Rayen slowly regained consciousness. He opened his fuzzy eyes, only to find his vision engulfed in pitch-black darkness.
Where am I? Rayen thought to himself.
He slowly got to his feet—and what he saw left him speechless.
A colossal stone tablet towered before him, larger than any mountain he had ever seen. Multiple lines of writing were engraved upon it, all of them grayed out and lifeless. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over him. It felt strangely familiar—too familiar.
Rayen couldn't tear his gaze away from the tablet. An inexplicable force was drawing him toward it.
He stepped forward, arm outstretched.
The moment his foot touched the ground, the surface rippled like a stone tossed into a calm lake. Crimson energy seeped from the distortion.
With every step he took, more red energy surged forth, gathering and coalescing behind him.
An aura slowly emanated from Rayen—an aura of majesty, power, and absolute dominance.
Faint imprints of a black-and-red robe began to manifest around his body. Coiling golden dragons adorned it, writhing as if alive, filled with ferocity and authority.
Then—
BOOM!!
The instant Rayen made contact with the stone tablet, a massive explosion of red energy erupted, blasting him backward.
He crashed into the ground dozens of meters away.
The tablet pulsed violently, streaks of red, gold, and black light coursing across its surface.
Suddenly—
SWOOSH!
A streak of crimson shot toward Rayen. A flood of images and thoughts surged into his mind.
ROAR!!
A deafening roar echoed within his consciousness, sending his mind reeling and his ears ringing.
It was excruciating.
Yet… familiar.
Far too familiar—almost as if he had heard it millions of times before.
His vision went completely black as torrents of information flooded his mind. Only when the influx finally slowed did the processing begin.
"RAHHH!" Rayen screamed in agony, thrashing wildly and slamming against the unseen floor of the strange space.
In the outside world, Rayen lay unconscious upon a comfortable bed.
Beside him sat a breathtaking beauty, her expression a mix of deep concern and simmering anger. A man dressed in a butler's uniform stood nearby.
The empire-toppling woman, still in her early twenties, was Aria—Rayen's elder sister.
Arcane circles spun rapidly within her eyes as she repeatedly activated her analysis technique on Rayen. No matter how many times she tried, she found nothing that explained his prolonged slumber.
That was right.
Rayen had been unconscious for over a week.
"Where in the name of the Nine Heavens is that damnable medicine alchemist?" Aria demanded, her voice cold as she turned toward the butler.
"He is currently off-planet, Madam," the butler replied nervously. "However, he is traveling here at top speed as we speak."
He hoped the explanation might appease her.
It did not.
"I will raze his Thousand Alchemical Pavilion to the ground if he does not arrive within two days," Aria declared. Blue flames flared briefly within her eyes, igniting the curtains behind her.
She ceased her analysis of Rayen, her icy-blue pupils dimming slightly—but the worry within them remained.
The butler wiped sweat from his brow. He knew his lord's temperament well. The terrifying City Lord, feared by countless others, was now nothing more than a sister terrified for her younger brother.
And Aria was no ordinary City Lord.
She was far beyond the Ascended Realm that most believed her to be in.
No one knew her true cultivation.
Even the planetary council's leaders trembled in her presence.
They bowed before her.
They addressed her as Ms. Vales.
Back within the pitch-black space—
Rayen found himself standing inside a vast throne room.
At its center stood a towering throne. Seated upon it was an extraordinarily handsome man who appeared no older than thirty.
He wore the same black robe Rayen had glimpsed earlier—except his was fully materialized, real, and exuding terrifying authority. Rayen's own robe, by comparison, felt like nothing more than a projection.
The man's black hair flowed freely, and his crimson pupils pierced straight through Rayen's soul.
A natural aura of majesty and dominance radiated from him, making Rayen instinctively tense.
The man studied Rayen from head to toe.
Then he laughed.
A deep, resounding laugh that caused the entire throne room to tremble beneath its power.
"It has been multiple eras," the man said at last, a prideful grin stretching across his face, "and those damned gods finally failed to restrain our soul, huh?"