As my perception brushed against her, it felt as though she both existed and did not exist at the same time. My senses could acknowledge her standing there before me, yet they could not fully anchor onto her presence properly. It was like looking at someone standing slightly outside reality itself, present within the current moment while also detached from it entirely.
Then she turned toward me.
A soft smile formed on her face as strands of blue hair moved gently behind her in the ocean wind.
"So I finally get to meet you properly," she said calmly. "It’s nice seeing you in person."
"It’s nice meeting you as well, Defender Aurora."
Her golden eyes observed me carefully for a few seconds afterward before she nodded slightly.
"I can see the training worked wonderfully for you." Faint golden lightning drifted around her body naturally. "You should rank up as quickly as possible and come to the Prime Galaxy. This place has already become too small and weak for you now."
I nodded slowly.
"That’s the plan."
"Well," Amun interrupted casually from the side, "you two can discuss the future later. Right now we actually have work to do."
He looked toward Defender Aurora afterward.
"Since you’re here, I’m assuming you took care of the thing I asked you about."
She nodded once.
"Yes. It’s handled." Then her gaze narrowed slightly toward him. "I hope you do not intend to go back on our deal."
Amun immediately looked offended.
"When have I ever gone back on my word?"
Both of them simply stared at each other afterward.
I looked between the two quietly while trying to judge what kind of agreement they could possibly have made behind the scenes. Whatever it was, neither of them looked interested in explaining it to me anytime soon.
"Alright then, should I summon the key and get on our way?" I asked while looking toward Amun.
Amun nodded immediately.
"Yeah. Better not waste more time." Then his grin widened slightly. "The dead are waiting for you after all."
"This isn’t really time to make jokes."
"No time is right."
I shook my head lightly before focusing inward toward my soul space.
The Null Realm Key responded instantly.
A crimson glow spread outward from within my soul before the key slowly materialized into my hand. The strange ancient object looked even heavier than before somehow, its surface covered in dark crimson engravings.
The moment it appeared, the surrounding space grew quieter. Even the Essence drifting naturally around the island seemed to retreat slightly from it.
Defender Aurora’s gaze sharpened faintly while Amun simply watched with interest.
"Well," he said while folding his arms casually, "looks like it still recognizes you properly."
I looked toward him.
"Any final advice before we go?"
Amun remained silent for a brief moment afterward. Then surprisingly, his usual playful expression softened slightly.
"Yeah," he said calmly. "Do the job properly and come back alive."
"I’ll try."
"You better." His crimson eyes narrowed slightly afterward. "And Billion..." He paused briefly. "Don’t trust the Null Realm just because it appears calm. That place is older than most universes themselves."
I nodded slowly.
Then Defender Aurora stepped beside me.
"Hold my hand before activating the key," she said calmly.
I glanced toward her briefly before doing exactly that.
The instant our hands connected, golden lightning and silver-violet soul force intertwined naturally around us.
Then I pushed my soul force into the key.
The reaction was immediate.
The crimson engravings across the key ignited violently while enormous pressure spread through the surroundings. A giant crimson circle flared to life beneath our feet instantly, countless ancient symbols rotating across its surface while space itself distorted around us.
The air trembled. The ocean below froze still for a brief moment.
Then we vanished.
There was no sensation of movement this time. No feeling of teleportation or crossing space.
One moment Abor remained before my eyes and in the next there was darkness.
Cold silence surrounded us immediately.
I slowly opened my eyes afterward and instantly recognized where we had arrived.
A gigantic ancient door stood before us.
Massive beyond comprehension.
Dust and thick cobwebs covered its surface while old crimson engravings stretched endlessly across the black metal like faded veins. The door looked ancient enough that even time itself seemed to have forgotten it existed.
On both sides of the enormous structure there was nothing except endless darkness stretching infinitely outward.
Only blackness.
A narrow stone path extended forward toward the door while old rusted lanterns lined the edges, their pale flames flickering weakly against the darkness around us.
The atmosphere felt disturbingly familiar. Because this was the same place I used to connect with the souls of my summons.
The Null Realm Key remained in my hand while its crimson glow pulsed softly in rhythm with the giant door ahead.
Beside me, Defender Aurora observed the surroundings calmly.
"So this is where the entrance lies," she said quietly.
I remained staring at the gigantic ancient door ahead of us while an uncomfortable feeling slowly settled inside my chest.
Because unlike before this time the door felt alive.
"Can you figure out where this place is?" I muttered quietly while staring into the endless darkness surrounding us.
Defender Aurora remained silent for several seconds before slowly closing her eyes.
Golden soul force drifted faintly around her body while her perception spread outward into the darkness around us.
Then eventually she opened her eyes again.
"No," she replied calmly. "My perception is being blocked completely here. I cannot properly judge our location." She paused briefly before looking around once more. "But based on the teleportation runes from the key, I believe we are no longer inside the Prime Universe."
That immediately caught my attention.
"What?"
"The distance we crossed was abnormal." Her gaze narrowed slightly. "The teleportation bypassed internal spacetime altogether instead of traveling through it. We likely crossed outside the universal framework entirely before arriving here."
I frowned slightly while looking back toward the gigantic ancient door standing before us.
Defender Aurora stepped closer toward it afterward and slowly placed her palm against the dark surface.
"As for this door..." Her expression shifted faintly. "It is not real."
I blinked once.
"What do you mean not real?"
"More accurately," she corrected calmly, "it does not truly exist."
That answer somehow made even less sense.
"Then what exactly are we looking at?" I asked.
Defender Aurora turned toward me afterward.
"While arriving here, both of us were thinking about entering the realm." She lightly tapped the surface of the gigantic door. "So this place manifested the concept of entry before us in the form of a door."
I stared at the ancient structure again.
"That’s it?"
"Yes."
Then she suddenly snapped her fingers. The giant door instantly disintegrated into drifting darkness.
And something else appeared in its place.