Jayd’s eyes snapped open.His entire body was rigid, his right hand instantly twitched toward his hip, seeking the worn hilt of his broadsword, only to find linen sheets instead of cold steel.The crushing pressure of two thousand feet of dark-red ocean water was gone. The sickening, metallic stench of Abyssal sulfur, the screaming specters of Aethelgard, and the shattering glass of the high tower vanished, instead, the warm, golden light of early morning streamed through high arched windows, illuminating the quiet, quarters of the Imperial Barracks.Jayd slowly sat up on the edge of the bed, his knuckles turning white as he stared at his hands. They were smooth, unmarked by fresh burns from Valkyrie Sanctification or the recoil of Aegis Reflection. His breathing was steady, but deep within his chest, his core throbbed with a hollow, lingering cold.It had been a vision.Everything —the silent coup in Aethelgard, the sacrifice of Maiden Elysia, the resurrection of Midgard's fallen

There were no merchants shouting, no children playing in the streets, no smiths hammering at anvils. The buildings were constructed from reinforced, anti-mana basalt, their windows boarded shut with heavy iron shutters.The earth beneath Jayd’s horse buckled violently. A deafening, metallic tearing sound echoed from the valley beyond the city walls, as if the fabric of reality itself were being ripped apart by massive, invisible claws.Jayd kicked his stallion into a full gallop, tearing through the southern gatehouse and bursting onto the open, ash-choked battlefield.What met his eyes defied every theory he knew. Abyss Gates were volatile spatial fissures; according to three centuries of documented military history, the immense mana pressure required to open a single gate naturally suppressed the spatial fabric around it, making it impossible for two gates to manifest within ten miles of each other.Yet, stretching across the scorched valley before him, five massive Abyss Gates ha

Balthazar blinded by his own frantic desperation and dark hubris, Jayd’s heavy breathing and blood-stained lip were the unmistakable signs of a fallen champion at his limit. He surged forward, his claymore trailing a hideous plume of unstable, pitch-black Abyssal fire."DIE, ENVOY!" Balthazar screamed, plunging his blade down in a desperate, wide-arc executioner’s chop.A quarter-mile back, the surviving battalion of garrison soldiers collapsed into a state of sheer, paralyzing panic. To their mortal eyes, everything was blurry."He... he stopped moving!" a young private shrieked, clutching his head in horror. "The Envoy used everything to save the villagers! He can't defend himself!""Where are they?!" the captain yelled, his sight straining through the thick, swirling clouds of kicked-up ash and ozone. "They're too fast! I can't track them!"BOOM!A shockwave tore across the plain, blowing away the top layer of bedrock. To the mortals in the trenches, it looked as if the earth i

The throne room’s temperature plummeted as everyone went silent. For a second, even the crackle of the wall torches seemed to die out. Then, a low, furious murmur rippled through the elevated gallery where the elder lords and high court ministers sat in their velvet robes.These were men who had spent decades hoarding influence within the kingdom, men who were already nursing deep, bitter resentment over the honors King Varos had so freely offered to a nameless Knight. To them, Jayd was an outsider who had suddenly been granted the highest military reverence in the realm. And now, this stranger had dared to address the Queen with blatant, unceremonious casualness, opening a highly guarded secret in front of the entire court.One of the elders stepped forward to the stone balustrade, his skeletal face twisted in cold outrage."Insolence!" His voice rasped across the hall like rusted iron sliding against stone. "Your Majesty, are you truly going to stand there and allow a mercenary

"Step aside, Commander!" a harsh, grating voice demanded. The Elder’s tone dripped with venom but he was just a man who had spent his life behind mahogany desks while others bled in the dirt. "We carry a direct royal mandate signed by the High Council! Her Majesty’s condition has stabilized, and the court demands the Envoy present himself immediately to answer for his insolence!”"He is on mandatory medical rest, Elder!" Commander Gerald’s voice roared back, heavy, resonant, and unyielding. The metallic scrape of leather boots against stone signaled that Gerald had shifted his stance, placing his imposing frame directly between the council members and the door latch. "His Majesty the King has no complaints with Sir Jayd days of undisturbed recovery! He saved this citadel yesterday! He saved your worthless lives! I will not allow you to disturb him!"Jayd sat cross-legged on a thick woven mat in the center of the stone room. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing slow and rhythm