Chapter 528 - Warden

I continue walking through the hallway. Even though it’s likely very old and neglected—judging by the thick layers of dust—the floor, walls, ceiling, and ornaments show not a single sign of wear. They are perfectly preserved.

On one side of the hallway, there are doors leading into rooms behind them, each in a different color. Greens, blues, yellows, reds—they all mix in a way that surprisingly doesn’t look ugly. On the other side are windows, each covering the entire wall, though they’re dirty and covered in sand. There is fine gray sand everywhere, creating piles in the hallway, on the windowsills, outside the windows, and resting against them—really a lot of it.

I don’t check any of the rooms. Instead, I head toward the mana signature I sensed the moment I appeared here, the same one that located me and now shines, guiding my way.

Eventually, the hallway opens up, and in the wall of windows, there is a passage. I enter a garden filled with white trees without leaves. Each one is beautifully shaped, and I can’t resist touching them, feeling a comforting warmth emanating from their bark.

Even here, that fine gray sand is everywhere—piled against the trees, on benches, and gathered in the corners.

I look up at the sky behind the pale blue barrier. The sky is dark and full of beautiful stars, but also scattered with debris. The moon beneath us has largely shattered into pieces, each the size of Earth's continents, now orbiting the remaining core of the original moon. And here we are as well, protected by a pale blue, dome-like translucent barrier that weakly shines in the sky, sheltering what’s left from outer space and the drifting debris.

For the first time, I allow kinetic energy to flow out, boosting myself into the air. From above, I look at the barrier that stretches over a region as big as a huge city, everything inside it protected, while everything beyond it is ruined—massive craters, debris of destroyed cities.

I land back on the ground and head toward the white tower near the barrier’s edge, which is also near the edge of the “rock” we are on. The barrier extends just enough to protect the tower; a single step beyond it would take you into outer space—the highest, never-ending jump one could make.

The tower door is made of stone that seems to glow in the darkness and gray sand. It opens, and I enter. There is no dust inside; it’s well lit and well maintained. But it’s silent. There is no other living being signature here except the one at the top of the tower.

I take my time, pausing occasionally as I climb the stairs that coil around the edges of the circular interior. In the center of the tower grows a huge tree—the same white kind, but this one has emerald-green leaves. It even sways gently in a breeze I cannot sense or feel. Sometimes, water starts falling from a higher floor, droplets splashing against the leaves and creating a soothing sound.

Around the midpoint of the tower, the stairway ends, leading into a wall. I go there, only to find that the stairs continue, but they do so outside the tower, spiraling around it as they climb. So I keep walking.

There is no railing, and a strong wind pushes my body. My mana is now gone; I cannot use it. My kinetic energy is gone, my heart beating but not generating any of it. The thermal energy that was healing my body vanishes, and I start feeling colder. Because of that, my mana prosthesis on my damaged right arm disappears too, leaving me with a mess of bones, a few muscles, and tendons.

The higher I climb, the more difficult it becomes. My body, deprived of its usual resources and buffeted by the wind, feels each gust threaten to knock me off the stairway, which is only wide enough for one person.

I stop for a moment, bracing against the wall as the wind blows into my face, my hair swirling wildly. I feel my clothes stretch and the cold permeating me. The pain I’d been ignoring with my skills returns in stronger and stronger waves and the body that felt so light before now feels heavier, harder to move. My senses are so limited. I’m so slow.

Even so, I place my left hand over my chest, feeling my heart pound like a frightened little bird. I look down and realize how high I’ve climbed, the white tower extending below me. Before me, near the open air, is the barrier, which seems so weak compared to the endless darkness filled with stars.

I wonder if I jumped, would I pass through the barrier? Or would it stop me? And is it holding the man I’m going to meet, or protecting what remains of this moon? And if I fell, would my mana control return below a certain floor?

With these thoughts and many more, I keep walking. Each step takes me a few seconds, my left hand touching the side of the tower. I feel the cold, rough stone against my fingertips, the gaps between the white blocks it’s built with, and a strange vibration barely perceptible.

Step after step.

Eventually, I reach the point where the stairs go back inside the tower. Only after I step in does some of the tension leave my body. My mana—my primordial energies—gradually return, bringing my skills back as well, filling me with the power I’d gotten used to.

At another time, I would be furious that everything was blocked so easily. I’ve worked hard to ensure this never happens, and this situation will push me to work even harder. But at the same time, I understand: the man I’m heading toward is just that powerful.

Not one of the strongest, but certainly one of the oldest Absolutes.

Warden of the Parallax Eyes, Kyralon.

***

POV Maya Jones

Ever since Nat ran away, things have gone to shit. It happened right after Serabeth returned, apparently unable to kill him—judging by the fact the number of Beyond attendees didn’t decrease. The fact he isn’t talking likely means he ran to Beyond.

He really is hard to kill, that guy...

Damn, how I’d like to see him after he had to run away. Knowing the guy, he must be so pissed off. He’s the type who is confident to the point of hubris, calm to the point of creepy, and petty to the point of scary.

