A white orb, dense with soul energy, appeared in his hand. The moment it formed, I could feel it.
"What do you think?" he said with a wink. "I had to pull a lot of strings to get this. Dangerous ones. Costly ones. A little appreciation wouldn’t hurt."
"Thank you," I replied.
He extended his palm, and the orb drifted toward me. The moment it came close, I reached out. The instant my fingers touched it, the orb dissolved.
It flowed directly into me.
There was no resistance, no delay. The energy passed through my body as if it didn’t belong there, moving straight toward my core, toward the space where my soul resided.
My eyes closed on their own. I found myself inside my soul space. The vast ocean stretched endlessly, calm yet immense, its surface reflecting a faint glow. At its center stood my soul, towering over it.
Two hundred and fifty feet.
The white energy entered that space like a stream descending from above, merging seamlessly into the ocean below. The moment it touched the surface, the entire expanse reacted.
Ripples spread outward.
Then waves.
The ocean began to rise. The density of the soul energy increased, deepening the presence of everything within that space. The ocean expanded, and with it, my soul began to change. Slowly, steadily, it stretched higher, its form becoming more defined, more complete.
Two sixty.
Two eighty.
Three hundred.
The increase didn’t stop.
The final stretch slowed, the growth becoming heavier, denser, as if approaching a natural limit.
And then it settled.
Three hundred thirty-three feet.
The ocean stilled and the waves calmed. And for the first time, my soul felt... complete. I opened my eyes. Back in the void, the presence within me had changed.
"It’s beautiful," Amun said, his gaze lingering on me with a rare hint of genuine admiration. "Even I never reached this stage. It will benefit you a lot in your next rank up as well."
His words settled in, but my thoughts had already moved ahead.
"So can I rank up to Saint right now?" I asked, since I had already met every requirement he had previously mentioned.
"Oh no, no, no," Amun replied immediately, shaking his head. "If you rank up now, the soul requirement will increase again, along with everything else. That would create unnecessary complications. You go in as you are, and once you return, you can handle all your advancements then."
I nodded, accepting that without argument, before another thought surfaced.
"But you had asked me to gather merit points as well. What do I do with them?"
Amun’s eyes sharpened slightly. "How much do you have?"
"Almost eight hundred million."
He let out a low whistle. "That’s good. Very good. Alright, open the system merit shop and look for something called a Frozen Reliquary. Buy three of them."
I did as he said, pulling up the system interface and navigating through the merit shop until I found the item. The description was brief, but the price was not.
"One hundred million for one," I muttered under my breath. "That’s expensive."
"Yes, it is," Amun said calmly. "Those will preserve your body here while your soul is away, and they will maintain the connection needed for your return. Without something like that, you wouldn’t be coming back."
I didn’t hesitate after that. I completed the purchase, and almost immediately, a vortex formed in front of us, pulsing with raw system authority. From within it, three structures emerged and settled onto the ground with a dull, heavy sound.
Coffins.
I stared at them for a moment before letting out a quiet chuckle. "Coffins, really?"
Amun walked over and tapped lightly on one of them, the sound dull and solid. "What better way to protect a body?"
"They look... normal," I said, studying them more closely. There was nothing outwardly special about them.
"They’ll do exactly what they’re meant to," he replied. "After all, the system has been preparing for this for a long time. Out of the three tokens I have, two were given to me by the system itself. It had other candidates in mind from the Prime Galaxy, but now it has chosen you. So don’t worry, it has already made arrangements... some of which even I don’t know about."
My eyes narrowed slightly at that.
’So the system isn’t just observing. It is acting. And it had been planning this.’
"Alright," Amun said, straightening up slightly. "Everything is ready. Are you prepared to go?"
"Right now?" I asked.
"Yes. Right now."
I shook my head.
"No. Not right now. We’ll come back tomorrow."
Amun made an exaggerated disappointed face before shrugging. "Alright, if you insist. I’ll wait here."
With that, he simply sat down cross-legged as if he had nowhere else to be.
I turned toward Vivi. "Take us back to Abor."
She nodded, and in the next instant, space folded, pulling us away from the barren landmass and placing us back outside my house on Abor.
Before I could say anything, North stepped forward, stopping right in front of me, her expression tight with concern.
"Billion... are you really going to trust him? What if it’s not what he says it is?"
I smiled slightly.
"It’s alright," I said. "There’s nothing for him to gain by setting up something this elaborate. He’s far beyond us. If he wanted to, he could end all of this with a single thought."
Then I paused, and instead of speaking aloud, I sent my next words directly into the minds of everyone present.
"If what he said about the Monarch and the Crimson Zone is true, then this will be the first time I step outside the system’s and his influence. That alone makes it worth it. It gives us a chance to prepare... to secure something that can help us if the system or Amun ever turns against us."
North blinked before letting out a slow breath.
"Fine," she said. "Then what’s your plan?"
I shifted my gaze.
"Ash," I called, "how are we looking on defense?"
Ash stepped forward without hesitation.
"We’re covered," he said. "There are multiple hidden locations and fallback zones established across the galaxy. With Vivi’s awareness, any new rift will be detected instantly and dealt with before it escalates. We also have eyes on all major races and organizations. If anyone moves against us, we’ll know."
I nodded, satisfied.
At least on that front, there would be no surprises while I was gone.
"So... who’s going with you?" Steve asked suddenly.
The question barely had time to settle before everyone started speaking at once, each of them giving their own reason, their own justification, their own claim for why they should be the one to go. What began as simple suggestions quickly turned into overlapping voices, then disagreements, and within moments it had already escalated into a full argument, with none of them willing to back down.
I didn’t interrupt.
Instead, I glanced toward North, stepped closer to her, and gently took her hand.
"Alright," I said, raising my voice just enough to cut through the noise without forcing silence, "you have an entire day to decide among yourselves who’s coming with me. I’ll see you tomorrow morning."
Before any of them could respond, I moved. Space folded, and the noise disappeared instantly.
We arrived beside the wooden cabin, perched quietly on the edge of the cliff, the vast ocean stretching endlessly below.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then I turned slightly toward her.
"How about we cook something together?" I said.
She let out a small chuckle, the tension from earlier fading from her expression.
"Sure," she replied. "What would you like to have?"