Orion tried to step backwards to give himself space to form another attack—only to realize that his legs would not move. His feet felt rooted to the floor, as if glued in place.
"You see…" Simon said, his pace towards Orion slow and measured, "Besides her ability to create anything she desires within her realm, Anna Louise can also seal any form of disturbance—any power, any movement, any anomaly—that acts against her realm's stability."
Orion's eyes widened even further. He remembered something. Something important.
"That means—"
"That's right," Simon interrupted. "The attack you used to enter this place—the one that destroyed the door—its energy was registered by the realm. And as its creator, Anna Louise can seal it whenever she chooses—which she just did. As for your inability to move… even physical movement counts as a disturbance to the realm. So she sealed that too."
Simon kept walking, bridging half the distance between his seat and Orion.
"This doesn't make sense!" Orion spat. "You all agreed that I was stronger than the five of you combined! So how am I being overpowered by just one of you?! And I absorbed portions of your abilities just moments ago—I should be stronger than before!"
Just then something strange happened. A faint tremor passed through Orion's body, and a frown creased his forehead. He lifted his hands, examining them with growing alarm.
"You finally noticed, didn't you?" Simon said with a smug tilt of his lips.
"My power…" Orion muttered. "I feel… weaker." His voice trembled slightly. "But that doesn't make sense. I absorbed abilities from five of you. I should be overflowing with strength and energy but somehow it's the opposite. What the world happened to me?!"
Simon exhaled, his voice adopting an almost paternal tone.
"Allow me to explain, child." He stepped in front of Orion. "We may not fully understand the origin of your abilities—or just how powerful they make you. But we do understand how our own powers work. One of our greatest drawbacks is that when we unlock a new ability, our bodies weaken drastically. We need time to adapt—which is why we hibernate whenever that happens. It protects us from potential threats during our most vulnerable moments."
He paused, letting the truth sink in.
"You, Orion, did not acquire one new power. You took five—simultaneously. Your body is undergoing forced adaptation. And as a consequence, you are far too weak to overpower Anna Louise's seals… or mount any real resistance."
Orion's jaw clenched.
He finally understood.
If he'd been at full strength, he could have crushed the seals and likely destroyed them all. But now…
He was completely helpless.
Everything had unfolded exactly as Simon had foreseen in his premonition—and precisely as he had planned.
"So what is this, then?" Orion asked bitterly. "You're going to get rid of me because you're afraid I'll oppose you someday?"
Simon chuckled softly.
"Contrary to how this appears, we do not intend to kill you out of fear or self-preservation alone." He stepped behind Orion, standing just out of reach. "We discovered a ritual—one capable of granting a wish. A wish powerful enough to reshape the world entirely."
"A wish?" Orion repeated, voice tight.
Simon leaned close to his ear.
"Unfortunately, such a wish demands a price of equal magnitude. With the abilities we gave you—combined with what you already possessed—you now hold enough power to pay it. To think that a young man like yourself possessed the power to shape the world as you saw fit, yet chose not to… Well, allow us to take that opportunity for ourselves."
"And what kind of wish do five people—who already rule the world from the shadows—have to make to push you to do all of this?" Orion asked.
Simon smiled.
"A do-over." He replied.
"A do-over?" Orion grimaced, twisting his torso and turning his head to face Simon behind him.
"That's right, child. A do-over." Simon said and placed a hand on Orion's shoulder. "I'd like to tell you more, but sadly it's already too late for you."
Before Orion could react, a blade slid into his back—piercing his heart. This time, there was no escape, no trick, no husk to save him. Anna Louise made sure of that by sealing every ability he had used to trick them and escape last time.
His scream echoed through the realm as Simon twisted the blade.
"Thank you for your sacrifice, young Orion" Simon whispered, stroking Orion's hair almost gently. "Now… rest. We shall reshape the world in your honor."
The light in Orion's eyes dimmed as darkness clouded his vision. His body crumpled, collapsing like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
He hit the floor, blood gushing from the wound that still held the blade. His heart had stopped. Finally, he was dead.
In the pitch-black void of Orion's subconscious, where silence reigned, a massive translucent blue screen materialized. Words etched themselves onto its surface with eerie precision.
"You have died and, as a result, have caused a forced termination of the beta test sequence. Based on the challenges you encountered during your test recalibrations have been made, and a new sequence has been assigned — the Path of the Enlightened One."
"Do you choose to accept your new path, or accept permanent death?"
Floating in the endless silence, Orion's fading consciousness answered:
"I… I accept."
The screen flickered.
"Initiating the Path of the Enlightened One"
Then everything went dark again.
Seconds later, Orion began hearing a voice from the right. It was loud, annoying, and for some reason stirred up emotions from within him.
"Who dares speak with that tone around me?" He wondered, and then another voice—this one filled with disdain—sounded from the left, drawing his attention in that direction. As he swept his gaze toward the source, he realized, to his surprise, that the darkness was gone.
To his even greater surprise, he was standing upright in a room surrounded by strangers, all wearing clothing far different from what he was used to seeing. Each of them glared at him with a mixture of irritation and suspicion.
'What's going on?' he asked himself. 'Who are these people? Where am I?'
Just then, inside his mind, a calm feminine voice spoke:
"Congratulations. You have been restored to the world of the living. The name Orion Griffin no longer belongs to you. From this moment on, you shall be known as Fredrick Haze, a regular human in this world in Darwin City. Good luck as you embark on your path to becoming the Enlightened One."