The old man’s footsteps echoed through the empty streets.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
His wooden sandals disturbed centuries of silence.
Sarthak followed several paces behind, his hand never straying far from the Black Devil.
The old man noticed.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I trust very few people.”
“A wise answer.”
He smiled.
“But a lonely one.”
⸻
The deeper they walked, the stranger the city became.
Towering statues stood along both sides of the avenue.
Unlike the statues in Ashfall City…
These had no faces.
Every face had been deliberately carved away.
“What happened to them?”
Sarthak asked.
The old man ran his fingers across one of the broken statues.
“They erased themselves.”
Sarthak frowned.
“Why would anyone do that?”
“So history could never worship them.”
⸻
Those words lingered in Sarthak’s mind.
Back on Earth…
Everyone wanted to leave their name behind.
Here…
Someone had chosen to erase theirs.
⸻
After nearly half an hour of walking, they reached the largest building Sarthak had ever seen.
It stretched farther than his eyes could follow.
Hundreds of black pillars supported a roof painted with stars.
Even after thousands of years…
Not a single pillar had cracked.
Above the entrance were four ancient characters.
Sarthak couldn’t read them.
The old man quietly translated.
“The Library of Eternity.”
⸻
The massive stone doors slowly opened.
Not because anyone pushed them.
They simply…
Recognized the old man.
Warm golden light spilled from inside.
Sarthak instinctively shielded his eyes.
⸻
He expected dust.
Rotting books.
Collapsed shelves.
Instead…
He saw perfection.
Millions of books rested upon towering shelves that seemed to reach the heavens.
Crystal lamps floated gently through the air.
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Ancient staircases moved by themselves.
The scent of old parchment filled every corner.
It wasn’t abandoned.
It was waiting.
⸻
Sarthak stood speechless.
“This…”
“…is impossible.”
The old man chuckled.
“Knowledge is harder to destroy than kingdoms.”
⸻
He walked toward the center of the library.
A circular table stood beneath an enormous crystal.
The crystal floated silently above them.
Inside it…
Countless tiny lights drifted like stars.
“What is that?”
“The Archive.”
“It remembers every book that has ever entered this library.”
⸻
The old man placed his wrinkled hand upon the crystal.
Its light brightened.
Then…
A voice echoed through the hall.
“Welcome back…”
“Keeper Number One.”
Sarthak’s eyes widened.
“Keeper?”
The old man sighed.
“I was hoping it had forgotten.”
⸻
The crystal continued speaking.
“Identity confirmed.”
“Keeper Number One.”
“Age: Unknown.”
“Years of Service…”
There was a long pause.
Then…
“Error.”
“Calculation exceeds recorded history.”
Even Sarthak forgot to breathe.
The old man merely scratched his beard.
“I suppose…”
“I really have lived too long.”
⸻
Sarthak stared.
“Who are you?”
The old man looked at the endless books.
“I was once called…”
He stopped.
His expression turned blank.
“…No.”
“I truly don’t remember.”
“I remember wars.”
“I remember emperors.”
“I remember kingdoms rising and falling.”
“But my own name…”
He smiled sadly.
“That disappeared first.”
⸻
For the first time…
Sarthak didn’t see an immortal.
He saw an old man who had outlived everything.
Even himself.
⸻
The Keeper slowly walked toward one of the shelves.
Without touching anything…
A single book floated free.
It landed gently before Sarthak.
The cover was completely black.
No title.
No author.
“Open it.”
Sarthak hesitated.
Then slowly turned the first page.
Blank.
The second page.
Blank.
Every page…
Blank.
He looked up.
“There isn’t anything written.”
The Keeper shook his head.
“There isn’t…”
“…yet.”
⸻
A single drop of blood suddenly fell onto the first page.
From Sarthak’s right hand.
The mark.
The broken circle had opened slightly.
The blood spread across the paper.
Letters slowly appeared.
Not ink.
Light.
Golden words formed line after line.
⸻
Bearer Record:
Name: Sarthak
Origin: Unknown
Bloodline: Sealed
Current Compatibility with the Black Devil: 1%
First Seal: Open
Status: Alive
⸻
Sarthak’s heart raced.
“Bloodline?”
“I don’t have a bloodline.”
“I came from Earth.”
The Keeper’s smile faded.
“No one arrives here…”
“…without leaving something behind.”
⸻
Before Sarthak could ask another question…
The entire library trembled.
Not violently.
Softly.
Like a giant taking a deep breath.
The crystal above them suddenly darkened.
One…
Two…
Three red lights appeared inside it.
The Keeper’s face became unusually serious.
“They found us.”
⸻
Far above…
The silver-haired Seeker stood before the entrance to the hidden sanctuary.
Behind him…
Hundreds of cultivators in gray robes had gathered.
Each carried strange metallic rods engraved with ancient runes.
“Begin.”
The Seeker calmly ordered.
The rods struck the ground together.
The mountain shook.
Ancient seals hidden for thousands of years began cracking one after another.
The silver-haired man closed his eyes.
“I can feel it.”
“The Library…”
“…has awakened.”
⸻
Deep below…
The Keeper looked toward Sarthak.
His calm voice carried a weight unlike before.
“Listen carefully.”
“You no longer have the luxury of growing slowly.”
“The moment the First Seal awakened…”
“…the entire world began searching for you.”
He extended his hand toward Sarthak.
“For the next few months…”
“I will teach you.”
“Not how to become strong.”
His ancient eyes reflected countless ages.
“But…”
“…how not to die.”
Sarthak looked at the endless library.
The frightened boy who had once wandered helplessly through a giant forest was gone.
Before him stood a path unlike anything he had imagined.
A path filled with forgotten history, impossible teachers, and enemies who had already begun to shake the world itself.
And somewhere, hidden among the endless shelves…
One particular book quietly slid out by itself.
Its title glowed in crimson letters.
“The End of the First Bearer.”
No one noticed it.
Not yet.
End of Chapter 25