Behind a pile of broken machinery was a rather large iron door, a large red number "006," partly peeled, painted above it.
The door was secured with a large, circular iron lock, like that of a safe, with a rusted iron lever beneath it.
The man in the trench coat pushed both of them through the door and locked it tightly, not forgetting to take the iron locking bar to secure it from this side.Ethan watched him lock the door, silently pitying the man's apprentice.
The man used a lighter to create light, holding it close to the wall. As he had predicted, the entire wall was covered in phosphorescent moss.
In an instant, the three of them could see the corridor ahead under the characteristic green glow.
Walking along the long, dark corridor, Ethan saw many doors numbered sequentially with a letter at the beginning.
He increasingly felt that this place beneath the ancient shrine was like a secret research facility, abandoned for many years due to some incident.
The other man silently led them down the corridor; he seemed to know the layout of this research institute well.
The three of them turned into another research area, where Ethan saw a sign in the main corridor: "Phase 2 Experimentation Zone," written in three languages: Albionese, English, and a script he thought was Russian.
The rooms in this experimentation zone had a different structure from the corridor they had just passed through.
They were fitted with transparent glass; some rooms contained cages, others were full of equipment resembling incubators for newborns, and a few were completely empty.
Each door was numbered and marked with a symbol or a letter from the alphabet.Ethan had no idea how large this research institute was.
Basically, just based on the time they had spent walking through the experimental zones, it was clear its area was much larger than the small shrine above.
After an hour of walking in silence, he finally saw a large red "Exit" sign with an arrow pointing to the right on the wall at the end of the corridor.
The three of them walked in that direction for about another half hour and came across an iron door similar to the one they had passed through.
The man in the trench coat began to turn the lock. The large, heavy bolt moved, and when it opened, Ethan immediately smelled the scent of the night grass.
"We're in the cemetery area," Rose whispered in his ear.
She pointed to the slope below. "The shrine we were just at is nearly 5 kilometers from here. Down there is the old cemetery of Aylesbury Church."
They both looked towards the town center; the red glow of fire was still visible in the distance.
It seemed the recent Entity attack had caused considerable damage.
The sky was beginning to show patches of pale blue, heralding a new day.
They walked a little further towards the high slope, blending into the cashew forest in case anyone was pursuing them.Ethan glanced at Rose for her opinion; she shook her head slightly.
In truth, no matter how hard they tried, after witnessing the apprentice's strength, both knew that even if this man were alone, it would be difficult to escape him.
He placed his hand on his backpack; the book bulged within, making him anxious.
What was it about this book that made them fight over it so fiercely?
On the other side of the slope, a Mazda BT-50 pickup truck was already waiting for them.
The apprentice, who had somehow managed to escape both the Kerberos and the converging forces in a spectacular fashion, was wrapping his claymore and loading it onto the back of the truck.
"There you are, Master," the young man said, his voice clearly annoyed.
"This is outrageous! I had to wait until O440 and The Divine Order were right on my tail before I could grab the claymore and run, and I still had to dodge that Daemon Hound's snaps. I can't believe I always have to be your bait!"
"Shut up and get in the driver's seat, brat."
The man glared at his disciple, who could only grunt and meekly climb into the driver's seat to start the vehicle.Ethan truly felt sorry for him.Ethan and Rose followed the man's instructions and climbed into the truck bed. He saw four or five large backpacks piled on the back seat and three more cardboard boxes in the truck bed.
Clearly, this truck wasn't theirs originally.
The man took off his wide-brimmed hat and placed it beside him.Ethan observed him more closely: an angular face with characteristic features – a cleft chin and a broken nose, likely acquired from many battles.
A long scar extended from his right temple down to his eyelid, and numerous other scars, large and small, on his face and neck testified to this man's combat prowess, having survived the battles that created them.Ethan hadn't expected to face a foreigner, as the man's Albionese was so good he had assumed he was a native.
"Matthew. The one in the driver's seat is Marcus."
He gestured towards the front of the car with his thumb.
"Ethan."
"Rose."
They both replied with their names.Matthew extended his hand towards Ethan, waiting for him to hand over the old book.
"Why do you want this book so badly? If I give it to you, will you let us leave safely?"
"I've never liked that tone." Matthew grimaced. "You're a reporter, young man, aren't you?"
