Radiant Palace,
Astralis City, Auroria Kingdom
Sol continent, AurenIdril Empire
Terra, Gaea solar system,
Milky Way galaxy
Luminary star system
25th Astralis cycle, Solaris Prime, 572,413
Gilgamesh Noavellion observed the trial unfold before him. This was his creation, his design, and yet, the events that transpired had begun to deviate from the path he had originally set. Too many unknown variables had inserted themselves into his plans—foreign forces meddling, pieces shifting in unpredictable ways. Yet, despite it all… the outcome he desired remained unchanged.
Two paths.
Two diverging destinies. And whichever path unfolded mattered little to him. The others thought him to be Gilgamesh Noavellion—an Echo of the once-powerful prince of the AurenIdril Empire. And in a way, they weren't wrong.
He was an Echo. But he was more. He was the Crown. Once, long ago, he had been a relic wielded by the heir to the AurenIdril Empire—an artifact of supreme power, bound to a soul that had long since faded into legend.
A fragment of the prince's will, his essence, his ambition had fused with the Crown, shaping the being that now stood upon the throne. And as the battle below escalated, Gilgamesh Noavellion—the Crown—watched with knowing eyes. The time for Terra's Awakening was nigh.
The air cracked as the Divine Emperor's avatar surged forward, his clawed hand a streak of golden death aimed straight for Sam. The force behind the strike was terrifying—enough to tear through space itself, an attack meant to annihilate her before she could react. But in that moment—
Emily moved. A blur of silver and shadow, she threw herself between Sam and death, shoving her out of the way just in time. The Divine Avatar's claws found their mark—
Ripping straight through Emily's heart. A sickening tear. Blood burst into the air, painting the battlefield in crimson arcs as Emily's breath hitched in a sharp gasp. Pain—searing, blinding—lanced through her. But even as her body convulsed, her instincts took over.
Her hand snapped up, grabbing the Beastman's wrist before he could retreat, her grip a vice of pure force. With a surge of strength, she wrenched his arm and hurled him away, his body crashing through the ground, shattering the stone beneath him. She staggered. Her vision blurred at the edges, her breath ragged as she looked down—
Her blood pooled at her feet, a deep, gaping wound where the Divine Emperor's claws had torn through her armor, through her body. Her knees almost buckled. The pain was suffocating. But Emily gritted her teeth—and acted.
Taking a deep breath, she focused inward, drawing upon the ancient force within her. Her blood rippled—and then, impossibly, it moved. A shimmering pull of crimson energy reversed its flow, crawling back into her wound like liquid threads weaving her back together. She wasn't just absorbing it. She was reclaiming the life force within it.
The healing was instantaneous. Even the lingering Divine Energy, meant to keep her wound from closing, was overwritten, consumed, neutralized. Emily straightened, her orange eyes gleaming as she took a steady breath, the remnants of pain still thrumming in her nerves—but her body whole once more.
Emily's gaze locked onto the Divine Emperor's avatar. He was watching her now. And for the first time, she allowed her emotions to surface without restraint. The usual calm, calculating mask she wore was gone—replaced by something raw, something unfiltered.
Rage.
Determination.
Defiance.
The Divine Avatar readied himself, his golden aura pulsing in ominous waves as he prepared to strike again. But before he could move—
Gilgamesh clapped his hands.
A sharp, echoing sound sent a ripple through the very fabric of the throne room. Reality twisted. The air crackled, the space around them warping and folding as if the palace itself was shifting, rearranging the battlefield at the will of its Administrator.
Sam's eyes widened as she felt the world shift beneath her feet. The space that connected her to Rosa, Henry, and the others fractured, the distance between them stretching like an ever-expanding abyss. A wall of golden light materialized before her, severing her from them completely. Even the path to the throne—to the Crown—was gone.
The battlefield had been rewritten. And now, it was just—
Sam and Emily.
Against—
The Divine Avatar. Hekate. Nabu. Sam's fists clenched. The odds were impossibly stacked, but before she could even consider her next move—
Emily stepped forward. Her Spell Blades flashed into existence in her hands, the twin daggers humming with embedded enchantments, their blades thrumming with contained devastation. Her voice was calm, unshakable.
