Chapter Twenty Five

[Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack!]

[Crash!!!]

"What!!!?"

The disturbing sound of glass breaking apart rang inside of Kyle's head. The sound was immaterial and ethereal, he could find neither the source nor the distance of it.

His whole body recoiled back and he gritted his teeth, shoulders raised abruptly. At this moment, the ominous sensation in his heart had broken out in its entirety.

Both of his hands were lifted to cover his ears, a useless attempt in order to distract him from the gaudy and sharp noise that rang in his mind.

'Wait, my hands?'

Opening both of his eyes in an instant, he glanced left and right and found both of his hands on the edge of his vision—perfectly fine and healthy.

But Kyle was interrupted by a sharp yell before he could inspect his limbs.

"What was that?!"

Apparently, Loine had also heard the piercing noise. Her body was on a fighting stance and her eyes were squinted together, alert but unsurprised.

It was as if she was used to hearing loud noises inside her head.

"You…" Kyle spoke in a confused bearing.

Once again, his words ended prematurely. Loud shrieks could be heard from the hallway just outside of his room.

The stern-looking woman disappeared with a flash of light, leaving him together with various instruments and artifacts.

"What is…I—"

The youth appeared disordered and confused.

His voice was quivering and cold sweats slid down his forehead as if he had just woken up from a nightmare.

Confusing thoughts appeared on his head one after another, with no one to answer his confusions.

He clicked his tongue and jumped out from his bed.

'I'll save these questions for later, figuring what happened just earlier should be prioritized first,' he thought.

The youth ran to the entrance of his room and swiped the door open. Once opened, the sharp shrieks from various people became clearer to the ears.

He spotted a group of people crowding together near his room. All of them were panicking and were looking outside of the glass panels, shouting at each other for comfort.

"T-the sky, what is that?!"

"What is happening here?!"

"It's breaking apart?!"

"Are we being attacked by a Ruler?!"

Their voices overlapped with one another, but Kyle could filter some keywords from their shrieks.

'The sky…is breaking?'

Kyle swung his head rapidly and glanced outside of the transparent panels. Outside the windows was the starry sky, with holes forming from the countless cracks. These gaps revealed the segments behind it—a black, dull, void, and empty darkness.

Seeing the uncanny scene, both of his eyes inadvertently widened.

"It's breaking apart!"

The sky changed alongside his realization.

[Crack!] [Crack!] [Crack]

[Crash!!!]

"Kyaa—!"

"Uwaa—!"

A huge chunk of the sky shattered, further unveiling the empty void behind it.

Kyle's mind spun in full force as he speculated about this phenomenon.

'An enemy attack!? No, can a Ruler even destroy the sky by themselves? Or is this an illusion formed by a powerful figure?'

His train of thoughts was interrupted as a melodious voice rang behind him.

"Hey!" But before he was able to turn around, a slender hand had grasped his shoulders tightly.

"We're running away!"

Immediately, a bright light engulfed both of them.

The youth felt the ground below his disappear, as the sensation of security disappeared below him. In turn, rough winds furiously ruffled his whole body—shutting his eyes.

"Where are we!?" He shouted with all his might, hoping for the person grasping his shoulder to hear.

"Protect your eyes and open them!"

Kyle circulated his energy and focused his energy on his eyes. Even though It would only slightly enhance his vision, it would protect his eyes from the raging winds around them.

He opened his eyes and saw hell below both of them. The barren land was scented with the smell of death and flames. No vegetation remained below them, only brown dirt and the occasional burst of flames were present.

"Where are we…?" He asked with a lowered tone, slowly shaking his head to see the surface below him.

"Back to our city. But I'm not asking you to look down, I'm asking you to look up!"

'Don't tell me…"

Lifting his head, the starry sky set its sight on him. But it wasn't only the starry sky that gazed on him, the various cracks and holes were also looking back at him. The emptiness behind those holes stared deeply, highlighting the feeling of ominousness inside him.

Kyle stared blankly at them. Loine saw his delirious state and bit her lower lips.

"We are moving again!"