"What makes you think so?"
"Carrying a lighter when you don't smell of smoke."
He pulled out the lighter and tossed it back to him.
"Voice recorder, always clipped to the breast pocket. Multi-compartment backpack, camera inside, notebook in the outer pocket, the other side holding a press pass, and always asking too many questions."Matthew pulled a small flask from his trench coat pocket, took a long swig, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"Don't ask too many questions, young man. Some things, once you know them, you can't turn back from."Ethan knew that even if he refused to hand over the book, the man could easily take it by force.
He opened his backpack and handed the old book to him.
"Don't treat me like a reporter. At least, you could give an unwilling victim in your hunt some information after the trouble he's just been through, couldn't you?"
"No recording," he added.Matthew took another swig of alcohol, stretched his muscles, then leaned against the side of the truck after tucking the book inside his coat.
"Alright then," he said. "If you really want to."
In his deep, steady voice, Matthew began to narrate the hidden history, concealed from most of humanity, like a father reading a bedtime story to his child.
After discovering the Hell Gates and suffering many losses from them, all efforts to fight in vain had led all powers to shift their focus from combating Entities to finding the sole condition to end the Holy War quickly: closing those Gates.
Permanently.
But then they also discovered that those Gates, in fact, could not be closed permanently. They were like black holes in the universe – their origin and disappearance unknown.
These Gates had appeared many times in history, such as the Big Bang or the extinction of the Jurassic Period, the legend of the Friday the Thirteenth persecution, or most recently, the two bloody World Wars.
The time between the appearances of the opening Gates was shortening, the duration they remained open was lengthening, and the consequences they caused were becoming increasingly severe.
Although humanity's firepower was considered nearly equal to the Entities' strength, all efforts to resist were on the verge of futility in the current situation; the Gates still showed no sign of closing to end an era of Apocalypse.
The leaders of the organizations began to worry. With 12 large and small gates active around the world, how long could they hold out?
Right at this moment, a new discovery among the ruins of ancient documents seemed like a hopeful remedy for an incurable, terminal illness. They began to uncover the existence of the Key to end this protracted and unbalanced Holy War.
In an experimental document found in one of the inexplicably abandoned laboratories from the Cold War era – a time when the arms race (which was actually a race to develop weapons based on Entity research) had spurred strong technological development – they found a new legend, a legend of Apocalypse, of Salvation, and above all, this legend was real.
The Hell Gates could indeed be closed ahead of schedule.
And even, be closed permanently.
It was just that the unique condition to lock these deadly Gates was to find the Keys that matched each Gate.
There were a total of 12 Gates, meaning a total of 12 Keys needed to be found.
These Keys could take any form related to some legend specific to that Gate, like a unique characteristic to control that Gate forever.The Divine Order, the organization that found the above document, immediately launched secret hunts to find these Keys.
And of course, the news was quickly picked up by O440, and even the Entities wanted to seize the Keys.
For the Entities, seizing even one of the Keys would help them prolong their invasion, and Earth would suffer even heavier losses.
As for The Divine Order and O440, the two largest organizations currently vying with each other, possessing the Keys was like seizing power.
In other words, whoever possessed the Keys would possess enough power to change the world.
Therefore, this situation created a chaotic landscape, with organizations competing to find the Keys for different purposes.
However, the difficulty was that if even one Key was missing, the Holy War could not end.
Because once the Keys were used, the gates would not close at the end of their period as before, and the Twelfth Key had to be the last one closed in sequence.
In other words, Albion would suffer the heaviest losses if the Holy War continued to drag on, and if this Key fell into the hands of Entities or power-hungry organizations, the Holy War would never end.
Like Pandora's Box locked with 12 locks, with each Key found, the truth hidden for millions of years began to be revealed.
And only with the very last Key would humanity finally know the origin of all this.
Therefore, the wars, the rivalries, the sweat and tears, the suffering that humans were enduring were all because of one final Key that could hold the entire world, and throw the entire world into chaos.
That was the reason for the suffering of those in this Holy War.
"And this book is a compilation of information about past experiments related to the Keys."Matthew gently patted the place where he had stored the book. "In the past, the Albion War was almost completely separate from the outcome of World War II, also because of the experiments recorded in this book. Basically, the research institute we just escaped from was built and put into use before the war, and the results of those experiments were also the reason for the war between the North and South that lasted until 1975."
