The first to break out of the daze was Nhiria, who dashed toward Yish, eyes brimming with tears, not hiding how much she missed her elder sister as she threw herself into her arms, “Sister! You’re back! You’re alive! I knew it! I missed you!”

  “Oh, my little Moonflower. So did I! I missed you all terribly!” Yish hugged Nhiria back as if she were holding to her own lifeline, desperate and tight.

  Through her robes, Nhiria could feel a penetrating chill radiating from her sister’s skin. Yet, not even the lingering cold of the Void would break them apart.

  Yish pulled the hood from her head, and everyone frowned. The room stilled. Even the starlight walls seemed to dim as they took in her altered features.

  Narak, the most insensible one, was the one who spoke about it first, “What happened to you? Why do you look like that?”

  The reason for their surprise was that Yish once looked like them. She was the true First of the Grey Dragons before being banished to the Void.

  The Void had left its mark. Her skin was snowy, pale as moonlight, and her hair had been bleached of all color, leaving it ashen, spectral white.

  Her eyes lost their silvery luster and turned white as well.

  Were it not for the dark lines outlining her pupils, there wouldn’t be any difference between her irises and her sclera.

  “Don’t be insensitive, Narak! This must be because of being in the Void for so long.” Nhiria spat at him.

  Then she turned to Yish, smiling, “You’re still beautiful, even like that, sister.”

  “Haha, silly flower. Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile,” Yish patted Nhiria’s head. Nhiria’s sweetness bloomed a warm smile on Yish’s face.

  “Are you truly back? I mean… will you stay?” Nyxtra's eyes were marred with tears, but burning with hope as she met Yish’s gaze.

  “The Plane told me my time is limited, but didn’t tell me by how much. So, let us enjoy every moment as much as we can, alright? I can’t bother to become anxious about being banished to the Void again.” Yish's strong fa?ade didn’t fool them.

  Still, they all nodded in agreement.

  “And the two of you?” Nhiria reluctantly released Yish from her embrace to regain her composure and turned to address the Sunborne Twins.

  “Sister, please, don’t treat us like strangers. I know we’ve been distant, but we came to bargain.” The male of the Twins spoke. His name was Luminus.

  “Yes, sister, we need your aid. We heard one of your children mastered Chaos, and our children are at risk of extinction because of it, much like those… goblins of yours once were.” The female of the pair stepped forward, pleading. Her name was Luxia.

  “Sigh… Alright, I’ll share with you, but for a price.” Nhiria wouldn’t help any of them for free, especially when the convergence of Galaxies had begun.

  “Name it, and it shall be yours.” The twins answered in unison.

  “I want to know how you extract star cores and how you know when it’s ready to become metal.” Hearing Nhiria’s price, the twins frowned as star core metal was the strongest metal in their universe; not only that, but it could conduct every type of energy with perfection and no waste.

  “A fair exchange,” Yish pitched in, frowning slightly at their hesitation.

  Her words still carried weight despite being exiled. She was still the firstborn of Magnolia, the personification of Magi itself.

  “Sigh… For our children, we agree to the exchange.” Luminus extended his hand, and Nhiria shook it.

  Magi rippled into their very bones. Brief and blinding. And in an instant, the knowledge was exchanged between them, imprinting itself behind their eyes.

  “Thank you for your aid, sister. And congratulations on being the first with a Champion. We’ll take our leave.” Luxia spoke politely, giving Nhiria a bow, and as if they were never there, the twins disappeared.

  As if they ceased to exist, the golden shine reflected by their skin from the starlight walls vanished instantly, leaving the hall feeling dimmer and colder in their absence.

  “They seemed quite desperate,” Nyxtra spoke, glancing at where they had stood previously.

  “Yes, I glanced at their galaxies some time ago, without being properly used, Chaos Energy can drive any living being into madness and wickedness,” Nhiria sighed sadly.

  Nhiria guided Yish by the hand and sat her elder sister down on her throne. She knelt at her feet, laying her head in her lap, and placed Yish's hand on her head, like a child asking for head pats.

  Nhiria closed her eyes as Yish’s cool fingers trailed through her silky, raven hair, scratching gently at her scalp.

  The soothing motion melted the tension in her shoulders, reducing the Guardian of the Galaxy to a docile, soft-purring, content dragonling.

  Nyxtra sat beside Nhiria, taking the other leg, and Narak looked at both with a frown.

  Yish teased, her voice soft but carrying a mischievous undertone, “You can sit by my side. This throne is quite spacious. No need to be jealous.”

