100X Returns System: I Dominate the Age of Gods

Chapter 428: 428. Ancient Physique - 1

A few minutes earlier...

William stood quietly beside Seraphine’s unconscious body, his gaze fixed upon her peaceful face while countless thoughts raced through his mind. Only moments ago he had nearly made another disastrous mistake, and now that his mind had finally calmed down, he could clearly understand where everything had gone wrong.

"It’s a dream, not reality," William muttered to himself while rubbing his forehead. "How could I forget something so obvious?"

He let out a slow breath before continuing.

"When I first entered Seraphine’s dream, I was planning to use my abilities on her directly to break the illusion when I saw her reliving her childhood, and before I could even react, she unconsciously transformed me into a twelve-year-old version of myself. The moment that happened, every one of my abilities disappeared because, inside her dream, I had become exactly what she believed I was."

His expression became bitter as he remembered what had happened afterward.

"If Tamasya hadn’t stopped me just now, I would have repeated the exact same mistake all over again. I thought that showing Seraphine my own dead body would make her realize she was trapped inside an illusion, but that damned creature ruined everything. I never expected it to find us so suddenly after spending so long searching without success."

Orion remained silent for a brief moment before responding.

[As I told you before, Seraphine’s lucid dreaming may have been interfering with the evil spirit’s influence. That is likely the reason it struggled to locate both of you.]

William slowly nodded.

"I understand that much now, but what exactly is that thing? Its entire body is made from wood, vines, and roots. I’ve never seen anything remotely similar before."

[There will be enough time to answer those questions later. Right now, our priority is stopping it before it finishes what it has started. I suspect it is attempting to gradually dissipate Seraphine’s soul or perhaps even absorb it completely.

[Believe me when I say this. You do not want that to happen.]

Orion’s usually calm voice carried an unusual seriousness.

William’s expression instantly changed. His heart skipped a beat as anxiety surged through him.

"What do I need to do?"

His voice carried none of its usual composure anymore.

Since Seraphine was trapped inside a dream, William suddenly realized that abilities affecting the mind had a much greater chance of working. Dreams originated from the consciousness itself, which meant attacking the source of the illusion from outside her body might still influence what happened within the dream.

Virgo immediately answered.

[Use the sixth effect of your Omniscient Eyes.]

William immediately opened his status window and searched for the description of the sixth effect.

[Can leave your own halos upon other beings, affecting their presence and life in distinct, unpredictable ways.]

He stared at the description for only a second.

He did not fully understand what the effect would accomplish, nor did he have time to question Orion’s reasoning.

Trusting the system completely, he immediately activated the ability.

The moment he did so, he felt something invisible separating from his own existence.

It was an incredibly strange sensation, almost as though a tiny fragment of himself had quietly detached without causing any pain.

Using the Omniscient Eyes, William could clearly witness what ordinary sight could never perceive.

The brilliant halo surrounding his own destiny slowly extended toward Seraphine before merging together with the halo surrounding her.

The two halos intertwined naturally, almost as though they had always belonged together.

The process only lasted a few moments, yet William experienced an unusual chill spreading throughout his entire body. It felt as though every trace of warmth had vanished from his skin before gradually returning to normal once the transfer had completed.

He slowly exhaled.

"So that’s what it feels like..."

From several meters away, Tamasya quietly observed the changes occurring around William.

She had also activated her Omniscient Eyes.

The moment she saw William’s halo partially merging with Seraphine’s, she immediately understood what he was doing.

She folded her arms across her chest before letting out a quiet huff.

"Once all of this is over," she mumbled while lightly puffing out her cheeks, "I’m making him do that to me as well."

Virgo’s amused voice echoed inside her mind.

[I see. You are becoming competitive.]

"Of course I am," Tamasya answered without the slightest embarrassment. "I have absolutely no reason to deny it."

Virgo seemed to chuckle softly. [In that case, perhaps this competitive side of yours suits you rather well.]

A satisfied smile briefly appeared on Tamasya’s face.

Unfortunately, it lasted only a few seconds.

[Although...]

Virgo continued speaking.

[Seraphine has a very different personality from yours. I do not believe she has any desire to compete with you. She simply wishes to remain beside William.