"You mean, Albion also had an organization researching and developing P-particle technology, Matt?"
"More accurately, it was a collaboration between the Albion state and Sword and Shield. Because in reality, Psyk Ammunition – P-ammo – was developed in 1982 by Sword and Shield's research department based on archived documents from this research institute, which were transferred after the war ended in '75."Matthew pulled out a cigarette and put it to his lips. Ethan habitually lit it for him.
He took a long drag and exhaled a plume of smoke into the air.
"Sometimes I don't understand you Albionese people." Matthew waved the cigarette towards both of them.
"From the wartime tunnel networks to ATMs, and look, even Psyk Ammunition technology. I still wonder how on earth, under such societal conditions, you could research and succeed with Psyk Ammunition."
Although quite proud of what he heard, Ethan ignored it and asked further.
"So, Matt, who are you really working for? What is your organization's purpose in joining the hunt for the Keys?"
"The Divine Order, young man. But this hunt is specifically for me, for a different purpose. Not for power, or for anything else the Keys might bring."
"Then for what?"
"For the love of God, young man."Matthew only replied thus, then said no more.
The Mazda drove silently for another stretch, until Rose spoke up.
"If you decide not to harm us, may I get out of the car here?"
He looked at her, then nodded slightly and slapped the side of the car, signaling Marcus to stop.
Although Ethan still had many questions, he also realized the car was heading further north, away from the town, while he needed to go in the opposite direction.
Moreover, most of his necessary belongings were still at the guesthouse, though it was unclear if they were still intact after the attack.
He and Rose decided to get out at Phương Lâm (a town on the way, will replace with an English equivalent like Fairwood).Ethan looked at the sky; if they were lucky, they could catch the earliest bus of the day back to Aylesbury.
The car pulled over to the side of the highway. It wasn't fully light yet, so this road was still so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.Matthew opened the back door of the car and unceremoniously threw all the backpacks onto the wild grass beside the road, not caring what they contained.
Finally, he turned back and said to him.
"Thanks for the book, and try not to delve too deeply into this matter, young man. You do know that with Entities, the more you learn about them, the higher the chance of encountering them, right?"
"I know. Anyway, I've already faced Entities twice: this time, and once when I was unwillingly used as bait for a Holy Knight in York. So, I'll be encountering Entities more often than others anyway, so…" He shrugged at Matthew.
"York!" Matthew snapped his fingers as if remembering something.
"So you're the unlucky bastard Hannah used as bait to get the research materials on the Key that fool Hùng Sơn (Hung Son -> Harrison) had collected before he turned into a Wendigo. Then I understand why you were deliberately heading south."Ethan gave a wry smile, looking resigned.Matthew shrugged as if indifferent, even though he was still a member of The Divine Order. He climbed into the car and closed the door, sticking his head out the window before driving off to say to him.
"I still want to say, no matter how much you want to find the Key, give it up, young man. It's too much for an ordinary person like you, and we don't even know what the Keys look like."Ethan and Rose watched the Mazda drive further and further away from them, then turned to find the nearest bus stop.
Along the highway, the first rays of sunlight had begun to appear, and the sound of car engines grew more frequent with their every step.
"Where do you plan to go next?" Rose asked, kicking an empty can between her steps.
"Still heading south. I'll find out what other mysteries await me ahead."
"Clearly. This time, my guesthouse really suffered too many losses."
They both laughed after that joke. "But anyway, thank you for protecting me all through last night."Ethan just smiled without replying. He himself felt incredibly lucky to have survived, and in reality, the ones who had protected them both were Matthew and his apprentice, not him.
The sun began to show more clearly behind the mountains, and the first bus had arrived at the stop.
The reporter left as soon as he returned to her guesthouse, not even allowing himself a moment's rest.
"He's certainly very energetic," Rose thought.
Fortunately, her guesthouse block only had the last two rooms destroyed; there was no other damage.Rose sank onto the soft mattress in her room, feeling every joint in her body creak, and sighed with deep relief.
She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember what she had seen.
After all, after a restorative sleep, she too would depart.
Nothing held her back anymore; that time had come.Rose tiredly closed her eyes, murmuring as if to herself, and also as if replying to Matthew's words.
"Isn't the shape of that Key very easy to recognize?"