The blood-whips retracted into Anne’s fingertips with a wet, slithering sound. As soon as the connection was severed, Su Ni collapsed. He didn’t scream, he didn’t twitch; he hit the tal floor like a puppet with its strings cut, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. He was dead before his head hit the ground.
Ethan blinked, montarily taken back by the cold efficiency. "I didn’t expect you to finish him so abruptly, Anne."
"He was a spent vessel," the Matriarch replied, wiping her hands with a silk cloth. His gaze was distant, troubled. "I have a vague idea of the situation now, although I don’t like the sound of it one bit."
"Explain," Ethan commanded, leaning against a stack of Cold Steel crates.
"It seems there are multiple matrices leading to this place scattered across the world," Anne said, her voice echoing in the vast vault. "The Soaring Dragon Kingdom is not unknown to ... however, it should be impossibly far from where I entered this do."
Ethan’s interest sharpened. "What do you an? You’ve ntioned your past before, but you’ve never been this specific."
"I co from the Crimson Heaven Kingdom," she said, her eyes flickering with a montary flash of regal pride. "My family is part of the royal bloodline there. But the Soaring Dragon Kingdom and the Crimson Heaven Kingdom are separated by distances you cannot yet understand. We don’t share borders. We don’t share oceans. There is no logical reason why portals from both regions would lead to this sa tiny island."
"Could we be in the middle?" Ethan suggested. "A neutral ground between the two?"
Anne shook her head slowly. "No. The distance is too vast. I only know the nas of the Soaring Dragon and their rival families because of a single ancient text in my father’s private library. We aren’t even sure where they are located on the Main Continent. They are essentially legends to my people."
"How can that be possible?" Ethan asked, his brow furrowing. "If this world—this ’do’—is as small as you say, how can it be connected to two ends of a continent?"
Anne turned to look at the massive, crude portal Ethan was building. She looked at it with a mix of pity and fear.
"Ethan, you must understand sothing," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "What you consider to be the ’whole world’—this planet, this cage—is nothing more than a small, discarded island to the people outside. My forr kingdom ruled over a territory more than a thousand tis the size of this entire piece of land. And we were not the strongest kingdom in our region... nor the most extensive."
She walked toward him, her crimson eyes locking onto his. "If both the Crimson Heaven and the Soaring Dragon have access to this place, it ans this ’island’ isn’t just a piece of land. It’s a focal point. A crossroads. And if word gets out about what you are—a Void Nightmare in human form—the people who co through those doors next won’t be spoiled ’Silk Pants’ like Su Ni. They will be the monsters that even my father feared."
Ethan stared at the glowing portal, the hum of the machinery feeling more like a heartbeat than ever. The world hadn’t just gotten bigger; it had beco an abyss.
"A thousand tis larger..." Ethan whispered, a dark, predatory thrill running down his spine. "Good. I was worried I’d run out of things to conquer too quickly."
Anne stepped closer, her expression hardening until it was a mask of cold marble. "Did you not hear a word I said, Ethan? They won’t co to conquer you—they will co to harvest you. You have no idea how valuable you are. I don’t know how you beca this way, and frankly, I don’t care, but you must understand that you are a unique existence. In all of recorded history, there has only been one being who was not born of the Void yet carried its lineage."
She paused, the flickering lights of the laboratory casting deep shadows across her face. "He was the Void King of his era. A being so terrifying that nothing in the heavens could stand against him. In the end, his power drove him to madness. He offended too many powers, but before he fell, he left behind a trail of destruction so absolute it buried entire civilizations with him."
"If he was so hated, why would they want ?" Ethan asked, his voice low.
"It isn’t about hate or taboos, Ethan. It’s about greed," Anne hissed. "Everyone wants the power of the Void. It is the ultimate authority over reality, yet no one has ever managed to replicate it. Only that old monster succeeded, and now, sohow, you possess that sa ability. If the great powers find out, they wouldn’t just send an army—they would go to war against the entire world just to possess you. You must never, under any circumstances, let it be known that you wield the power of the Void."
Ethan remained silent for a long mont, the weight of her words sinking into the Cold Steel floor. "Thank you," he finally said, his gaze shifting back to her. "I assud you would be the first in line to try and take it for yourself."
"I don’t care about having that power if it ans murdering you to get it," Anne replied flatly.
Ethan froze. He was a man who lived in a world of shadows, lies, and calculated betrayals, but his new eyes—the eyes that saw through the fabric of space and intent—could not be deceived. He looked deep into her sanguine pupils and realized, with a jolt of genuine shock, that she was telling the truth.
He took a step toward her, closing the distance until he could sll the faint, tallic scent of her blood-magic. "Then why?" he asked, his voice a low vibration. "Why do you protect this much? At the end of the day, we aren’t anything to each other. I’m just a man who climbed out of the dirt, and you’re a fallen princess. Why do you care if I live or die?"
--------------------
From this mont forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks ntioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinent Realm
Skin Refinent / Bone Refinent / Organ Refinent
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / [Locked] / [Locked]
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