Xeron finally stood up, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve. He cast one last glance toward the shimmering sound barrier before shifting his focus back to me.
"Get ready by tomorrow morning," he instructed casually. "Your training starts exactly at dawn. Also, you will take the adjacent room for your rest. Sharing a bed with my aunt and the Sovereign crosses the line."
I gave a simple nod, fully accepting the arrangement. I was planning to do that anyway. To secure some private space.
"I got it."
The heavy wooden doors clicked shut behind him, and the suffocating pressure instantly vanished from the room.
Caelia and I exchanged a long, meaningful look, both of us releasing a quiet sigh of relief. We spent a short while quietly discussing our immediate plans and aligning our stories. Once we reached a solid consensus, I excused myself to get some much-needed rest.
I stepped into the adjacent bedroom and securely locked the thick door. I threw myself onto the massive, luxurious bed and closed my eyes, flawlessly mimicking a deep sleep.
In reality, my mind remained entirely awake. With a single thought, a translucent, shimmering interface bloomed before my vision, visible only to me.
━━━◇◆◇━━━
[DASHBOARD]
◈ Personal Info
◈ Stories
◈ Messages (1 Unread)
◈ Inventory
◈ Achievements
◈ Funds
◈ Scenario Points
◈ Shop
◈ Pathways
◈ Resonant Relics/Treasures
◈ Skills/Abilities
◈ Techniques/Styles/Arts
◈ Bonds
━━━◇◆◇━━━
’Oh, a message?’
Curious, I mentally selected the Messages tab. A blinking golden notification waited for me. I expanded the window, reading the detailed report.
━━━━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━━━━
「 THE APEX CRADLE 」
"A dormant core floated silently in the endless void. You offered the vital warmth, the steadfast protection, and the blood required to awaken a brand new era."
▸ CONTRIBUTIONS RECOGNIZED:
✓ Successfully hatched a Transcendent-tier entity.
✓ Forged a flawless soul resonance with the Apex Nightmare Sovereign.
✓ Safely escorted her back to where she belongs.
Result: Initiated a major divergence in the overarching storyline.
▸ REWARDS:
◈ + 1000 Scenario Points
◈ [Title Unlocked: [Twilight Guardian]]
"The absolute shield standing between the void and the dawn. Your loyalty commands the shadows."
▸ Massively enhanced physical resilience when protecting the Sovereign.
▸ Accelerated aura/stamina/health/etc. regeneration when in close proximity to the Sovereign.
◈ [Skill Upgrade: Phantom Twin has reached Lv. 4]
"Your phantom projections now possess physical mass and perfectly replicate you. It can fully use up to 50% of your total combat power and abilities."
◈ [Skill Unlocked: Nemure Assimilation]
"A physiological toggle. You can actively shift your physical appearance to match the native residents of the Nightmare Realm."
[SPECIAL NOTE]
Your recent actions have severely altered the established fate of this realm. A world-shaking change has occurred. Be warned: massive, unpredictable consequences will inevitably follow.
━━━━━━◇◆◇━━━━━━
A wry smile formed on my lips as I finished reading.
The System certainly enjoyed its dramatic flair.
However, the heavy warning placed ominously at the very bottom demanded my full attention. As usual, the System kept the exact details of this ’world-shaking change’ completely hidden, leaving me to merely guess who or what I had affected.
I pushed the looming mystery to the back of my mind as I had more immediate concerns to handle.
My gaze skipped down to the rewards. They were incredibly generous. A full thousand Scenario Points gave me massive purchasing power. Heck, this was the highest amount I have ever gotten.
The [Twilight Guardian] title provided extremely practical survival buffs, exactly what I needed for the upcoming training and to back up my words about being Cathiel’s guardian.
The two skill updates were equally perfect. The level four upgrade to my Phantom Twin added a highly lethal physical component to my favorite decoy tactic, granting me a perfect physical double. Meanwhile, the [Nemure Assimilation] skill solved my biggest underlying problem. By completely masking my human scent and changing my form, I could finally blend in flawlessly with the local population, bypassing all unwanted suspicion from the netizens of this world.
With a thought, the detailed message window vanished, collapsing back into the minimalist dashboard. I then opened the [Bonds] window.
A new entry glowed brightly at the very top of the list. I mentally tapped the name, watching the detailed breakdown of my newest and most powerful bond expand before my eyes.
━━━◇◆◇━━━
[ THE APEX NIGHTMARE SOVEREIGN ]
Name: Cathiel
Race: Nemure/Nightmare Royal (Progenitor Lineage)
Affinity: Void | Mental | Curse
Innate Rank/Potential: Transcendent Tier
Current Rank: Peak Tier 4 (Innate Birthright)
Bond Affinity: ★★★★★
◈ Abilities/Powers
◈ Special Bond Ability
◈ Shared Powers
━━━◇◆◇━━━
’...This...’
’Isn’t this a bit too OP?!’
I obviously expected her innate potential to heavily eclipse both Sereniel and Nemo. Seeing the actual confirmation displayed on the screen, however, delivered a massive shock to my senses.
She was a Transcendent being!
A classification standing entirely above both the Mythical and Primordial ranks!
Furthermore, she currently sat squarely at Tier 4. She shared my exact power level right from the very beginning, claiming this profound strength purely as an innate birthright! Not to mention the fact that she was already at the peak, even stronger than me!
This.... This defined the absolute meaning of a true monster.
While normal resonators and beasts spend years, and perhaps decades, shedding blood and risking their lives daily just to brush the edges of the fourth tier, this tiny infant simply yawned, opened her eyes, and instantly achieved that exact milestone. She bypassed the entire grueling struggle with supreme ease.
I took a deep breath, forcefully steadying my racing heart. I mentally tapped the ’Abilities/Powers’ tab, fully preparing myself for another wave of absurdly overpowered skills.
━━━━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━━━━
▸ Absolute Bloodline Suppression (*): Passively projects the terrifying aura of the Nemure royal family. This completely paralyzes lower-tier entities and forces weaker beings into absolute physical submission.
▸ Spatial Authority (Juvenile): Possesses a natural, instinctual control over the surrounding space. She can easily tear localized dimensional rifts to teleport short distances or deflect incoming physical projectiles.
▸ Curse Devourer: She can passively consume malicious auras, ambient curses, and hostile mental intrusions, converting them directly into pure energy for her own growth.
▸ Void Aegis: A subconscious survival reflex. When severely threatened, she folds the space immediately around her tiny body, becoming entirely untouchable to any attacks below Tier 7.
▸ [Locked]
▸ [Locked]
▸ [Locked]
▸ ....
━━━━━━ ◇ ◆ ◇ ━━━━━━
’Haha.’
’This is what you call ’domineering’!’