A Realm Beyond the List

Outside the Pillar of Divine Appraisal, the atmosphere was thick with silence—an unnatural, suffocating stillness that gripped every single being on the tenth floor.

Then, like a wave crashing through brittle calm, a ripple of collective disbelief spread across the hall. Eyes widened, jaws slackened, and expressions contorted into pure, unfiltered shock as they stared at the monolith, struggling to comprehend what they were seeing.

The list of names, carved into the surface of the pillar across ten distinct lines—each representing the classification of talent from the lowest to the highest—had always been the pride and judgment of the Tower. But now, something unprecedented had occurred.

Max's name had disappeared from the first line entirely. Instead, it had reappeared not within the list… but above it.