Genesis & Oblivion: The Celestial Evolution System

Chapter 126: Chapter 126 – The Waiting City

Hundreds of people stared at the twins.

For several seconds, nobody moved. The silence was so complete that Seraphina could hear the faint hum of energy running through the three enormous pillars at the center of the underground city.

Then the man standing closest to them blinked.

His eyes returned to normal.

He looked around in confusion before noticing the group.

"Who are you?"

Another person behind him suddenly collapsed to the ground.

The strange influence affecting the settlement appeared to be breaking.

Seraphina immediately moved forward and began examining the nearest people. None of them seemed seriously injured, but their bodies were exhausted, as though they had spent days standing without food or proper rest.

"They’re alive," she said. "But something has been suppressing their minds."

Azrael looked toward the three pillars.

"The effect is coming from there."

Caelan tightened his grip on his spear. "Should we destroy them?"

"No."

Seraphina answered before Azrael could.

"We don’t know what they’re doing yet."

Azrael nodded. "She’s right. If those pillars are maintaining whatever happened to these people, destroying them could make things worse."

The crowd slowly began recovering.

Some people sat down. Others looked around in confusion, trying to remember how they had arrived. Several merchants immediately began searching for members of their caravans.

A middle-aged man pushed through the crowd and approached the group.

"You came from outside?"

Caelan nodded. "We’re from the academy. We were searching for the missing scouts."

The man’s expression changed.

"Academy?"

He looked relieved.

"Then perhaps we’re finally getting out of here."

"How long have you been here?" Seraphina asked.

The man hesitated.

"I don’t know."

"You don’t remember?"

"No. I remember traveling through the mountains. Then we found the stone wall. After that..." He rubbed his forehead. "Everything becomes unclear."

Another merchant interrupted.

"I remember the city."

Everyone turned toward him.

He was an older man with gray hair and a long travel cloak. He looked toward the buildings surrounding them.

"This place was already here when we arrived."

"How old is it?" Lyanna asked.

The merchant shook his head.

"Old enough that nobody knows who built it."

Azrael looked at the architecture.

"Did you find anything inside the buildings?"

"Nothing useful. Most of them were empty."

"Most?"

The merchant pointed toward the central structure.

"We avoided that place."

Azrael followed his finger.

The circular building stood between the three pillars.

Unlike the rest of the settlement, its entrance was completely intact.

No dust covered the doorway.

No cracks marked the walls.

It looked as though someone still maintained it.

Seraphina felt the same sensation she had experienced in the ruins above.

Life was responding to something inside.

"There’s someone there," she said.

Azrael looked at her.

"Alive?"

"Yes."

"How many?"

She concentrated.

"One."

Caelan immediately stepped forward.

"We should investigate."

Azrael nodded.

The twins led the way toward the central building.

The entrance opened before they touched it.

A soft golden light spilled across the ground.

Inside was a circular hall containing dozens of empty seats arranged around a large stone table.

At the far end stood a single person.

A young woman.

She wore a simple white robe and had long silver hair that reached her waist. She looked completely ordinary at first glance, except for one detail.

Her eyes were closed.

She was standing perfectly still.

Seraphina immediately sensed her life force.

"She’s alive."

Azrael approached carefully.

"Can you hear us?"

The woman’s eyes opened.

They were completely silver.

"You finally arrived."

Her voice was calm.

Seraphina frowned.

"You were expecting us?"

"Not you specifically."

The woman looked toward the twins.

"I was expecting those who carried the two separated forces."

Azrael’s hand moved closer to Astraeus.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled faintly.

"My name no longer matters."

"That’s not an answer."

"No," she agreed. "It isn’t."

Caelan remained several steps behind the twins, spear ready.

The woman looked at him.

"You don’t need to be afraid."

Caelan didn’t lower his weapon.

"I’m not."

She smiled.

"Good."

Her attention returned to Azrael and Seraphina.

"I have been waiting for someone capable of reaching this place without being consumed by it."

Seraphina looked around the room.

"What is this place?"

"The Waiting City."

Azrael glanced toward the entrance.

"Why is everyone trapped here?"

