Chapter 165 — The Final Test
The underground world was dying.
Stone cracked above them.
Dust drifted through the corridors.
Far behind them, entire sections of Remus collapsed into the darkness.
But Xcution kept moving.
Together.
For now.
Brook remained unconscious.
Henry stayed beside him.
Rick and Crowley carried most of his weight when the path became too narrow for all of them to support him.
Shoyo walked close.
Her healing magic continued to move over Brook's body.
Beside her, Sera did the same.
Neither of them spoke.
They had both tried everything.
Shoyo's magic had slowed the wounds.
Sera's had stopped them from opening again.
But neither had been able to wake him.
Brook remained trapped somewhere none of them could reach.
Henry looked down.
"Still nothing?"
Shoyo shook her head.
"No."
Sera didn't stop casting.
Her hands remained close to Brook's body.
"His body is healing."
Henry looked at her.
"But?"
Sera's expression darkened.
"He isn't coming back."
Henry stopped walking.
Everyone stopped with him.
Crowley looked back.
"What?"
Henry looked down at Brook.
"What do you mean he isn't coming back?"
Sera immediately regretted the wording.
"I mean he's unconscious."
Henry stared at her.
Sera continued.
"I don't know why."
Henry's jaw tightened.
Shoyo looked at Brook.
"His body is stable now."
Rick looked between them.
"Then why isn't he waking up?"
Nobody answered.
Brook groaned.
Everyone froze.
Henry dropped beside him.
"Brook?"
Nothing.
Brook's face twisted in pain.
Then became still again.
Henry looked at Sera.
"Do something."
Sera's face hardened.
"I'm trying."
Henry stood.
He turned away.
His fists tightened.
Crowley watched him.
Then walked forward.
Henry didn't look at him.
Crowley spoke quietly.
"You can't fight something you can't see."
Henry laughed bitterly.
"That hasn't stopped us before."
Crowley looked toward Brook.
"No."
Henry turned.
Crowley continued.
"But this time you're not the one fighting."
Henry looked down.
Brook remained still.
That was the worst part.
For once—
there was nothing Henry could do.
They continued.
The silence between them changed.
The group had been reunited.
Elias was gone.
The former king was gone.
The buried darkness had been sealed.
But there was no celebration.
There was only Brook.
Shoyo looked back.
Brook's face remained pale.
Sera's healing magic surrounded him.
Crowley's memories were still fragmented.
Rick carried exhaustion behind every step.
Henry refused to leave Brook's side.
Xcution was together again.
But something had changed.
They all felt it.
The passage ahead finally opened.
A massive crack stretched through the stone.
Beyond it—
light.
Real light.
Rick stopped.
"Is that…"
Crowley looked forward.
"The surface."
Nobody moved.
Henry looked down at Brook.
Then forward.
They had found the way out.
After everything—
they had found it.
Sera stepped forward.
"We're close."
Henry nodded.
But Brook didn't wake.
They crossed the final passage slowly.
The underground air became thinner.
Cooler.
The smell of the surface entered the tunnels.
Rick was the first to step into the light.
He stopped.
Shoyo followed.
Then Sera.
Crowley.
Henry came last.
Brook still unconscious in his arms.
They had escaped.
But nobody celebrated.
Henry lowered Brook carefully onto the ground.
The light touched his face.
Brook didn't react.
Henry stared at him.
"Come on."
Nothing.
Henry looked away.
The others stood around them.
Six people had entered the underground world.
Six people had returned.
But one of them was still gone.
Sera dropped beside Brook.
She placed her hand against his chest.
Still breathing.
Still alive.
But unreachable.
Shoyo sat beside her.
Her healing magic was weaker now.
Not because she had given up.
Because she had already given everything she could.
Rick looked toward the distance.
"We should move."
Henry immediately looked at him.
Rick raised his hands.
"I don't mean leave him."
Henry's expression softened slightly.
Rick continued.
"If Remus is collapsing, we need distance."
Crowley nodded.
"He's right."
Henry looked down at Brook.
Then nodded.
Together—
they lifted him again.
And walked away from Remus.
Behind them—
the underground world finally began to collapse.
A deep sound rolled beneath the ground.
Stone disappeared.
Ancient structures fell.
The ruins of Remus buried themselves.
