Chapter 203 – Aeris, the Choice of the Wind
King Azevran Tempesthorn was still trapped inside the Quietus Sphere.
He struggled, but nothing responded: not the wind, not the ether, not even his own aura.
Just absolute silence.
A humiliating silence.
Blackstar crossed his arms, completely calm:
— "Alright, Aeris… it's now. You decide what we do with Mister Hurricane."
Aeris swallowed hard. Very hard.
The *glup* was audible through the barrier. Even Blackstar blinked:
— "Wow. Nice glup."
Aeris stepped forward, trembling. He looked at the King, then at Blackstar, then back at the King.
— "What exactly am I supposed to… do?"
Blackstar shrugged:
— "Two options.
1. You eliminate him.
2. You do something… useful for yourself.
— It's your call."
**Aeris:**
— "No third option? Like… I go home?"
— "Not possible. The King blocks the exit of the domain with his aura."
Blackstar pointed at Azevran:
— "Him. He's the lock.
— You. You're the key."
Aeris turned pale.
— "Oh no…"
---
### The Least Heroic Inner Monologue in History
Aeris thought:
*I'm not made for this… I'm not Blackstar, not Oris, not Valor… I'm just Aeris. The guy who can't even make coffee without spilling the cup.*
Then he fixed his eyes on Azevran.
The King looked back with a mix of anger and… worry.
Aeris felt something.
Not courage.
Not power.
No.
An idea.
A weird idea.
An Aeris idea.
— "I think I know what to do."
Blackstar smiled:
— "Finally! Go on."
Aeris took a deep breath, stepped to the edge of the Quietus Sphere, placed his hand against the silent surface, and said:
— "I'm not going to eliminate you."
The King's eyes widened in surprise.
— "I'm going to… drain you."
Blackstar froze.
— "…wait, what?"
Aeris continued, serious for once:
— "Your power is the wind. Air control. Pressure. Currents. Invisible flows.
— And me… I have that too.
— But at a ridiculous level compared to you.
— So I'll take what remains of yours… and make it my strength."
Blackstar blinked.
— "Wait, you came up with that yourself?"
— "…I think?"
— "Damn, I'm proud of you right now. Keep going."
Aeris placed both hands on the sphere.
In the total silence, he felt the last traces of Azevran's aura, all compressed, blocked, waiting.
— "I don't want to kill you, King Tempesthorn.
— I want to understand.
— I want to learn."
The King, even weakened, murmured:
— "You want… to inherit my storm?"
Aeris nodded:
— "Yes. I want to become better.
— And you're the only one who can help me."
Blackstar whispered with a grin:
— "Aeris… you're turning into a real protagonist here. Stop, you're stealing my spotlight."
---
Aeris closed his eyes.
He used his aerial perception to the maximum, sensing the flows, pressures, residual currents of the King.
He didn't rip anything away.
He didn't force.
He harmonized.
As if two winds were blending.
The domain trembled slightly.
Aeris's hair lifted.
His aura became denser, more fluid, yet lighter at the same time.
Azevran, surprised, breathed:
— "You… you're synchronizing your wind with mine…
— Without violence…
— You are… a child of the wind."
Aeris trembled:
— "I just want… to be useful."
Blackstar sighed:
— "You're not useful.
— You're essential.
— Now stop trembling, you look like a bird in the rain."
---
### The Result
The transfer ended like a long exhale.
Aeris stepped back, panting. His aura… floated. Like a conscious breeze around him.
Blackstar's eyes widened:
— "Oh.
— OH DAMN.
— You've become Aeris Tempestborne, how's that feel?!"
**Aeris:**
— "I… I just… learned."
The King, weakened yet calmed, collapsed to his knees (without gore), looking at Aeris with respect:
— "You didn't take my power.
— You transformed it."
Aeris blushed:
— "Thank you… I… I just want to protect people."
Blackstar placed a hand on his head:
— "And you just pulled off the smartest move of the month.
— No murder, no chaos…
— Just… growth.
— It annoys me.
— I wanted to blow something up."
**Aeris:**
— "S‑sorry…"
— "No, keep it up.
— You're on the right path."
