A ray of light burst through the eternal darkness that had shrouded David.

It shone on his face, prompting him to open his eyes and pause his training for the time being.

How long had it been? he wondered, grimacing as he couldn’t tell whether it had been months—or even years—stuck in the eternal darkness of the Naughtrealm.

Only faint memories of what had happened after entering the pagoda resurfaced, and they felt distant. As if it had been eons since he last spoke to the god chained by the Void. Or was it called the ‘End’?

He died, didn’t he?

The ray of light before him expanded. Cracks formed around it as it widened, shining as vibrantly as the light itself. Once the first cracks formed, it was only a matter of time before they spread and burst.

A strong suctioning force enveloped David and pulled him away from the darkness that had been his companion for far too long. He let the force take him and braced for the inevitable. If the Naughtrealm and the troubles between the Origin and the End had taught him anything, it was to be careful. He may have just escaped death, but there was no way to know where the force was pulling him.

Enemies could be waiting on the other side. Or maybe he was already dead and headed for the afterlife. Then again, the latter seemed unlikely—he had been able to train while waiting for the darkness to recede.

The suctioning force intensified, as did the dazzling light. Forced to close his eyes or risk blindness, David shut them tightly. He circulated pure Blood and Vitae through his body, cast [Herald’s Blessing], [Crimson Bulwark], and [Bloodbound Bastion], then manifested Scalemore and the Obsidian Blade. He applied [Origin Lightning] to the blade and infused it with enough Vitae and pure Blood to reinforce it, then uttered a few Words of Power to layer on a strengthened version of Rend.

His senses spiked, flooding him with information moment by moment, but none of it warned of danger. Warmth replaced the coldness of eternal darkness, yet it was far from comforting. It was too much—overbearing and overstimulating.

Things he hadn’t smelled, felt, heard, or perceived in ages flooded him all at once. Most overwhelming was the taste of life. It hit hard and nearly forced him to his knees, overtaking him completely.

Only a few minutes passed before he was certain no threat was present. He didn’t lower his guard but gradually opened his eyes. The brightness surrounding everything was still intense—too intense. His eyes stung and burned, forcing him to cast [True Restoration] repeatedly until they—and the rest of his body—adjusted to everything around him.

“What happened?” he muttered, his voice hoarse and strained.

David grimaced, yet even that felt strange. Unfamiliar. Fake, even.

“And where the hell am I?”

His eyes darted about in uncertainty, searching for something familiar—but there was nothing. He stood in a small clearing, surrounded by gargantuan trees and wild bushes. Bloodthrone Dominion functioned as well as ever, and so did [True Sight], unraveling all the life and Aether in his vision. And what he saw nearly brought tears to his eyes.

He took a deep breath and smiled, his heart pounding wildly against his ribs, threatening to leap from his chest. It thundered, muffling the world around him—but not enough to drown out the sounds of the forest. A thriving forest, full of life.

Faint gusts rustled the undergrowth and bushes, carrying earthy forest scents to him. Birds chirped joyously.

It felt great. Really good, even.

“I am no longer in the Naughtrealm!” David shouted, ignoring the commotion caused by his outburst. Birds scattered, critters fled. Countless life signals retreated to their hiding places or escaped the unknown threat, but none of that mattered.

He was no longer in the Naughtrealm!

Still, that wasn’t all. As his excitement waned and he regained composure, David redoubled his effort to understand what was going on—and where exactly he was.

The first question wasn’t easy to answer, though he had some guesses. The chained god must have died to destroy the Naughtrealm, collapsing it while sending David… somewhere. As for why the god hadn’t killed itself earlier—to prevent the End from bringing a Voidre to the Earthen Union or from feeding dozens of Voidlings there—he couldn’t say. It didn’t make sense.

Maybe he waited for the right moment. Or perhaps he’d waited for Zachariah to give him something.

David could feel that something inside him had changed. He was stronger than before—though that could simply be the result of his training after the god's sacrifice. He had no idea how much time had passed between the destruction of the Naughtrealm and his arrival here.

But strength wasn’t all he’d gained. The changes felt deeper, reaching beyond physical prowess. As if they touched his very essence.

“Whatever. One step at a time,” he muttered, pushing aside the things he couldn’t control.

“So… where am I?” David called upon his pure Blood reserves and created a few avian Echos to scout the surrounding land and gather intelligence. However, as he accessed [Bloodlife Echo], he sensed something that made him halt.

Electra. I can sense her.

The Sacred Beast was nowhere close. It was far away—their connection frail and barely perceptible—but it was there. Their severed connection had been re-established.

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He was back in the Earthen Union, wasn’t he? Or in a Rift connected to the Earthen Union.

The details weren’t clear, but for [Bloodlife Echo] to reconnect him with Electra meant that they were in the same world—or in adjacent worlds that were directly connected. Since other worlds could not directly connect to the Earthen Union just yet—even the Pantheon had to use multiple Rifts, generated in an effort by the Familia and the System to bring Protectors to the Earthen Union—he had to be somewhere close… ish.

“That would be great,” David muttered.

He used [Aether Breath] to retrieve a few body parts of a Void Fragment and drained the lifeforce woven into them, creating pure Blood with Aether for the first time in eons. The production was rapid—several times faster than he remembered—but as odd as that was, David didn’t bother questioning his Source. The faster it produced pure Blood, the better.