  “Tsk! I’m not here to make a social call! She owes me!” Narak spat.

  Yet, before Nhiria could reply, Yish spat back, “She owes you nothing! Your children lost the war you started, and you were kicked out of this galaxy by the power of your own Oath. That’s what you get for being greedy, you could all have lived in harmony as beings of the same kind, these two accepted it, but you wanted it all for yourself.”

  Narak’s eyes went wide. “How do you know that?”

  “While I was banished to the Void, I wasn’t forbidden to watch. And… in the Void, that is the only thing I had to do besides meditation.” Yish’s hands drifted through their hair, playing gently with it.

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  Nhiria and Nyxtra would have giggled joyfully at the feeling had it not been for the tightness in their hearts for Yish’s misfortune.

  “So I’ve been watching.” Yish continued, “and I must say I’m proud of Nhiria and all she achieved. Nyxtra disappointed me by doing your bidding and accepting the war, but she paid the price.”

  Yish’s gaze turned firm and impassive, carrying a motherly authority not even Nhiria could express before her siblings, “But you… You keep acting entitled. While sometimes Nhiria entertains you, she owes you nothing. Now sit by my side or leave.”

  “This is not your galaxy anymore!” Narak’s voice cracked through the hall, sharp enough to make the firm and unshakable starlight walls vibrate.

  “Her words here carry the same weight as mine! Sit beside her or leave, but her lap is mine, though.” Nhiria teased, but Narak could tell she meant it.

  “Whatever, I’m out.” By the time his words reached their ears, his body had already disappeared.

  “Sigh… Troublesome child.” Yish lamented.

  “Big Sister, why have you come back? Don’t think I don’t love having you here, please. My palace is yours as it’s this galaxy, but there is a reason you came here instead of going to see Fate, right?” Nhiria asked with a mix of curiosity and concern.

  At the same time, she enjoyed Yish’s hand playing with her hair, with her eyes closed.

  “Yes, your Champion is the reason I’m here,” Yish sensed Nhiria tensing, “But don’t worry, what happened is something only Fate can explain, but I doubt she will.”

  Yish sighed sadly as she began to explain, “When I broke the taboo and created Soul Magic, even if I did it to try to save that other child’s life, something changed, and I became able to perceive the lines of fate.”

  Nhiria and Nyxtra both looked up at her in shock.

  Yish continued, “I was exiled before I could understand this new ability better. Still, while in the Void, the only line of fate I could perceive was my own. And my line of fate had always pointed endlessly into the Void until it disappeared.”

  Yish met Nhiria’s gaze with a hopeful smile. “Then, your Champion was born. My line of fate, which was a dark, fading line, brightened. Yet, different from most, shifted to a shaky silvery instead of golden. But it pointed back to the Multi-Dimensional Plane.”

  “But now that he has become your Champion, it’s as golden as yours again. And it circles you and you, too, Nyxtra, and then goes straight to him.”

  The weight of Yish’s words hit them like a hammer.

  “I believe my tether to this universe, perhaps my very existence, is anchored to that child, Nhiria. And not just mine. Our fates are now woven into his.”

  Nhiria stood up and looked toward Sokram, who was still flipping the pages of the Allseer’s Codex.

  Then her gaze moved to the Paragons, who remained silently watching as she dealt with her siblings.

  She asked them, “So, do you still think I rewarded him wrongly?”

  They all lowered their heads in silence, except for Mentyr, who kept her proud smile.

  Nhiria looked at Mentyr with a broad, conspiratorial grin, “Mentyr, you made me proud.”

  “Thank you, Milady!” Mentyr bowed humbly, holding back her tears.

  Then she cast Nhiria a knowing look, “Can I move forward then?”

  Nhiria turned back to look at Sokram and shook her head, “No need to rush, let’s give him some room to breathe and grow. When the right time comes, I’ll tell you to pay him another visit. I might even send someone with you.”

  Nhiria glanced at Belladona briefly and went back to resting her head on her big sister's lap, asking for more head pats.

  Meanwhile, Sokram was now clad in his black-scaled armor. He had reformed it using his Matter Manipulation Spell. A necessary and repetitive maintenance task given his rapid growth.

  Sokram checked his equipment, his Runic Blood Tattoos on both his arms and legs, and his needles, ensuring he had everything he needed to descend the mountain and explore its underground levels.

  He consulted the Allseer’s Codex one last time, pretending to search for a path he already knew by heart. He stored all his books in his Void Glove and set out to go down the mountain.