"No way in hell am I letting you fight this thing alone."
Sam glanced at her, lips parting to protest, but Emily wasn't having it. Sam was strong—insanely strong for a Warrior Realm ascendant. But this? This was a Divine-empowered Master Realm entity. A direct fragment of the Divine Emperor's will. There was no version of this battle where Sam fought alone and won.
The Divine Avatar moved.
A blur of unstoppable force, his body shifting at speeds that shattered the sound barrier, golden afterimages streaking across space itself. His claws elongated—razor-sharp and blinding with celestial light. The air itself split apart, reality ripping as his strike sliced toward them like a golden death sentence.
But Emily was already moving. With absolute precision, she whipped her dagger up, the mythical-grade blade already glowing with the sigils of a pre-activated spell. A Tier Four Spatial Stabilization Light spell—the only counter to a reality-tearing attack.
[Luminus Nexus!]
A golden sigil erupted into existence, unfurling like a celestial thread across the ruptured space. It expanded, weaving light into the shattered fragments of the dimension, sealing the rift before it could collapse into something irreversible. The attack—meant to tear through existence itself—was neutralized in an instant.
But the battle was just beginning. As Emily clashed with the Divine Avatar, her movements a blur of calculated precision and deadly skill, Sam turned her focus toward Nabu and Hekate. The air between them crackled with lethal intent, thick with an unspoken challenge.
Nabu's dark spear was already drawn, the weapon pulsing with an ominous black radiance—a weapon forged for the sole purpose of ending lives. His gaze burned with cold fury, the humiliation from their last encounter still fresh in his mind.
"Let's see what you can do now, girl."
His voice was a low growl, his grip tightening around his spear. The air warped around him, his movements as fluid as a serpent, as deadly as a viper's strike. There was murder in his intent. He was done playing.
Sam didn't hesitate. With a flash of emerald light, she summoned Avis from her Soul Core. A mighty thunderclap resounded through the throne room, the sheer force of the summoning shaking the space itself. The Thunderbird Spirit King emerged, its majestic form unfurling in a storm of celestial lightning, its vast wings casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.
Lightning danced across its feathers, a storm given form, raw power personified. As Avis's essence merged with her, Sam felt the surge of celestial energy coursing through her veins, heightening her speed, her power—her very existence sharpening to its peak. She launched forward, a streak of lightning, meeting Nabu's spear with a resonant clash.
Steel screamed against steel. Nabu pushed hard, his attacks a blur of relentless, ruthless strikes, his mastery of the spear on full display. But Sam was faster now. Stronger. Lightning surged with every movement, her gauntlet cutting through the air with razor precision, pushing back against Nabu's advance.
Yet, even as they exchanged blow for blow, Hekate did not move. She stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching. Cold. Calculating. The battlefield was a blur of relentless motion, steel and lightning colliding with raw ferocity.
Sam's fists met Nabu's spear in a vicious exchange, each strike sending sparks and shockwaves through the air. The ringing clash of metal against reinforced Odic energy resonated through the throne room as they fought blow for blow, neither willing to yield.
Yet, Sam could feel it—the insidious poison woven into Nabu's attacks. His Ability Factor laced his strikes, a venomous, rebuffing energy that sought to disrupt her mana flow, throwing off her rhythm, weakening her strikes. She gritted her teeth. She knew this ability all too well. It was the same one that had nearly destroyed Leon.
She had been prepared. With a flicker of Odic force, Sam activated her Counter Art—an intricate Counter Field forming around her, neutralizing the poisonous effect before it could take hold. The energy disruption that should have slowed her down? Canceled. Nabu's spear thrust forward, aiming for a fatal strike—
But Sam was already a step ahead. She wasn't just countering—she was calculating. Above her, Avis's wings pulsed with golden lightning, the Thunderbird Spirit King weaving advanced spell formations, feeding the raw calculations directly into Sam's consciousness.
Though Sam could not yet wield Avis's full strength, their bond allowed the Spirit King to funnel power into her, assisting in complex spell-shaping. A cold smirk touched her lips. It was time to shift the battle in her favor.
