Chapter 135: The Password

After five minutes of lunching more attacks, the Garden itself still remained. Reinhard stared at the enormous Heart beyond the Singularity. The thing continued beating inside the sealed space, each pulse sending a tremor through the Garden.

Blood Mana flowed from it in every direction, disappearing into the walls and broken ground as if the entire Garden were connected to a single living organ.

Reinhard tightened his grip around Heavenpiercer. "You know, normally when someone locks me somewhere, they at least have the courtesy of giving me a door."

The Heart gave no response.

He sighed and rolled his shoulders. "Fine. Let’s go all out then!"

The golden light around his body intensified as Reinhard activated his buffs one after another.

Demon God Awakening strengthened his physical body while Tyrant Tower reinforced his defenses, and All Power pushed his attack, speed, and defense even further. Taru and Sparu added more strength and speed, while Varu reinforced his body against whatever the Singularity might do to him.

The twelve Mana Orbs within him responded as Heavenly Pillars began circulating through his body, while Enlightened Heart stabilized his mind. Emperor’s Insight mapped the distorted space again, Combat Prediction sharpened his movements, and Danger Intuition warned him of every shift in the surrounding Mana.

Reinhard raised Heavenpiercer. "All right." He threw it.

The golden spear shot forward and struck the Singularity with enough force to shake the surrounding space. Fire and lightning erupted across the distorted barrier, but the explosion was swallowed almost immediately.

He didn’t wait. All-Cutting Slash followed, the invisible blade tearing toward the Singularity while Space Tear cut through the seams of the distorted space from another direction. At the same time, Spatial Push compressed the surrounding space and slammed it against the barrier while Spatial Pull tried to drag the Singularity apart. The Right Hand of God appeared beside him and drove its crimson claws into the distortion.

Nothing happened.

Reinhard gritted his teeth and kept going. Ice Pillars erupted around the Singularity before collapsing inward, and Demon Roar released a violent shockwave that shook the surrounding Garden. He used Spatial Step again and again, trying to find some angle that would let him into the sealed space, and every attempt ended the same way.

The Singularity swallowed everything.

Heavenpiercer returned to his hand, and he threw it again, then again, then again.

The golden spear struck the same impossible barrier while Reinhard followed with every attack he had. Space tore. Blood Mana exploded. The ground cracked beneath his feet, and the Garden shook. Yet the Singularity remained untouched.

Reinhard finally stopped.

He stood there breathing heavily as Heavenpiercer returned to his hand one last time. "You know, I was starting to think this was going to be easy." His breathing had gotten heavier, and the Mana inside his body was noticeably lower than before.

He placed a hand against his knee and caught his breath. "I’m officially offended." The Heart kept beating. Boom.

Reinhard looked at it. The Singularity was draining him. Every attack had cost more Mana than it should have, and the longer he stayed inside its influence, the heavier his body became. Even his natural vitality was slowly being pulled toward the sealed space. If he stayed here too long, he would eventually reach a point where he couldn’t fight his way out.

He straightened slowly, and his thoughts turned toward everyone waiting outside. Emily would definitely be worried. Lily would probably be trying to charge into the Garden without thinking. Maki would be calculating every possible route while pretending she wasn’t concerned, and Yuna would be trying to keep everyone organized.

His smile faded slightly as he thought about Emily again.

If she found out he had spent all this time fighting a Singularity that was draining his body, she would probably stare at him for several seconds before asking why he hadn’t simply stopped.

He could practically hear her voice. Reinhard, did you seriously spend all this time fighting the wall? He smiled despite himself. "She’d be right."

He looked toward the Heart. "I should hurry."

The Heart beat again. Boom.

A voice echoed through the sealed space. "Password."

Reinhard blinked and looked around. "Excuse me?"

The voice came again. "What is the password to our sanctuary?"

His brows furrowed. "Your sanctuary?" The Heart stayed silent.

He looked toward the surrounding Garden, and the word immediately connected with the memories he’d seen earlier: the child, the silver-haired man, the Garden, the strange woman, the feeling of family. He had assumed this place was some kind of prison because that was what it had become, but what if that wasn’t its original purpose? What if it had once been a home?

Reinhard looked toward the Mirror of Possibilities. The Mirror had recently gained the ability to view the past tied to a question, but there was a price. Once he used that function, it would be unusable for an entire week.

He didn’t particularly like that idea. The Garden was full of unknowns, and the Mirror remained one of his most valuable tools. Still, he was trapped inside a Singularity slowly eating his strength. He looked at the Heart, then the Mirror. "All right. I guess we’re gambling."

Reinhard raised the Mirror, and its surface began glowing. He stared into it and asked the question. "What password was used to open this Singularity?"

The Mirror rippled, and the surrounding Garden disappeared from its surface. Then an image appeared.

A small girl was walking through the Garden. Reinhard froze. She had short white hair, silver eyes, and a face he knew better than almost anyone. His breathing stopped for a moment. "Emily..."

He stared at the girl. There was no mistaking her. She was younger, much younger, but the features were unmistakable: the white hair, the silver eyes, the expression, the way she carried herself. It was Emily.

His mind immediately connected the memories from before: the raincoat, the silver hair, those eyes, that voice, that child. It was her. He stared at the Mirror in silence. For perhaps the first time since entering the Garden, Reinhard didn’t have a joke ready.