  Sokram stood at the edge of the mountain's peak and thought, 'Walking’s too slow for this.'

  After taking a few steps back and, with a burst of mana under his feet, he cast 'Force Step!'

  Sokram launched himself off the precipice, diving headfirst into the open sky.

  Using Elemental Manipulation, he glided his way down, encircling the mountain.

  “Woohoo!”

  He let the exhilarating sensation of his near-flight air gliding fill his heart with longing for the skies.

  The world below was a blur of snow white, stone gray, and the tiny pine trees he could see down in the distant ground.

  The wind roared in his ears, snapping his cloak like a banner, rushing up to meet him as he banked left, feeling the updraft catch his mana-infused form like a physical hand as he skydived.

  But his moment of joy was short-lived as a piercing shriek tore through the wind. An intense, descending shriek with a rough metallic edge announced his attacker's approach.

  ‘Griffon!’ He thought.

  Deciding not to underestimate the beast, he spun midair. He threw a needle at it, forcing it to dodge the unknown object.

  When the Griffon's head snapped back, looking for Sokram, he wasn’t there anymore.

  Sokram, who was now right above the Griffon, unsheathed his katana and, raising it over his head, he did his best to assume the needed stance for his technique while airborne.

  ‘Killing Blade Art – Crushing Mountain: Mountain Splitter!’

  “Slash!”

  His blade barely met any resistance, slicing through feather, bone, and muscle.

  Crimson mist erupted into the freezing air as Sokram, carried by his momentum, sank past the two tumbling halves.

  In the next instant, Sokram cast, ‘Dark Lightning – Three Steps!’

  In the first step, he stored the Griffon's lower half.

  With the second, he flashed toward the upper half, storing it too.

  And in the last step, he used its momentum to throw another needle higher toward the mountain’s wall, teleporting to it before the needle hit it.

  And kicking the wall for impulse, he went back to gliding.

  Sokram glided down, still circling the mountain looking for a cave entrance or anything that could lead him to the mountain’s cave system, but it took him a while to find it.

  Just as he was getting close to the mountain wall for an extra impulse to gain more momentum and continue to glide, he spotted a cliff with an expansive cave entrance.

  After throwing another needle and teleporting there, he realized he had made a mistake.

  It wasn’t a mere cave.

  The scent hit him before he even landed. A pungent mix of rotting meat, overly ripe fruit, and bird excrement that stung his nose.

  Then the chirping sounds...

  It was a nest, and after a quick glance inside, Sokram could see that there were a few Grifflings that had just come out of the egg, being guarded by an adult Griffon that was in deep slumber despite the noise.

  By the beast’s energy flow, he could tell it was a Tier 10, but it wasn’t Great-Griffon.

  Still, Sokram decided not to engage it yet. Instead, he hid a needle close to the entrance so he could teleport back later.

  As soon as he jumped and began gliding, two new Griffons appeared.

  Sokram realized they must be part of that nest and spotted him leaving it.

  Not to awaken the sleeping Griffon back in the cave with the sounds of fighting, he glided a few hundred meters around the mountain while dodging the two Griffons' attacks.

  Before he came out of the sensory range of the needle he left at the nest, he threw another one, knowing he had to be mindful of how many he spent as the number of needles he was carrying was limited, not passing fifty.

  And the range of teleportation they offered now was a kilometer radius.

  Sokram spent another two needles before finding another cave entrance while dodging the Griffons midair.

  As soon as he stepped on the cliff in front of the cave entrance, he unsheathed his sword and turned to face his two pursuers.

  He was surprised to see the Griffons hesitating to approach the cave.

  As that realization crossed his mind, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingling.

  Sokram rolled to the left, dodging.

  He felt the cold wind blowing against him as he teetered on the edge of the cliff at the same time that a jagged, crystalline limb stabbed the rock where his head had been a second before.

  Now facing his new enemy, he got a good look at it.

  It was a giant white spider. But the tarsus of each of its eight legs was like a blade of glassy ice.

  The metatarsus was like a jagged blade.

  Each step drove a jagged, ice-blade deep into the stone, leaving behind a trail of holes pierced with ease into the rocky ground.

  Making it clear that every step the spider took was a lethal attack.

  “Fuck! I hate spiders,” Sokram cursed aloud, one of the few times he wasn't acting.

  His skin crawled beneath the armor, and he grimaced, instinctive and uncontrollable.

  It wasn't fear; it was a trauma-born, deep-seated hatred for its kind that made him want to burn the entire cliffside merely to ensure the thing would be dead.