Chapter 131: The Heart

The organizer’s voice came through the communication network, reaching every team still operating inside the Old Garden.

"Everyone, listen carefully. We’ve confirmed the location of the Heart."

The scattered teams immediately became quieter. Reinhard could hear several different voices coming through the communication crystal, along with the distant sounds of battle from somewhere else in the Garden.

The organizer continued, "We’ve learned that the Origin isn’t simply commanding the Bloodkin from somewhere in the center. The entire Garden appears to be connected to it through what we’re calling the Heart of the Origin."

Reinhard looked toward the ruins ahead.

"The Heart is located deep within the Garden. If we destroy it, the Origin’s connection to this place should weaken considerably. The Bloodkin’s regeneration will be severely disrupted, their control over Blood Mana should deteriorate, and the Bloodkin we’ve been fighting will lose their greatest advantage."

Several voices immediately began discussing the information. The organizer waited before continuing, "More importantly, if our calculations are correct, destroying the Heart could stop the Bloodkin from continuing their invasion into the surrounding Outlands."

The communication network became quiet again. Then he gave them the number that mattered.

"If we’re right, destroying the Heart could save thousands of lives."

Reinhard’s expression became serious. This was no longer simply an operation to push the Bloodkin back. They had a chance to end the entire crisis.

Emily was the first to speak.

"We’ll do it."

Reinhard looked toward her through the communication channel, and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Then I’m in."

The others quickly followed.

"We’re in too," Yuna said.

Rhea laughed softly. "After coming this far, I’m not leaving now."

Maki and Seraphine agreed almost immediately, followed by Rika, Lily, Mara, Kael, Adrian, and the other available teams. Across the communication network, more Awakeners began confirming their participation.

The objective was decided. They would reach the center of the Old Garden and destroy the Heart of the Origin. Reinhard lowered the crystal, about to contact Emily himself, when it vibrated in his hand first.

Emily.

A small smile appeared on his face as he accepted the call. "Hey, honey."

Emily’s voice came through almost immediately. "Be careful."

"I knew you would say that."

"Of course." Her voice carried a quiet seriousness that made him smile anyway. "Don’t do anything dangerous, all right? We’re scattered everywhere, and I don’t want you running into something alone just because you think you can handle it."

"Are you worried about me?"

"Of course I am." There was no hesitation in her answer.

Reinhard’s smile softened, but only for a second, because he was never one to let a soft moment sit without poking at it.

"I’m going to look for Maki and Lily first," Emily continued. "Once I find them, we’ll head toward Yuna and you."

"So you’re coming to find me?"

"Yes."

"Good. I was beginning to wonder how long you planned to leave your handsome husband alone."

Emily giggled. "You’ll survive."

"I don’t know about that. This place is terrifying."

"Terrifying?"

"Very. I’m surrounded by horrible monsters, I’m completely alone, and my wife isn’t here to protect me." He said it with the full, unbothered confidence of a man who had just finished vaporizing three Bloodkin with one spear.

Emily laughed again. "You can handle yourself."

"That isn’t the point. The point is that I miss you."

There was a brief silence. Then her voice became softer.

"I wish I was there with you."

"But I’ll find you soon," she added. "I promise I’ll be quick."

"Then hurry up. I’m getting lonely and scared without you."

"You’re impossible."

"I’ve been told."

"Just be careful, Reinhard."

"I will."

"And don’t do anything reckless."

"I make no promises."

"Reinhard."

"Fine, fine. I’ll behave."

Emily laughed softly. "Good. I’ll see you soon."

"See you soon, honey."

The call ended.

He smiled at the phone before putting it away and beginning to move, but a familiar notification appeared in front of his eyes and his steps slowed for half a moment.

[Investment Opportunity Detected.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Rank: C.]

[Current Value: C+.]

[Objective: Reach the Heart of the Origin and destroy it.]

[Difficulty Grade: SS.]

[Success Probability: 5%.]

Reinhard stared at the notification for a moment before smiling and dismissed the notification and continued forward.

As the operation pushed deeper, it naturally began to spread out.

The Garden was simply too large for every team to travel together, and the various groups were forced to take different routes toward the center. Communication signals continued passing through the network while flashes of Mana appeared between the trees in the distance.

Reinhard could occasionally see Spears fighting Bloodkin several hundred meters away. A massive explosion shook the distant ruins, followed by a report of a containment line breaking, then another report that the breach had been closed.

Reinhard continued forward alone, and eventually he entered an abandoned residential district. The difference was immediate. There were no Bloodkin. No explosions. No screams. No movement at all. Only rows of ruined houses stood along the cracked streets.

Reinhard slowed.

"This is quiet." He glanced around once more. "Too quiet."

He continued through the abandoned street, checking the houses as he passed. Most had been destroyed beyond recognition, furniture scattered, doors ripped from their hinges, some walls stained with old blood.

