Chapter 319: 319:Breaking apart.
"?"
"Atheline!"
Lilith caught him before he could collapse completely. Her composure had vanished, and only worry remained. She knelt beside him immediately, supporting his shoulders.
"What happened?"
He tried answering, but another cough interrupted him. More blood stained the front of his ceremonial robes. The nearby healers looked over in alarm.
"His Majesty!"
"Healer!"
"Hurry!"
Within seconds, several senior priests rushed toward them. The High King stepped forward.
"What happened?"
"I don’t know," Lilith answered honestly. "He just..."
She looked at the blood covering his hand.
"...collapsed."
Atheline barely heard them. The world around him had become strangely distant. Voices echoed as though coming from the far end of a tunnel. His heartbeat sounded unnaturally loud.
Then... Absolute silence, even his own breathing disappeared.
He slowly lifted his head in confusion. Before him, the palace... Was breaking. Fine cracks spread across every wall like fractures running through glass. The white marble beneath his knees splintered into countless floating pieces.
The air itself seemed to have fractured. Even the sky, trees, and everything around him were breaking apart.
The beautiful royal gardens shattered into thousands upon thousands of translucent fragments suspended in empty space.
His eyes widened.
"What..."
He looked toward Lilith. She was still kneeling beside him, or rather... pieces of her were.
Her body remained perfectly still while countless shimmering fragments drifted slightly apart from one another, as though reality itself had forgotten how to keep her together. She simply... Didn’t seem whole.
His gaze swept across the garden. Everyone around him had become fractured.
But the World Tree towering over the palace was the same. Its enormous trunk stretched endlessly upward, yet enormous cracks divided it into impossible sections. Each piece floated independently while somehow remaining one tree.
His breathing quickened.
"No..."
He reached toward Lilith. His hand passed through drifting fragments of light before touching... Nothing. There was no sensation or warmth, only emptiness. The silence became unbearable.
Then another realization struck him.
The System.
Normally, whenever something unusual occurred... it responded, but now, nothing.
He called inwardly.
’System?’
Silence.
’System.’
Nothing.
Not even the familiar presence lingering quietly within his consciousness was present. For the first time since obtaining it, he felt completely alone. A chill spread through his entire body.
Without warning, a sharp ringing filled the emptiness, one single high, piercing note.
The fractured world trembled. The floating pieces began moving, slowly at first, then faster. The cracks start to close. The fragments drifted back together, the palace rebuilt itself, the gardens returned, the sky became whole, and the World Tree stood complete once more.
Sound rushed back all at once.
"...Majesty!"
"Can you hear me?"
"Stay with us!"
The ringing vanished. Atheline blinked. Lilith’s worried face came into focus. Her hands gripped his shoulders tightly. Her golden eyes, usually calm beyond measure, were filled with unmistakable concern.
He looked around wildly. Everything... Was normal. Exactly as it had been moments before. The blood remained on the ground, the wounded were still being treated, and the High King stood only a few steps away. Nothing had changed.
"How long...?"
"A few seconds," one healer said, mistaking the question. "You lost focus after you collapsed."
Only... a few seconds? It had felt much longer. Lilith placed a hand gently against his cheek.
"What happened?"
He opened his mouth, then stopped.
What could he possibly say?
That reality had shattered?
That everyone around him had broken into pieces?
That even the System had disappeared?
It sounded insane. He slowly shook his head.
"...I don’t know."
It wasn’t a lie. He truly didn’t know. The senior priests immediately began examining him. Golden Aether flowed through his body. Another healer produced several enchanted instruments, and a third began checking for curses.
Minutes passed. Finally, the oldest priest looked thoroughly confused.
"...Nothing."
Lilith frowned.
"What do you mean, nothing?"
"There is no poison, no curse, no internal injuries, and no signs of corrupted Aether." He looked genuinely puzzled. "Aside from the blood he coughed up... His Majesty is perfectly healthy."
Silence settled over the small group. Lilith glanced at Atheline. He looked just as confused as everyone else, but deep inside, one thought refused to leave him.
It hadn’t been a hallucination, for those few impossible seconds... he had seen something that should never have existed.
.
.
.
The afternoon sun had begun its slow descent by the time the palace finally settled into an uneasy calm. The sounds of battle had long disappeared, replaced by the quiet rhythm of recovery.
Servants scrubbed blood from the white marble walkways. Royal manipulators repaired cracked pillars with earth magic while craftsmen reinforced damaged sections of the ceremonial pavilion. Priests continued to purify the lingering traces of corrupted Aether, ensuring none of it remained within the palace grounds.
