Chapter 68: Illusion World
[You're going to drink it now? Why not wait until your soul fully recovers?] Zera's voice echoed, wary and sharp.
"I'm tired of being weak." Raven's reply came out calm, yet his grip on the vial trembled slightly. He uncorked it, a faint frost spilling from the opening. The bluish liquid shimmered like molten ice—beautiful, but dangerous.
He tilted his head back and swallowed.
The cold struck instantly. A biting frost crawled down his throat, spreading like venom through his chest. The flames in the fireplace dimmed, snuffed out as frost crept across the walls and glass panes. His breath turned to mist.
He tried to gasp—but even his jaw refused to move. His skin turned pale, his fingers rigid. He sat frozen on the bed, locked in a silent battle with the invading chill.
Minutes turned to hours.
Yet through the pain, he noticed something strange—his heart still beat, steady and strong. His blood flowed. Only the surface of his body froze.
'It's not killing me,' he realized through gritted teeth. 'It's tempering me.'
When the frost finally receded, his body exhaled a faint mist, and he felt… sharper. A strange stillness clung to him—he could feel the air, sense the cold hidden within it.
"I can feel it," he whispered. "The chill itself…"
He reached into his inventory and pulled out the Frozen Ender spear. Its shaft glimmered faintly under the moonlight.
[Don't tell me you're going to use it now?] Zera's tone sharpened.
"I just want to move," Raven said, gripping the weapon. "Maybe I'll learn something."
[Pointless. Even my previous owner couldn't unlock its full potential. That spear belonged to someone from the Primordial Era. He sealed it himself before dying.]
Raven's expression hardened. "Even so, I saw what it can do. Casper used it—and just mimicking him made my technique sharper."
He stared at the weapon's icy surface. "Maybe the key isn't the spear. Maybe it's memory. Wait… Memory? Past?"
He then recalled Zera mentioning something.
'Her owner, Runeth, told her to learn the 'Past Touch' skill at all costs.'
He raised his hand. "Let's test a theory."
The runes in his eyes lit faintly.
"Past Touch."
The world shattered.
A flood of blue light swallowed his vision. His consciousness was pulled—ripped—from his body.
…
He awoke beneath a vast blue sky. The scent of grass brushed against him, though the air felt eerily still—too perfect, too quiet.
'This isn't my room,' he thought, scanning the open field around him.
Then he saw it.
A lone figure stood ahead, moving with inhuman precision. The being wielded a spear—iron, ancient—and each motion was a lesson in grace and destruction. Thrust. Sweep. Deflect. Feint. Spin. Over and over, a rhythm so flawless that even the air seemed to dance with it.
Raven's eyes followed, mesmerized. Every strike corrected the mistakes in his own form.
'So that's what true mastery looks like…'
The being's skin was blue, faintly luminescent under the false sunlight. A third eye gleamed from its forehead, glowing softly. Two delicate antennae swayed as if feeling the air itself. Ice shards orbited its body like obedient spirits.
Raven took a cautious step forward. "Hey!"
The being didn't react.
"What is this place?"
"A fragment," said a voice behind him—aged, calm, and powerful.
Raven spun around.
A man in a golden robe stood a few feet away. His hair was pale gold, his eyes like amber glass. Wrinkles lined his face, but his presence radiated command—effortless and overwhelming.
"W-Who are you?" Raven asked.
The man smiled faintly. "Runeth Aixus Rit'zyk. Some called me Holem's Crown. Others… A-035."
Raven's breath caught. "You—you're the owner of Zera?"
Runeth chuckled. "A remnant of him. I died long ago. What you see is a will—what remained of me inside the spear."
His gaze sharpened. "You've inherited more than I expected."
Raven frowned. "You said… your soul was reborn?"
"Reincarnated, yes. The Eternal River of Life cleansed me. Erased every memory. What I am now is only a whisper left behind. But I left something behind too—a Memory Library. Zera was its key."
Raven hesitated. "I've already learned three skills from those books."
Runeth's expression softened. "And yet your soul is damaged. The Ice potion's resonance tells me you weren't born with this affinity."
Raven's hand tightened on the spear. "I wasn't born with any choice."
After a long silence, he told him everything—about the devouring power, the bloodline absorption, and the presence of Casper within him.
Runeth listened, grave.
"So the World Eater survived." He muttered, his tone darkening. "It evolved into that thing inside you. We once tried to erase it—gods, mystics, all of us—but it devoured everything. When I realized I couldn't kill it, I took it within my soul and entered the Eternal River of Life. Still, I didn't expect to survive the cleansing rebirth fire."
Raven's heart skipped. "Then… is there a way to remove it?"
"Remove? No." Runeth shook his head. "Conquer it."
"Conquer?"
"Comprehend its essence—Devouring—and make it your own. But fail, and you'll become its vessel."
Raven's face paled.
Runeth studied him again. "Though… perhaps you're safe. Zera already sealed that fragment within the System. It can no longer harm your body."
Raven exhaled in relief—but then another voice laughed coldly.
A crimson mist bled from his chest, twisting into shape. A boy—pale, red-haired, wearing black robes—emerged beside him. His eyes were white as ash.
"Didn't think I'd see you, old man." The boy grinned.
Runeth didn't flinch. "Casper."
He waved his hand. Golden runes flared into existence, forming chains that wrapped around the boy's body. Casper struggled, screaming.
"You think these toys can stop me?!"
Another golden chain coiled around Raven himself.
"H-Hey—why me?!"
"Because you're one and the same," Runeth said. His voice carried both sorrow and authority. "He isn't a separate being anymore. Just another face of you."
The ground trembled. Runes swirled in the air like fireflies as Runeth began a long incantation. Each symbol burned brighter, sinking into Raven's body and then into Casper's.
"You can't erase him," Runeth said, his tone low and final. "But I can seal him. He'll only surface if your will breaks."
Golden chains shot forth again—binding Casper tighter until he was dragged screaming into Raven's chest.
The world cracked apart.
Raven fell to his knees, clutching his chest as light flooded his vision.
Then—silence.