He created several reconnaissance units using [Bloodlife Echo] and tried to reach out to Electra, hoping the Sacred Beast could hear him. It was to no avail, as it turned out, so he turned to the next task: the System.

But as curious as he was about the System’s response to his return, it looked like he would have to wait a little longer.

[System is unavailable. Intelligence is being transferred to the Host.]

[Pending….]

Seeing a notification after an eternity of silence was oddly soothing for the mind. The message itself may have been far from helpful, but it was enough for the time being.

The Host’s identity was still unclear, but it was probably the owner of the System—if it had an owner, that is. David had been certain it was a sentient structure, presumably a network that spread across the entire cosmos. Or across the worlds that had been integrated into the Pantheon, though that may not have been entirely correct. Not that it was important. The System had been very helpful. It may have failed to help him in the Naughtrealm, but he survived anyway.

Maybe he’s a god of the Pantheon. David shrugged and resumed focusing on filling his storages with pure Blood while the Echos continued gathering intelligence.

It didn’t take long to learn that he was probably not in a Rift. There were no borders indicating that he was in a small, isolated dimension. But it was also possible that the Rift was larger than the prehistoric valley, which was why the Echos continued to spread until he was done and ready to depart.

The theory was proven wrong in the following minutes, as intelligence gathered by the Echos reached him.

While it was annoying that the System wasn’t working as intended, David was happy the chained god had brought him back to the Earthen Union. It was still unclear how much time had passed since he had been pulled into the Black Rift, but the Earthen Union had yet to be overwhelmed by Voidlings.

In fact, the Echos found no more than two smaller plots of wasteland. They didn’t find any Voidlings, so David formed a larger Echo using 20 pure Blood droplets to cleanse the wastelands. He fueled the Echo with Vitae to consume the nothingness disrupting nature’s flow and ensured the Echo prioritized the wastelands’ recovery.

That done, he went through the gathered intelligence once more.

“There’s only one settlement nearby?” he mused, head tilted to the side.

Settlements had been rare when he left the Earthen Union. However, the Echos had spread in all directions and had covered a range beyond ten kilometers without finding any places hinting at settlements—except for a small, fortified town.

The Earthen Union expanded with the integration. I shouldn’t forget that, David reminded himself.

Plus, the integration killed many. It was impossible to tell how many had died, but it would surprise him greatly if more than one-fourth of the population survived. Even one-tenth would be a welcome result.

To think he would consider something like that a ‘good’ result was depressing. Or it should be. Yet, David could only feel hopeful, thinking it’d be great if more than 10 percent of mankind had survived the integration until now.

Seriously, what is wrong with me? He chuckled, changing his trajectory to head toward the small, fortified town. It was still far away and unlikely to provide all the answers he sought, but it would at least offer some insight.

He strode calmly through the forest, ignoring the monsters skulking nearby him, while the Echos continued to gather information about the surrounding land.

No monster was daring—or desperate—enough to attack him, which transformed a deadly journey into a light stroll through a flourishing forest. It was tranquil and gave David the time he needed to readjust to life. Returning to the Earthen Union—and to life itself—was harder than expected. He spent the better part of the stroll through the forest getting used to all the life signals, the smells, the feelings, and the sounds. It was just too different from what he had gotten used to.

But the conditions David had gotten used to in the Naughtrealm were not normal. They were anomalies, and his senses, dulled until he barely felt anything, had been suppressed to protect him, to preserve his sanity. David hadn’t noticed it before, but he understood now.

He allowed his body, mind, and soul to adjust to the new rhythm. He was no longer in constant danger and didn’t have to be battle-ready at all times. It was finally possible to take a step back and relax, to let his thoughts settle and form a clearer picture of… everything.

However, as calming as the walk through the forest was, David did not forget that the Earthen Union remained dangerous. He never forgot the threats that lurked in the dark.

More intelligence streamed into his mind, including one report that informed him of a horde of monsters—at first seeming to head his way. He focused on the information, tilting his head slightly as he connected the dots; the horde wasn’t after him. It was charging toward the small settlement between them.

“Looks like someone needs help,” David mused as the horde advanced.

The Echos’ intelligence network didn’t provide detailed or accurate visuals—unlike the live feeds the Mythical Electra could offer—but it was enough to confirm that the town’s defenses were on the verge of engaging the monsters.

He received additional information about the horde but mentally filed it away once he made his decision.

David accelerated. His feet pressed into the ground, breaking through the soft soil as he surged forward, letting pure Blood and Vitae flood his body. He pushed through the forest, leaping over thick underbrush and clusters of exposed roots. Bloodthrone Dominion and [True Sight] revealed everything he needed to know to forge a path where none had existed. It was all he required to break free of the forest’s expanse within minutes.

The trees gave way to a sprawling flowerbed. Small hills rose around him, carpeted with Aether-infused flowers, but David didn’t waste the town’s precious time marveling at how they had mutated to store so much Aether. He sprinted through the flowerbed, accelerating once more as his eyes locked onto the distant town and the oncoming threat beyond it.

Towering stone walls loomed over the tallest structures, but David harbored no illusions—they wouldn’t hold against the full force of the monster horde. They’d collapse within minutes, maybe faster if the strongest monsters led the charge head-first.