The black sheen of the transport gate dissolved, and while I expected my eyes to be welcomed by a contrasting bright ambience, a second expectation, one I hoped wouldn’t be the case, was. The situation in Galdor was the same—cracks in the sky, imposing a red ambience. I panicked a bit, quickly looking around for any sign of destruction or a recent battle. But the sight I beheld calmed my nerves. The city was intact. In fact, people seemed to carry on with their activities, unbothered by the changes the atmosphere presented with.

  I sighed in relief, voicing inwardly,

  “Everything is fine.”

  “It looks like they haven’t gotten here yet,” Yukina said to me.

  “It’s a good thing, isn’t it?” I replied.

  For a moment, I was marvelled, almost carried away by the cityscape of Galdor. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen, well, as Svan.

  I paused for a brief moment, upon the realization that I was consciously seeing myself as Svan, and not Varion. My thoughts and my view of things revolved around my identity as Svan. Despite the return of my memories as Varion, they felt disconnected with my present self as Svan, as though Varion’s experiences belonged to someone else entirely. It wasn’t rejection or denial, rather, I found it difficult to emotionally and psychologically integrate the two lives in a cohesive sense of self. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to embrace it, I just couldn’t.

  The memories of Varion were there, vivid and detailed, but they lacked an emotional weight that made them feel like an intrinsic part of myself. But it was impossible to discard them or pretend like they didn’t exist. Its existence alone was already enough influence in my life.

  So, instead of putting myself through an existential dilemma, trying to reconcile two identities, I decided to extract practical values from Varion’s memories—knowledge, skills, and insights, that would be of great use to myself as Svan.

  I couldn’t say for sure if one day I would completely embrace my identity as Varion. That was a strong possibility. I believed that one of the reasons why I couldn’t see myself as the Reaper Sovereign was because I just didn’t have the tools at my disposal to assume that role. My body was barely hanging on, trying to sustain mana and aether manipulation at the same time. I was just simply far from being a Sovereign.

  Yukina snapped me out of my thoughts,

  “Let’s go,” she said to me.

  We asked around until we were given the exact directions to the council building where Mom and Yukina resided. It was difficult to locate, given the cityscape of Galdor—interconnected buildings with none of them really standing out.

  I still felt a sense of foreboding looming around. Not because the red ambience was present, or because I knew of the existence of the Dark ones. Rather, it was a peculiar feeling that washed over me whenever danger was imminent—I just happened to know. And the feeling didn’t disappear until I’d confronted the source of the threat. Though there was every cause for alarm, nothing had happened yet. But I was prepared mentally because I had a strong feeling that something was coming.

  The responses we got regarding the location of the council building led us to one. From where we stood, I could clearly see multiple levels of the city below. After we introduced ourselves, and stated our purpose to the guards at the entrance, they let us in. We navigated inside the building by ourselves until we finally met Evren. She was having a meeting with some Azkhan soldiers, lieutenants included. Whatever they were discussing had to be important so we didn’t interrupt them. They didn’t talk for long until everyone dispersed.

  Evren who had no idea that we were around was surprised to see us, as she walked quickly towards us with a smile across her face.

  “What are the both of you doing here?”

  I tried to speak, but she interrupted.

  “Let me guess, the red looking cracks in the sky, right?”

  “You took the words off my mouth,” I said to her.

  “It’s obvious. And it doesn’t look good, does it? You and Yukina wouldn’t be here if everything was okay.”

  “Yes Evren, it doesn’t look good.”

  She nodded slowly,

  “I had the same thought but I didn’t know what to expect. It has been like this since last night, but so far, nothing had happened.”

  “That’s good news honestly. Where is Mom? I need to explain what I know about the situation to everyone,” I said to her.

  Evren looked a bit carried away, staring at me for a bit

  “Okay, we will go meet her now, but what happened to your face, Svan?” She asked slowly as if she was counting her words while trying to understand what she was looking at.

  Before I could speak, Yukina interrupted.

  “He got injured while fighting. He will be fine. It will disappear after some time.”

  Evren turned in Yukina’s direction, her expression screaming,

  “How can you be so sure?”

  My clothes concealed the dark lines that ran along my hands and other parts of my body, but I forgot about my face. I had to do something about it because obviously, it was drawing a lot of attention.

  Still skeptical, Evren nodded,

  “Let’s go.”

  She led us into a room that looked like a small meeting room as she sent someone to call for Mom.

  “I would have preferred we talked in a bit more informal arrangement, but from the look of things the issue seems to be a pressing one. Besides, Mother has been indoors since today. It seems like she doesn’t want to be disturbed but unfortunately, that’s about to change.”

  We didn’t have to wait for long before Mom appeared walking in briskly. She was still adjusting her clothes, while trying to tie her hair at the same time. Yukina and Evren bursted out laughing, and I couldn’t help but smile. Her overall appearance just looked funny, evident that she just tried to get dressed as quickly as she could upon hearing that we were around.

  Mom, a bit surprised, asked,

  “What?” As Evren and Yukina tried to stifle their laughter.

