Chapter 485
An illusionary screen appeared.
Like a window into another reality.
Inside that screen, Ilux saw something that made his entire body freeze.
A slowly flowing river.
The water was murky.
And in the middle of that river—two figures he knew all too well.
His mother.
His father.
Both of them were bound within the water, which reached up to their chests.
And standing before them—himself.
Ilux immediately screamed.
"DON'T!"
Theo—or whatever it was that now wore his face—within the illusion merely stared coldly.
In his hand was a long knife.
Blood dripped from its tip.
Theo then turned slightly toward the "camera."
As if looking directly into Ilux's consciousness.
"If you truly love them…."
He raised the knife.
"Why are you so weak?"
The blade came down.
In an instant.
Blood splattered.
His mother's scream echoed throughout the entire space of consciousness.
Ilux dropped to his knees.
"STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
But Theo did not stop.
The blade fell again.
And again.
And again.
The bodies of Ilux's parents were mercilessly torn apart.
Blood flowed into the river.
The once murky water turned red.
Ilux screamed hysterically.
"PLEASE!! DON'T KILL THEM!!"
But every scream was answered only by the sound of flesh being split apart.
Until eventually—Ilux's voice began to weaken.
His screams turned into hoarse sobs.
Then into whispers.
"Please…."
And finally—silence.
Theo, within Ilux's consciousness, observed the change.
He saw something begin to emerge.
Something that did not even have a form.
From Ilux's trembling body… black mist began to seep out.
Not energy.
Not aura.
But something more primitive.
Something without concept.
Ilux's consciousness space began to crack.
Fragments of reality collapsed like shattered glass.
Theo immediately realized.
The transformation had begun.
Without wasting even a second, Theo withdrew his consciousness.
When his eyes opened again in the real world, Ilux's body—lying on the bed—began to emit the same black mist.
The air around him trembled.
The bed started to crack.
The walls of the room creaked.
Without hesitation, Theo lifted Ilux's body.
"It has begun…."
In a single step that was almost invisible, Theo carried Ilux out of the room.
Then moved him to a vast empty field near the academy.
The moment Ilux's body touched the ground—a boundless explosion of black aura spread in all directions.
The ground cracked.
The air twisted.
The sky above them seemed to dim.
Theo stood dozens of meters away from the center of the explosion, observing calmly.
Yet even he was slightly surprised.
"Interesting."
Because the energy emerging from Ilux's body—was far greater than it should have been.
Not 0.1%.
But approaching 1% of the power of The Void.
The sky above the academy no longer looked like the same sky.
The black mist spreading from Ilux's body did not merely disperse—it crawled like fractures tearing apart the structure of reality itself.
The air around the field vibrated subtly, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
The ground beneath Ilux's feet cracked slowly, fracture lines spreading outward like roots growing from emptiness.
Theo stood dozens of meters from the center of the energy surge.
His calm eyes observed the phenomenon without the slightest hint of panic.
The wind born from Ilux's black aura swept through his hair, yet his body remained upright, as if he were the only stable point amid the chaos forming around him.
The black mist grew thicker.
Not like ordinary energy.
Not like mana.
Not like spiritual aura.
It was something that had not even been defined.
Something closer to nothingness than existence.
The ground trembled once more.
A massive crack formed around Ilux's body, splitting the field like a giant wound across the surface of the world.
The air hissed, and the space around Ilux appeared distorted like glass overheated for too long.
Theo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Impressive."
The whisper escaped softly from his lips.
Because the energy radiating from Ilux's body was no longer at the level he had predicted.
Not one-tenth of a percent.
But nearly one percent of The Void's power.
And for an initial transformation—that was far too great.
But before Theo could analyze further—a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
"There is progress."
It was Aldraya's voice.
The telepathic link through RWIA that connected them became active again, but this time, her tone sounded far more serious than before.
Theo did not immediately respond.
His gaze remained fixed on Ilux's body, which was now slowly floating a few centimeters above the ground, surrounded by a swirling mass of thickening black mist.
"What happened?" Theo finally asked.
On the other side of the telepathic connection, Aldraya did not answer immediately.
It was as if she was verifying something first.
"The fourteen individuals you referred to as the Disturbers… have begun showing the same activity."
Theo's brow moved slightly.
"What kind of activity?"
"A phenomenon that is not normal."
Aldraya's voice sounded like someone processing vast amounts of data at once.
"In every universe where they exist, a beacon has been born."
Theo fell silent.
"You're not joking?"
"No."
Aldraya continued.
"A vertical energy phenomenon piercing through cosmic space. Each beacon extends beyond the boundaries of galaxies, beyond interdimensional layers, even beyond the cosmological limits of their respective universes."
Theo finally shifted his gaze slightly away from Ilux.
"That is not just an ordinary signal."
"Correct."
Aldraya paused briefly before continuing.
"It is more accurately described as a declaration."
Theo said nothing.
Then Aldraya transmitted a fragment of information she had received from those beacons.
A message.
A sentence repeated identically across all fourteen beacons.
"The Awaited has arrived."
Several seconds of silence.
Then the second part of the message emerged.
"The Favored has reclaimed dominion."
The air in the academy field suddenly felt much heavier.
Not because of Ilux's energy.
But because of the meaning of that message.
Theo closed his eyes for a moment.
Then exhaled slowly.
"I see."
His tone was not surprised.
More like someone who had just found a missing piece of a puzzle he had always suspected existed.
"Do you want me to stop them?" Aldraya asked.
Theo answered immediately.
"No."
The reply was swift.
"Do nothing."
The black mist around Ilux grew denser.
The sky above the academy now looked as if it were being pulled downward by an unseen gravity.
Yet Theo remained where he stood.
Calm.
"Instead," Theo continued, "return here."
Aldraya paused slightly.
"A recall order?"
"Yes."
Theo continued in a flat tone.
"Your first task is nearly complete."
He slightly raised his left hand.
"Observation in the Land of the Gods should have given you enough data to conclude how that battle ended."
A few seconds of silence.
Aldraya responded.
"Correct."
Theo then continued.
"And your second task—monitoring the fourteen Disturbers—has also reached its next phase."
The black mist around Ilux suddenly surged stronger, creating a pressure wave that shifted the ground around the field by several centimeters.
Yet Theo did not even flinch.
"If they have begun to move," Theo said, "then the observation phase is over."
"Meaning?"
Theo stared at the center of the black mist.
"Now, we simply wait."
Aldraya did not ask further.
"Understood."
The telepathic connection dimmed again, indicating that Aldraya was moving toward Theo's location.
Meanwhile—the black mist around Ilux began to spin faster.
The air screamed.
The sky seemed pierced by a vortex of energy without a clear center.
Theo finally slipped his hand into the pocket of his long coat.
He pulled out a small object.
A book.
It looked old.
Its cover was pale yellow, like paper that had endured decades, even centuries.
To be continued…