I know his kind; people like him tend to climb high up there, and I plan to ride that wave as his future “knight.” Knowing Nat, he’s the type who wouldn’t mind even if I slacked off for years and kept getting paid by him in the form of items, training, and other benefits—only asking me once in a while to do something annoying. That’s my ideal employer.

Tess likes to call me shameless and asks if I have no pride, relying on a younger guy as my boss. But she’s still young; she’ll understand as she gets older.

So don’t die on me, you asshhole with the most punchable face of the 6th… no, 7th floor!

To keep myself from becoming too fearless, I lower the effect of my [Focus], letting more of my natural fear seep in until I reactivate it once again, but only slightly.

[Focus - lvl 44 > Focus - lvl 45]

I wonder what level his [Focus] might be, but decide I don’t want to know. Knowing him, he’s probably broken past the level 50 bottleneck already. What a monster. He was really born for that skill.

Tess passes by me, and I step aside so she can head to Nat’s room to loot it. Meanwhile, I continue packing my things as well.

Tomorrow is the day we leave.

We aren’t running away. It’s all on Serabeth’s orders to send all non-essential personnel out of here. We’ve already drawn too much attention, so we’re leaving on foot instead of using teleportation.

I also blame Nathaniel’s black crown for permanently ruining a large part of the camp’s defenses, to the point where the Champion himself had to intervene. Interestingly, he didn’t waste energy destroying it and instead just flicked it away miles and miles off. People seem to do that often with Nathaniel’s black mana—just get rid of it so it becomes someone else’s problem. The same way people often handle Nat.

But that’s enough of that. I take control of my thoughts again and [Focus], suppressing just some of my emotions.

Like everyone else, I continue my preparations until Lily passes by. I notice the expression she has so I jump at her, pull her into a hug from behind, and whisper, “It will be fine. He will be fine. We will be fine.”

I feel her body tense up, but when she looks at me, she’s smiling. “It will be. Because I’m here.”

I let her go. “You’re wrath, not pride.”

“It will be fine because I’ll destroy anything in our way?”

“Much better! Now, while Tess robs Nathaniel’s room, let’s check on Sophie and the twins. Izzy said they’re planning to try to do something scary with Blackie and Ardenyx.”

***

POV Myrra

“Little kitten, how have you progressed with the mind defense technique I showed you?”

“Good, I think. It’s hard to tell without someone actively trying to take over my mind.”

We both stand at the top of the hill, looking over the lake’s bank. Hundreds of towers pierce the sky down there. But Lady Lissandra seems to be looking somewhere beyond the city instead.

She sits down, motions for me to do the same, then opens her hand. As many times before, I put mine into hers. She then brings out one of the last pieces of the heart of the man she ordered me to kill when we met Nathaniel.

As before, my body starts to itch and a high-frequency ringing fills my ears. It hurts, but it’s something I can endure.

“I’m bored, Lady Lissandra,” I complain.

“Train.”

"I'm doing it, but I'm tired of all this training."

"Then keep training until you're not tired of it anymore."

I groan, my tail twisting in annoyance as well. At this point, I really wouldn’t mind stepping into a city full of mind mages. I bet I could find some interesting things to do there—fun people to observe or maybe even bully.

“Are we going to kill someone again?” I ask her.

“We will test your mind defense training in the city while I take over that shoddy Framework they made.”

“Do I want to know what you plan with it? Actually… just tell me, please. I’m too curious.”

“You lynthari are hopeless students, little kitten. Your attention span is too short.”

“I don’t apologize.”

"Of course you don't. Once we secure your status and before leaving this floor, I'll take some time to level up a bit."

“A bit?”

“Yes. I believe I can reshape that Framework, the Spatial Locks, and the prison they connect to in a rather intriguing way.”

“I always worry when you say ‘intriguing.’, Lady Lissandra.”

She ignores me, her eyes fixed on the empty space above the city. “I’ll use it to power my [Singularity]. That should be enough to deal considerable damage to this Astral Prison. Staying at level 100 forever isn’t an option, and this will open the path to an intriguing Primary Class upgrade.

Lady Lissandra’s fingers tighten around the shard of the heart, the faint pulse within it radiating an unsettling energy. She tilts her head, her gaze never leaving that invisible point above the city. For a moment, I think she’s done speaking, but then her voice comes, calm and deliberate.

“Little kitten, tell me—what would you do if there were no rules? No boundaries?”

The question catches me off guard, and I blink at her, my ears twitching. “I… don’t know. Why?”

“Because that’s where you need to exist. Not within the lines someone else has drawn for you but beyond them.”

Her words sink in, cold and sharp, but I can’t quite form a response. The way she speaks, as if the world itself is nothing more than a puzzle she’s already solved, is both inspiring and terrifying.

She finally turns to me, her pale eyes gleaming with a quiet intensity. “You want to play in a city full of mind mages, little kitten?”

I swallow, my tail curling tighter under a sudden wave of fear. “Y-yes.”

Her smile is faint but chilling. “Good. Let’s begin.”

***

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