"So if that's true, then I should be sensing it directly, right? If Spheraphase is a Celestial, then its presence should be obvious. But it's not."
Elest didn't interrupt her midway, letting her finish completely before responding.
"When a Celestial dies, it becomes a heavenly body. It requires eons to accumulate its existence again and become a Celestial once more."
Narisva's eyes flicked back to him.
"In the origin narrative, there is no mention of a Celestial yet the Celestial race exists within Spheraphase. So that's because Spheraphase itself is the Celestial. So Axia is basically half Celestial, half Omniscient? That's actually ridiculous."
Her eyes shifted back to the cube as something else clicked into place.
"But then what the hell is this doing here? If Spheraphase is the Celestial, why is its spirit here?"
Before Elest could speak, the Justice Pentarch did.
"Vasreveilder."
"What?"
"The Hidden Citadel isn't part of Spheraphase. It's separate from the world and he created it. So if the spirit is here, he put it here."
"Then the question isn't how it got here."
That hung there for a moment and unanswered. Elest exhaled quietly before shifting the direction of the conversation entirely.
"You may take it."
Narisva turned to him instantly.
"What?"
"You're a Celestial. Not only that, you are of a royal lineage. Your bloodline is exceptionally pure. That's why your strength exceeds expectation. You can surpass conventional limits without relying entirely on external support."
His gaze flicked at the Justice Pentarch.
"He requires a Demesne to awaken his full potential. The Aeterium bloodline demands it. You do not. For you, a celestial body is sufficient. A star, a planet, a singularity, any will do. This black hole spirit qualifies."
Narisva stared at the cube again with a determined look.
"That would push me to the Fifth Enlightenment according to the world"s rules."
"Yes."
"I still need a Codex."
"You already possess one."
"No, I don't."
"You formed a vow with Spheraphase, remember? That's your Codex. Breaking it is your condition to break through."
Narisva's eyes widened again, but this time it wasn't not from surprise alone but from realization.
"You're saying if I take this, I'm defying Spheraphase itself. And in doing so…"
"You sever the vow and ascend."
The logic was brutal in its simplicity and for someone like her, it wasn't something to hesitate over for long. The risk was obvious, but so was the reward.
"A Codex doesn't always require combat or realization. Narisva. Some Divinities demand conflict. Yours demands consumption."
Narisva took in a deep breath and looked at it.
"So I just take it. Is it safe?"
Veneri shook his head at that.
"It won't be simple. Vasreveilder doesn't leave things unguarded. If he put it here, there's a condition or a consequence."
Narisva shrugged.
"Guess I'll find out."
She stepped forward and placed her hand directly against the surface of the cube. The reaction was instant. The cube didn't open, or crack but something inside it activated. The air around them twisted violently. The ground beneath them disappearing as if it had never existed. For a split second, their bodies and sense of position stretched,
They were pulled to the core.
The transition didn't end when they were pulled into the cube. Instead of arriving somewhere stable, the sensation of movement only intensified. The space around them had streaks of light bending and curving like colorful strings dragged through an invisible funnel. For a brief moment, there was no up or down or any sense of grounding at all. Elest's presence vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, sinking back into Narisva's soul as if this passage wasn't meant for him to walk physically. That left the two of them alone in something that clearly wasn't meant for ordinary traversal.
Narisva grabbed Veneri tightly, summoning her Spatial Energy that wrapped around both of them like a protective layer. The space around them confirmed it immediately. They were in a wormhole that pulled them forward at a speed that made normal motion meaningless, dragging them deeper into something neither of them could fully see the end of.
After a while, gravity collapsed into near nothingness. Their bodies no longer dragged forward but drifting instead. Narisva's grip didn't loosen but her eyes opened cautiously. Her Spatial Energy was still active as she scanned their surroundings.
The tunnel was gone completely and was replaced by something so different that it took a second for it to even comprehend it properly. Above them stretched a bright blue sky that felt almost unnatural after everything they had just been through. The light hit them directly as they began to fall. Their bodies were suspended upside down in open air with nothing anchoring them anymore.
Narisva blinked rapidly as she looked around and then back at Veneri, who had gone completely still in a way she had never seen before. His eyes were looking down not scanning.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you looking like that. Okay, what the hell are we even looking at right now?"
Her voice carried both confusion and irritation but he didn't answer immediately because as they continued to fall, the details became impossible to misinterpret.
Below them was a modern city. It was not a ruined one nor an abandoned one.
Massive structures stretched across the land. They were organized in a way that was completely foreign to Spheraphase. The buildings rose unnaturally high with reflective surfaces that caught the sunlight in ways that didn't belong to any realm they had visited before. The water surrounding parts of it was calm. Vessels cut through the surface in controlled paths.
An island was separate from the rest and on it stood something unmistakable.
A towering statue was holding a flame high above its head. Its design was human yet symbolic. The moment Veneri's eyes saw it, something in him snapped into recognition so violently that it broke through even his usual composure.
"No… no fucking way. That's not possible. That's literally not possible. There's no way this is what I think it is…"
They didn't have time to process it further. They hit the water hard.
The impact sent a shockwave across the surface that rippled outward violently, rocking a nearby ferry that had been moving steadily toward the island. The vessel lurched with people on board shouting in confusion as the sudden wave disrupted its balance. Beneath the surface, the force of their entry dispersed quickly.
Veneri managed to get out first with water dripping from his hair as he looked around frantically, confirming what he already knew. Narisva came up right after him, coughing slightly as she wiped water from her face.
"Why am I not sinking right now? Okay, this doesn't make any sense. The water isn't pulling me down at all. It's like it's just holding me up, what kind of place even works like this?"
"..."
"Hey Darling. Say something."
"Nari, we're not on Spheraphase anymore, this isn't any realm from the Hidden Citadel or anything connected to what we've been dealing with at all."
He turned his head slightly, meeting her gaze briefly before looking back at the statue again, like he needed to confirm it one more time just to be sure.
"That's the Statue of Liberty. That island is Liberty Island and that city behind it is New York. We're on Earth, Nari."