Chapter 17
The forest was silent — but not with peace.
With dread.
Anshi's body hit the ground with a dull thud, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.
She had given everything she had. Every drop of aura, every ounce of strength.
Her vision blurred. Her body refused to move.
"Aeren... please..."
She saw Varnyx towering above her — monstrous jaws wide open, ready to end her.
And then—
The air changed.
A Pulse That Shook the Void
A crack.
No, a tear in reality.
Not seen — felt.
Aeren, still lost in the fog of dreams, was standing now.
Eyes closed. Face calm.
But his body… it glowed with an ancient power that didn't belong to this time.
The leaves around him floated.
The trees bent away.
Even the beast flinched.
Varnyx paused mid-attack, his claws inches away from Anshi's throat.
Then his expression — twisted and smug — shifted.
He stepped back.
Eyes widened.
"I-it can't be…"
The mark on Aeren's chest was glowing.
Time twisted, space rippled.
He opened his eyes, but he wasn't awake.
"Protocol breach... memory lock lifted... authority unlocked..."
A voice spoke from nowhere, like a lost god's whisper.
Elsewhere: Sinjai Academy – Command Tower
"Level 6 monster confirmed—Varnyx the Crimson Fang."
"Prepare emergency protocol! Dispatch high-level Seekers now!"
"We're too late… Something else is happening in that forest."
High-ranking Seekers — Silver, Gold, even a Daimond -level — began moving.
The skies cracked with sonic booms as they launched toward Bloodshade Forest.
But they were still minutes away.
Back in the Forest
Varnyx let out a roar, but it wasn't dominance this time — it was fear.
"That blood… that aura… the one the Ancients sealed…"
Aeren's body floated off the ground slightly.
His eyes now glowing with a celestial blue hue, pupils turning into ancient runes.
He extended his hand instinctively.
Space shattered.
The ground beneath Varnyx's feet crumbled.
A massive invisible pressure — like a planet falling — slammed the monster to the ground.
The Level 6 beast howled in pain — a monster that had killed thousands. Trembling. Submitting.
"He doesn't even know what he is…" Varnyx whispered.
"Why now... why has he awakened?"
Inside Aeren's Mind
He was still dreaming.
Standing on that cliff. Watching the cloaked version of himself from earlier.
But this time, the hooded figure turned, raised a hand, and said—
"Your body remembers before your mind does. That's the curse of the Chosen."
Back in Reality
Aeren walked slowly toward the fallen monster.
Each step bent the forest around him.
Varnyx struggled to stand, monstrous pride broken, primal fear taking root.
"You… you carry the blood of the Voidwalker Line…"
"The one who commands space, mind, and time…"
Aeren's hand glowed — not with fire, but with existence itself.
He was about to erase Varnyx.
But then—
"Aeren!!"
A voice. Familiar. Frightened. Anshi.
Her body stirred. Just barely.
Aeren blinked.
The light faded.
His feet touched the ground.
And he collapsed.
Moments Later
The sky split.
High-level Seekers from the region landed like comets around the battlefield.
Their eyes scanned the devastation.
Trees incinerated. Rocks melted. The forest twisted unnaturally.
Varnyx… gone.
Anshi… injured.
Aeren… unconscious.
But what left everyone breathless was the impression in the ground.
An outline of Aeren's last step.
So heavy… the ground was compressed like black glass.
The Lead Seeker — a Daimond -ranked legend — stepped forward.
"Who… did this?"
Anshi, barely awake, whispered…
" I don't know …"
🩸 End of Chapter 17