Her Odic force surged, and in an instant—two Tier-Four spells materialized in her mind. With a simple flick of her wrist, she released them. The ground trembled violently. With a deep, resounding crack, the very foundation of the throne room split apart, massive fissures tearing through the battlefield like ruptured fault lines.
[Tectonic Rupture.]
Jagged spikes of earth erupted violently, splintering the ground and forming deep chasms that swallowed anything in their path. Nabu leapt into the air, avoiding the seismic devastation below— But Sam had anticipated that.
[Tempest Raze.]
A sudden howling gale surged upward, forming a localized hurricane, its slicing wind currents twisting like razors, attacking from every angle. Nabu's eyes narrowed. With a sharp twist of his wrist, he activated his Aura Technique—
[Crescent Fang Slash.]
A crescent-shaped arc of energy erupted from his spear, slicing through the winds with absolute precision. His Ability Factor infused the technique, carrying the same disruptive energy, unraveling the Tempest Raze in an instant. A direct counter. Sam's storm vanished—
But she wasn't done.
Before Nabu could counterattack, Sam's energy surged again. This time, her body crackled with a different kind of power. A violent fusion of lightning and sound. She had already prepared the next wave. Two Tier-Five spells ignited in the air.
[Thunderfang Cataclysm.]
The space above them turned white. A storm of concentrated lightning bolts erupted from above, each one searing with a heat of over 30,000°C, striking down with precision and destruction. The battlefield became a thunderstorm incarnate.
Nabu's body flashed with mana, his aura hardening to withstand the electrical devastation, but it wasn't enough. The final lightning strike landed—a devastating electrical detonation that sent him crashing from the sky, smoke trailing from his body. And then—
The final spell struck.
[Resonant Annihilation.]
A concentrated wave of destructive sound vibrations exploded outward, sending a shockwave of pure force through Nabu's body. His organs ruptured—his bones cracked— A visceral, unseen force shattered his internal structure, sending him reeling in agony. For the first time, Nabu faltered and Fell.
And Sam did not let up. Sam lunged forward, ready to deliver the next strike when suddenly—Black lances of darkness erupted from the ground, spearing toward her in a deadly array. But this time, she was ready. Avis reacted instantly, weaving a Tier-Four defensive spell in the span of a breath.
[Luminous Refraction]
A radiant pulse of refracted light expanded around Sam, dispersing the dark lances before they could reach her, their corrupted energy unraveling into harmless wisps of shadow. Sam pivoted, her gaze locking onto Hekate. The woman stood in the distance, watching her with cold, calculating eyes, the flickering glow of tendrils of darkness coiled around her like living serpents.
A scornful expression marred her face—displeasure, irritation. Sam had defended against her attack. And Hekate did not tolerate disappointment. Then—she moved. A blink spell activated, and in the span of a heartbeat, she was gone.
But Avis saw everything. Perched high above, the Thunderbird Spirit King processed the shift in space, its perception cutting through the veil of illusions. A warning pulse surged through their link. Sam felt the subtle shift in the Odyllic field—
Hekate was re-emerging behind her.
Through a spatial rift, she tore into reality, her form flickering into existence, a blade of darkness already swinging down, aiming to cleave straight through Sam's back. But Sam had anticipated it. A fraction of a second before the blade could land—
[Radiant Bastion.]
A barrier of pure golden light burst into existence, an impenetrable bastion of golden energy surrounding Sam in a protective cocoon. Hekate's blade collided against the barrier, and a screech of raw, opposing forces echoed through the battlefield.
Shadow against Light.
Hekate's eyes narrowed—her surprise well hidden but not absent. Sam exhaled sharply, her golden aura burning brighter.
"Impressive, girl," Hekate said, her tone laced with amusement. "But you'll have to do better than that." Sam's Radiant Bastion shimmered around her, a protective dome of golden energy pulsating with celestial strength. It had successfully blocked the first strike—but it was only a Tier-Four spell. Hekate's lips curled into a smirk. She did not need brute force. Raising a single hand, she wove a Tier-Five spell—a fusion of Dimensional Magic and Darkness itself.
