Chapter 444
Within that message it was clearly implied that Myra would wait for him in this universe.
That she had found a safe world.
That she had prepared everything for Xavier's arrival.
That she would never stop waiting even if it meant enduring thousands more years.
Tears that could not fall from the eyes of a spirit flowed within Xavier's soul as he read that message.
Tears of emotion mixed with regret because he had never been able to find his wife all this time.
Tears of happiness because at last there was a faint glimmer of hope at the end of his endless wandering.
Without hesitation, Xavier immediately abandoned his intention to reincarnate into the world he had previously targeted.
He canceled all the preparations he had made.
He released the energy he had gathered.
Then he turned in the opposite direction.
He had to find a way to reincarnate into the world currently being interrupted by that strange presence.
The world that had become Myra's destination.
The world his wife had chosen as the place where they would meet again after such a long separation.
Yet the closer he approached that region, the more he felt something strange.
Something different.
Something unusual.
The atmosphere surrounding the Multiverse Path felt heavier.
Denser.
More difficult to penetrate.
Layers of energy existed there that he had never encountered before.
Complex weavings of reality.
Security patterns designed specifically to prevent souls like his from entering.
Xavier attempted it for the first time.
And he failed.
He was hurled back so violently that he nearly lost consciousness in the emptiness between dimensions.
He tried again a second time using a different strategy.
A more careful approach.
A route he believed would remain undetected.
Yet once again he failed.
More painfully than before.
As if gigantic invisible hands had deliberately slapped him away.
He attempted a third time using all the power he possessed.
With determination stronger than any he had felt during thousands of years of wandering.
With the belief that his love for Myra would open the path that had long been closed.
And for the third time he failed.
Failed in the most painful way.
Failed at the closest distance.
Failed just as he could almost feel the warmth of the world he sought.
Only after that third failure, after releasing a long cosmic sigh filled with despair, did Xavier begin to realize what was truly happening.
The obstruction along the Multiverse Path in this region— the region that Myra was heading toward, the world currently being interrupted by that strange presence— was one hundred times stronger than the usual obstruction he had faced before.
The Gods, whether acting under the direct command of the youngest or through their own initiative, had drastically heightened their vigilance here.
They set layered traps.
They constructed tightly woven networks of energy.
They created detection systems capable of sensing even the faintest soul approaching.
And Xavier, who had already struggled against the ordinary obstruction, now faced a wall one hundred times thicker.
One hundred times stronger.
One hundred times more impossible to break through.
"Being sealed does not mean being lost. As long as this consciousness still has a crack through which it can awaken, I will wait."
Amid the despair that gripped him after three consecutive failures, Xavier's inner sight suddenly caught something that stunned him.
That strange presence— the entity that had been trying to settle as a resident of the Multiverse Path— was attempting something utterly insane.
It did not surrender even though the obstruction had been reinforced.
It did not retreat even though the energy walls had grown thicker and more layered.
It continued advancing with a persistence that bordered on madness.
The obstruction protocols issued by the Gods kept escalating.
Growing stronger.
Showing how determined they were to prevent any new inhabitant from entering this territory.
Yet that strange entity seemed incapable of giving up.
It continued pushing forward.
Searching for openings.
Trying every possible method.
And most astonishing of all— it almost succeeded.
Almost.
Only almost.
Because there remained one final barrier that required more than persistence alone to overcome.
Xavier watched in astonishment as the foreign entity battled against an obstruction system one hundred times stronger than normal.
He watched how it faced energy walls capable of destroying weaker souls.
How it remained resolute even after being thrown back repeatedly and nearly losing consciousness.
And within that observation, within those moments when he witnessed the fierce struggle between will and system, Xavier saw an opportunity he had never expected before.
The strange entity needed only a little additional strength.
Just a small push.
Just one final drop of energy to truly break through the last defense and settle within the Multiverse Path.
The power required might not mean much to Xavier, who had wandered for thousands of years.
Perhaps equivalent to a single cosmic breath.
Perhaps no more than the blink of an eye on the scale of eternity.
And in that realization, in that moment when despair met opportunity, Xavier immediately made a decision that would change everything about his existence.
Without hesitation.
Without calculating the risks.
Without considering the possibility of failure.
Xavier surged forward and joined the strange entity, combining his power with it in one final, overwhelming push.
Together, two wandering souls equally cast aside, equally desperate, equally longing for a place to settle, charged against the wall of obstruction with every ounce of energy they possessed.
And for a moment—
For a single instant that felt like eternity—
They almost succeeded.
They nearly broke through.
Nearly entered.
Nearly became permanent inhabitants of the Multiverse Path that had always been closed to them.
The Gods watching from afar— who had long believed their obstruction system to be invincible— were suddenly struck with a panic they had never experienced before.
They could not suppress the determination to settle emanating from that strange entity.
They could not restrain the combined strength of two souls united by the same resolve.
And in that panic, in the final seconds before those two entities could truly enter the forbidden territory, the Gods made a drastic decision.
They sealed them.
Imprisoning both souls together inside a single individual.
Ensuring that even if they succeeded in entering, they would not move freely and bring disaster upon the other Multiverse Paths.
That was the reason why Xavier XVII came to reside within the consciousness of Ilux Rediona.
Trapped together with the unidentified foreign entity.
Buried within the deepest recess of the soul of a boy who had never asked to become the hiding place for two wandering spirits.
For years Xavier slept there.
Imprisoned within the seal created by the Gods.
Unaware.
Unawakened.
Ignorant of everything happening in the outside world.
His consciousness truly awakened only when Ilux undertook his first test to enter the Star Academy.
When the overwhelming pressure and emotion created vibrations strong enough to rouse him from his long slumber.
And when Xavier opened his eyes for the first time after so long buried in silence, what he saw was not Myra Astrielle— the wife he had waited thousands of years to meet again— but a snot-nosed boy with unimaginable potential.
A child who housed two souls within a single body.
A child who had become an anomaly within a universe that struggled desperately to preserve its balance.
To be continued…