Chapter 23: The Warning Beyond the Gate
The hidden World Gate remained silent.
Evan stood before it, Elias’s journal in his hands.
The warning on the page had not changed.
Do not enter until you understand what follows you through.
Kaela looked at him.
“So we’re really leaving it closed?”
“For now.”
Evan looked at the strange symbols surrounding the Gate.
“There’s something Elias wanted us to notice.”
Ronan nodded.
“He left too many warnings to ignore.”
Silas remained quiet.
Evan noticed.
“You know something.”
Silas looked at him.
“I know that Elias never trusted the Gates.”
“Why?”
“Because every time he entered one, something followed him back.”
Evan’s expression changed.
“What followed him?”
Silas shook his head.
“I never saw it clearly.”
Kaela frowned.
“Then how do you know?”
“Because Elias told me.”
Evan stepped closer.
“What exactly did he say?”
Silas looked toward the Gate.
“He said the Gates don’t simply connect worlds.”
He paused.
“They connect things that were never supposed to meet.”
Suddenly, the Gate began glowing again.
Everyone stepped back.
Evan’s Fourfold mark became warm.
But this time, his eyes stayed red.
The Gate slowly opened by itself.
Evan stared through it.
The floating islands were still there.
But something was different.
A trail of light stretched from the other side toward them.
It stopped just before the Gate.
Kaela whispered,
“Something is coming.”
Ronan drew his sword.
A figure slowly stepped through.
Everyone prepared for an attack.
But the figure didn’t attack.
It was a young woman wearing a long, worn cloak.
She looked exhausted.
She glanced around the valley.
Then her eyes stopped on Evan.
“You’re the Fourfold.”
Evan lowered his dagger slightly.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked toward the Gate behind her.
“My name is Mira.”
Silas immediately stepped forward.
“Mira?”
She looked at him.
“You know me?” Get faster updates on g.com.
“No. But Elias mentioned your name.”
Mira’s expression changed.
“You found his records.”
Evan nodded.
“Do you know Elias?”
Mira looked at him for several seconds.
“I knew him.”
Evan’s heart raced.
“Where is he?”
Mira looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Evan’s disappointment showed on his face.
“But I know what he was searching for.”
“What?”
Mira looked toward the hidden Gate.
“The place where the World Gates began.”
Everyone became silent.
Ronan lowered his sword slightly.
“You mean their origin?”
Mira nodded.
“Elias believed there was a place where the first Gate was created.”
Evan remembered the words from the journal.
The Gates are older than the kingdoms.
“Did Elias find it?”
Mira shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
“He disappeared before he could reach it.”
Evan looked down.
Again, the same mystery.
Elias had been searching for the origin of the Gates.
Then he vanished.
Mira continued.
“But he left a clue.”
Evan looked at her.
“What clue?”
Mira pointed toward Evan’s pendant.
“That.”
Evan touched the pendant.
“The star symbol?”
“Yes.”
Mira nodded.
“Elias believed it was a key.”
“A key to what?”
“The beginning.”
Evan remembered the whisper from the sealed archive.
Find the beginning.
His expression became serious.
“So the message wasn’t random.”
“No.”
Mira looked directly at him.
“Elias expected another Fourfold Traveler to continue his search.”
Kaela stepped beside Evan.
“Then why didn’t he leave everything in the Archive?”
“Because he knew the wrong people were watching.”
Aurelion.
Evan immediately thought of him.
Mira noticed his expression.
“You know about Aurelion.”
Evan nodded.
“What happened between him and Elias?”
Mira hesitated.
“They once wanted the same thing.”
“The origin of the Gates?”
“Yes.”
“But they eventually disagreed about what should happen after they found it.”
Evan waited.
Mira didn’t continue.
“What did they disagree about?”
Mira looked toward the Gate.
“That is something you must discover yourself.”
Evan sighed.
“Everyone says that.”
Kaela smiled slightly.
“Maybe that’s part of being an adventurer.”
Evan looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Mira suddenly became serious.
“There’s something else.”
Evan looked at her.
“What?”
“You shouldn’t stay here.”
“Why?”
Mira looked behind them.
“The hunters followed me.”
Ronan immediately raised his sword.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
A distant horn echoed through the valley.
Then another.
Silas looked toward the hills.
“They’re here.”
Evan looked around.
Figures began appearing along the ridges.
The Fourfold Hunters.
Their leader stepped forward.
“Hand over the traveler.”
Evan stepped toward them.
“No.”
The leader raised his weapon.
“Then we take him.”
Kaela stood beside Evan.
Ronan and Liora prepared themselves.
Mira looked at Evan.
“Don’t use all four elements at once.”
Evan nodded.
“I know.”
The hunters began descending.
Evan’s natural red eyes remained fixed on them.
He wasn’t going to lose control.
He wasn’t going to repeat Elias’s mistakes.
And this time, he had something Elias never had.
People standing beside him.
Kaela looked at Evan.
“Ready?”
Evan smiled.
“Let’s go.”
The battle for the hidden Gate was about to begin.