Then the memory continued. Young Emily walked through the Garden beside the silver-haired man, and Reinhard could finally see his face clearly. Vlad.

Emily looked around the abandoned Garden with an increasingly dissatisfied expression. "This place is too dead," she said, looking around at the overgrown paths and ruined structures. "You’re supposed to live here, aren’t you? Why does it look like nobody takes care of it?"

Vlad laughed softly. "It hasn’t exactly been a priority."

She turned toward him with a frown. "That’s not an excuse. This is your home." He looked at her, and she pointed toward the broken buildings. "You need to make it better. Look at this place. It’s depressing."

Vlad laughed again, raising his hands in surrender. "All right, all right. I’ll do something about it."

"Good," she said, nodding with satisfaction.

Reinhard watched the exchange. He had expected to see a Bloodkin and a human. Instead, he was watching two people who were completely comfortable around one another.

There was no fear in Emily’s expression, no hesitation. She scolded Vlad without the slightest concern that he might get angry, and Vlad simply laughed and listened.

Reinhard’s expression slowly changed. They were already like this back then.

The Mirror continued, the memories coming in fragments. Emily training with Vlad. Emily eating with him. Vlad teaching her about Bloodkin. Emily complaining about his habits. Vlad carrying supplies for her. Emily sitting beside him while he worked. Vlad treating her injuries after training. Emily teasing him whenever he did something she considered stupid.

None of the memories were particularly dramatic. That was what made them powerful. They looked like ordinary family moments.

Reinhard watched quietly. Then another memory appeared.

Emily stood in front of Vlad with her arms crossed. "You like Maria."

Vlad looked away immediately. "Where did that come from?"

"You like her," she repeated.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

She narrowed her eyes. "You do." Vlad tried to change the subject, but she stepped in front of him again. "You can’t lie to me!"

He sighed, and her expression softened into a mischievous smile. "Don’t worry. I’ll help you."

Reinhard couldn’t help himself. "Of course she was a matchmaker." He shook his head with a faint smile. "You haven’t changed at all, honey."

The memory shifted again. Maria was standing with Vlad while Emily watched from nearby. At first Maria seemed hesitant, but Emily kept interfering until Vlad finally looked embarrassed and Maria laughed. Eventually, Maria gave in.

Reinhard watched the three of them together. For the first time, the images didn’t feel like fragments of some forgotten Bloodkin history. They looked like a family. Not Bloodkin. Not humans. Not factions. Just three people standing together in a garden.

Then Maria looked around. "We should have a secret password for the Garden," she said with a small smile.

Vlad nodded thoughtfully. "A password?"

"Something only the three of us know."

He considered it. "Perhaps something related to the Garden."

She shook her head. "Too obvious."

"Then something related to the family."

Emily listened quietly while the two of them threw out different ideas. Some were serious, some were ridiculous, and none seemed to satisfy them. Then she suddenly giggled. "Our secret password is... Tepes!"

Vlad and Maria both stopped and looked at her. "Why that name?" Vlad asked.

Emily smiled proudly. "Because it’s your new last name!"

Maria blinked. Vlad stared at her. Emily continued as if the answer were obvious. "After all, you guys are now a family, so of course you need it."

Reinhard’s expression slowly changed. The Mirror began fading, and the image disappeared. He stayed completely still, looking at the Mirror in his hand, then toward the Heart. His fingers tightened around the relic. "Tepes."

Nothing happened.

He frowned and looked back toward the Singularity. "Tepes."

The moment the word left his mouth, the entire Garden trembled. Blood Mana erupted from the surrounding space, and the Singularity suddenly pulled toward Reinhard with terrifying force. His expression changed as the distortion began devouring everything around him. "Wait."

The blood rushed toward him. He planted his feet and tried to resist, but the Singularity pulled harder than before. His Mana reserves dropped rapidly, and blood began being drawn from his body despite his attempts to stop it.

The Heart spoke again. "Password."

Reinhard gritted his teeth and looked directly at it. "Tepes."

Everything stopped. The blood suspended in the air, and the Singularity froze. For a moment, the entire Garden went completely silent. Then cracks began spreading across the distorted space.

The cracks multiplied, and the Singularity shattered. Space broke apart around him, and the Blood Mana collapsed into countless fragments of red light. The sealed passage that had trapped him for so long fell apart, revealing the Garden beyond it.

Reinhard was thrown backward. He crashed onto the ground and rolled several meters before finally stopping, and for several seconds he simply lay there. Then he slowly pushed himself upright.

The Heart was nearby now, no longer separated from him by the Singularity. He stared at it, his thoughts returning to the memories. Young Emily. Vlad. Maria. The Garden. The family. The password.

His expression turned complicated. "Emily..." He lowered his gaze for a moment, then looked toward the Heart again. "Is this your past? A past that even your sisters don’t know about?"

Reinhard stayed silent. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more, the fact that Emily had once been raised by Vlad, or the fact that she had clearly loved him. Whatever had happened afterward had turned that family into the tragedy he was now uncovering.

He looked down at the Mirror. The relic had gone quiet. He couldn’t use it again for a week. "Well, that’s inconvenient."

His phone suddenly rang. He looked down and ignored it. It rang again, then again, and his expression changed. "Lily?"

He quickly answered the call. "Lily?"

Her voice came through immediately, frantic and breathless. "Reinhard! Help—"