Chapter 188 — The Fourth Mark
Brook woke before sunrise.
For several seconds, he didn't remember where he was.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
Then he remembered.
Asteria.
Rick and Shoyo had left.
Hutena had dreamed of a future that disappeared.
Something was moving toward him.
And—
Brook sat up.
His arm.
He immediately looked down.
Nothing.
The three marks were faint.
Barely visible beneath his skin.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Brook ran his fingers over them.
Then waited.
Nothing happened.
He sighed.
"Of course."
Brook stood.
Outside—
Asteria was beginning to wake.
Brook walked through the palace alone.
Normally, he would have gone looking for Henry.
Or Sera.
Maybe even Crowley.
But his mind wouldn't settle.
Shoyo's words continued repeating in his head.
There are four.
Not marks.
Presences.
Four.
Brook entered the empty courtyard.
The sky above Asteria was still dark.
Stars remained visible.
He stood in the center.
Then closed his eyes.
"Michael."
Nothing.
Brook waited.
"Lucifer."
Silence.
"Death."
Still nothing.
Brook opened his eyes.
He wasn't surprised.
He was angry.
Brook clenched his jaw.
"Fine."
He looked down at his arm.
"Then tell me what this is."
Nothing happened.
Brook laughed without humor.
"Yeah. That's what I thought."
He turned.
And froze.
A thin line had appeared beneath his skin.
Brook stared.
The fourth mark.
It wasn't there before.
The line slowly moved.
Brook stepped backward.
"What?"
Another line appeared.
Then another.
The symbol began forming.
Brook grabbed his arm.
The pain returned immediately.
His knees weakened.
The courtyard blurred.
Brook gritted his teeth.
"Not again."
The mark continued forming.
This time—
it didn't disappear.
Not immediately.
Brook watched as the shape became clearer.
Different from the other three.
Michael's mark carried order.
Lucifer's carried something wild.
Death's—
Brook still didn't fully understand.
But this one felt different.
Old.
Not old like Death.
Not ancient like Lucifer.
Something else.
Brook suddenly felt the ground beneath him.
Not physically.
He could feel it.
The stone.
The dirt beneath the palace.
The roots.
Water moving deep underground.
Brook's eyes widened.
Then—
he heard it.
A heartbeat.
No.
Thousands.
Millions.
The Earth.
Brook stumbled backward.
The pain in his arm intensified.
"Stop!"
The courtyard trembled.
A crack spread beneath his feet.
Brook looked down.
Grass pushed through the stone.
Then flowers.
Brook fell to one knee.
"Stop!"
The Earth continued responding.
The trees outside the palace walls moved.
Their branches turned.
Toward him.
Brook covered his arm.
The mark burned brighter.
Then—
it disappeared.
Everything stopped.
Brook remained on his knees.
His breathing was heavy.
The courtyard was silent.
The grass remained.
Flowers covered the cracks.
Brook slowly looked at his arm.
Nothing.
Again.
Gone.
"Brook?"
He looked up.
Sera stood at the entrance.
Henry behind her.
Charon peered over Henry's shoulder.
They stared at the courtyard.
Henry looked down.
Then back at Brook.
"What happened?"
Brook looked at the grass.
"I don't know."
Charon appeared beside him.
"Liar."
Brook looked at him.
"I don't."
Charon pointed toward his arm.
"Mark."
Henry stared.
Brook sighed.
"Traitor."
Charon looked pleased with himself.
Sera approached.
"Show me."
Brook raised his arm.
She examined it.
"There."
Brook looked.
Nothing.
Sera touched the place where the mark had been.
Brook immediately pulled away.
"What?"
Sera looked at her hand.
"I felt something."
Henry stepped closer.
"Can you see it?"
"No."
Brook looked toward Charon.
"You?"
Charon stared.
Then shook his head.
"Gone."
Henry frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Charon thought.
"Hide."
The three of them became quiet.
Crowley arrived several minutes later.
He took one look at the courtyard.
Then stopped.
"What happened?"
Brook pointed toward the grass.
Crowley stared.
Brook said nothing.
Crowley looked back.
"Seriously?"
Brook nodded.
Crowley slowly looked toward his arm.
"The mark?"
Brook nodded again.
Crowley sighed.
"Of course."
Sera crossed her arms.
"You say that like this is normal."
"It isn't."
"Then why are you acting like it is?"
Crowley looked toward her.
"Because if I panic every time something impossible happens around him, I'd never stop."
Brook looked at him.
"That's fair."
Crowley walked toward the flowers.
He crouched.
