s voice shook.
“You don’t understand.”
“I don’t want to.”
The eye stared at Arjun.
For one impossible moment, he felt as though his entire existence had been examined.
Every memory.
Every thought.
Every regret.
Every stupid decision that had led him into an abandoned building with a potentially immortal fox queen and a demon general.
Then the voice laughed.
Not cruelly.
Not maliciously.
Almost fondly.
“So.”
The chamber trembled.
“You finally came back.”
Arjun’s heart stopped.
“What?”
The eye closed.
The pressure vanished.
The rumbling ceased.
Silence returned.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Varkhaz raised his head.
“It’s gone.”
Aisha looked pale.
“What was that?”
The demon swallowed.
“There are names.”
He paused.
“And then there are things whose names should never be spoken.”
Arjun considered that.
Then he made what was probably the most reasonable decision of his life.
“We’re leaving.”
Nobody argued.
Not Aisha.
Not Varkhaz.
Not even the system.
As they approached the entrance tunnel, however, the system activated one final time.
Not in red.
Not in gold.
In a color Arjun had never seen before.
A deep silver.
✦ HIDDEN OBJECTIVE UNLOCKED ✦
The Keeper has encountered a Forgotten Sovereign.
Main Quest Updated:
Restore the Fake Demon Realm
Progress:
0.0001%
Warning:
The world remembers you.
You do not remember it.
For the first time since receiving the system, Arjun wasn’t afraid.
He was confused.
Because one question had just become far more terrifying than all the others.
What if the system had never been broken?
And what if he had?
To Be Continue….