He activated his power and continued upward, his body cutting cleanly through the thinning layers of the atmosphere as he rose higher and higher.
Soon, he passed through the stratosphere. Beneath him, the world had already begun to curve gently, the horizon stretching into a vast arc. Above him, the sky darkened into deeper shades of blue, bordering on black.
At an extremely high altitude, he saw the brilliant, dreamlike noctilucent clouds blooming across the heavens. They shimmered softly, glowing silver-blue, like a translucent veil scattered across the sky by the hand of a goddess. The sight was breathtaking—ethereal and unreal, as if he had stepped into a divine painting.
Karl El slowed and paused, suspended in midair. For a brief moment, he simply admired the scenery in silence, allowing the beauty of the clouds to imprint itself into his memory. Then, steadying his breath, he continued his ascent.
Soon, he entered an even more fantastical region. The air here was so thin it was almost nonexistent, a near-vacuum where ordinary life could not survive. In this strange realm, vast curtains of aurora silently danced across the sky. Bands of green, purple, and gold twisted and flowed like living light, moving with a quiet majesty that filled him with awe.
Yet amid this beauty, Karl El felt resistance grow stronger once again.
It was subtle at first, but unmistakable. Every additional meter upward now demanded an enormous expenditure of energy. His muscles and cells responded instantly, drawing deeply on his reserves, but the strain continued to increase with each moment.
He assessed the situation calmly.
If he truly went all out—if he pushed himself to the limit—he might still be able to continue ascending.
Perhaps… he could break through the exosphere entirely.
Perhaps he could truly reach the Void Realm beyond the planet.
The instant this thought formed in his mind, a sudden and overwhelming sense of dread struck him without warning.
It was so intense that his entire body trembled.
This was not physical pressure, nor was it exhaustion or lack of energy. Instead, it was a sharp, instinctive warning—something far deeper, rooted in the very essence of his existence. It was his life instincts screaming at him, telling him that what lay ahead was something he absolutely could not confront in his current state.
It felt as if going even a little higher would place him in contact with something utterly beyond him—something that would mean certain destruction.
Karl El's expression changed slightly.
Without hesitation, he chose to trust his instincts.
He immediately halted his upward momentum, suspending himself at the very edge of the Void Realm, where the aurora continued to dance around him in silent splendor. His body remained perfectly still, balanced between ascent and descent.
Slowly, he raised his head.
He activated his Clairvoyance ability at full power.
His gaze pierced through the remaining wisps of gas, cutting across unimaginable distances as it reached into the dark Void Realm beyond the planet.
And what he saw made his pupils contract.
The space beyond the planet was not empty.
Instead, he saw something vast—so enormous that it was almost imperceptible at first glance. A massive energy shield enveloped the entire planet, faintly glowing with a muted orange hue. It was like a transparent eggshell, delicate in appearance yet radiating immense strength, completely encasing the world.
Countless complex and incomprehensible energy patterns flowed across its surface. They appeared and disappeared continuously, weaving together into structures that defied mortal understanding. Each pattern pulsed with rhythm and purpose, as if alive.
The shield radiated a vast, ancient, and powerful aura—one imbued unmistakably with the breath of life itself.
Karl El raised an eyebrow.
This energy felt… familiar.
In an instant, a memory surfaced in his mind.
He recalled being dragged into a God Domain by Meritelli at the Temple in Erlend. The overwhelming presence, the divine authority, the feeling of standing before something far beyond humanity—it all came rushing back with startling clarity.
His eyes widened slightly.
This energy—it was divine power.
Meritelli's divine power.
"Was it Her?" Karl El murmured silently. "Or perhaps… Them?"
Was this planet-level magic formation established by Meritelli alone, or by multiple deities working together?
For a Deity to expend such immense power to construct a protective formation on a planetary scale…
…could only mean one thing.
There existed some unknown danger outside this planet—something capable of threatening the entire world.
Karl El let out a soft, self-deprecating chuckle.
"I can't shoulder this burden right now," he said quietly, his voice lost in the near-vacuum. "So I shouldn't dig too deep."
