Deep within the forest, the difference between morning and evening had long faded.
Raijin had lost track of how long he had been training.
His body was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, yet he didn't stop.
With every strike, every sprint, his mind remained stuck on a single question.
"Who was he…
and why did he give me that power?"
The Witness of the Mortal Realm.
That presence which had appeared, spoken, and then vanished.
Raijin knew it was no ordinary entity.
He closed his eyes, steadied his breath, and focused on his Nexus Seed.
Pain surfaced instantly.
"Still not enough…" he muttered.
His body was changing, but his consciousness had not yet reached the level needed to properly control the combined powers of the realms.
He rose again.
Ran.
Jumped.
Struck the stones.
The power of the Mortal Realm was direct, brutal.
It didn't come from chants or spells.
It broke the body and forged it anew.
Bones hardened, then cracked with pain, then grew even stronger.
"Now I understand…" Raijin thought while gasping for breath.
"Why most people stay limited to just one realm."
Gaining the power of all four realms wasn't a blessing.
It was a punishment.
Even after relentless training, most people could only connect with a single realm.
Very few could endure two.
Three… that was nearly a legend.
And mastering all four—
perhaps no one in history had ever truly achieved it.
At times, Raijin felt as if someone was watching him.
He trembled, scanning his surroundings, but no one was there.
Raijin was, at his core, a mage.
Spells, formulas, and structures were not new to him.
But this world…
its rules were different.
His magic wasn't working.
He could understand the energy,
but he couldn't release it.
"This isn't mana…" he murmured internally.
"This is Etherea.
And its rules are different from my world."
Even though he had come to this world, he had not forgotten memories of his past life.
His knowledge… still remained.
Sometimes Raijin felt a strange sensation—
as if a solution reached the edge of his mind and then vanished.
He would stop.
Think.
Then shake his head.
"Just an illusion," he would tell himself.
He didn't know he wasn't alone.
---
At the same time—
Inside the castle, Sora sat clutching his knees.
Lord stood before him.
Something inside Sora had changed.
The first sacrifice was complete, though he didn't fully understand its effects yet.
He placed a hand on his chest.
There was emptiness.
No pain…
just a strange distance.
"This is the price," Lord said.
"Power doesn't run on emotions."
Sora nodded slowly.
"It doesn't matter to me."
It was a lie.
But he told it to himself as well.
Lord's gaze deepened.
"If you go further," he warned,
"the Dark Realm will notice you."
It was the first time Sora had heard that name.
"Dark Realm…?"
Lord's smile was faint.
"The realm that awakens when the other three fall out of balance."
And indeed—
Far away, far below—
A crack widened.
In the Dark Realm, there was no time, no direction.
Only hunger.
Something stirred within the black mist.
"One body is training," a voice echoed.
"Another is breaking."
"And the third…" another voice added,
"is playing the game."
Eyes opened in the darkness.
"We shouldn't interfere yet," someone said.
"Let them grow."
"The higher they rise," the mist laughed,
"the deeper the fall."
---
In the forest—
Raijin stood once more.
His hands trembled, but his gaze was steady.
He didn't know that—
One entity was watching him.
One organization was searching for him.
And one darkness…
was calling his name.
All because he had refused to remain weak.
While practicing, Raijin's breathing was steady.
His body moved, but his mind wandered.
Then a panicked voice echoed.
"Please… help us!"
Raijin turned his head.
Three people ran out of the forest.
A girl in front—Sofiya.
Behind her, Ishan and Kade.
Sofiya stopped directly before Raijin.
"There's a monster chasing us," she said.
"If you—"
"No," Raijin refused instantly.
There was no mercy in his voice.
"Leave this place."
He turned his back.
Trust…
that word was dead to him.
In his past life he had been betrayed too many times.
And when he was reborn in this body, he learned that the one he had considered a brother, a friend—everything—had been the one who betrayed him.
But just as he was about to walk away, the ground trembled.
The monster was close.
Raijin tried to move forward,
but stopped.
Something stirred within him.
He felt irritated at himself.
"So it's still there…?"
The monster roared.
Raijin turned.
"Move."
What followed wasn't a battle—
it was an explosion of suppressed anger.
Within moments, the monster had fallen.
Raijin left without saying a word.
---
Elsewhere—
In a dark, silent palace,
Sora knelt.
There was no fear in his eyes.
Only emptiness.
He had handed over his soul…
his memories…
one by one to the Dark Realm.
"Give me power," his voice was heavy.
"I accept any price."
Darkness laughed.
And Sora changed.
Something inside him shattered—
and something terrifying awakened.
---
At the same time, in a small town—
A girl stood silently.
The same girl
whom Sora loved.
Her eyes were swollen.
She had come to believe
that both Sora and Raijin were dead.
"It's all over…" she whispered to herself.
Only a void remained in her heart.
---
Far away, in a mountain monastery—
Takashi rose from meditation.
His heart suddenly began to race.
"I warned him…" he murmured.
"But he didn't listen."
He felt a strange jolt,
as if someone had pulled at the fabric of the world.
But he couldn't understand
what had truly happened.
---
And finally—
A nameless, colossal entity
floated in the void.
Its voice echoed—
"Interesting…"
"Broken bonds,
awakening souls,
and a bargain with darkness…"
"The game has finally begun."
Three secret organizations had become active—
Aegis Covenant,
Obsidian Veil,
and the Crownbound Order,
which worked for the King of the Leone Continent.
"How do we handle Raijin?" someone asked.
Silence filled the room.
Because everyone knew—
This was no longer just about Raijin.
The entire world was now at stake.
Thank You For Reading This Chapter.
Author: Mohammed Zaid Saifi