The abyss that once made even Celestials scream for their lives now felt like a simple walk. The path turned leisurely for everyone thanks to a single formidable glowing array.
Kyle walked calmly, his gaze indifferent.
Because he had chosen a different route from the Rulers and other Celestials earlier, he and those following him soon lost sight of the others rushing straight toward the place where the golden bridge had once stretched into the boundless, never-ending darkness.
Gvette walked happily next to Kyle.
Cassian, too, remained calm, even as his teammates grew increasingly agitated.
After all, they were clearly heading in the wrong direction, so their unease was only natural. Kyle had said that the array he had crafted wouldn’t last long. It really puzzled them to no end—just why the hell was he going in a seemingly random direction?
Clan Leader Ares furrowed his brows. As time passed, Zami and the others walking beside him also grew increasingly uneasy, yet he had no choice but to trail after Kyle.
He couldn’t abandon Gvette, and leaving him with Kyle, this heartless Celestial, was an even bigger no. No matter how useless that fawning fool might be, Gvette was still a member of his clan. Ares also wanted to know exactly what Kyle was up to. He was certain the man had his reasons. Kyle was powerful—that was indisputable—and Ares couldn’t help but wonder if he possessed some ability to find the exit of this abyss.
If only he knew Kyle had no such powerful ability—he was as powerless as the rest of them, relying entirely on his luck—he might have just coughed up blood in sheer anger.
But fortunately, he didn’t.
Silence enveloped the space.
Kyle wasn’t a talker, much less Cassian.
Clan Leader Ares, on the other hand, only liked to speak at length when boasting of his hidden strength to new Celestials with potential he wanted to recruit to his clan—pretending to be a weakling and revealing his power in times of distress to earn their reverence. So, he remained silent as well.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, the others around them didn’t dare to speak either.
The group walked for a long time before, suddenly, the massive glowing array that allowed them to tread through the abyss while protecting them from the crimson cracks and brutal winds began to waver.
Ares’s expression changed, and all those around him panicked. Even Cassian looked somewhat concerned. He had developed a faint reliance on Kyle after the latter helped him earlier, so he had chosen to follow him. Still, all Cassian could do was sigh and look at Kyle to reassure the man that it was fine and they would find a way out of here... but when he looked over, he was dumbfounded.
Kyle had vanished.
Not just Kyle—even Gvette, who had been right beside him, was gone. Cassian came to a halt immediately, his gaze bewildered.
"What the..."
He rushed forward without finishing his words, and under the gazes of everyone, disappeared into the space before them.
Everyone was left astonished for a long moment before they all followed behind.
Just as Cassian hurriedly passed through the seemingly still dark space, he collided with Gvette’s back, frowning at the impact.
It was as if he had entered a hidden portal to another realm, completely invisible even to the eyes of the most powerful Celestials.
Yet the person standing before him didn’t react to the collision. He wanted to shake him, but all his words caught in his throat when he raised his head and saw what lay ahead. His eyes dilated at the sight of the colossal two-headed giant sleeping there.
’Shit!’
Even though the slumbering giant looked humanoid, each of its heads was crowned with jagged horns that glowed like molten metal in the dim light. Its massive arms lay beneath its heads, acting as pillows across the ground, and even in slumber, an aura of immense power radiated from it—pressing down on everything like a physical weight.
Cassian instinctively gauged his own size against the giant and shuddered. He was like an ant in comparison to the creature!
The sheer pressure emanating from the sleeping giant was enough to render him completely motionless in his position. So, what would happen if the creature awoke?
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
They had indeed managed to find an exit from the bottomless abyss following Kyle, yet the place they had arrived at felt like a deathtrap! Every instinct screamed at him to flee immediately, but he forced himself to stay still so as not to wake the giant.
Those who arrived at the scene after him froze too, looking even more ghostly than he did. Ares and Zami were the only ones who looked more shocked than panicked.
Cassian’s gaze wandered toward Kyle, who was floating far ahead of them quietly. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he watched the man attempt to cross the sleeping giant as if it were a simple stroll.
It was Ares who rushed after Kyle with a solemn expression and hurriedly grabbed his arm to stop him from courting death.
"Have you gone crazy?! If we disturb the creature, there’s no doubt we will die!"
Just uttering those words drained all the color from his face. For the first time, he truly grasped how terrifying it was to be unable to communicate mentally in this place! Those following behind him didn’t even dare to breathe, let alone move.
Kyle’s expression was also tense. He had already realized they couldn’t return to the abyss, so their only option was to advance.
He knew the danger, but his indifferent expression made it seem as if he were calm.
Still, one thing was clear—they couldn’t waste any time here! All he could do was rely on his luck to get through this place.
He broke free from Ares’s grip and then clicked his tongue at him with a grimace.
"Stay quiet, will you? I am certain it won’t wake up if you all remain silent. The giant’s power is strange. It is clearly a Celestial as powerful as a Ruler, but it radiates a strong, almost ancient presence. One wrong move, one careless breath, and we’re finished."
Ares’s jaw tightened at his words, his gaze sharp, a hint of recognition flickering within his amethyst eyes. His shocked expression said that he knew exactly what they were all facing—a silent warning that the giant was far more dangerous than it truly appeared.
"No, we won’t be able to cross this place! We need to retreat immediately, or we will die! You don’t know anything! Damn it!"
Kyle’s eyebrow rose.
"What do I not know?"
His casual words froze Ares. Even Zami was taken aback. Ares felt a hint of dread at his fearlessness, yet he quickly calmed himself. They had already come so far—it was clear it was too late to retreat. So, he forced a small smile at him, but it looked more like he was trying to hold back tears.
His voice shook as he answered.
"You don’t know. Few do. But I have been in the Celestial Realm far longer than most..."
Ares staggered back suddenly, a shiver running down his spine as if unseen eyes were watching him. His nerves stretched taut, cold sweat forming on his brow.
Still, he continued.
"In my pursuit of power, I’ve found both trivial knowledge and ancient texts in this vast Realm. So yes, I know what you don’t. The giant is no ordinary creature. Its exact image was recorded in what remains of the ancient texts alongside the three Celestial symbols of the first Celestials... Though much of its story remains undeciphered, one thing was evident everywhere..."
He paused, quickly wiping the sweat from his face before finishing his sentence.
"It can’t sleep."
Kyle’s indifferent face finally cracked. Now he understood why Ares was smiling as if he wanted to cry. He slowly—very slowly—turned his head toward the sleeping giant.
It had not moved even an inch from its original place, still lying in the same spot.
But its closed eyes were wide open.
Two pairs of golden eyes stared back at Kyle with curiosity and a hint of confusion, as if the creature had yet to comprehend that a living being had discovered it after so long.
Kyle’s expression went blank immediately. He wasn’t scared, as he knew very well he wouldn’t die—this was his fake body. The worst that could happen was that it would be destroyed, and the fragment of his soul it held would return to his original body. But as he looked at the others before him, he realized it wasn’t the same for them.
He didn’t draw the giant’s attention.
Instead, he whispered to everyone.
"Use all your strength to leave in the opposite direction the instant I vanish."
Everyone was stunned. Before they could comprehend what he meant, he vanished.
The moment he vanished, the giant—still lying in place—suddenly lunged toward a distant part of the massive cavern where it slept. The movement was accompanied by a deafening crash as Kyle’s body, which had appeared far away, was flung into a wall.
Ares was startled but immediately rushed in the opposite direction, searching for an exit.
The rest didn’t waste any time either. There was no time to think—Kyle was endangering himself to give them enough time to locate an escape route by distracting the giant!