Isaac opened his eyes and found himself standing in an endless void. There was no ground beneath his feet, yet he remained suspended as though gravity no longer existed. Countless stars stretched in every direction, filling the darkness with countless points of colored light.
His first instinct was to look down at himself. His body had become transparent, glowing with a soft radiance that wasn’t merely white but seemed to contain every color at once. The stars surrounding him, however, each possessed their own distinct color.
Some glowed green, others burned red, while many shone with shades of orange, blue, or gold. There were so many that Isaac couldn’t possibly count them all accurately. Even so, after taking a quick glance across the endless sky, he estimated that the number was close to a half million.
Among the countless ordinary stars, several stood out immediately. They were incomparably larger than the rest, radiating pressure that could be felt even from a distance. Their presence naturally drew Isaac’s attention.
He compared their sizes with his own and frowned slightly. Only two stars were clearly larger than him. After looking more carefully, however, he noticed a third one that barely surpassed his own size.
For some reason, Isaac instinctively understood what the stars represented. Each one belonged to a human. That realization made him quietly assess his own position.
Only three humans were stronger than him.
It should have been encouraging news, yet the thought made him smile wryly. Being among humanity’s five strongest sounded impressive, but it also meant humanity’s situation was so desperate that he had already climbed that high.
Before he could think further, familiar notifications appeared before him.
[Weaving will soon begin.]
[Please wait until then.]
Isaac let out a slow breath as the messages faded away. Since there was nothing for him to do yet, he decided to spend the waiting time examining the strange place around him. His curiosity slowly replaced the concern lingering in his mind.
The first giant star he focused on glowed with an overwhelming crimson light. Its pressure was immense and carried an undeniable sense of superiority. The moment Isaac looked at it, he instinctively understood that its owner had reached the level of an Ascender.
His attention shifted toward another enormous star nearby. Unlike the crimson one, this star was pitch black, while white flames silently burned around its surface. Something about it made every instinct in Isaac’s soul recoil.
He stared for only a few moments before looking away. A single word echoed in his mind without explanation.
Death.
The feeling lingered even after he turned his attention elsewhere. It wasn’t fear in the ordinary sense, but rather an instinctive warning that this existence embodied something he shouldn’t approach carelessly.
Finally, Isaac looked toward the third giant star. It immediately struck him as different from the other two, not because it was weaker, but because it was actively concealing itself.
The star wasn’t displaying its full brilliance. Instead, it continuously suppressed its own light, shrinking its glow as though trying to blend into the countless ordinary stars surrounding it. The more Isaac observed it, the more obvious that effort became.
"So you’re hiding," Isaac murmured with quiet amusement. Whatever the reason, that person clearly had no intention of revealing their true strength. Moreover, they had been prepared someone might arrive there, and look at their star.
He eventually looked away and continued searching through the endless sea of stars.
Several stars immediately caught his attention.
Unlike the others, these stars felt familiar. A powerful bond connected them to him, allowing Isaac to recognize them without hesitation.
His wives.
Emily’s star resembled polished platinum. A soft blue radiance surrounded it, giving it a calm appearance that somehow felt both gentle and cold at the same time.
Alice’s star was completely different. It resembled a miniature sun, surrounded by endlessly burning flames that radiated astonishing power. Even so, Isaac couldn’t shake the feeling that something inside it wasn’t quite right.
Without hesitation, he floated toward Alice’s star. He soon discovered an invisible barrier surrounding it, preventing him from getting any closer. No matter how much he pushed forward, the protective field refused to let him pass. All stars had a similar barrier.
Isaac rested his hand against the unseen wall before pulling it back.
"I guess this is as close as I can get," he muttered before narrowing his eyes. If he couldn’t approach physically, then he would simply have to observe more carefully.
He focused entirely on Alice’s star. As he did, he realized something unexpected.
His Aura was still available.
His skills also responded normally, although the tremendous enhancement provided by his physiques had completely disappeared. Since he no longer possessed a physical body in this strange place, Isaac quickly accepted that explanation.
He activated Emily’s Demonic Eyes.
The Transcendent-ranked skill immediately sharpened his vision, allowing him to peer beyond the brilliant flames surrounding Alice’s star. He reinforced the skill with his evolved Aura, steadily increasing its effectiveness while continuing to focus.
Isaac attempted something else.
He tried to alter the nature of the skill itself, hoping to reshape it into something more suitable for seeing through the star’s layers. Despite several attempts, the skill remained completely unchanged.
"It won’t let me change it," Isaac quietly said to himself. Perhaps because the skill originally belonged to Emily, it simply refused to accept any modifications from him. Since forcing it wasn’t working, he abandoned the idea.
Instead, he continued strengthening the skill through Aura alone. The strain quickly spread across his soul, making every passing moment more exhausting than the last. Even so, Isaac refused to stop.
Eventually, the flames parted before his enhanced vision.
At the very center of Alice’s star burned a single white flame. Isaac found himself staring at it without blinking, unable to look away from the strangely mesmerizing sight.
Beautiful.
That was the only word that appeared in his mind.
His own body appeared white because every color seemed to exist within it simultaneously. The flame before him, however, was white for an entirely different reason. It was pure beyond comparison.