What my Master had shown before his death was a strike that could cut open the sky itself.
The mory flickered through my mind as I watched Valen’s enhanced domain split along that perfect line, the heavens themselves bearing witness to power that transcended mortal understanding. My mastery of the sword wasn’t high enough to replicate that legendary technique through pure skill alone—not yet. However, I could achieve the sa devastating result by channeling Grey through Nyxthar, using the impossible power that existed between all extres.
That was the basis of the Fifth Movent of my Grade 6 art, a technique I had been developing since my return from the demon realm. It was a movent I could only use within my Domain, where the grey power flowed freely, and one that would need significant refinent before I could execute it properly after achieving true Radiant-rank. The technique was incomplete, dangerous to attempt, and cost more energy than I could safely sustain for extended periods.
However, it was more than enough to defeat Valen Ashbluff.
The King of the Western Continent collapsed as consciousness fled from his overwheld mind, his shadow armor dissolving like morning mist while his legendary summons faded back into whatever realm they called ho. The split sky overhead began to slowly heal itself, reality reasserting its natural order now that the grey power was no longer actively maintaining the impossible division.
I felt exhausted in ways that went beyond physical fatigue. Using Grey, even within my Domain, placed trendous strain on my soul and mind. The power wasn’t ant for beings at my current level—it was a force that belonged to entities who had transcended the normal boundaries of existence entirely.
But as I stood over Valen’s unconscious form, I felt sothing else that made all the effort worthwhile.
The breaking of a spell.
My enhanced senses, still heightened by Soul Vision and Seraphim’s Embrace, detected the unraveling of massive magical constructs sowhere deep within the Ashbluff Royal Palace. Nine-circle enchantnts that had been maintained for years were suddenly coming apart, their carefully woven matrices dissolving as their primary anchor—Valen’s conscious will—lost coherence.
I whipped my head toward the eastern wing of the palace, where the strongest concentration of failing magic originated. Through the walls and magical barriers, I could feel sothing stirring—sothing that had been sleeping for far too long.
Rin.
My grey wings dissolved as my Domain collapsed, the trendous energy expenditure finally catching up to as the crown of impossible light faded from my head. The twilight realm gave way to normal reality, leaving us standing in the sowhat battered training grounds while the evening sky slowly returned to its natural color.
"She’s free now," I said, though whether I was speaking to the unconscious Valen or simply voicing my realization aloud, I wasn’t entirely sure.
Before I could process the full implications of what was happening, an overwhelming pressure descended upon the palace grounds like a physical weight. The air itself beca thick and oppressive, charged with magical energy that made my enhanced senses scream warnings of imminent danger.
Luna materialized beside , her usual teenage appearance tense with concern. "Arthur, sothing’s wrong. That power signature—"
"I know," I cut her off, already moving toward the palace as the pressure continued to build. "Valen’s containnt spells are failing completely. We need to reach her before—"
The intricate nine-circle spell binding Rin Ashbluff finally unraveled completely, its luminous fragnts scattering like fireflies in the wind. The magical backlash from such a massive enchantnt collapsing sent ripples through the local mana field that would be detectable from miles away.
I didn’t waste ti with conventional movent. Channeling what remained of my enhanced capabilities, I launched myself toward the eastern wing of the palace, covering the distance in a series of space-warping leaps that brought to the sealed chambers in seconds.
The door—reinforced with layers of protective enchantnts that should have required specialized tools to breach—hung open like a mouth screaming into darkness. The magical locks had simply ceased to function when their primary binding collapsed, leaving nothing but ordinary wood and tal to guard against what lay within.
I stepped through the doorway and felt my breath catch in my throat.
The room was elegant despite its obvious purpose as a prison, with fine furniture and anities that spoke to Valen and Camila’s love for their daughter even as they had been forced to contain her. Bookshelves lined the walls, while enchanted windows provided the illusion of outside views to make the confinent more bearable.
And on the bed, sitting with perfect posture that sohow managed to be more unsettling than any aggressive stance, was a woman.
Rin Ashbluff appeared to be in her early twenties, with pure black hair that fell in elegant waves around a face of porcelain perfection. Her dark eyes held depths that seed to swallow light, while her expression betrayed no emotion whatsoever. She could have been a beautiful doll crafted by master artisans, save for one crucial detail.
The aura surrounding her was unmistakably that of peak Immortal-rank.
But it wasn’t just the magnitude of her strength that set every instinct I possessed on high alert. There was sothing fundantally wrong with the energy she projected—a wrongness that went beyond simple corruption into territory that felt actively hostile to the natural order.