The air rippled. The space around them folded, twisted, and bent unnaturally as the threads of reality fractured under her command. With a flick of her wrist—
The dome tore apart like fragile glass. Sam barely had a moment to react as her barrier shattered, golden shards dissolving into nothing. Shock flashed across her face. She hadn't expected Hekate to unravel the spell so effortlessly—not through raw power but absolute control over space itself.
And now—Hekate had the opening she wanted.
-
Across the battlefield, two streaks of light—one golden, one orange—blurred through the air, colliding with blinding speed. Their movements were so fast, so precise, that to any ordinary onlooker, they were nothing but flashes of radiant energy streaking across the throne room.
The force of their battle sent violent shockwaves rippling outward, the very air trembling beneath the weight of their power. At the heart of it all, Emily fought desperately, her every movement a blur of calculated precision as she struggled to counter the relentless assault of the Divine Avatar.
Each strike from the Avatar was devastation incarnate—razor-sharp claws of condensed golden energy ripping through space itself. Every time she blocked, reality warped, fissures splitting open in the air around her, threatening to consume her.
Her defensive spells, even her Tier-Four spatial stabilizing magic, were starting to fail—the sheer magnitude of the Avatar's raw output overwhelming her countermeasures. It wasn't just attacking her. It was imposing its will upon existence. Trying to erase her.
But Emily wasn't so easily undone. Her twin spell blades whirled through the air, their silver edges glowing with an intense orange light—Soulflames, infused with her very essence. The ethereal fire burned through the divine energy, severing the golden strikes before they could land, carving her path through the chaos. She could feel it—
The unrelenting force of Enkidu's body, controlled by the Divine Emperor. Every movement was graceful yet overpowering, his limbs a blur of raw, untamed speed and destruction. A storm given form. The thunderous impact of their battle rattled the throne room, shaking the very foundations of the Echo Field. And yet—
Emily knew. She was being pushed back. And the Avatar was only growing stronger.
At that exact moment—
Hekate struck. Her blade of corrosive darkness tore through the air, aimed directly for Sam's heart. With Sam's barrier shattered, the path to her vital point was wide open. Avis, hovering above, desperately tried to weave a new defensive spell, its computational magic surging through Sam's mind—but it was too slow. Hekate was faster.
Her blade, moving with the unstoppable force of a locomotive, descended toward Sam's chest, and then— A glow. A pulse of raw spatial force energy erupted from the bracelet on Sam's left arm. The very gift Leon had given her days ago. The air folded, warping around her as if reality itself had been rewritten.
For the briefest moment, it was as if time hesitated, as if the very fabric of existence paused to acknowledge the anomaly. The bracelet's energy activated—but not as intended. The primary function had failed. The energy channeled into it was not enough to complete its intended purpose. And so—
The secondary function triggered. A function Leon had never told Sam about. A rift split open before her. Space folded apart. And from within its depths—
Leon manifested. Directly in front of Sam. The rift shattered behind him, its residual energy dissipating as Leon stood firm, his presence an unexpected disruption in the battlefield.
Dressed in his signature long black cloak, it billowed slightly from the residual force of the teleportation. Beneath it, he wore his black jacket over a white long-sleeve shirt, the top buttons undone, revealing a hint of his collarbones and the faint scars etched into his skin. His dark pants were tucked into his combat boots, his usual attire making him look as if he had simply walked out of the shadows of another war.
At his waist, Solus, his Divine Sword, rested against his belt buckle, its presence a stark reminder of who he was, what he carried And in the next moment—
Hekate's blade of corrosive darkness found him instead of Sam. With blinding speed, Leon's arm shot up, intercepting the strike barehanded. The blade bit deep into his palm. A vicious sizzle followed, the dark magic gnawing through his flesh, burning his skin as if acid had been poured into his very veins.
"Urrgh!" Leon grunted, his jaw clenching against the pain, his fingers tightening around the dark weapon. His muscles tensed, shaking as he struggled to hold it back, his body still weakened from the curse that had been eating away at him for months.
Hekate's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, surprised by his sudden intervention—
But she recovered swiftly, her instincts honed through centuries of battle. Her intent did not waver. If she could not pierce Sam's heart—
She would shove the blade through Leon's instead. A cold, murderous smile played on her lips as she pressed forward, pouring more force into the strike. Leon's grip trembled, his strength faltering at the worst possible moment. And then—
The blade sliced through his fingers like they were nothing but butter. Blood splattered across the floor. The next moment, Hekate's blade plunged straight through Leon's chest.
