A low vibration spread through the chamber, deep enough to be felt beneath the structure of the floor itself. The air distorted as a ripple moved outward from his raised hand, traveling across the black and white tiles and up the towering pillars. In response, runes began to flare into existence.
They appeared everywhere igniting across the surfaces of the walls, the pillars, and even the air itself, forming a vast containment structure that revealed itself only in response to his presence. Their patterns were unlike anything I had seen before. They did not resemble System constructs or modern runic formations.
Theras’s eyes sharpened.
"What is this?" he asked quietly.
Before he could move further, the black tiles beneath his feet rippled violently.
Chains surged upward.
They emerged from the liquid darkness without warning, their forms solidifying as they wrapped around his raised arm. One chain coiled tightly around his wrist, followed by another around his forearm, and then a third around his upper arm. Their movements were precise and merciless, binding him completely before he could react.
"What?" he said, genuine surprise entering his voice for the first time.
The chains tightened.
They pulled downward.
His arm was forced back to his side.
The ripple in the air subsided immediately. The runes faded, vanishing from existence as though they had never appeared. The hall returned to silence.
But Theras did not calm.
I felt the anger spreading through him. His eyes returned to me, glowing faintly beneath their crimson hue, carrying restrained hostility that had not existed before. He did not speak immediately. He simply stared, his gaze locked onto mine with intensity that carried accusation, calculation, and something deeper that had yet to fully surface.
"So you carry all the answers," he muttered.
Before the final word had fully left his mouth, he vanished.
There was no transition and no spatial distortion from his movement.He existed in front of me. His finger was already moving, piercing straight toward my forehead with lethal precision.
’Node 3 activate.’
My body responded instantly. Energy surged through every channel, every muscle fiber tightening as my physical and psynapse threshold spiked sharply. The world slowed under the enhancement, my perception expanding as my mind processed the incoming threat at accelerated speed.
I released a temporal ripple.
It spread outward from my body in a controlled wave, imposing resistance against the sequence of motion around me. His finger halted inches from my forehead, suspended within the distorted temporal field.
For a fraction of a moment, his eyes widened.
Then he scoffed.
The temporal binding shattered. His motion resumed as though the interruption had never existed, his finger continuing forward with the same inevitable precision.
But I had already moved.
My left hand shot forward and caught his wrist, stopping his advance before contact could be made. His skin felt real beneath my grip, solid and unyielding, far heavier than his form suggested.
Our eyes locked.
Then I saw the intensifying glow within his red irises. I had seen it in the vision.
So I knew what came next.
My right fist surged forward without hesitation, connecting cleanly with his chin. The impact snapped his head upward, disrupting the attack.
A crimson beam erupted from his eyes instantly, firing forward in a straight line. It tore through the space above my head, missing me entirely due to the shift in his orientation. The beam struck the distant wall and carved through ancient stone as though it were nothing.
Even with his head forced upward, his body did not yield easily. The weight of his body was abnormal, anchored by something far beyond conventional mass. I did not allow him time to recover.
My palm surged forward, Essence already condensing at my fingertips as I activated the skill.
[Sanctum of Judgement]
Five miniature condensed Essence spheres formed instantly at the tips of my fingers, each one stabilized through compression. They carried destructive capacity far beyond their size.
My palm connected with his chest.
BOOM!
The explosion detonated outward from the point of contact, releasing concentrated force directly into his body. He was driven backward through the air, the impact sending him across the hall.
He flexed his wings immediately, stabilizing himself before he could collide with the distant pillars. The feathers shifted elegantly, dispersing the remaining momentum as he came to a halt several meters away.
He lowered his gaze as his eyes fell to his chest.
Scorching marks spread across the point of impact, the surface of his skin darkened where the Essence had struck. The damage was visible, undeniable.
But it was not severe.
He raised his head slowly.
This time, there was no irritation in them.
Only interest.
"You are strong," Theras said, his voice calm, almost approving. "As expected from the Ironhart lineage. Still, this is a mystery. You should not exist, but do not worry. It seems you are not aware of yourself either. I will pull the answer out of you myself."
As he spoke, his body began to change. His frame expanded slowly, his posture straightening as his height increased until he stood nearly eight feet tall. His red eyes began to rotate unnaturally, the crimson iris turning like a sphere before halting abruptly, settling into a black X shape at their center.
He rolled his shoulder once.
"Something is wrong here," he muttered quietly. "I need to know."
He raised his hand again. My body reacted immediately. Before I could even form a conscious command, I found myself standing directly in front of him, my position altered without my consent. His raised hand tilted upward, his finger extending toward my forehead.
Shock surged through me, but instinct overrode hesitation.
I teleported behind him.
Or rather—
I attempted to. I heard him click his tongue. And in the next instant, I stood in front of him again.
His finger had not stopped moving.
It continued its slow advance toward my forehead, uninterrupted, unaffected by my displacement. My Psynapse roared to life, analyzing every layer of reality around me, every fluctuation, every distortion, but there was nothing.
And yet I was being returned. Essence surged violently within my core as I released a massive blast outward. The shockwave expanded in all directions, powerful enough to tear apart everything within the hall.
But it did not reach the walls. It did not reach him.
The Essence reversed.
It collapsed inward, drawn back into my core as though it had never been released.
"What is that?" Theras murmured, his finger pausing for the first time. His expression shifted slightly, genuine surprise breaking through his calm exterior. "That does not belong to you."
I ignored him.
I activated Absolute Elemental Shift.
My body began to disperse, breaking apart into elemental structure, abandoning its physical form in preparation for repositioning beyond his reach.
"No, you don’t," Theras said with a faint smirk.
And in the next instant, my form was whole again. Standing exactly where I had been before. His finger continued its advance.
For the first time in a very long while, frustration surfaced within me. Node 3 was active. My physical stats had surpassed conventional Transcendent limitations. My laws were major. And yet none of it mattered.
There was no temporal reset or spatial override that he was using.
So I escalated.
I fully activated my domain.
The air vibrated as the ancient tablet began to descend, its presence imposing absolute authority upon the surrounding space. Violet Essence filled the chamber as my domain asserted itself, claiming ownership over everything within its reach.
Theras raised his head slightly.
"Fascinating," he said softly, his eyes locking onto the descending construct. "But it is not enough."
He smiled mockingly. And then my domain vanished. My connection to it severed instantly, as though it had never existed.
Finally, his finger touched my forehead.
"Now," he said quietly, "let me see what is going on here."
Far beyond the hall, far beyond the floating landmass and the broken ruin, somewhere in the endless emptiness of the cosmos, another scene unfolded.
In a barren region untouched by light or structure, a solitary being sat suspended within the void. His head hung low, his long, disheveled hair obscuring his face. Worn robes draped loosely over his form. Crimson chains floated around him, binding him.
Nothing existed there.
Only him.
And silence.
Until golden particles appeared.
They gathered slowly, drifting together before condensing into a defined shape. The light intensified as the particles fused, forming the figure of a woman.
Defender Aurora stood before him.
Before she could speak, the chained being spoke.
"It’s your mess," he said.
"You handle it."