Chapter 46 – Glimpse of Zeke's identity
Jin forgot about the enemy he was about to fight and bolted using his wind skill blitz to achieve his fastest speed in an instant and entered into a forest.
Jin crept through the forested path, sharp senses alert. Gorr padded silently beside him, no longer the slow, defensive beast of before but a silent predator with rippling muscles and a mysterious aura that made even spirit beasts avoid their path. The lush greenery of the Grand Ascension Realm began to thin out as an ominous fog slithered in, curling around trees and hanging thick in the air.
"This doesn't feel natural," Jin muttered.
Gorr growled low, not in fear, but instinctive warning. The space element in the air seemed distorted, like threads being plucked and rewoven by invisible fingers.
A whisper.
Soft. Faint. Like wind brushing against leaves, yet layered with malice.
Jin halted and turned. No one. But the fog now moved with purpose, circling them.
Then he saw it.
A dark silhouette stood not ten paces ahead. Humanoid. Cloaked. Its eyes burned crimson through the mist, not with elemental essence, but something older. Hungrier.
"Who are you?" Jin called, stepping forward with his aura flaring.
No answer. Only a flicker—and then the being vanished.
Jin's body moved on reflex. He spun, parrying a blow that came from behind, sparks flying as steel clashed against the elemental barrier of his ring. The figure didn't speak—it dissolved again, merging into the mist.
But the shadows were multiplying.
Five… then ten… twenty.
All humanoid, all eyeless but bearing expressions carved in eternal torment. Their bodies rippled with strange energy—no element Jin could identify, but saturated with despair and killing intent. Jin's eyes narrowed. These weren't cultivators. They weren't even alive.
"What are these things…?"
Gorr roared and launched forward, his body vanishing and reappearing with space flickers. He slashed at a shadow, but the moment his claw connected, the creature collapsed like smoke—only to reform behind him. It struck Gorr, but the attack bounced off as though redirected by a spatial twist. Gorr's defense worked—barely.
But more shadows emerged.
Jin summoned the fire element, casting Solar Rend in a wide arc, flames tearing through the mist. Several shadows were incinerated… but more came, their forms slithering out of cracks in space itself.
"This isn't a natural part of the realm," Jin said through clenched teeth. "This is a test… or a prison."
A scream echoed—high, childlike, mournful. It chilled Jin more than any blade ever could.
One shadow separated from the rest, taller, clad in dark armor, with a jagged sword dripping black essence. Its presence silenced the others. Even Gorr took a step back.
Then it spoke—not aloud, but in Jin's mind.
"You bear the mark. The mark of convergence."
Jin's blood froze.
The mark?
"You speak… what do you mean?" he asked, but the shadow only pointed its sword at Jin. The fog parted in a spiraling dance, and in its center stood a stone monolith—broken, ancient, and radiating a familiar dark energy.
The same as the orb within him.
"Zeke…" Jin whispered.
The armored shadow charged, sword sweeping down in a devastating arc. Jin crossed his arms and formed a quick barrier of earth, layering wind into it to deflect the attack. It cracked but held. He responded with Volcanic Devastation, but the figure warped—its body melting through the attack.
"They're not real," Jin realized, "or rather, they're not of this world."
He turned to Gorr. "Keep the small ones off me. I'll deal with this one."
Gorr growled and leapt into the swarm of lesser shadows, tearing through them with space jumps and slashes of his claws that distorted reality. But the shadows seemed endless, each slain one forming two more.
Jin focused. The armored shadow was more than an enemy—it was a gatekeeper.
He drew his sword, Dance of the Heavens pulsing in his veins. "Let's see if you can handle speed."
He vanished.
Fire surged under his feet. He merged briefly with the earth, teleporting behind the shadow. Water shaped his form, graceful and unpredictable. Then he struck with wind—a blur of slashes, a dozen in an instant.
The shadow stumbled back—bleeding. Its essence scattered in the air like black mist.
"I can hurt it!" Jin realized.
But just then, the monolith pulsed—and the ground shook.
The shadows retreated, screeching. The armored one snarled and vanished into the monolith. Then silence. The mist evaporated like it was never there.
Jin approached the monolith.
Strange markings glowed faintly on its surface, in a language he couldn't read. But the orb in his soul pulsed.
Then a single line etched itself across the stone:
"The convergence begins."
Jin stared, heart racing. "What convergence?"
The stone cracked—and shattered.
Before he could react, a small black crystal floated from its remains and flew into his chest.
Jin gasped as memories—not his own—flashed in his mind. Worlds destroyed. Beings of pure element slaughtered. A celestial war… and a face, Zeke's.
And then, darkness.
Jin collapsed.