He decisively abandoned any intention of further investigation. He resisted the temptation to analyze the energy patterns or attempt to decipher the formation's structure.
When one's strength is insufficient, knowing too much is not always a blessing.
He committed this discovery firmly to memory, sealing it away in the depths of his heart.
Then, relaxing his body, he simply lay back in midair.
In the near-vacuum, beneath the shimmering aurora, Karl El closed his eyes.
He needed rest.
And more importantly, he needed to feed.
His cells, liberated from restraint, began joyfully absorbing the immense, nearly undiminished energy radiating from the sun. Each ray of solar power was devoured eagerly, strengthening his body at a fundamental level.
Time passed silently.
Several hours later, Karl El slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through his gaze, bright and focused.
He felt full.
Every cell in his body brimmed with energy. Not only had the power he spent fighting gravity and ascending through the atmosphere been fully replenished—it had increased significantly.
Satisfied, he turned his head and took one last look at the faint orange shield surrounding the planet. After a moment, he let go of his lingering attachment.
With a smooth motion, his body flipped in midair.
Head down, he began to fall.
This time, he no longer resisted gravity. His descent was many times faster than his ascent. He tore through the thinning atmosphere like a blazing meteor, the air screaming faintly around him as he plummeted toward the surface.
The land below rapidly grew clearer.
He saw neatly divided farmland, geometric and orderly. He saw the citizens of Terra gathering toward their villages after completing a day of labor, their movements small but full of life.
He also saw Vernon and the other young retainers training diligently on the manor's grounds, sweat-soaked and determined, under the watchful supervision of Philip and Dalton.
Just as Karl El was preparing to adjust his posture for a smooth landing, something unexpected happened.
An extremely faint whisper reached him.
It seemed to come from a great distance away… yet at the same time, it resonated directly within the depths of his mind. The sound was intermittent, unclear, and barely perceptible, like a half-forgotten dream.
Karl El was startled.
He stopped abruptly, hovering midair, his brow furrowing deeply.
"What's going on?" he muttered.
He had not activated his Super Hearing.
Could it be another Nature Spirit, similar to a Nymph?
Or perhaps some other entity attempting to contact him through telepathy?
Focusing his attention, Karl El tried to capture and amplify the faint sound.
The result was limited. The whisper became slightly clearer—no longer entirely fragmented—but its volume remained extremely low. Its meaning was still impossible to discern.
Changing tactics, Karl El began moving.
He shifted more than ten kilometers east, then west, then north. Yet the whisper remained unchanged—faint, distant, and vague, with no clear directional difference.
Finally, almost as an afterthought, he moved south.
This time, the change was unmistakable.
The whisper grew just a little stronger.
It was still vague, but the difference was real.
Karl El's eyes lit up.
He hovered above the southern border of Terra, gazing toward the vast, unexplored lands beyond. His expression grew thoughtful.
"The south…" he murmured. "I haven't been there yet. Is this sound guiding me?"
"My strength has increased," he continued, determination creeping into his voice. "I might as well go and see what this is."
Without further hesitation, he accelerated southward, leaving behind a fading afterimage. His speed was far greater than before, mountains and rivers flashing beneath him in rapid succession.
Hours passed.
Eventually, he crossed the southern border of Temeria and entered unfamiliar territory.
The landscape below gradually changed. The architecture became more uniform, more orderly, and carried an unmistakable sense of discipline and authority.
Then, as his gaze swept over the central plaza of a large city, he saw a familiar flag flying high.
Black cloth.
A golden sun emblem.
At its center, a majestic human face.
Karl El stopped dead in the air, his eyes widening in shock.
"That's…" he whispered. "The Imperial Flag of Nilfgaard?"
His expression turned incredulous.
"I—I flew straight into Nilfgaardian territory?!"
Hovering above the empire's land, Karl El focused intently, listening once more to the whispering voices lingering at the edge of his consciousness.
They no longer seemed singular.
Instead, they felt like countless tiny streams, rising from the vast land below, converging into a distant, indistinct chorus.
And for the first time, he sensed that whatever was calling him… was very close.
For more chapters
patreon.com/Robertt45