Tamasya’s smile slowly faded.

Virgo continued in the same thoughtful tone.

[You are passionate, fiery, and straightforward. Seraphine is different. She is gentle and patient. Her presence resembles calm water that quietly soothes everyone around her.

Tamasya immediately frowned.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" She crossed her arms more tightly. "Are you saying I’m not gentle enough?"

Virgo quickly replied.

[That is not what I meant.]

Tamasya continued before Virgo could finish.

"I think you’re completely mistaken. I’m certain William finds me far more calming than Seraphine."

Virgo sounded almost helpless.

[I never said you were not peaceful. I merely meant that both of you possess different qualities, and those differences are what make each of you special.]

Before Tamasya could respond again, another familiar voice interrupted the conversation.

<I don’t think so, Tamasya. This intruder is quite ungrateful to you for letting her stay here.>

Shadow’s teasing laughter echoed inside her mind.

Tamasya immediately rolled her eyes.

"Shadow, what exactly is your problem?"

She sighed.

"Don’t try to make this into something bigger than it is. I’m sure Virgo simply made a mistake."

She looked toward William for a brief moment before continuing.

"I’ll ask William himself when he has time, and then I’ll prove Virgo wrong."

Shadow laughed again.

<I still don’t understand why you’re letting a complete stranger spirit live inside you. That doesn’t sound safe at all. We have no idea what that cat’s real intentions are.>

Tamasya gently shook her head.

"Virgo isn’t a stranger."

She smiled faintly.

"I received Virgo from William."

Shadow immediately replied.

<So... does that make the two of you Virgo’s parents or something?>

Tamasya’s face instantly turned bright red.

"W-What?!"

She waved both hands in denial. "No! Absolutely not!"

Virgo finally spoke again. [I am not a child.]

Its voice carried a trace of pride. [I am considerably older than both of you.]

<"Yeah, sure.">

Shadow laughed even harder.

While the strange argument continued between the three, William quietly completed the halo transfer.

He immediately moved on to the next step.

Closing his eyes, he activated his lunar abilities.

Gentle silver light gathered around Seraphine’s unconscious body before gradually sinking into her mind.

William carefully used the lunar energy to cleanse her consciousness, removing every trace of corruption, fear, despair, and lingering illusion that he could. He patiently continued until he was completely satisfied that he had done everything possible from outside the dream.

Only then did he slowly close his eyes once more.

Without another moment of hesitation, his consciousness descended back into Seraphine’s dream.

Back to the present...

The evil spirit remained frozen in place as it watched Seraphine gradually regain control over herself. Confusion filled its hollow expression.

Something had changed. The girl who had been consumed by despair only moments earlier was now steadily recovering her sense of self.

Before the spirit could react, the overwhelming gravitational force descending from the miniature sun suddenly multiplied several hundred times over. The change happened without warning.

The countless roots and vines anchoring the spirit deep beneath the earth violently tore free from the ground with explosive force. For the first time since the battle had begun, the enormous creature was completely uprooted.

Its body was dragged upward against its own will. The spirit immediately looked toward the sky.

Then it froze. Its hollow eyes widened in disbelief.

There was no longer a single miniature sun. The sky had become filled with them.

One hundred blazing suns now floated above the battlefield, each radiating divine brilliance while pulling everything beneath them upward with unimaginable force.

The entire dream trembled beneath their presence. William himself remained perfectly calm.

Normally, casting such an absurd spell would have destroyed his own body from the overwhelming burden. Yet inside Seraphine’s dream, those limitations no longer restrained him.

He had carefully avoided revealing his true appearance because he could not risk sending Seraphine into another emotional collapse. As long as she remained mentally stable, the dream itself could be influenced by her subconscious, and William had already begun using that very principle to his advantage.

He did not fully understand everything Seraphine was unconsciously doing to the dream.

He only knew one thing.

For some reason, his body no longer suffered the usual backlash from producing such an overwhelming amount of power.

That single realization was all he needed. One miniature sun had failed to suppress the spirit. Then he would simply create one hundred.

If one hundred still proved insufficient...

William was fully prepared to fill the entire sky with countless more.