Chapter 204 – Tempestborne… and Blackstar in Disbelief
Blackstar crossed his arms, looked at Aeris… then at the King… then back at Aeris.
— "So basically, I could've finished him in ten seconds, maybe you'd have awakened some even more broken thing like 'Hyper Divine Ultimate Wind Whatever.' But no. You decided to be… nice."
The King lifted his chin, offended:
— "And what do you think? I'm stronger than any power he could have—"
Blackstar raised his hand:
— "Shh. You. Wind. Breathe. This isn't your chapter."
Aeris timidly raised two fingers:
— "Anyway… I don't like killing. I'm not used to… well… yeah."
Blackstar ruffled his hair:
— "Don't worry, I won't force you. But still… what EXACTLY did you do to the king? Because I didn't get it. Even the gods must be confused right now."
The King nodded vaguely:
— "True."
Aeris blushed:
— "Uh… well… I didn't drain his energy… or absorb his essence… or do something weird…"
**Blackstar:**
— "THEN WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
**Aeris:**
— "I harmonized his flows."
Blackstar froze for three seconds. Even the wind stopped blowing, shocked.
— "What do you mean 'harmonized'…?"
Aeris fiddled nervously with his fingers:
— "I didn't take his power. Well, yes… but not by stealing it. I recalibrated my frequency to his. So… I stabilized his chaotic flow… without destroying it. He keeps his strength, and… I keep a synchronized version in my own energy."
The King, arms crossed:
— "In short, he just stopped me from being an uncontrollable hurricane… without nerfing me. It's humiliating but… effective."
Blackstar's jaw dropped:
— "So you didn't drain his energy… you didn't copy his magic… YOU DID A PATCH UPDATE?! You patched him?! You're a wind technician?!"
**Aeris:**
— "Kind of… I think…"
Then, timidly:
— "And it gave me a form… uh… 'Tempestborne Form'…"
Blackstar's eyes widened:
— "Oooh. That's stylish. Congratulations."
He patted Aeris's shoulder.
— "But tell me… is it strong enough to brush rank S? And you don't have dumb restrictions like 'I faint if I jump too high'?"
**Aeris:**
— "I hope not…"
The King intervened:
— "Technically, his flow is purified, so he SHOULD NOT have restrictions. But hey. I'm just saying."
Blackstar sighed:
— "Aeris… I warn you, the difference between rank A and rank S is a chasm. An abyss. A bottomless pit. A—"
**Aeris:**
— "Yes, I get it… it's a lot."
**Blackstar:**
— "So much that even I can't explain it. And that annoys me."
Aeris timidly raised his hand:
— "But my dream… is still to reach that level…"
Blackstar grabbed him by the shoulders:
— "The author just gave you a broken power‑up… BROKEN! Even I don't understand how it's possible. So please: don't disappoint him."
Aeris, blushing:
— "Do you want to test… my new form…?"
Blackstar stepped back at light speed:
— "Oh hell NO! Absolutely NOT! That's no longer my concern. I don't want to die in YOUR evolution arc. Not for me."
He snapped his fingers: the Quietus Sphere dissipated.
The King regained his powers and sighed in relief.
**Blackstar:**
— "So… what do we do with him now?"
He pointed at Azevran.
— "Personally I'd have preferred you eliminate him or absorb him completely.
— Just so we don't have to deal with Elyon, Duplicators, Thalathorn, or other headache teams later. But fine… I lost the vote."
**Aeris:**
— "I need him to master my powers. I'll never have a wind expert like him again!"
Blackstar stayed silent for five seconds. Then sighed, defeated.
— "It's true that at the guild… we have no wind specialists. No rank S mage either. Nothing. A desert.
— Azevran Tempesthorn… PUT AWAY YOUR HORNS. You're coming with us. And no trouble."
The King raised his hands:
— "OK. No problem."
**Blackstar:**
— "Good. Get ready, we're heading back to the guild."
**Aeris:**
— "Don't forget to close your domain, King."
The King snapped his fingers. The portal began to shrink.
Blackstar stretched:
— "Alright… let's get out of here. Before the author gets another weird idea."
