The Celestial Temple had stood above the clouds for thousands of years.
Not just as the center of the Holy Council, but as a symbol of the authority that the entire continent relied on.
A place where kings whispered its na in fear. A place where even the ancient dragons did not dare to co close without permission.
But now, all that glory was shaking under an invisible pressure.
The huge runes carved into the white pillars lit up one by one, then flickered unsteadily. As if the temple itself did not know whether to resist... or run.
All the mbers of the council were staring at the floating image in front of them.
The image of Daniel. But no one felt like they were just looking at a picture anymore.
No.
That gaze had really crossed through the distance.
Daniel’s golden eyes moved slowly across the council mbers.
Across the Holy Emperor.
Across Selenora.
Across Kairos.
Across Ragnar.
And finally stopped on Elisara.
And at that mont, Elisara’s heart, for the first ti in several centuries, experienced a heavier beat than ever before.
Not because of fear of death. But because the future she had seen had suddenly gotten much closer.
She imdiately stepped forward, and her voice, for the first ti, moved away from its usual calm.
"Cut the observation array!"
All of them reacted at the sa ti. The silver runes throughout the hall exploded.
Dozens of connection-cutting arrays activated. Spatial laws locked onto each other.
But it was too late. Too late. Daniel’s image inside the array smiled a very slight smile.
It was not mockery, nor did it contain a threat. It was the smile of soone who had finally found sothing interesting.
And then he slowly raised his hand. Just a simple movent, as if he wanted to touch the surface of water.
But at that mont, the entire Celestial Temple shook. A deep, heavy sound rose from within the walls. The white pillars cracked.
The rivers of light between the floor and ceiling went dark for a mont. Thousands of protective runes lit up at the sa ti. So intense that the whole temple was flooded in a sea of holy light.
But that light could not stop the shaking of space.
Because sothing was trying to access this place... from the other side.
Kairos’s face suddenly changed. His old eyes truly widened for the first ti. He brought his hand forward, and hundreds of magic circles appeared around him at the sa ti.
Spatial analysis runes spun at an unnatural speed.
And then his face lost its color for the first ti.
"He is extracting the coordinates of this place from the observation path..."
His voice was no longer calm. It was the most real fear an Archmage could feel.
"He... is using the observation connection as an actual path!"
A heavy silence swallowed the hall. Because everyone knew what that sentence ant.
Impossible! The observation array was only for image transmission.
Even the most ancient beings in the world, including the Half-Step Divines, could not access real coordinates through it.
But Daniel was rewriting the concept of distance.
Ragnar slowly pulled his massive sword completely out of its sheath. The sound of the blade coming out was like the groan of the world. Space around the sword split open for a mont.
Thin black lines opened in the air, then healed with difficulty. And at that mont, all the council mbers unconsciously fell silent.
Because it had been centuries since anyone had seen Ragnar draw his sword completely.
A being like him only drew his sword fully when he intended to kill.
Selenora raised both her hands. Huge white roots erged from the temple floor and covered the entire hall like holy serpents.
The spirit of the forest inside those roots was screaming.
The Holy Emperor also activated his golden armor. Holy light erupted from his body, and thousands of light knights appeared behind him.
Seraphina quietly closed her eyes. Then thousands of silver runes floated around the temple.
The laws of space began to stabilize. For a mont, the entire environnt beca like a fortress separated from the rest of the world.
But all of them knew. This was just preparation. Because Daniel had not even arrived yet.
And yet, his presence alone was already suffocating the temple.
The air inside the hall grew heavier. So runes began to go dark.
The walls cracked.
And even beings at the level of the Holy Council felt that sothing huge was staring at them from outside the world.
Like a hunter that had finally found its prey’s nest.
Then the image inside the array suddenly went black. Everything turned off.
Not even the sound of breathing was heard.
And then, the space in the middle of the hall slowly split open. There was no massive explosion, no grand gate. Just a narrow, black crack. A crack that looked like reality was moving aside with pain.
And from inside it, Daniel stepped out. More naturally than should have been possible.
As if he had co not from millions of kiloters away, but from the next room. But the mont his foot touched the ground, the entire Celestial Temple, for the first ti in its history, trembled.
The rivers of light went dark. The runes beca unstable. The clouds outside the temple turned black.
And the sky went dark.
No one moved. No one attacked. Because the shock was too deep.
This place was not supposed to be reachable. This place was not supposed to be found. Its protections were not simple. The most powerful arrays protected it.
This temple was hidden among thousands of dinsional layers. To enter here, one had to pass through all of them!
If soone is not given permission, no matter how powerful they are, they should not be able to enter! Even the Divine Prophet did not think such power existed.
But now... that being was standing in the middle of the continent’s holiest place.
"This... is impossible..." Kairos whispered quietly.
But Ragnar smiled. A short smile, but heavy and dangerous. Not the smile of madness, but the smile of a warrior who had finally found an opponent worth drawing his sword for.
"So you finally arrived." He placed his sword on his shoulder and said quietly.
But Daniel did not even look at him. His golden eyes were fixed directly on Elisara.
On the woman who, from his perspective, was the most interesting being in this world. From the first days he had co here, he had heard the na of this Divine Prophet again and again.
A woman who could see the future. A woman who was the prophet of the gods. A woman who was worshipped like a sacred being and whom the entire continent followed.
Sotis he even thought to himself, could this woman be a fraud? Because how could she think that the tree they called cursed was the reason for the world’s destruction?
And this matter had, for the first ti, truly caught Daniel’s attention. He was quiet for a few seconds, looking at her.
"So you were the one watching." He then said quietly.
That one sentence was enough to multiply the pressure inside the temple several tis over. So council mbers unconsciously stepped back. Even the spirit of the forest inside Selenora’s roots beca restless.
Because that voice sounded more like the judgnt of a superior being than a conversation.
But Elisara did not step back. Despite all the heavy pressure that had fallen on the hall, she looked directly into Daniel’s eyes.
And for the first ti in the entire eting, real fear was seen deep in her gaze.
Not for herself. But for the future. And for sothing that had not yet been born.
"That fruit should not be born. And if you had not protected the tree, we would never have stood against each other." She said quietly, as if she wanted to explain to Daniel that there was still room to step back.
And at that mont, space changed. Every being present felt it.
Daniel’s face went cold. A coldness that was deeper and more dangerous than any obvious anger.
Because all this ti, no one had actually spoken about the fruit itself. Because none of those who had co to destroy the tree truly knew what the tree and the fruit were.
They had heard rumors. But that was all.
But now, soone stood before him who must have known everything about that tree and that fruit. Who must have known that fruit was a divine fruit.
A fruit that practically held the power of the gods. A fruit that could save the world.
And this woman still wanted to destroy it?
All council mbers prepared for battle. Ragnar raised his sword. Seraphina activated thousands of runes around her. Selenora prepared to mobilize the spirit of the forest.
Kairos prepared forbidden magics. The Holy Emperor released his holy light.
And in the middle of all that pressure, Daniel just stood quietly. Emotionless and motionless. Like a being that did not belong even among the monsters of this world.
"I want to know..." Then, without taking his gaze off Elisara, he said very quietly.
"What exactly did you see that makes you want to destroy that fruit?"
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