  Yukina walked up to her and gave her a hug,

  “You look a bit messy,” she said to her.

  “Well, I didn’t expect you and Svan to just suddenly show up.”

  I fixed my gaze at her.

  “Mom,” I thought, as the word echoed softly in my mind.

  It didn’t feel weird, neither did it feel awkward that I still saw her as my mother. What I couldn’t tell was whether or not we’d developed a bond strong enough for that to hold true, or if it was because my identity as Svan took precedence. In all, I couldn’t help but wonder if she would see me as her son on an event that she learned the truth.

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  She turned in my direction,

  “Oh, Svan,” she said, her voiced laced with a familiar mix of concern and exasperation.

  “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time? What happened to your face?”

  I sighed, bracing myself. Of course she was going to say something about my face the moment her gaze fell on them. Yukina was silent this time, leaving me alone to fend for myself.

  “Don’t worry about it. It will disappear after some time. We have a more important issue to talk about,” I said to her.

  Everyone was seated, but Mom’s eyes kept flicking back at me, her worry evident. I did my best to ignore her lingering glances, pretending not to notice them.

  “What’s the issue?” Mom asked, her tone shifting to one of seriousness.

  “The red clouds, is it?” She asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “We were attacked at Conton, luckily we emerged victorious after a hard fought battle. It’s quite a surprise that nothing had happened here so far, but I don’t think it will remain that way for long. I had an encounter with a knight at Conton prior the attack, and I can confidently tell you that this is the Imperium’s doing. The ones who attacked us are called the Dark Ones, and my guess is that this anomaly in the sky serves as a gateway that allows them to come here.”

  “So, if I am understanding you correctly, we have a new enemy called the Dark Ones,” Mom said.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding, impressed by how easily she simplifies things.

  “Then, how is that the imperium’s doing?” She asked.

  “Because they let the Dark Ones in. The red cracks in the sky, it’s the Imperium’s doing,” I replied.

  “This enemy you speak of—the Dark Ones, are they allies with the Imperium?” Mom asked.

  “No. According to the knight I met at Conton, they too, have been waging a war against the Imperium.”

  “How is that possible?” Evren asked.

  “I don’t know the details. But I was made to understand that the Imperium is fighting at two fronts. What I can tell you for sure is that, somehow, the Imperium has managed to send some of the Dark ones here at Duskenfell. So now, we have a new enemy to fight.”

  “That’s… smart, in a twisted way,” Evren chimed in.

  “Trying to turn a losing situation into an advantage,” she continued.

  “How strong are they,” Mom asked.

  “Very. They wield an essence called naethrium. This essence is resistant to both mana and aether. The only way they can be defeated is given a situation where the mana or aether at one’s disposal is significantly able to overwhelm the naethrium the Dark Ones wielded.”

  “Umm… Svan, I am a little lost here. Aether? Naethrium? Where did you get all this information from? I am finding it a bit difficult to understand what you are saying,” Evren voiced.

  There was no way I was going to tell her,

  “Hey, I am Varion the Reaper Sovereign reincarnated into this body you know as Svan. So I know a lot of things that you can’t possibly fathom..”

  I shook my head in disapproval,

  “The knight I met at Conton told me all these, so I don’t know much too,” I replied.

  “So, what you are saying is, they are resistant to spells regardless of which form they took. But they aren’t invincible. Their resistance only stretches as far as their strength allowed, right?” Mom said.

  “Exactly,” I replied.

  “I would inform the High Lord about the developing situation, that’s if he doesn’t know about it already. But what do we do after that?” Evren asked.

  “We wait. Edger will come up with something, he always does. Till then, we just have to survive whatever is thrown our way,” Mom replied.

  We had a brief moment of silence until it was interrupted with a loud crashing noise, accompanied by rumbling sounds and an aftermath tremor.

  I was proven right when I rushed to the balcony to catch the sight of the perpetrators. I instinctively thought they weren’t inside the city yet, because they had to at least have an idea of the terrain they were heading into—Galdor having a unique one.

  My eyes met with familiar creatures once again, but this time only the serpentine ones were present—three of them. The crashing sounds we heard was as a result of one of them probably throwing a fit, or thinking it was a good idea to whip its tentacles at a building for no reason.

  My attention was drawn to the three horned-beings that approached slowly behind the creatures. Though I struggled to believe that those monstrosities could be tamed, it was apparent that that was the case; the creatures were under the control of the Dark Ones, doing their bidding.

  “Let’s go,” Mom voiced.

  I stopped her by grabbing her hand, nodding in disapproval. She looked at me, a bit surprised,

  “What’s wrong?” She asked.

  I’d just noticed that Mom was pregnant, thanks to the grey domain. But as surprised as I was, I didn’t raise any alarm. It was a discussion for later.

  She followed my gaze to her belly, and immediately, she realized that I knew what she was hiding. She also knew it was pointless trying to argue with me, so she just gave up. She didn’t give up because I wanted her to, or because she needed rest due to her pregnancy, but because she was confident that we could take care of the situation without her.