**Aeris:**
— "Like what?"
**Blackstar:**
— "Like another antagonist popping out of nowhere, even more annoying than the last ones."
The King, stepping back toward the exit:
— "Please… let him be wrong."
Chapter 205 – When Your Teammate Sleeps… But Still Destroys Everything
The dark abyss still vibrated from the golem's explosion.
Shadow particles fell slowly, silent, like black snow that had forgotten how to be dramatic.
Kronn yawned.
Just one yawn.
A single one.
And the entire platform shook as if an invisible giant had set its foot down to test the floor's solidity.
Seline rolled her eyes, utterly blasé.
— "I'm literally partnered with a walking earthquake."
But the worst part?
She was smiling anyway.
(She was starting to get used to it. Which was objectively worrying.)
Before them, the darkness cracked open.
A hundred silhouettes emerged from the black mist:
— Shadowpits, with arms like thin blades,
— Abyssians, creatures fused with the abyss, their bodies snapping like poorly stacked planks of wood,
— and other nameless horrors, probably offended they didn't even get a name.
The collective roar made the air vibrate.
Seline took her stance.
Kronn… was already closing his eyes.
— "NO NO NO— KRONN, STAY AWA—"
Too late.
He was asleep.
Standing.
Again.
Seline inhaled deeply, like someone resigning themselves to fate.
— "Okay. You're officially the most stressful ally in history."
The monsters charged all at once.
The air grew heavy, tense, ready to burst.
Seline raised her hands:
— "HARMONIA — Luminous Rift!"
A circle of sonic waves spread from her feet, carving the ground into perfect arcs.
The Shadowpits in the front line were stopped cold, as if an invisible hand had pressed pause on them.
Behind her, Kronn scratched his head… while asleep.
An Abyssian tried a sneak attack, leaping at him with a gaping shadow‑maw.
Kronn raised his elbow.
Without aiming.
The Abyssian flew like a rocket, slicing through the air with a humiliating *FIUUM*,
and ended up embedded in a column twenty meters away.
Seline turned, mouth slightly open.
— "…I'm not even surprised anymore."
She blinked twice.
— "Wait— KRONN!"
But Kronn had already switched into sleep autopilot.
A capacity probably forbidden by every natural law.
Seline sighed, grabbed something from her belt… and brandished her relic microphone.
— "Arcasonus… the Echo‑Scepter."
A silver mic, engraved with sonic runes, vibrated in her hand as if it had a personality.
(Probably snobbish.)
The monsters hesitated, sensing a bad idea incoming.
Some stepped back.
The smarter ones already turned to flee.
Too late.
Seline inhaled.
Then sang:
— "HARMONIA — Cathartic Wave!!!"
A pure light burst from her, exploding in brilliant spirals, illuminating every corner of the abyss.
A crystalline sound, gentle yet commanding, surged like a wave.
The Shadowpits screamed silently.
The Abyssians recoiled, trying to hide behind rocks.
Other monsters literally dove into fissures to escape the wave.
But the light caught them all, cleansing them of corruption.
The creatures disintegrated like dust blown away by the wind.
In seconds, the abyss—once saturated with darkness—became clear, almost peaceful.
Seline exhaled, wiping a bead of sweat.
— "There. See? I can do absurd things too."
She turned:
— "Did you see that, Kronn?! Admit it, I nailed it!"
Kronn didn't even notice her.
He was… snoring.
Standing.
Sword still in hand.
With a peaceful smile, as if dreaming of pastries.
Seline put her hands on her hips.
— "…It's official. I'm the secondary heroine in MY own exploit."
Kronn sniffled lightly in his sleep.
The ground trembled.
Seline looked skyward.
— "Well. We've still got a long way to go. Wake up whenever you want, walking earthquake…"
She sighed, but an amused smile tugged at her lips.
— "At least you get the job done. Even asleep."
Chapter 206 — "When Even a Portal Says: 'Wait… Is This Legal?!'"
A silence fell over the purified abyss.
A silence… strange.
Not the calm kind.
The worried silence, the kind of silence from a portal suddenly realizing:
> "Wait… WHO cleaned me up this fast?!"