Touched one.
Nothing happened.
Then he stood.
"This isn't your Earth Source."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
Crowley looked at him.
"You don't have control over it."
Brook looked toward the grass.
"I know."
"Then this isn't you using a power."
Brook's expression changed.
"Something is responding."
Crowley nodded.
"To you."
Silence.
Henry looked around.
"So that's worse."
Nobody answered.
Henry nodded.
"Right. Worse."
Hutena arrived shortly after.
She stopped the moment she entered the courtyard.
Her expression changed.
She looked toward Brook.
Then the flowers.
Then his arm.
Brook watched her.
"You dreamed?"
Hutena looked at him.
"No."
Brook frowned.
"What?"
She stepped closer.
"I was awake."
"That doesn't answer the question."
Hutena ignored him.
She looked at the flowers again.
Then whispered:
"It's getting closer."
Brook's expression hardened.
"The person."
Hutena nodded.
Crowley looked toward her.
"What person?"
Brook explained.
The dream.
Nature responding.
Someone walking toward Asteria.
Crowley's expression slowly changed.
"Earth Source."
Brook looked at him.
"You know something?"
"I know enough to be worried."
Brook stepped forward.
"Crowley."
Crowley sighed.
"The Earth Source isn't supposed to react like this."
"Then why is it?"
"I don't know."
Hutena looked toward Brook.
"Maybe because you're here."
Brook laughed.
"That clears everything up."
Hutena didn't smile.
"I wasn't joking."
Brook stopped.
Hutena looked toward the ground.
"The person I've seen in my dreams doesn't know your name."
Brook waited.
"But the Earth does."
Nobody spoke.
Brook looked down.
His hand slowly clenched.
That afternoon—
Brook returned to the courtyard alone.
The flowers were still there.
He crouched.
One of them turned toward him.
Brook stared.
"Stop doing that."
The flower remained still.
Brook waited.
Nothing.
"Good."
He stood.
Then the flower turned again.
Brook sighed.
"Seriously?"
He walked away.
Later—
Brook entered his inner world.
Darkness surrounded him.
The familiar space had changed since the fight.
It was larger now.
Brook stood alone.
"Michael."
Nothing.
He continued walking.
"Lucifer."
Silence.
"Death."
No answer.
Brook's frustration returned.
"Fine."
He looked into the darkness.
"Fourth."
Nothing.
Brook stood there.
Waiting.
Then—
something moved.
Not in front of him.
Behind him.
Brook turned immediately.
Nobody.
But—
he could see four shadows on the ground.
Brook stopped breathing.
His shadow.
Then—
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
Brook slowly turned.
Nothing stood behind him.
But the shadows remained.
Four.
Brook stepped backward.
The fourth shadow moved.
Brook froze.
The shadow raised its head.
And for one second—
Brook felt the same thing he had felt in the courtyard.
The entire Earth.
Then—
everything disappeared.
Brook opened his eyes.
He was back in the palace.
His arm was burning.
Brook looked down.
The fourth mark was visible.
This time—
it lasted.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Brook watched.
Then—
it faded.
Brook clenched his fist.
"Who are you?"
The answer didn't come from his mind.
It came from beneath his feet.
A low vibration.
The palace trembled.
Brook froze.
The floor cracked.
And through the stone—
a root emerged.
It slowly wrapped around Brook's foot.
Brook stepped backward.
The root released him.
Then disappeared into the ground.
Brook stared.
The Earth wasn't attacking.
It was following.
Watching.
Responding.
Waiting.
Far away—
the Earth Vessel stopped.
They had felt it.
The fourth mark.
The Earth trembled beneath their feet.
For the first time since beginning their journey—
the figure looked afraid.
They slowly raised their hand.
A small stone rose from the ground.
The Earth Vessel looked toward it.
The stone cracked.
And inside—
was a faint symbol.
The same symbol that had appeared on Brook's arm.
The Vessel's eyes widened.
"No."
The stone fell.
They immediately began walking faster.
Not because they wanted to reach Brook.
Because now—
they needed to.
Inside a place where the Earth could not reach—
Silvet opened his eyes.
He had been reading.
Ancient information surrounded him.
Records.
Fragments.
Prophecies.
Silvet looked toward the distance.
Then smiled.
Brook had changed again.
Silvet closed the book.
"Interesting."
He stood.
The room disappeared around him.
Silvet stepped into nothing.
And began walking toward Asteria.
He didn't know about the fourth mark.
Not yet.
But something had changed.
And Silvet intended to find out what.
End of Chapter 188