THE LAST GODSLAYER

Chapter 6 - The First Teacher

**The Last Godslayer**

Chapter 6 – The First Teacher

The river remained perfectly still.

Not a ripple disturbed its surface.

Not a single leaf floated downstream.

The world itself seemed to hold its breath.

Hans had never witnessed anything like it.

Neither had most of the White Inquisitors.

The Commander slowly lowered his staff.

His voice was almost inaudible.

"It really is him..."

The old man stood barefoot upon the opposite bank, leaning casually against his weathered walking stick.

His grey robes were patched in several places.

His white hair fell loosely over his shoulders.

He looked no different from an elderly traveler.

Yet no one dared underestimate him.

The air surrounding him felt...

Heavy.

Not with killing intent.

With presence.

As though the world quietly acknowledged that he had arrived.

The old man smiled warmly at Hans.

"You've grown."

Hans frowned.

"We've never met."

The old man chuckled.

"No."

"You simply don't remember."

---

Kael was the first to move.

He slowly stepped backward.

One step.

Then another.

For the first time since appearing on the bridge...

His confidence was gone.

The Commander noticed immediately.

"You're afraid."

Kael laughed nervously.

"No."

"I'm terrified."

Hans looked between them.

"Who is he?"

No one answered.

The old man answered for himself.

"My name..."

He paused, almost as if testing whether the name still belonged to him.

"...is Eryon."

Nothing happened.

Hans expected surprise.

Recognition.

Instead...

The White Inquisitors lowered their heads.

Every one of them.

Even the Commander.

Not in fear.

In respect.

Cassian did the same.

Only Hans and Kael remained standing.

The old man sighed.

"I've told you before."

"You don't need to bow."

The Commander replied quietly,

"We do."

---

Eryon's gaze settled on Hans once again.

"You've been asking many questions."

Hans nodded.

"Nobody answers them."

"Good."

Hans blinked.

"What?"

"They're protecting themselves."

"Not you."

The words struck harder than Hans expected.

"They think they're protecting me."

"They're mistaken."

Eryon planted his walking stick lightly against the stone.

A soft knock echoed across the silent river.

"The truth doesn't become safer by hiding it."

Cassian took a cautious step forward.

"Master Eryon..."

"We agreed."

The old man looked at him.

"No."

"You agreed."

"I merely stopped arguing."

A faint smile appeared on Kael's face.

"Still the same."

Eryon glanced toward him.

"So are you."

Kael's smile disappeared instantly.

---

The Commander straightened.

"Why have you come?"

Eryon answered without hesitation.

"To collect my student."

Every White Inquisitor instinctively shifted their stance.

The Commander remained calm.

"Hans remains under Temple protection."

"For now."

Eryon nodded.

"That's true."

He took one slow step forward.

The impossible happened.

His foot landed...

On the surface of the river.

The water did not ripple.

It did not splash.

It simply supported him.

Hans stared.

Eryon continued walking.

Each step was as natural as walking across solid ground.

Within moments...

He stood at the centre of the river.

"The Temple has protected him for sixteen years."

"You've done well."

His smile faded.

"But your part..."

"...ends today."

---

The Commander tightened his grip on the white staff.

"I cannot allow that."

"I know."

Eryon nodded.

"So let's avoid unnecessary violence."

Kael muttered under his breath,

"That depends on your definition of unnecessary."

Eryon heard him.

"I heard that."

"I know."

Kael replied.

"I wanted you to."

For the first time...

The old man laughed.

A genuine laugh.

Warm.

Human.

Hans found himself smiling without knowing why.

Then he realized something strange.

The fear he had felt moments ago...

Had vanished.

Standing near Eryon felt oddly familiar.

Safe.

As though he had returned somewhere he had forgotten.

---

Eryon stopped three paces from the bridge.

His eyes rested on Hans.

"Tell me."

"When you fought the assassin..."

Hans nodded.

"...did you think about moving?"

Hans remembered the attack.

The blade.

The impossible dodge.

"No."

"My body just..."

"...did it."

Eryon smiled.

"Exactly."

He looked toward the Commander.

"You see?"

"I told you."

"The body remembers first."

The Commander didn't answer.

His silence was answer enough.

---

Without warning...

Eryon picked up a pebble from the riverbank.

A completely ordinary pebble.

He tossed it gently toward Hans.

Not hard.

Not fast.

Pure instinct took over.

Hans caught it effortlessly.

The moment the stone touched his palm—

A sharp pain exploded behind his eyes.