Silence. Time itself seemed to freeze. Sam watched in horror, her breath caught in her throat as the dark energy-infused weapon pierced through his body, emerging from his back in a burst of twisting black tendrils. A blade meant for her. A death that should have been hers.
Leon's body jerked violently, his lips parting spitting blood. Hekate's smile widened, twisting with cruel satisfaction, but as she tried to withdraw the blade, she couldn't. Because Leon's right hand shot forward, grabbing hold of her wrist tightly.
His grip was like iron, even as his body trembled, even as blood poured from his wound. And then he spat again. But this time—
His blood was golden. Not ordinary blood but blood infused with the volatile combustion mana of his bloodline. The moment it touched Hekate's bare skin—
A sizzle. A violent, caustic noise filled the air as the golden blood burned through her flesh, sinking into her veins, merging with her very bloodstream. And then—
Explosions.
Tiny, internal detonations ignited within her body, ravaging her from the inside out. Hekate's eyes widened in shock, in agony. The pain was instant. Blinding. Unrelenting. Her body convulsed, her dark magic trying desperately to suppress the combustive energy tearing through her.
And yet—it wasn't stopping. Leon gritted his teeth, his golden eyes flashing with raw defiance, even as his own life bled away. Hekate vanished in a blink, the shadows swallowing her form as she retreated as far as possible. The foreign combustive mana still burned inside her, tiny volatile explosions rupturing her veins, searing through her from within.
But Sam wasn't focused on her anymore. Because, in front of her, Leon was collapsing. His body gave out, the strength leaving him as he fell forward—Only for Sam to catch him just in time, pulling him into her arms.
Her breath hitched. Her hands trembled as she felt the warm, sticky wetness of his blood seeping through her fingers. Her mind refused to accept it.
"No! No! No! You're not supposed to be here!"
Her voice cracked, raw and desperate.
"The artifact—the bracelet—I thought it was supposed to protect me...not sacrifice you!"
Leon tried to respond, but a wet cough rattled through his chest, more blood spilling past his lips.
"Sorry..." His voice was weak, nearly drowned out by the chaos around them.
A pained, bitter smirk ghosted over his lips as he tried to joke through the agony.
"...couldn't maintain the mana...lousy relic."
His vision blurred, fading in and out, his body growing colder, number. When his mind focused again, the first thing he saw was her.
Sam.
Her beautiful face was twisted in anguish, her golden eyes burning with a pain that stabbed deeper than any blade ever could. Tears streamed down her cheeks, falling onto him like shattered fragments of something irreparable. Leon let out a weak, rasping chuckle.
"I'm such an ass."
Sam sniffled, her hold on him tightening.
"Here I was, promising myself I'd never give you a reason to cry... and I go and break it the first chance I get." His lips curved into the smallest, faintest smile. Because smiling was all he had the strength to do.
"I...I'm going to save you." Sam's voice was barely a whisper now. She pulled him closer, cradling him against her chest, refusing to let him go.
"I finally found you... I don't think I can—"
Leon gasped, more blood gushed out, and the darkness spread through him like an unstoppable tide, pulling him deeper, deeper, until his heartbeat slowed. The rhythm of his life faltered, unsteady. Until it reached the point of no return.
"No... No..." Sam choked. "Stay with me. Stay, damn it!"
Her Odic force flared erratically, her very soul screaming against the inevitable. As Sam pleaded for Leon to hold on, the throne room fell into absolute silence. The only sound—
The soft, deliberate steps of Gilgamesh Noavellion. The Crown Prince had appeared—his presence eclipsing everything else. Even Emily and the Divine Avatar's battle had paused, Emily's expression one of sheer horror as she saw Leon bleeding out in Sam's arms.
Gilgamesh stared down at them, expression unreadable, his gaze carrying the weight of something far beyond mortal comprehension. His golden eyes flickered, not with pity, not with anger, but with something deeper. Something apathetic, inevitable.
The weight of a fate already decided.