Reinhard entered one of the houses and looked around. There wasn’t much left, but something caught his eye beneath a broken table. A small wooden box, covered in dust, a dark stain across the lid that had long since dried and he opened it.

Inside was a small diary, its cover damaged but its pages still intact. The handwriting was uneven, clearly written by a child.

Today Mom told me not to go outside.

He turned the page.

The Bloodkin came again.

Another page.

They chased us all the way to the garden.

His expression slowly changed as he kept reading.

Father said they won’t hurt us.

The next line had been written much more heavily, as though the child had pressed the pen into the paper.

I don’t believe him anymore.

Another page.

We heard screaming outside.

The following pages had been torn away. Only a few pieces remained while the final surviving entry was barely readable.

If they come again, I’m going to hide under the floor.

Reinhard closed the diary and looked around the ruined house. The Bloodkin. The father. The screaming. The child hiding beneath the floor. There was something deeply wrong about this place, but there wasn’t enough information yet to understand what had happened.

He slipped the diary into his coat.

"Keep moving."

He had barely stepped outside when the wall exploded. Blood crashed through the ruined house, and several Bloodkin charged through the opening, crimson weapons twisting into shape around their arms.

Reinhard moved as All-Cutting Slash tore through the first Bloodkin before it could even reach him, splitting its body apart. Another lunged from the side, and another invisible slash broke it apart before it hit the ground.

A third regenerated almost immediately and charged again, and Reinhard reached behind him and pulled out Heavenpiercer.

The legendary weapon shot forward, lightning and fire erupting when it struck the Bloodkin and blasting its body apart. Five more golden spears appeared behind the first and descended together, and the remaining Bloodkin were reduced to bloody remains.

Reinhard lowered Heavenpiercer.

"Let’s keep moving."

The silence didn’t last. A Bloodkin knelt farther down the street. It wasn’t attacking. It was trembling, hands gripping the sides of its head as it rocked back and forth.

Reinhard stopped.

The Bloodkin suddenly looked up. "Father is a liar!"

Reinhard frowned.

The Bloodkin clawed at its own face. "Even now! Even now he prioritizes the Pale One over us!"

"The Pale One?"

The Bloodkin screamed again. "He promised us!" Then it noticed Reinhard, its expression twisting into rage. "You!"

It lunged. Reinhard moved before it could reach him, a single strike sending it crashing into the ground. It didn’t move again.

Reinhard looked at the corpse, then toward the deeper Garden. Father. The Pale One. He prioritizes the Pale One over them. None of it made sense yet.

He passed through another ruined street, then another, and the deeper he went, the more often he heard voices. At first they sounded like ordinary Bloodkin screams and then Reinhard began recognizing words.

"The Pale One destroyed everything!"

He stopped for a moment as the voice came from somewhere beyond the ruined buildings and then another Bloodkin roared.

"The Pale One doomed us all!"

Reinhard’s expression became more serious. Another voice echoed from somewhere farther away.

"The Pale One shouldn’t have been discovered in that broken town!"

Reinhard stopped completely. No one answered. The Garden had become strangely quiet.

Reinhard looked back toward the ruined houses he had just passed and his mind returned to the diary.

The Bloodkin came again. Father said they won’t hurt us. I don’t believe him anymore.

Then the voices. The Pale One destroyed everything. The Pale One doomed us all. The broken town.

"What happened here?"

He didn’t get an answer. Instead, the Blood Mana around him suddenly changed, the air growing heavier. Reinhard slowly turned. There was only one presence this time.

A Bloodkin stood at the end of the ruined street, holding two swords. Unlike the ones he had encountered earlier, this one wasn’t raving. It wasn’t screaming. It wasn’t charging. It simply stood there and watched Reinhard, then tilted its head, a smile spreading across its face.

"Ah, a nice one has come."

Reinhard remained still.

The Bloodkin’s crimson eyes traveled over him. "You seem to have a lot of blood." Its tongue ran across its teeth. "Hopefully you taste better than the last few."

Reinhard’s gaze dropped. There were bodies scattered across the road behind the Bloodkin. Awakeners, some still holding their weapons, others torn apart so badly their identities were difficult to recognize. They had been part of the operation. Now they were dead.

Reinhard’s expression slowly hardened. The Bloodkin raised one of its swords.

Reinhard activated Emperor’s Insight, Mana spreading through his vision as he examined the creature. The result appeared immediately.

Early B-Rank.

Yet several Awakeners who had entered the Garden with the operation were lying dead behind it.

The Bloodkin smiled wider.

Reinhard looked at the two swords in its hands, then at the bodies, then back at the creature.

Intelligent. Calm. Two weapons. Strong enough to kill experienced Awakeners. His smile returned. First Order.