  Our wordless conversation was quick, and neither Yukina nor Evren seemed to notice what just happened.

  Yukina was talking to Evren,

  “Go for the eyes, that’s their weakness.”

  “You aren’t coming? That’s unlike you,” I teased her.

  She struck me with a soft blow.

  “I will sit this one out. You should be thankful that I am letting you have all the fun.”

  “I guess the both of us will just have to watch them,” Mom said to Yukina.

  Yukina and Evren turned in her direction, obviously surprised.

  “Why aren’t you coming?” Evren asked

  “I don’t feel so well. Your brother told me to sit this one out, because he noticed it.”

  “Oooh,” Evren toned,

  “No wonder you’ve been indoors all day. I knew something was off.”

  “Yukina and I will just watch from up here, Mom said, as she pulled Yukina closer to her.

  Evren heaved, before jumping off the balcony. Her dragon followed after her transforming into a winged creature mid-air, before grabbing her by her hands, as both of them glided downwards towards the creatures. I simply triggered Realm Slip, materializing in front of the approaching Dark Ones.

  I was equipped with knowledge about their abilities, that was already a big advantage on my side. I was confident on taking them on alone, but I needed to test something out for myself.

  All three of the Dark Ones were all masculine-figured, and their demeanor, nonchalant like I was just fodder to them. I smirked, they were in for a rude awakening.

  “Come forth, Black Steel,” I called, letting it out of the domain I’d created for it on my intent.

  I watched as it took form from nothingness, and though I had an idea of what it looked like, I still couldn’t help but marvel at its majestic appearance. It stood more than twice my height, completely covered in a black amour-like outfit with sharp angular designs. It had a helmet that completely covered its face, save for its eyes that gave off a piercing purple glow. Its helmet had three spikes that looked like horns; two long ones on the sides and one shorter one in the center. Its sword, a long and menacing weapon, exuded a terrifying aura, as it raised it.

  Black Steel turned towards me, its gaze lingering for a moment, as if it was unsure of who it was looking at. I was a bit scared, but I managed to stare back at it, my face showing no hint of fear.

  Summoning Black Steel was a risky gamble especially since I lacked any contingencies if things took a turn for the worse. The current situation was very different. As Varion the Reaper Sovereign, I wasn’t bound by the constraints of all three essences, so keeping Black Steel under control didn’t pose much of a difficulty. Now, I didn’t even have any connection whatsoever to naethrium, so summoning it didn’t look like a good idea.

  I also realized that every ability that I’d harvested and wielded through Black Steel in the past was gone. I could say for sure that they disappeared upon my death, even though I didn’t understand how. But even in its current form, I knew I would lose against it if it considered me an enemy and chose to attack.

  After a brief stare down, it softened its gaze, turning back in the direction of the Dark Ones. It seemed like it finally recognized me, but I couldn’t say for sure. So far, nothing seemed out of place.

  I was eager to know how the Dark Ones would react, sensing a familiar essence. But unfortunately, the masks they wore made it impossible to read the expression of their faces. Here stood Black Steel—a sentient being born of naethrium, facing the Dark Ones—humans skilled in manipulating naethrium. It was an exciting confrontation, and I was a bit excited to witness the outcome.

  Black Steel attacked. Its movements were so quick that I couldn’t follow them in normal perception, so I had to switch to the grey domain in order to keep up. For the first time, I was just a spectator in a battle I was involved in. The Dark Ones were quick too, as expected, but Black Steel kept up with all three of them effortlessly, and despite its size, it moved with an insane agility and flexibility.

  No spells were casted since every participant in the confrontation wielded naethrium one way or another, so it was reduced to a melee-only combat. The Dark Ones put up a valiant effort, but they were simply no match for Black Steel. I watched as it drove its sword into one of them, before grabbing another, smashing him to the ground. Before the third one could react, it drew out its sword and with a swift maneuver, decapitated him. The battle didn’t last long but thanks to the grey domain, it didn’t appear to end in an instant.

  I changed my perception from the grey domain as I watched Black Steel drag the only survivor towards me. Maybe it thought I would have some questions for him. It was a clever thought, but the Dark Ones spoke a language I couldn’t understand, so it was futile.

  “Kill him,” I ordered.

  Without hesitation, it severed his head.

  Evren, together with her dragon had also taken care of the creatures. I wasn’t able to witness it because I was so invested in watching Black Steel fight.

  “There is no such thing as absolute strength,” I thought to myself, considering the recent events that had happened, and what I had just witnessed.

  The Dark Ones were slaughtered right in front of me with so much ease, but they were the same ones that almost killed me and Yukina. I was confident that they could have easily killed any caster or stillbringer, and even knights, should they face them, because they wielded a unique essence, one that served as a perfect counter to mana and aether. But in the end, they were killed easily by Black Steel.

  Though one could argue that Black Steel was an otherworldly being, but the fact still remained—strength was relative. Even those who are overwhelmingly strong in one scenario could be vulnerable in another. There were a lot of variables to it, and it was those variables that determined who emerged victorious.