Dark mana and miasma poured from her in waves that made the very air tremble, the sheer weight of her presence sending involuntary shivers down my spine despite everything I had experienced. This wasn’t the controlled power of a trained mage or even the raw fury of a magical beast. This was sothing that existed in opposition to life itself.
"Rin," I said quietly, keeping my voice low and non-threatening as I stepped closer to the bed.
Her head turned toward with chanical precision, those dark eyes focusing on my face with an intensity that felt like being examined by sothing that viewed humans as curious specins rather than fellow thinking beings.
"Human," she replied, her voice carrying the sa emotional detachnt as her expression. The word ca out flat and analytical, as though she were categorizing according to criteria I couldn’t understand.
Her head tilted slightly to one side in a gesture that might have been curiosity if there had been any warmth in her deanor. "Spell, no more. Kill, I can kill."
The casual way she discussed taking life made my blood run cold. This wasn’t malicious threat or angry posturing—she was simply stating a fact about her capabilities with the sa tone soone might use to comnt on the weather.
The dark energies swirling around her intensified as she spoke, and I felt the very real possibility that she might decide to test her stated capabilities on the nearest available target. My reflexes tensed, preparing for combat even as my rational mind insisted that fighting her would be suicide in my current condition.
"Jin! Luna!" I called out, projecting my voice with enough force to carry throughout the palace.
Jin appeared almost instantly, materializing from shadows with the kind of speed that spoke to genuine alarm at the magical disturbance we were all feeling. Dark mana coalesced around his hands as he assessed the situation, his training imdiately recognizing the threat level represented by his sister’s transford state.
Chains of concentrated shadow erupted from the floor, wrapping around Rin’s limbs with the kind of binding force that could restrain most magical beings. The technique was perfectly executed, showing Jin’s mastery over his family’s traditional magic while demonstrating his understanding of what needed to be done.
Rin didn’t flinch at the sudden restraint. She simply looked down at the chains with that sa tilted-head gesture, studying them as though they were mildly interesting decorations rather than magical bindings designed to contain her power.
With a subtle flex of her arms—the kind of casual movent soone might make when stretching after a long nap—the shadow chains groaned under trendous strain. I could see the magical constructs beginning to fracture as they encountered force far beyond their design paraters.
Before the bindings could snap completely, Luna stepped forward with the calm confidence that ca from millennia of experience dealing with dangerous magical entities.
"Sleep," she whispered, placing one delicate hand on Rin’s head while her mana flared with controlled precision.
The technique Luna employed was deceptively simple in appearance but incredibly sophisticated in execution. Rather than trying to overwhelm Rin’s trendous power through brute force, she targeted the specific neural pathways responsible for consciousness, using surgical precision to induce slumber without triggering defensive responses.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Rin’s dark eyes fluttered shut. Her body went limp as the forced sleep took hold, the overwhelming pressure of her aura diminishing to more manageable levels as her conscious control over her power relaxed.
Jin’s shadow chains dissolved as the imdiate threat passed, though he remained tense and ready to act if the situation changed.
"Her ntal strength is surprisingly weak," Luna observed with obvious relief, her voice carrying notes of professional assessnt. "Despite her trendous magical power, her psychological defenses are almost nonexistent. It’s as though all her developnt focused on raw capability while ignoring protective chanisms."
She turned to , her ancient eyes serious despite her youthful appearance. "The corruption has been growing unchecked for years, creating patterns that are fundantally incompatible with human consciousness. Her mind is... fragnting under the strain."
"Can it be fixed?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew what needed to be done.
"Not from the outside," Luna confird with a shake of her head. "The damage is too deep, too integrated with her core identity. Soone would need to enter her mindscape directly and address the corruption at its source."
"The risks?" I continued, knowing there had to be significant dangers involved in such a technique.
"Considerable," Luna admitted. "ntal contact with soone this unstable could result in your own consciousness being overwheld or corrupted. If her subconscious mind perceives you as a threat, she could trap you indefinitely within her internal landscape."
I looked down at Rin’s peaceful sleeping face, noting how the absence of that unsettling awareness made her appear almost normal again. Almost like the child I rembered from years ago, before the corruption had begun its terrible work.
"Are you ready?" Luna asked quietly, her mana beginning to shimr with the complex preparations necessary for consciousness transfer.
I nodded, settling into a comfortable position beside Rin’s bed while Luna’s power enveloped both of us in a soft, protective cocoon.
The world around dissolved into streams of light and shadow as my consciousness detached from my physical form.
And with that, I descended into Rin’s mind.
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