---
Seline ran a hand through her hair, Arcasonus resting on her shoulder, more confident than ever.
— "I literally just did a cosmic spring cleaning.
I deserve at least a thank you, don't I?"
Kronn wasn't listening.
He was asleep.
Standing.
Looking like a baby dragon dreaming of eating clouds.
The dark abyss, offended at not being taken seriously, made the whole zone tremble.
Then it focused at the center of the platform.
A humanoid silhouette slowly emerged, surrounded by liquid shadows.
Long, black, floating hair.
Eyes like a rift.
A black blade appeared in its hand.
The entity vanished—
—and reappeared behind Kronn.
**BOOOOM.**
Kronn, without opening his eyes, grabbed its neck with one hand.
Just that.
A lazy grip.
And the entire abyss shook as if someone had just activated "free destruction mode."
Rocks fell.
Cracks spread.
The dungeon panicked.
Seline reacted instantly, setting Arcasonus down.
— "HARMONIA — Canticle of Balance!"
A soft sound wave burst from her, stabilizing the space that was tearing apart.
The cracks stopped dead, as if someone had pressed "pause" on an explosion.
— "There. We'll avoid total collapse, thank you very much."
She glanced at Kronn.
— "You're a public hazard… asleep."
The entity tried to break free—just before Kronn punched it.
The punch was slow.
Slow-motion slow.
Like "I'm too sleepy to aim" slow.
But when it landed…
**CRISHHHHHHH.**
Space-time shattered like fragile glass.
Shards of light scattered everywhere.
The entity vanished—
—and Seline, who was midair thanks to an amplified jump, saw the creature reappear beneath her.
She let out:
— "AAAAH!"
A scream.
High-pitched.
Too high-pitched.
Reality vibrated so hard it fragmented into rippling circles.
The monster collapsed instantly, as if it had just taken a supersonic scream to the soul.
Seline landed, proud of herself.
— "See? I don't just stabilize things."
The entity rose again… as if nothing had happened.
Then vanished once more.
Its speed? Unbelievable.
It reappeared right in front of Kronn…
…and slammed into him full force.
Kronn blocked with his foot.
**BOOOOM.**
The shockwave shook the entire platform.
Even the mist scattered under the impact.
Seline kept stabilizing the zone, the air around her vibrating like a colossal harp.
— "Kronn… you can't do that with EVERY move. I'm going to get sonic cramps."
The entity charged again.
Each strike fast enough to slice a mountain.
Kronn, still asleep, blocked them randomly:
a fist here,
an elbow there,
a foot lifting as if someone had tickled his ankle.
Seline sighed.
— "This man fights better asleep than I do awake."
She dashed forward.
Energy pulsing in her hand.
— "ARIA — Strike of Dissolution!"
She struck the entity square in the chest.
The impact didn't just push it back:
its body vibrated, rippled, began to "dissociate," as if losing its shape.
The entity groaned, distorted:
— "Wh… what is this…?! You… you're trying to disassemble me?!"
Seline smiled.
— "Well, yeah. It's in the name of the spell."
The entity nearly fell apart completely—
Then Kronn kicked into empty space, without aiming.
And hit the creature.
**FOUUM.**
It flew across the abyss like an unlucky projectile, smashing through several pillars before crashing into a heap of compact shadow.
The entity rose again, trembling.
— "What… what ARE these monsters…?
If it hadn't been the one asleep, she would've finished me with that strike…"
Seline crossed her arms.
— "I feel like insulting you, Kronn.
But I'll refrain.
Because technically… you just admitted I would've won."
She glanced at Kronn.
Kronn snored.
Standing.
Arms dangling.
Completely out of the conversation.
— "… and of course, he doesn't even notice me."
She exhaled, lifted Arcasonus, and straightened the mic.
— "Alright then. Let's continue.
You're going to listen to MY new music.
It's called…"
Arcasonus lit up.
— "SYMPHONY OF REALITY SHOCK!"
She inhaled, ready to sing.
— "It's dedicated to you, creature who runs fast but thinks slow!"
The monster paled.
Seline opened her mouth.
And the entire abyss braced itself for suffering.