The bridge disappeared.

The river disappeared.

For a single heartbeat...

He stood inside a vast stone training hall.

Hundreds of young warriors practiced with wooden swords.

The sound of clashing weapons echoed endlessly.

Among them...

A small boy.

Barely six years old.

Laughing.

Holding a wooden sword almost too large for him.

An elderly man corrected the boy's stance.

"Again."

The boy grinned.

"Again!"

The old man's voice...

Was unmistakable.

Eryon's.

The vision shifted.

The boy turned.

Hans froze.

The child had his face.

Before he could speak—

The memory shattered.

Hans stumbled backward, breathing heavily.

The pebble slipped from his hand and rolled across the bridge.

Silence.

Eryon looked at him gently.

"What did you see?"

Hans stared.

"I..."

He couldn't finish.

His voice trembled.

"I've seen you before."

Eryon nodded slowly.

"Yes."

"You have."

The Commander looked from Hans to Eryon.

His expression had completely changed.

Not shock.

Realization.

The old stories...

Had been true.

Every one of them.

And for the first time in sixteen years...

The impossible no longer seemed impossible.

Because Hans hadn't just met his first teacher.

He had remembered him.

The bridge fell silent.

No one spoke.

No one dared.

Hans still stared at the pebble lying near his feet.

It looked completely ordinary.

A rough grey stone no larger than his thumb.

Yet the moment he had touched it...

A forgotten piece of his life had returned.

Not a dream.

Not an illusion.

A memory.

He slowly looked up.

"You trained me."

Eryon smiled faintly.

"I did."

Hans shook his head.

"That's impossible."

"I've lived in Asterion my whole life."

"No."

Eryon corrected gently.

"You've remembered your whole life."

The distinction settled heavily in the air.

---

Cassian stepped forward.

"What have you done?"

Eryon looked at him.

"Nothing."

"I simply showed him what was already his."

"The memory seals are weakening."

Cassian's face hardened.

"They weren't supposed to weaken yet."

"They weren't supposed to."

Eryon agreed.

"But the world has changed."

"The gods moved first."

"So the seals answered."

The Commander quietly asked,

"How many remain?"

Eryon was silent for a long moment.

Then...

"I don't know."

The answer unsettled everyone.

If even Eryon didn't know...

Then events were no longer following anyone's expectations.

---

Hans's head still throbbed.

Fragments drifted through his thoughts.

A wooden sword.

Laughter.

Sunlight.

An enormous courtyard surrounded by towering black walls.

Children.

Dozens of them.

Training together.

He reached for the memory...

It dissolved like mist.

Only one image remained.

A symbol carved above a great stone gate.

A crown...

Pierced by a sword.

Hans's eyes widened.

"The Veiled Crown."

Everyone turned toward him.

"You've seen it before."

The Commander whispered.

Hans nodded slowly.

"I think..."

"It was above our home."

No one breathed.

Cassian closed his eyes.

"So it truly existed."

---

Kael leaned casually against the bridge railing.

"I've been trying to tell you."

"The Veiled Crown wasn't a secret society."

"It was a city."

Hans looked at him.

"A city?"

Kael nodded.

"The last city of the Godslayers."

"It disappeared the night Heaven declared war."

Hans frowned.

"Disappeared?"

"Not destroyed?"

Kael's smile became bitter.

"History prefers simpler stories."

---

A sudden gust swept across the bridge.

The river began flowing again.

The strange stillness was gone.

Eryon looked toward the distant forest.

"They've found us."

The Commander immediately sensed it.

Not footsteps.

Not voices.

Pressure.

A suffocating pressure descending from the sky itself.

The clouds darkened.

Birds fled in every direction.

The horses became frantic.

One of the White Inquisitors whispered,

"What is that?"

Eryon's expression remained calm.

"An observer."

Hans looked upward.

"I don't see anything."

"You aren't supposed to."

Eryon answered.

"They're watching from beyond the veil."

---

Far above the clouds...

Something enormous opened a single eye.

It was impossible to describe.

Its form stretched beyond the horizon.

Its gaze pierced mountains, forests, rivers, and kingdoms alike.

It looked upon the bridge.

Upon the Commander.

Upon Cassian.

It ignored them all.

Its attention settled solely on Hans.

A voice echoed through Heaven.

"He remembers."

Another answered.

"Erase him."

A third interrupted.

"No."

"Watch him."

"If he truly carries the Final Inheritance..."

"...he will lead us to it."

The great eye slowly closed.

The pressure vanished.