Sam ignored him. She refused to let this be the end. Her mind screamed, her soul reaching for something—anything. With a ragged breath, she activated the Eye of Mathias. The change in perception hit her like a crushing tidal wave. The overwhelming flood of information nearly made her sick, her senses twisting as the world reshaped itself before her eyes. But she fought against it. Pushed through the nausea, through the spiraling vertigo—
And focused. Her gaze locked onto Leon's body. She saw the geometric patterns that shaped his very existence, the vibrational frequencies of his being—and how they were fading, unraveling. He was slipping away. But as long as she could still see him... As long as he was still here—
She could do something. Sam's hands shook, slick with Leon's golden blood, her vision blurred with tears—but her mind was sharper than ever. The Eye of Mathias burned in her vision, peeling away the veil of reality. She could see beyond flesh, beyond bone, beyond death itself. Leon's existence was unraveling before her, his soul fraying like a melody losing its final note.
The sickness that had eaten away at him for months, years—a parasitic decay lodged deep within his essence—was accelerating, gnawing through what remained of his vitality, his foundation. But Sam refused to let him go. Her unique technique of Consonance stirred, the unseen forces of the world shivering at her command.
She had always known that everything had a frequency—a song woven into the very fabric of existence. But now, she heard it more clearly than ever before. Leon's soul was flickering, its resonance distorted, like an instrument played out of tune. She could feel its imbalance, its fractures, its slow, inevitable collapse. And then—
She felt another presence. Gilgamesh. Standing above them, the Crown Prince's soul- more accurately the Crown of Star's core sang in a golden hum, steady, ancient—a note that had once resonated with Leon's bloodline in another era.
And that's when Sam understood. She could pull them together. She could align them. She could forge Leon's existence anew. A feat that should have been impossible for someone at the Warrior's Realm.
But Sam wasn't alone. The Crown's will aligned with Sam's desire, her desire to save Leon, and Leon's desire to stay alive. As such, it boosted Sam's Consonance technique, making her a force of equilibrium, harmony, resonance, and order that could reunite broken pieces into something whole. And so she did.
Sam exhaled, pressing her trembling hands to Leon's chest, feeling the faint, flickering pulse of his existence beneath her fingertips. And then—she reached deeper. Her Odic force expanded, intertwining with the very foundation of his being, her mind diving into the raw structure of reality itself.
Through the Eye of Mathias, she saw the cymatic waves of his essence, shifting chaotically, out of sync with the natural order. He was falling out of tune with existence. She couldn't let that happen. Her Consonance hummed, and in response, the world itself seemed to hold its breath.
First, she reached for Leon. His soul, though fractured and flickering, still burned with stubborn defiance—a golden thread frayed but not yet severed. Then—she reached for Gilgamesh, the embodiment of the Crown. His soul pulsed in perfect structure, an ancient, indomitable melody. Their souls had once been in harmony, in another time, another life—Leon's lineage, the Sol Lineage, had been forged alongside the Crown's very existence.
And Sam was going to restore that connection. Her power surged, vibrations spreading outward, wrapping around their very souls—aligning, refining, rebuilding. She wasn't healing Leon. She was remaking him through molecular reconstruction. She could feel the sickness, an invasive parasite embedded deep within his soul, gnawing at his Mana reserves, suppressing his vitality.
A corruption that had no business existing. So she erased it. The frequencies shifted, the distortion purged as Sam's Consonance pulled Leon back into harmony with himself. And then—
His soul shined. The golden hum of Gilgamesh's existence merged with Leon's, reforging him, making him whole once more. His heartbeat—a rhythm once faltering, returned. A steady, thundering beat.
But Sam wasn't done. Because something else had begun to stir. As her power of Consonance grew, as she pulled Leon back from the brink, something deep within Terra itself responded. The ground trembled.
The very core of the planet pulsed in rhythm with the resonance Sam had created. Through the Eye of Mathias, she saw it—
The Core of Terra. It had been asleep, sealed, its energy bound for eons. But now, it was listening. Her Consonance was not just aligning Leon's soul. It was aligning Terra itself. And with a final, resonant pulse—The first seal upon Terra's Core cracked. And the world itself awoke.