I stood there, staring at it, feeling the weight of what Amun had said. That was what Theras sought. That was the path I now walked.
Amun did not interrupt my silence. After some time, he stepped closer, his movements unhurried.
"You will not reach it as you are now," he said quietly.
I turned my gaze from the throne to him.
Before I could respond, he raised his hand. Essence did not gather from the surroundings but manifested directly around his palm, condensing out of nothingness. A single link formed first, suspended in the air, its surface smooth yet engraved with faint, ancient runes that flickered with dim light. Another link emerged beside it and attached itself seamlessly, followed by another, and then another, each one appearing in perfect sequence.
The chain grew steadily, link by link, its structure stabilizing as the runes across its surface awakened fully.
A deep crimson color began spreading through it, flowing across every segment like blood filling veins, until the entire chain existed in front of me.
Amun lowered his hand slightly and gave a small wave.
The chain moved instantly, phasing through my chest without resistance. I felt no pain, only a deep resonance within my core as it passed through my physical form and entered directly into the Dawn Core. My perception followed it inward as it descended toward the hidden central island within the core.
"This mark will bring you to me when you are ready to ascend to Saint rank," he said.
I frowned slightly, still feeling the faint echo of its presence within me.
"Before you attempt ascension," he continued, "you must complete your foundation."
He began listing the conditions calmly, as though reciting something he had long ago decided.
"All of your laws must reach Major Level Five. If you intend to acquire additional laws, you should do so now and bring each of them to that threshold."
His eyes remained fixed on mine.
"Your physical stats must advance from Omega to Pre-Origin."
He paused briefly.
"Your soul height must reach three hundred and thirty-three feet. And you must accumulate one hundred million merit points."
I stared at him.
The scale of what he described was beyond anything I had considered necessary.
"When you have completed these conditions," he finished, "and your level reaches four hundred and ninety-nine, this mark will bring you to me."
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
"Why so many conditions?"
He did not hesitate.
"Because that is the foundation even I did not possess when I ascended. Saints possess the authority to rule galaxies. They shape existence at scales most beings cannot comprehend. But raw ascension alone does not determine supremacy. Foundation does."
He turned his gaze briefly toward the distant throne.
"With that level of preparation, your ascension will not merely elevate you. It will place you among the highest Saint-tier figures in the Prime Universe."
He looked back at me.
"And when that happens, you must go to the Prime Galaxy."
The way he said it made clear that it was not a suggestion.
It was inevitability.
He stepped back slightly, his posture relaxing once again.
"My time here is ending," he said calmly. "You must continue the trial."
He gestured faintly toward the space behind me.
"There is something waiting for you at its end."
I watched him for several seconds before asking the final question that mattered.
"How much time do we have before we lose the war?"
He did not answer immediately.
"When the real Theras arrives," he said quietly, "the war will already be lost."
His eyes returned to mine.
"Until then, we can only delay the inevitable."
He smiled faintly. Then his expression shifted back into the casual ease he had maintained for most of our conversation.
"Well," he said lightly, "no pressure."
Before I could respond, his form began to dissolve.
Crimson particles emerged from his body, drifting outward as his presence faded from the space around me.
"Try not to die before we meet again," he added with a cheeky smile.
And then he was gone. Reality shifted as the throne vanished and the endless void dissolved. I found myself standing once again within the hall of black and white tiles. The division between the colors remained intact, their contrast sharper than before. The silence of the ruin returned, but it no longer felt oppressive. It felt expectant.
At the center of the hall, the tiles began to move.
They separated slowly, revealing a small circular platform beneath them. The platform rose upward with deliberate motion before stopping at floor level. Ancient runes carved into its surface flickered briefly before stabilizing.
Then the center opened. A staircase revealed itself, descending downward into darkness.
I stared at it but now everything had changed. The uncertainty that had followed me until now had been replaced by something else.
Knowledge.
Theras was coming. The war was inevitable. And I was no longer walking this path blindly. Without hesitation, I stepped forward onto the platform and began descending the staircase, moving deeper into the trial with purpose stronger than anything I had felt before.
As I descended the staircase, my mind drifted backward through the path that had brought me here. I remembered the day of my awakening. At the time, I had not understood what it meant. I had only moved forward, one step at a time, driven by instinct, survival, and an unyielding determination to find my parents soul and take revenge on the Eternals.
I thought about every stage my core had evolved through, every transformation that had reshaped my existence. Each advancement had felt like a boundary broken, a limitation discarded, yet standing here now, I could see how small those steps truly were in comparison to what lay ahead.
Every law I had acquired, every refinement of my Essence, every moment of clarity gained through battle had been part of a larger progression, one that had been unfolding long before I was even aware of it.
The battles surfaced next.
Each opponent I had faced. Each victory earned through force, strategy, or sheer will. I had fought beings stronger than myself, beings faster, beings more experienced, yet I had always carried one certainty with me.
I would surpass them.
I would adapt.
I would win.
But Theras was different.