Yet despite all the work, no amount of effort could erase what had happened. Every person walking through the palace wore the same expression: exhaustion, disbelief, and grief.
The wedding that had been prepared for months would forever be remembered as the day the alliance bled together.
Inside one of the palace’s grand reception halls, the atmosphere was no lighter. The hall, once intended for the evening banquet, had been transformed into a temporary command center.
Large maps covered several tables. Messengers entered and departed almost constantly. Royal guards stood at every entrance, allowing no unauthorized person inside.
Representatives from each attending nation had gathered once more. The High King sat at the head of the table. To his right sat Solaris. To his left, Lilith. Beside her sat Atheline.
Although the healers had insisted he rest, he had refused. Apart from the dried blood that had stained the front of his ceremonial robes, he appeared completely normal physically.
Mentally, however, his thoughts continued returning to the impossible vision he had witnessed. Every few moments, his eyes unconsciously drifted toward the World Tree visible through the tall windows.
It stood peacefully against the evening sky. Exactly as it always had, yet something about it no longer felt quite the same.
He couldn’t explain why.
The High King broke the silence.
"Begin."
A senior commander stepped forward carrying several neatly organized reports. His usually steady voice sounded noticeably heavier.
"We have completed the preliminary casualty count."
The room immediately became silent. The commander unfolded the first report.
"The High Elven Kingdom has confirmed thirty-eight deaths." He paused briefly. "Twenty-three Royal Knights, five senior priests, four palace manipulators, and six palace attendants."
Several ministers quietly lowered their heads. The commander continued.
"One hundred and twelve injured, while seventeen remain in critical condition."
The High King closed his eyes for a brief moment, then simply nodded.
"Continue."
The Beastkin representative stood next.
"We have confirmed eight dead. Four royal escorts, two diplomats, two attendants, and thirty-one injured."
He spoke calmly, though everyone could hear the sadness beneath his composed tone.
"Our warriors protected civilians until the end."
The High King inclined his head respectfully.
"The High Elven Kingdom will forever remember their sacrifice."
The Beastkin representative returned the gesture.
Prince Lucifer stood without waiting to be called. His normally confident demeanor had become surprisingly restrained.
"The Demonic Continent lost six. Three royal guards, one noble, and two attendants."
He folded his arms.
"Their families will be informed personally."
His gaze shifted toward Lilith.
"They died fulfilling our alliance."
"They died well." Lilith gave a solemn nod. "They honored their people."
The Dwarven delegation reported four dead. The Wood Elves, three. Even the Human Kingdoms, despite arriving with relatively small entourages, had lost five representatives.
No kingdom had escaped unscathed. No race could claim the attack had singled them out. The enemy had struck everyone equally.
That realization, strangely enough, prevented accusations from erupting immediately. Instead, the room shared the same grief.
Atheline quietly listened to every report. Each number represented a family that would soon receive terrible news. A child who had lost a parent. A spouse waiting for someone who would never return.
He had attended enough funerals to know what came next. First the silence, followed by the disbelief, then the tears that often arrived days later rather than immediately.
His hand unconsciously tightened.
Lilith noticed. Without saying anything, she quietly rested her hand over his beneath the table.
He looked toward her. She said nothing, but that simple gesture grounded him. His grip slowly relaxed.
The commander cleared his throat once more.
"There is... another matter."
Everyone looked toward him. He hesitated.
"Our investigation has identified every cultist who entered through the barrier. Most carried false identities, several had infiltrated noble households months ago, and others entered disguised as servants."
He looked down at another document.
"Unfortunately... Every one of them is dead. The survivors all activated some form of self-destruction."
Lilith frowned.
"So there are no prisoners."
"No, Your Majesty."
The room grew noticeably colder. Months, perhaps years of preparation, all traces had been erased in a single afternoon.
Atheline finally spoke.
"That’s impossible."
Several people looked toward him. He leaned slightly forward.
"They coordinated an attack involving dozens of infiltrators, temporarily breached one of the strongest barriers on the continent, and smuggled corrupted crystals into the palace."
He slowly shook his head.
"People capable of planning something this elaborate don’t simply disappear. There has to be someone directing them."
Solaris nodded.
"I agree, but so far..." he glanced toward the reports. "...we’ve found nothing."
Lilith remained silent. Her thoughts mirrored Atheline’s. It just seemed so bizarre; the attack had succeeded too cleanly, and the enemy had abandoned every trace of themselves. It was almost as though they had expected to die from the very beginning.
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