She used her Authority and teleported both of them away, engulfing their bodies with a flash of light.

"Here too?!"

They reappeared under the hole-riddled sky once again. The hole gradually became more numerous, slowly replacing the starry sky with the dull void.

[Crash!!!]

"Tsk!"

A gigantic void formed after the sky broke apart. When it appeared, their surroundings turned hazy—as if It was just a mirage.

"Just what is happening here…?" Kyle muttered under his breath.

"One more time!"

They disappeared.

But alas, they couldn't escape the shattering sky. The void expanded with every single passing moment, stealing the place where the starry sky belonged.

"The ground?"

Glancing down, Kyle witnessed as the solid ground turned into mist. Everything surrounding both of them had mysteriously turned into these illusory hazes.

"Shit! What's going on?!"

Beside him, Loine's face was distorted. She clenched her free hand tightly and bit her lower lip until it bled.

'This must be the work of a hostile Ruler…I hope Karan's okay back there, I couldn't just yank him out of the surgery bed can't I?'

She felt guilty for leaving Karan behind, but forcefully detaching him from the restorative artifacts would probably do him more harm than good.

Her palm was tightly clenched to Kyle's back. The stern-looking woman was relieved that she had at least brought him with her.

'Wait, wasn't he injured as well?'

Unaware of Loine's inner plight, Kyle felt terror from the bottom of his heart.

'What would happen if that "void" completely replaced the sky?'

At this point, only a tiny number of stars were visible to the eye. The process of the sky breaking apart had reached the point of no return.

And, as expected, the final shards of stars were devoured by the void, leaving the empty void as the new sky.

Immediately, he felt the grip on his hands loosening, turning into a water-like substance.

"…!"

Kyle fell without any pillar of support to hold him. Above him, Loine shouted while reaching out with her hands, but nothing came out from her throat.

"…?!"

The stern-looking woman appeared confused for a moment, before locking eyes with Kyle. The youth was falling to the foggy ground, leaving Loine alone in the void sky.

Opening her mouth, Loine disappeared with a foggy flash of light and reappeared near him.

She tried to grab onto his body, but her hands dispersed as soon as they got into contact with Kyle's body.

"Loine!?"

"…!!!"

Both of their eyes widened. Loine attempted to communicate with Kyle, but nothing came out from her ethereal figure. Her body slowly turned into mists, along with their surroundings.

She seemed fully aware that she, together with the world around them, was turning into mists.

"…!"

She opened her mouth in panic and said something hastily, but it was of no use, Kyle could hear nothing coming out from her mouth.

"Loine, you?!"

Loine seemed to realize that Kyle wasn't able to listen to her words.

As her figure became blurrier, she went forward towards Kyle's body. Her facial complexion was now one with the mist, but the white line running through her cheeks was definitely not his imagination.

"No, just what in the world is happening?!"

The youth tried to touch any part of Loine's body. But as if it was a joke, his hand went through her and grasped nothing.

"No…No!!!"

Even though they were only together for a day or two, Kyle had felt a certain attachment towards this stern-looking woman.

The tears which flowed down his face currently were definitely his, not of anybody else.

Brief memories of Karan and Loine's banter flashed through his mind. Even though he wasn't a part of their family, he felt nice and comfortable watching both of them argue over their table manners.

The memories when she saved both of them from that massive explosion played on his head. And the memories where she broke down in tears at his room went through his mind.

'Even though it wasn't "me" back then, but that conversation definitely did happen!'

Unknowingly, the feeling of free-falling through the sky had disappeared. He was floating without any force pulling at him.

His surroundings have disappeared, the mist from earlier had evaporated into nothing.

Yet in front of him, a shaky yet blurry figure still remained. It was shaking unstably as if it was a candle fighting off the harsh winds.

It might have been his imagination, but Kyle felt as if the mist figure in front of him had felt his sorrow. It extended its limbs to wrap over Kyle's body, like how a sibling would console their crying sibling.

With a whoosh, the blurry figure went through his body and disappeared alongside everything else—leaving him alone in a dark space.

Kyle felt as if the blurry figure had smiled when it went through his body.