"They weren’t trapped."

The woman’s expression became serious.

"They were protected."

Seraphina frowned.

"From what?"

The woman didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she walked toward the stone table.

A faint image appeared above it.

The mountains.

Then the underground city.

Then something much deeper.

A massive network of glowing lines spread beneath the entire region.

Seraphina’s expression changed.

"This entire mountain range..."

"It is part of a much larger structure."

Azrael studied the image.

"The energy isn’t natural."

"No."

The woman touched one of the glowing lines.

"It was built."

"By the custodians?"

"No."

Azrael’s eyes narrowed.

"Then who?"

The woman looked at him.

"People who came after them."

That answer immediately caught Seraphina’s attention.

"People who knew about Genesis and Oblivion?"

"Yes."

The image changed.

A group of people appeared beneath the mountains, working around enormous crystalline structures. They weren’t gods. They weren’t angels. They looked like ordinary humanoids, though their clothing and technology were far beyond anything currently used in the surrounding kingdoms.

"They discovered the remnants of the old cycle," the woman explained. "They didn’t understand everything, but they understood enough to realize that separating Genesis and Oblivion had damaged the natural balance of existence."

Azrael watched the memory carefully.

"What did they do?"

"They tried to repair it."

The image showed the people constructing the three pillars.

One golden.

One black.

One colorless.

"They created this place as a sanctuary. The golden pillar represented creation. The black represented ending. The third represented the ability to choose between them."

Seraphina stepped closer.

"So the same principle we found in the ruins."

"Yes."

"Did they succeed?"

The woman shook her head.

"They discovered that they were missing something."

Azrael already knew the answer.

"The original forces."

The woman nodded.

"They needed someone capable of carrying Genesis and Oblivion without allowing either to consume the other."

Seraphina looked at Azrael.

Neither spoke.

The woman continued.

"Before they could finish their work, something happened."

The image abruptly changed.

The underground city was filled with people running.

The three pillars were glowing violently.

A wave of darkness spread through the settlement.

Then the memory ended.

Azrael stared at the fading image.

"What attacked them?"

The woman shook her head.

"We don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

"The records were damaged."

She looked toward the ceiling.

"But we know what happened afterward."

"What?"

"The city was sealed."

Seraphina looked at the hundreds of people outside.

"And everyone who entered afterward became trapped."

"Not trapped."

The woman’s expression became firm.

"Preserved."

Azrael understood.

"The pillars."

"They prevent the mountain’s energy from consuming the people who enter. But they also place them into a state between consciousness and sleep."

Seraphina looked troubled.

"How long?"

The woman gave a faint smile.

"Some have been here for years."

Marcus, who had been listening from the doorway, nearly choked.

"Years?"

The woman nodded.

"Time behaves strangely beneath the mountains."

Azrael’s expression remained calm, but his eyes hardened.

"Then we need to shut the system down."

The woman shook her head.

"You cannot."

"Why?"

"Because the pillars are the only thing preventing what is beneath this mountain from spreading."

The room became silent.

Seraphina looked toward the floor.

"So if we turn them off..."

"The energy will escape."

Azrael looked at the woman.

"And if we leave them running?"

"The people remain trapped."

Seraphina closed her eyes.

For a moment, she simply stood there.

Then she opened them.

"There has to be another way."

The woman smiled.

"That is why you were brought here."

Azrael immediately corrected her.

"We weren’t brought here."

The woman looked at him for several seconds.

Then she nodded.

"You’re right."

Her smile disappeared.

"You chose to come."

The colorless pillar suddenly began glowing.

A faint pulse traveled through the underground city.

Outside, the people began looking toward the central building.

The woman stepped aside.

Behind her, a second doorway appeared in the wall.

"This is the heart of the Waiting City."

Seraphina stared into the opening.

"What is inside?"

"The reason the mountain is still sealed."

Azrael drew Astraeus.

"Then we’ll deal with it."

Seraphina stood beside him.

"Together."

The twins entered the passage while the others followed behind.

This time, however, they weren’t searching for another piece of history.

They were searching for a way to save everyone who had been waiting beneath the mountains.

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