Parallel Memory

Chapter 604: The breathing wall

The hum lingered, steady and low, like the heartbeat of some unseen beast slumbering behind the stone. It reverberated in the marrow of their bones, making the squad feel small, insignificant, as though they stood not before a wall but an ancient predator that had simply not yet decided to open its eyes.

Mia did not move. Her hand tightened on her sword’s hilt, but the blade remained sheathed. Her mind was split down the middle—one part screaming at her to press forward, to seize any chance of finding a weakness in the palace; the other urging her to turn back, to keep her squad alive until the gate was taken.

Around her, the squad shifted uneasily.

Sylvia’s bow was raised, the silver-fletched arrow trembling ever so slightly as her knuckles whitened. Her sharp elven-like eyes scanned every inch of the wall, but she whispered under her breath, more to herself than to them. "That’s not stone. It’s skin. Skin with veins."

Lisa’s breathing was uneven, her fingers clenched tight around her grimoire. A faint shimmer of mana pulsed from her palms, as though her instincts prepared a ward on their own. Her lips quivered with half-formed incantations she dared not finish.

Misha crouched low, fists poised, her stance coiled like a spring. She said nothing, but her body trembled—not with fear, but with the instinctive readiness of someone who fought through dread by preparing to strike.

Zion stood stiff, spear rooted against the ground like a pillar. His eyes narrowed at the wall, and though his face was steady, Mia saw the twitch in his jaw—the smallest crack in his composure.

And then there was Vance. He stood a little apart, the polished plates of his armor gleaming faintly red under the pulsing glow. His face was pale, his arrogance stripped raw. For once, his mouth failed him.

The silence stretched, broken only by that terrible hum.

Mia exhaled slowly. Her chest was tight, her heart hammering harder than it should. Every instinct she had screamed that this wall was not just a barrier—it was alive, an extension of the Devil King’s fortress, and probing it recklessly could awaken something they weren’t prepared to face.

But what if it was an entrance? What if behind it lay the key to ending the war faster, sparing the soldiers locked in endless attrition at the gates? Every moment wasted might be another life lost out there.

Her eyes flicked back toward the distant gate. The battle was still raging; faint echoes of steel and screams reached them, carried on the foul air. She imagined Kael’s vanguard, still locked against the demon guards, their blood spilling on stone while she lingered here, hesitating.

She hated hesitation.

"Mia," Hiro’s voice cut into her thoughts. He hadn’t moved, but his eyes were fixed on her, sharp and steady. "You’re thinking too long."

She frowned slightly, but not in annoyance. She needed his bluntness. He was right—every second they lingered risked disaster, but moving too soon might mean blundering into a trap.

She turned to her squad, her gaze sweeping each face. They looked back, waiting. Their fear was real, their unease thick in the air—but their trust was undeniable. They would follow her choice, whichever path she took. That trust was weightier than any blade.

Lisa broke the silence, her voice quiet but firm. "It isn’t just a wall. It’s a threshold. Mana flows in patterns here, like a pulse. If we disturb it, we don’t know what answers."

Sylvia nodded, her bow never lowering. "And it will answer. Nothing that breathes stays silent forever."

Misha’s fists clenched tighter. "So what? We stand here staring at it? We came to find another way. Maybe this is it. If we back down now, what’s the point of even splitting from the gate?"

Zion’s voice was gravel, steady but heavy. "And if it isn’t? If this wall swallows us, we’ll never see the gate again. The army won’t know what became of us. They’ll still be fighting, and we’ll just be... gone."

All eyes turned back to Mia.

She stood at the fulcrum of decision, weighing both truths. She thought of the soldiers at the gate, bleeding in a battle that refused to yield. She thought of the Devil King’s fortress, vast and layered with secrets, a palace that seemed designed to devour invaders. She thought of the clawed tracks they had followed here, disappearing into this... thing. Whatever walked here had come this way. Whatever guarded this wall might already be watching them.

Her lips parted, words catching on the edge of her breath. Should they press on, test this wall, risk awakening what lay beneath its surface? Or should she pull them back, report what they’d found, let commanders decide whether to gamble on this horror?

The hum grew louder, deepening like the rumble of a beast stirred from slumber. The carvings on the wall glowed brighter, their twisted figures bleeding with more red light until they seemed to writhe. The air thickened, heavy enough that every breath scraped their throats.

Mia’s hand closed around her sword hilt. She did not draw, but the motion grounded her.

Her thoughts sharpened into a blade’s edge.

If she turned back, they would live—for now—but they might return to a gate still locked in stalemate, their effort wasted, their soldiers still dying. If she pressed forward, they might uncover something crucial... or they might never walk back out.

Her men waited.

Her pulse thundered.

The wall trembled again, stronger this time. The hum shifted pitch, resonating in their bones. Something on the other side was listening.

Mia’s decision hovered on the edge of her tongue.

And then—

The glow flared.

The carvings’ eyes opened, one by one, crimson lights blazing to life in the twisted faces etched into the wall.

The hum rose into a throbbing drone that rattled the ground.

Mia’s breath caught in her throat.

Whatever choice she made—it was already too late to walk away unchanged.