---

Back on the bridge...

Every horse immediately calmed.

Hans looked around.

"What just happened?"

Cassian answered honestly.

"I don't know."

Eryon did.

But he said nothing.

Not yet.

---

The old man finally stepped onto the bridge.

This time...

No one stopped him.

The Commander moved aside.

So did the White Inquisitors.

Not because they had surrendered.

Because they understood.

If Eryon had wished to take Hans by force...

The battle would already be over.

He stopped directly in front of Hans.

For several moments...

Neither spoke.

Then Eryon reached into his robe.

The White Inquisitors tensed.

Instead of a weapon...

He withdrew a worn leather pouch.

Inside were six smooth wooden tokens.

Each bore a different carving.

A mountain.

A wolf.

A tree.

A flame.

A star.

And...

A broken crown.

Eryon held them out.

"Choose one."

Hans frowned.

"What are they?"

"Lessons."

"I don't understand."

"You will."

Hans studied the tokens carefully.

Each felt strangely familiar.

His eyes lingered on the wolf.

Then the mountain.

Finally...

The tree.

The carving matched the silver tree engraved on the mysterious coin hidden in his pocket.

The moment he noticed that...

The coin grew warm again.

Hans slowly reached toward the wooden tree token.

The instant his fingers touched it—

Every other token split cleanly in half.

No blade.

No force.

They simply cracked.

Only the tree remained untouched.

Kael burst into laughter.

"I knew it!"

"I actually knew it!"

The Commander stared.

"No one has ever..."

Eryon finished the sentence quietly.

"...chosen the Path of Roots."

Hans looked at the old man.

"I didn't choose."

"It chose me."

Eryon smiled.

"Exactly."

---

A distant horn echoed through the forest.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Kael's expression immediately darkened.

"They're faster than I expected."

The Commander looked toward the trees.

Movement.

Hundreds of figures.

Too far away to identify.

But closing quickly.

The White Inquisitors formed a defensive circle around Hans.

Cassian whispered,

"We have to leave."

Eryon shook his head.

"No."

"If we run..."

"...they'll follow."

He looked toward the approaching army.

"Better..."

"...that they stop here."

The old man slowly planted his walking stick in the centre of the bridge.

A faint smile crossed his face.

"It's been a very long time..."

"...since anyone reminded the world why they once feared an old teacher."

The approaching army suddenly halted.

Not because they chose to.

Because every soldier...

Every horse...

Every tree...

Every blade of grass...

Had frozen in place.

Time itself seemed to hesitate.

And from somewhere deep within the silent forest...

A voice whispered in disbelief.

"Eryon..."

"...is still alive."

Silence consumed the forest.

Not the silence of peace.

The silence before a storm tears the sky apart.

Hundreds of figures stood motionless at the edge of the trees.

Some wore black armor engraved with silver runes.

Others hid beneath dark cloaks.

A handful carried banners Hans had never seen before.

None of them could move.

It wasn't fear.

It wasn't hesitation.

It was as though the world itself had forgotten to let them take another step.

Hans looked at Eryon.

"You did this?"

The old man sighed.

"I asked."

"You... asked?"

Eryon smiled.

"The world remembers old friends."

Hans didn't understand.

But the Commander did.

His grip on his staff tightened.

He had read ancient records describing impossible masters who no longer fought by relying on strength alone.

They had learned something greater.

They no longer forced the world to obey them.

The world obeyed willingly.

He had always believed those stories were myths.

Standing before Eryon...

He realized the myths had been memories.

---

From within the frozen army...

One man continued walking.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Unlike the others, nothing held him back.

He wore dark blue robes trimmed with gold thread.

His hair was silver despite looking no older than thirty.

At his waist hung a simple wooden flute.

No sword.

No spear.

No visible weapon.

He stopped twenty paces from the bridge and bowed respectfully.

"Master Eryon."

Eryon returned the bow.

"It has been many years, Lucien."

Hans noticed something immediately.

Neither man looked surprised to see the other.

They had expected this meeting.

Lucien straightened.

"I hoped retirement suited you."

"It did."

Eryon answered calmly.

"Until everyone insisted on disturbing it."

A faint smile crossed Lucien's face.

"You always disliked attention."

"I still do."

---

Lucien's eyes finally settled on Hans.

"So."

"This is the child."

Hans met his gaze.

There was no hatred in Lucien's expression.

No anger.

Only curiosity.

"You've caused quite a bit of trouble."

Hans answered honestly.

"I don't think I have."

Lucien laughed softly.

