One moment I was sitting beside North, and in the very next, everything around me disappeared.
The warmth of the house, her presence, the quiet comfort of that space was gone. I found myself floating in a vast void.
There was nothing around me. No ground, no air, no direction. Just endless darkness stretching in every direction. The only thing that broke that emptiness was a single distant star, shining far away, its faint light barely illuminating the space around us.
And in front of me stood Defender Aurora.
She stood there calmly, floating as if the void itself supported her. Her hands were placed behind her back, her posture almost casual. I glanced around once more, confirming there was truly nothing else here, before returning my gaze to her.
"Welcome, Lord Billion," she said, her voice softly echoing the void. "I saw the video that’s going around. You’ve grown strong."
I smiled slightly.
"Thank you for the praise, Defender Aurora," I replied. "So... how is this going to go?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked as she began walking toward me through the void. "Let me first tell you something important. As a fellow holder of the Defender title, you should know this."
I stayed silent and listened.
"Your title," she continued, "comes from your contribution to the defense of the Blue Spiral Galaxy. But there is a higher level of that title... the one I hold. Defender of the Prime Universe."
She stopped about ten feet away from me.
"Right now, there are thirteen holders of that title," she said. "Only thirteen."
Her gaze remained steady.
"But across different galaxies, there are many like you. Defenders who have proven themselves on a smaller scale."
I frowned slightly.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because," she replied simply, "that should be your next goal. To stand among the thirteen."
I raised an eyebrow.
"And why would I want that?"
She smiled faintly.
"Because threats don’t only come from the outside," she said. "Sometimes, they come from within. We cannot remove any of the thirteen right now. It would break the balance we have. But at the same time... we cannot trust all of them either."
She paused for a moment.
"So it’s better to have someone ready to take their place."
My eyes narrowed slightly. So there were problems even at that level.
"That sounds... complicated," I said. "But I’ll see what I can do."
"Good," she replied. "Now, about this fight. The System has already set the conditions. Are you aware of them?"
I shook my head.
"Oh," she said, nodding to herself. "Then I’m not supposed to tell you either."
She took another step forward.
"Let’s begin."
Before I could respond, the space beside me tore open like a blade had passed through it. A sharp, clean slash appeared out of nowhere.
And then there was pain. Blood burst out from my shoulder, cutting diagonally across my chest before I even realized what had happened. My eyes widened. I immediately pulled Essence from my core, forcing it through my channels as the wound began to close rapidly.
"That was very careless," Aurora said calmly. "You should always be prepared."
My perception expanded instantly, spreading outward but then it stopped only five feet.
That was all.
I frowned.
"Hmm," she said. "A soul-based perception. Your Psynapse must be quite high to achieve that before reaching Saint. But it won’t help you here. You are in my domain."
I looked at her.
"This is your domain?" I asked.
She nodded. With a small wave of her hand, another star appeared in the distance. Then another faint light flickered further away.
The void began to change slightly.
"What is it called?" I asked.
"Limitless Horizon," she replied.
Then she pointed a finger at me. I reacted instantly, Essence bursting out as I layered multiple shields around my body but it didn’t matter.
Space rippled.
And something struck my abdomen directly. A heavy impact exploded against me, as if I had been hit by something I couldn’t even see. My body was thrown backward, blood spraying out as I lost control for a moment before slamming into something solid.
An invisible wall.
I groaned as I pushed myself up.
"As I said," Aurora’s voice echoed, though she was no longer visible in front of me, "you are inside my domain."
I steadied myself, pulling more Essence through my body as the injury began sealing again. I looked around, trying to find her and analyze what was happening in her domain.
But there was no visible structure. I could not find any fusion of laws.
Nothing I could directly identify.
"It’s not a fusion," her voice came again, calm and clear. "I have always specialized in a single law."
I narrowed my eyes.
"And one more thing," she added.
"I can hear your thoughts in here."
Silence followed.
"...So be careful."
I took a slow breath and steadied myself.
Then I activated Right to Insight.
Runes flared into existence before my eyes, layering over the void like a second vision, and I began breaking down everything around me. The darkness was not empty. It was structured, just hidden too well to be seen normally.
It only took a few seconds.
"Law of Dreams," I muttered.
There was a brief pause. Then her voice came, calm as ever.
"Impressive," she said. "But now that you understand it... how are you going to deal with it?"
I didn’t reply.
Instead, I moved.
I activated Right to Anchor, locking the space around me. If the attacks were coming through the domain itself, then stabilizing the immediate space should disrupt the entry points.
Without wasting even a moment, I followed it up with Right to Isolate.
[Right to Isolate (Active)]:
Within the Absolute Domain, sever the target from its connections—be they Essence flows, elemental bonds, laws, domains, or even the will of its wielder. Once isolated, the target exists in a sealed state where no external force can aid, alter, or reinforce it. Scales with Psynapse and Essence control.
The effect was immediate. The dream-based influence around me was forced out, pushed beyond the five-foot range my perception could still control. The void around me shifted, and a faint spherical boundary formed, a bubble, clean and defined, separating me from the rest of her domain.
For the first time since the fight began, I had a clear space.
"Interesting use of your runes," Aurora’s voice echoed.
There was a hint of approval in her tone.
Then she continued.
"But I forgot to mention something."
I frowned slightly.
"What you are fighting right now," she said, "is only my avatar, Lord Billion. Its level is restricted to match yours."
My eyes narrowed.
"But my comprehension is not. Also, my actual rank and the rank of all thirteen Defenders, is Demi-god." she added. The moment those words settled, the bubble shattered instantly.
Both Right to Isolate and Right to Anchor collapsed at the same time, as if something had simply overridden them. Before I could react another strike landed. It came from nowhere and hit my chest directly.
I heard my bones cracking and ribs shattering. The force drove straight through me as my body was thrown back again, smashing into the same invisible wall behind me. A sharp breath escaped my lungs as pain spread across my torso.
I forced Essence through my channels immediately, repairing the damage, but the impact had already made its point.
"In terms of laws, you will not defeat me, Lord Billion. This is the first time I, a Demi-god, am taking on a quest to approve someone for Saint rank. You will need to go all out to prove yourself. I win the first round," Aurora’s voice echoed calmly through the void.
I pushed myself back to a standing position, my expression hardening.
"You have two more."