Chapter 97: The One That.... Wanders
A month later, deep within the Central Continent, far beyond the reach of the Academy of Eternal Knowledge and any trace of civilization, lay one of Kalpa’s most forbidden lands — a desolate expanse where the ground itself seemed to reject life.
Cracked obsidian earth stretched endlessly under a bruised sky, and the air carried a heavy, metallic tang that clung to the throat.
In this barren silence, a striking figure appeared.
Liliana... the Red Lady stood tall and composed, her long blood-red coat flowing gently despite the lack of wind, its edges shimmering as if woven from liquid rubies.
Atop her head rested a wide-brimmed hat crafted from congealed blood that seemed almost alive.
Her pale, shimmering skin contrasted sharply with the deep crimson of her attire, while her bloody crimson eyes scanned the horizon with sharp, unyielding focus.
She took a slow step forward, the hem of her coat brushing against the cracked ground.
Her gaze settled on the only structure breaking the emptiness — an ancient mausoleum carved from black stone; its surface etched with intricate depictions of five other worlds and celestial patterns resembling distant star systems and collapsing stars.
The carvings seemed to shift subtly when looked at too long, as if the stone itself remembered things long forgotten.
Liliana’s fingers curled slightly at her sides.
’I can only hope...’
The thought smoldered quietly within her.
’After all my searching... this is the last chance.’
She knew the five oldest ruins on Kalpa weren’t just ancient—they were forbidden zones because the constructs inside were said to be beyond anything anyone on Kalpa could ever face.
Still, her determination to find her parents, to uncover her origins, burned far brighter than any fear or doubt.
She lingered a moment longer, letting the weight of her lifelong questions settle. The Wanderer was the only one who might hold the answers she had sought for centuries.
Without hesitation or fear, she walked forward and stepped into the dark entrance of the ancient ruins.
----
The instant Liliana ventured further into the ancient mausoleum, everything around her ceased to be.
There was no slow fade, no hint of what was coming.
With just one step, the stone floor disappeared beneath her, the air was gone in an instant, and gravity no longer held her.
She was suddenly adrift in the vast, frigid emptiness of space, hovering just beyond the immense, looming sphere of Kalpa itself.
The sight stole her breath.
Kalpa hung before her like a living jewel — a vast, radiant purple orb slowly turning in the darkness.
Seven brilliant suns orbited it in a mesmerizing dance, their multicolored light bathing the planet in shifting hues of gold, crimson, sapphire, and emerald.
The world looked both fragile and eternal, wrapped in swirling clouds and glowing oceans that shimmered like liquid starlight.
For the first time in her long existence, Liliana was truly in space.
Her crimson eyes widened as her long, blood-red coat floated effortlessly around her, the fabric rippling in the weightless void.
She raised a hand slowly, watching as her own pale fingers moved through the emptiness. A strange, overwhelming feeling washed over her — awe mixed with deep loneliness.
’So, this... is what the world truly looks like from the outside,’ she thought, heart tightening.
’It’s... Beautiful. So painfully beautiful.’
In that moment, she finally understood why so many beings perished so quickly upon entering these ruins—she could feel it in her very core.
At Star Union Rank Tier 18, she had the strength to endure the emptiness of space.
Anything less, as she already knew, would mean a slow and inevitable death in the void.
Her awe, however, didn’t last long.
She turned her head, and there they were—millions of constructs drifting silently in the endless dark.
Towering, multi-armed giants with countless glowing eyes, each one exuding an overwhelming presence, their power unmistakably at the Cosmic Union Rank—the very peak of the Universal scale.
Instantly, Liliana’s body went rigid on instinct.
Before she could react, a deep, ancient voice echoed directly into her mind from the darkness ahead.
A cloaked figure sat upon a floating throne of shattered stars, its form obscured by swirling cosmic dust.
"If you seek knowledge of the Great Severance," the voice spoke, wise yet deliberately vague, "you must destroy them all."
[0/5,000,000 Cosmic Union Rank Tier 22 Constructs remaining.]
The words had barely faded before millions of constructs stirred to life all at once.
Cold light flared in their eyes, and their many arms unfolded with the precision and menace of weapons ready for battle.
Liliana muttered a curse under her breath, her crimson gaze narrowing in sharp focus.
"Damn it!"
HUMMMM!!!!!
She barely had time to brace herself as the entire army of Cosmic Union constructs surged toward her.
[Illusion Affinity]
The constructs struck with overwhelming, coordinated fury.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
A dozen multi-armed strikes slammed into her body at once — blades, divinity lances, and crushing fists tearing through her crimson coat and what appeared to be her flesh in an explosion of blood mist and shredded fabric.
For a split second, it looked as though the Red Lady had been obliterated.
But the blood that sprayed outward didn’t fall.
[Blood Affinity]
It twisted, multiplied, and reshaped itself through her Blood Affinity into dozens of perfect crimson clones, each one materializing with deadly grace and wielding blades formed from solidified blood.
At the same moment, the real Liliana reappeared behind the group that had attacked her, stepping out of the illusion like a ghost emerging from a nightmare.
Her long, crimson coat drifted effortlessly in the weightless void as she lifted her rapier—an Origin-ranked relic that thrummed with an ageless, lethal energy.
With a smooth, unhurried motion, she swung.
The weapon’s edge sliced through the emptiness in a graceful arc, its song sharp and clear, driving straight toward the heart of the nearest construct.
CRRRRRACKKKKK!!!!!
But..... the rapier exploded on impact.
Fragments of the once-mighty Origin-ranked weapon sprayed outward in a glittering arc, leaving Liliana holding nothing but the broken hilt.
A sharp jolt of recoil shot through her arm as the weapon’s destruction sent a wave of pain up her shoulder.
Her crimson eyes widened for a fraction of a second — surprise flashing across her face before it hardened into cold resolve.
"Shit..."
She tried to move, but it was already too late.
The constructs closed in like a merciless tide.
Thousands of multi-armed beings descended on her at once, their strikes landing with brutal, overwhelming force.
BOOOOM!!!!
BOOOOM!!!!!
Their fist crashed into her ribs, divine lances driving through her shoulders, while blades sliced deep across her back and thighs.
The Red Lady took the brutal assault without reprieve, her body flung about in the emptiness like a ragdoll, every nerve alight with searing pain.
Each impact sent fresh waves of agony ripping through her.
Her own blood fanned out in sparkling arcs, freezing the instant it hit the vacuum.
The seams of her long crimson coat ripped apart, threads fluttering in the weightless air. The strange hat of congealed blood shattered and reformed again and again under the relentless rhythm of the strikes.
For a terrifying moment, it looked like the end.
She was near death, body broken and bleeding, consciousness flickering.
Then, a single drop of pure black blood appeared above her.
HUMMMMMM!!!!!
It pulsed once — warm, ancient, and filled with protective power she had never known she carried. In the next heartbeat, the drop expanded and materialized into a vague, towering figure of a man.
Liliana’s eyes went wide with disbelief as she gazed at the projection before her.
Sharp, gleaming fangs caught the light, framed by long waves of red and black hair that seemed to sway with a life of their own.
The figure radiated a presence that was both hauntingly familiar and impossibly powerful, sending a shiver down her spine.
"Father...?" She muttered.... "Is that really you?"
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