"No."

"You haven't."

"Your existence has."

---

Kael quietly moved closer to Hans.

Without taking his eyes off Lucien, he whispered,

"If he reaches for the flute..."

"...run."

Hans frowned.

"Why?"

"You won't be able to hear the first note."

"The second note..."

"...will be the last thing anyone hears."

Hans glanced at the wooden flute.

It looked completely harmless.

That made it even more unsettling.

---

Lucien folded his hands behind his back.

"I didn't come to fight."

The Commander replied immediately.

"That's unfortunate."

"Because if you had..."

"...at least we'd know where we stood."

Lucien nodded.

"A fair point."

He looked toward Hans once more.

"I came with an offer."

Eryon's expression didn't change.

"He isn't interested."

"You haven't heard it."

"I don't need to."

Lucien sighed.

"You've always been difficult."

"And you've always mistaken patience for agreement."

---

The wind shifted.

Leaves drifted lazily across the bridge.

Lucien watched one settle on the river.

"I wonder..."

He looked at Hans.

"What have they told you?"

Hans thought for a moment.

"Very little."

Lucien smiled.

"Good."

"That means I still have a chance."

The Commander took a step forward.

"You'll say nothing."

Lucien ignored him completely.

Instead, he addressed Hans.

"Tell me..."

"If someone murdered your family..."

"...and then wrote history calling them monsters..."

"...would you seek revenge?"

Hans remained silent.

Lucien continued.

"Or..."

"If you discovered your family truly were monsters..."

"...could you still love them?"

Hans felt his chest tighten.

The question wasn't really about his family.

It was about choice.

About truth.

Before he could answer—

Eryon spoke.

"Enough."

His voice wasn't loud.

Yet it carried absolute authority.

Lucien bowed his head.

"My apologies."

"I forgot."

"You wanted him to decide without our influence."

Eryon looked at him.

"And yet..."

"...you tried anyway."

Lucien smiled faintly.

"I had to."

---

Without warning, the mysterious coin inside Hans's pocket became scorching hot.

He gasped.

Dropping to one knee.

The silver tree blazed through the fabric of his cloak.

Everyone turned.

Eryon's calm expression disappeared for the first time.

"Hans."

"Take it out."

Hans reached into his pocket with trembling fingers.

The moment the coin touched open air—

It floated upward.

Suspended between heaven and earth.

The silver tree began to grow.

Not physically.

As light.

Branches of radiant silver spread across the sky.

Roots of crimson light reached into the ground beneath the bridge.

The entire valley was bathed in ancient radiance.

Every person present stared upward.

The Commander whispered,

"It isn't a coin..."

Eryon finished quietly.

"It never was."

---

The silver light condensed.

Slowly taking the shape of...

A key.

An ancient key forged from intertwining silver roots.

Symbols no one could read shimmered across its surface.

Lucien's eyes widened.

"So it survived..."

Kael actually laughed in disbelief.

"I've searched half the world..."

"...and the boy finds it by accident."

Hans looked toward Eryon.

"What is it?"

The old man answered without hesitation.

"The First Key."

"The first key to what?"

Eryon was silent.

Then...

He smiled.

"Your inheritance."

Before Hans could ask another question—

The key suddenly turned.

By itself.

As though unlocking an invisible door.

A deep metallic sound echoed through the mountains.

**CLICK.**

Everyone froze.

Far away...

Beyond kingdoms.

Beyond oceans.

Beyond even the lands marked on maps...

A pair of ancient stone gates slowly began to open for the first time in ten thousand years.

Dust fell from towering statues.

Countless blue flames ignited one after another.

And deep within the forgotten city of the Godslayers...

Something breathed.

For the first time since the end of the Great War.

A low voice echoed through the empty streets.

"The Heir..."

A second voice answered from the darkness.

"...has finally found the key."

Back on the bridge...

The silver key dissolved into countless motes of light.

Every one of them flowed into Hans's chest.

He staggered.

His heart pounded once.

Twice.

Then a cold, mechanical voice echoed inside his mind.

Unlike the lonely voice from before, this one carried no emotion.

No warmth.

No hatred.

Only certainty.

> **Godslayer System recognized.**

> **Primary Bloodline confirmed.**

> **First Inheritance unlocked.**

> **Initializing...**

A translucent screen flickered before Hans's eyes.

Only he could see it.

And before anyone could ask what was happening—

The final line appeared.

> **Welcome back... Successor.**

Hans stared at the glowing words.

The System...

Had finally awakened.