And whatever secrets remained below—
were swallowed by darkness.
Xcution didn't look back.
Somewhere Else
There was no pain.
Brook opened his eyes.
Nothing.
No ground.
No sky.
No sound.
Only darkness.
Brook stood.
He looked down at his hands.
There was no blood.
No wounds.
His body was whole.
Brook slowly turned.
"Hello?"
His voice disappeared into nothing.
No answer.
Brook took a step.
Then stopped.
A sound.
Footsteps.
Brook turned.
Someone stood in the darkness.
Michael.
Brook stared.
Michael looked exactly as he remembered him.
Calm.
Still.
Watching.
Brook's voice came slowly.
"Michael."
Michael didn't answer.
Another presence appeared.
Brook turned.
Lucifer stood several feet away.
He was quiet.
No laughter.
No amusement.
Brook looked between them.
"What is this?"
Lucifer smiled faintly.
"That's a good question."
Brook's expression hardened.
"Where am I?"
A third presence appeared.
Death.
Brook turned slowly.
Death stood before him.
Silent.
Waiting.
Brook stepped backward.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered.
Brook looked at Michael.
Then Lucifer.
Then Death.
His breathing became heavier.
"I was fighting."
Lucifer's smile disappeared.
"We know."
Brook remembered.
The Morkr.
Azael.
Henry.
His teleportation.
The pain.
His body moving without him.
Brook looked down.
"I lost."
Michael finally spoke.
"No."
Brook looked up.
Michael stepped forward.
"You didn't."
Brook's expression tightened.
"Then why am I here?"
Death spoke.
For the first time.
"You are between."
Brook looked at him.
"Between what?"
Lucifer looked toward Michael.
Michael looked at Brook.
"Between what you were."
Brook's eyes narrowed.
"And what you're becoming."
Silence.
Brook stepped backward.
"No."
Michael didn't move.
Brook shook his head.
"No."
Lucifer looked away.
Death remained still.
Brook's voice rose.
"You said you were helping me."
Michael answered quietly.
"We are."
Brook laughed bitterly.
"This is helping?"
Michael's expression remained unchanged.
Brook looked around.
The darkness.
No way out.
No Henry.
No Xcution.
Nothing.
"I need to go back."
Michael looked at him.
"You can't."
Brook froze.
"What?"
Lucifer stepped forward.
"Not yet."
Brook's fists tightened.
"Then wake me up."
Nothing happened.
Brook closed his eyes.
"WAKE ME UP!"
Darkness.
Brook opened his eyes.
Still there.
Lucifer watched him.
Brook turned toward Death.
"You can see lifelines."
Death nodded.
"Where is mine?"
Death was silent.
Brook's breathing changed.
"Where is my lifeline?"
Death looked toward him.
Then raised one hand.
Something appeared in the darkness.
Brook froze.
A lifeline.
His.
But it was different.
It wasn't broken.
It wasn't damaged.
It had changed.
Three shadows stood around it.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Brook slowly looked toward them.
"What did you do to me?"
Lucifer smiled faintly.
"You've been asking that question for a long time."
Brook moved toward him.
Michael raised one hand.
Brook stopped.
"Don't."
Brook stared at him.
Michael continued.
"You wanted power."
Brook shook his head.
"I wanted to protect them."
Michael's eyes softened slightly.
"And power answered."
Brook looked at his lifeline again.
The three shadows remained.
Connected.
Not separate.
Connected to him.
Brook whispered:
"My Sources."
Lucifer nodded.
Death said nothing.
Brook looked at Michael.
"What happens now?"
Michael stepped forward.
The darkness around them began changing.
Shapes appeared.
A battlefield.
Endless.
Brook's face changed.
Something moved beyond it.
Not one enemy.
Three.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Brook looked toward them.
Then back at the battlefield.
His breathing slowed.
"No."
Lucifer smiled.
Death remained still.
Michael's eyes stayed on Brook.
Brook understood.
"This isn't real."
Michael didn't answer.
Brook's hands tightened.
"You want me to fight you."
Michael stepped forward.
The darkness began to fade.
Brook stood alone.
Across the battlefield—
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Three Sources.
Three powers.
Three beings Brook had relied on.
Brook stared at them.
Michael spoke one final time.
"The final test of my source, defeat us."
End of Volume 3