The world reformed around them with the shimmer of silver light, the palace fading away as though it had never been.
John opened his eyes first. His breath caught.
"…Clouds?"
All around him stretched a boundless sea of white and gold. Endless clouds floated beneath his feet, shifting gently like waves. Above, the sky glowed a soft amber, as if dawn itself had been frozen in time. There was no ground, no hall, no palace—nothing but sky.
For a heartbeat, John thought the teleportation had failed. His fingers instinctively tightened around Yumina's hand, steadying her before she could stumble in confusion.
This isn't Mars… his mind whispered, calm on the surface but churning inside. Where are we? Did I miscalculate? Impossible—the rune was perfect… unless…
Nyx's golden eyes sharpened immediately. She stepped forward, her aura stirring like an ancient beast waking from its slumber. "This isn't normal," she said, her voice carrying that familiar arrogance. "Someone interfered. I can feel it."
Yumina's eyes darted around, her lips parting slightly in awe and fear. "John… are we… in the clouds?" She gripped his sleeve tightly, her heart racing. "Where… where are we?"
John glanced down. Beneath them, there was no ground—only drifting, endless mist. Yet his feet stood firmly as if the clouds themselves had become a floor.
"No idea," John murmured, forcing calm into his tone.
Still, unease twisted in his chest. He thought about flying down to test it, to see if there was land beneath this endless sea of white. Nyx, however, was already half-preparing her wings of energy, ready to break through the illusion by sheer force.
But just as John was about to give the word, a blinding light appeared.
Something… no, someone was flying toward them.
The glow was so intense that even John, a 3rd-level Star Wizard whose senses had long surpassed mortal limits, could not react in time. It was as though the light cut straight through space itself, ignoring the laws of distance.
When it finally stopped before them, the radiance faded—and what John saw froze him in place.
There, floating gently above the clouds, was not a monster, nor an artifact, nor even a celestial phenomenon.
It was… a tiny room.
No larger than ten by ten feet, the space seemed to exist without walls, suspended in the middle of the sky. A simple mat lay in the center, where an old man and a beautiful girl sat opposite each other at a low table.
The girl's features were delicate, almost ethereal, her beauty sharp enough to rival any goddess. Her calm expression never wavered as she poured tea into small cups.
The old man, on the other hand, looked ordinary—frail shoulders, a thin beard, eyes that seemed to carry both fatigue and an unfathomable depth. Behind them stood objects even more out of place: a small cupboard, a flickering television with faint static, all sitting there as though this floating space was nothing more than a casual living room.
John's brows furrowed. His instincts screamed. A trap? An illusion? Or… something worse?
If not for the suddenness of the situation, he would have remembered this place already.
Nyx's golden eyes narrowed dangerously. Her scales, hidden beneath her human guise, itched to manifest. She took a step closer, standing protectively in front of John and Yumina, her voice low and sharp. "Who dares play tricks before me?"
Yumina, though silent, pressed even closer to John. She had no words—only confusion and an instinctive fear.
The three of them stood there, the tension growing heavier with every heartbeat.
And then—
The old man suddenly raised his head. His voice boomed, startlingly clear, as if the entire sky itself carried his words.
"I am truly sorry, John," he said, his tone filled with sincerity. "But I was the one who interfered with your teleportation."
The moment the words left his lips, he lowered his head slightly, bowing before them.
John's heart pounded quietly, though his face remained calm. So it was deliberate. His mind raced, analyzing the man's strength, motives, and aura all at once. But who is he? To interfere with a spatial coordinate rune that even I don't fully understand… this is no ordinary being.
Nyx's claws twitched within her hidden form. Anger flared in her chest—anger without reason. Her dragon blood burned hot, her instincts roaring at her to tear this old man apart.
Yet she didn't understand why.
All she knew was that, in front of this ordinary-looking old man, her heart raged like a storm.
The old man also noticed her fierce expression, though he couldn't understand why she looked so inexplicably enraged.
If only he knew—she was the Primordial Black Dragon he had once helped Eccaruss capture millennia ago. What would he think then?
John, on the other hand, studied the old man for a while, then glanced at the girl with pink hair beside him. Suddenly, it clicked—he remembered why this scene felt so familiar.
This old man was none other than the god who had brought Touya to this world after accidentally killing him on Earth. Realizing this, John relaxed slightly. But beside him, Nyx still wore a fierce expression, her anger unmoving.
Seeing her so tense, John was momentarily taken aback. Gently holding her hand, he pulled her behind him before turning to face the old friend of Eccaruss—the Creation God.
"So… did you want to talk about something?" John asked, his face unreadable. Even though he now recognized who this old man was, he tried to act oblivious.
The old man didn't speak right away. He simply kept staring at John.
From the start, he had been observing John's expression—and the way John quickly regained his composure in such an unknown situation made him nod in praise.
The pink-haired goddess also watched John with an intrigued expression.
As a goddess, she had seen countless things and met many powerful beings. But she knew well: in the presence of a god's divine aura, almost no one could remain calm. Even she, if placed before a more powerful god than her, would feel fear and awe.
And that was exactly why she found John so interesting.