The roar echoed again from deep
beneath the mountains.
This time louder.
The entire chamber trembled violently as ancient dust rained from the fractured ceiling overhead. Formation arrays flickered across the walls while unstable spiritual energy surged through the underground corridors like an approaching storm.
Everyone immediately shifted into combat readiness.
Even the air itself felt wrong now.
Heavy.
Corrupted.
Dev tightened his grip on his spear instinctively.
".I knew the ancient underground heart chamber was not going to stay peaceful."
Nobody responded.
Because the corruption spreading through the chamber was unlike anything they had encountered before.
It felt old.
Far older than the prison corruption beneath the academy.
The old man turned sharply toward the black corridor.
"I told him not to force the seal."
Krishak's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Him?"
But before the old man could answer
Another shockwave erupted from deep underground.
BOOM.
The chamber lights dimmed violently.
Several crystal preservation pillars inside the distant archive shattered instantly as unstable spiritual pressure spread through the lower ruins.
Director Rao activated his communication device immediately.
"All units retreat from lower excavation sectors!"
Only static answered him.
The interference had become too strong.
Professor Devika steadied herself against one of the broken walls.
"The Worldheart's spiritual balance is destabilizing."
The old man's expression remained grim.
"Yes."
"And if the corruption reaches the convergence core"
His sentence stopped there.
It didn't need finishing.
Krishak looked toward the black doorway again.
The Starheart inheritance within him reacted violently now.
Warning him.
Something beneath the mountains had awakened incorrectly.
The Keeper's projection suddenly flickered erratically beside them.
"Alert.
Its calm voice distorted heavily.
"Seal degradation accelerating.
Ancient warning symbols illuminated across the surrounding walls one after another.
"Corruption leakage detected within Worldheart pathways."
Ananya frowned sharply.
"What exactly corrupted it?"
The old man answered immediately.
"Not the Worldheart itself."
The pulse echoed again.
Closer now.
"Something was sealed near it."
Silence.
Dev stared blankly.
"..Why is there always something sealed somewhere?"
"Because ancient civilizations had terrible luck," Ishita replied calmly.
"That somehow doesn't comfort me."
The underground chamber shook again.
Then suddenly—
A scream echoed faintly through the lower corridor.
Human.
Everyone froze instantly.
Raghav's expression sharpened.
"There are people down there?"
The old man nodded once.
"The intruder did not come alone."
Before anyone could react further.
A figure stumbled out from the darkness beyond the black doorway.
One of the missing reconnaissance scouts.
His uniform was torn badly while blood covered portions of his arm. Spiritual corruption spread visibly beneath his skin like black veins while terror filled his expression completely.
The moment he emerged into the
chamber-
He collapsed.
Ananya immediately rushed forward alongside Professor Devika.
"His spiritual pathways are unstable," Devika said sharply after kneeling beside him.
The scout grabbed Ananya's sleeve desperately.
"Don't..."
His voice shook violently.
"...don't let it wake up"
The chamber darkened suddenly.
Then-
Something moved deep within the corridor behind him.
Slow.
Massive
The ancient corruption flooding through the air intensified instantly.
Krishak stepped forward calmly.
Everyone else instinctively backed away slightly.
Because the pressure approaching from below felt overwhelming.
Not at the level of the prison invader beneath the academy.
But dangerous enough that every awakened instinct screamed caution.
The scout's terrified voice echoed weakly across the chamber.
"He opened the chamber..."
Blood spread across his lips as corruption intensified beneath his skin.
"...the seal broke."
Then the corridor exploded outward.
BOOM.
Stone fragments shattered across the chamber as black mist surged violently from the underground darkness.
Several Bureau operatives immediately activated defensive techniques.
Formation barriers rose instantly around the group.
And from within the spreading corruption -
A gigantic claw slammed against the broken stone floor.
Silence lasted only a fraction of a second.
Then the creature emerged.
It resembled no modern beast.
Its body was covered in dark crystalline scales fractured by glowing corruption lines while massive bone-like protrusions extended from its back unevenly. Four burning silver eyes opened within the black mist as corrupted spiritual energy poured continuously from its body.
Ancient chains still hung broken around portions of its limbs.
As if it had once been restrained deep underground.
The moment the creature fully stepped into the chamber—
The Worldheart pulse became chaotic.
Unstable.
Painful.
The old man's expression darkened completely.
"A Heart Guardian."
Everyone looked toward him sharply.
"A guardian?" Director Rao shouted.
The old man's voice grew heavier.
"Corrupted during the Sealing Era."
The creature roared again.
This time the sound carried enough spiritual force to crack nearby stone pillars instantly.
Several weaker operatives stumbled backward from the pressure alone.
Krishak's silver-blue eyes remained fixed on the beast calmly.
Because beneath the corruption—
He sensed something else.
Not hatred.
Not madness.
Pain.
Ancient endless pain.
Then suddenly-
The corrupted guardian turned its burning silver eyes directly toward Krishak.
And stopped moving.