The Haven sky twisted above me as I found myself in the middle of the Green Leaf village square. The teleportation circle glowed a wan blue, eager to pull me back along its enforced path. Straight into the strict gate that the world system had carved in the rules. I had no use for rules, however. Not with Seris's message echoing in my mind.
The Four Dungeons of Apocalypse…
That one sentence burned hotter than fire in my heart. Valkarion Academy had been pursuing them for generations, and now they'd found them. If I didn't move in an instant, things would go south.
I placed my hand upon the circle, magical energy tracing through my veins and laying new runes across the world's own sigils. My mind hurt, my muscles screamed. I knew this would hurt. It is no longer an imaginary world.
[Law Script: Overrule Divine Jurisdiction]
My breath made the law of Haven Cluster obey.
The glyphs flared as if angry with me, their shapes distorting, breaking, then reforming into an augmented seal that filled the air with darkness.
[Clause: This fallen seat's hand can deflect the divine course, though against the system's law. My will, not Heaven's, is what decides the end.]
A cleft cut through the circle. Space curled around. A brutal tug wrapped around my chest.
[Price: Access to Haven Cluster revoked for two days.]
It was as though a chain had snapped around my shape, a reminder that I'd pay for meddling with divine strings. But I didn't stop. I let the spell carry me away, pulling me from the careful path.
And when I opened my eyes again, I was not in Green Leaf.
I stood before the gigantic gates of Valkarion Academy.
The academy lay out across a mountain plateau, black spires ascending to the sky, flags streaming with the Dravidian House and Valkarion's crest and its allies' symbols. Students clad in cloaks of all hues streamed past the outer courtyard, their soul pages softly aglow as they exchanged greetings or flung tiny spells back and forth. The magic-filled air was heavy with potential. The academy was a crucible, and I'd just immersed myself in the fire. Soon the entire world would bow before me under the flag of the House of Dravidian.
I gave no attention to the glances behind me. Walking straight to the headmaster's office. Then, I revealed my half-elf face, cloak fluttering and hurried up the stairs two steps at a time. I went straight to my uncle's office.
When I opened the door, the smell of parchment hit me. My uncle sat behind his desk, but he was not alone.
Sitting across from him was a white-haired, bone-white-haired, old man with eyes as still as stagnant water, but his weight crushed me like a mountain. A Saint Ranker. I could feel it, his aura was restrained, but all my senses screamed that if he moved, he might wipe out legions.
The old man looked at me silently, peeling away the layers of flesh by simply staring.
My uncle leaned back in his chair, looking at me with that unreadable expression of his. "Lucifer. You're back sooner than I expected."
"I didn't go the long route," I muttered, closing the door behind me. "You said it was urgent. I thought this would be related to the Four Dungeons."
He exchanged a glance with the Saint before answering. "It is. But it concerns something else just as important."
I frowned. "And what might that be?"
"You're engaged."
The words hurt more than a punch. I blinked. "What? Again?"
My uncle's mouth curled into the gentlest of smiles, but his eyes were sharp. "To my granddaughter. The saintess of our tribe."
I spat a hard, brittle laugh. "That's the crisis? You drag me half through universes, reduce my Law Script to ashes for this?"
"Yes." His tone didn't flinch. "This is as urgent as the Four Dungeons' of Apocalypse."
I glared at him, the gravity of his words registering. Not a bluff. Not kidding. He was serious. And the Saint Ranker next to my uncle didn't even flinch, like he was only here to make me realize the seriousness.
"Engaged…" I panted, shaking my head. "Why not, though? Why would my life just become more complicated?"
The Saint Ranker finally spoke, his voice low and clear, echoing in the office like a condemnation. "Your decision will not only decide the fate of Haven, but of the whole West Mathiverse as well. Marriage, war, dungeons, these are all pieces of the same mosaic. Don't make light of this."
I clenched my teeth, staring at the ground. Apocalypse dungeons, betrothal; none of it left me any room to catch my breath.
And yet, my uncle's words kept stuck in my chest.
"As important as the dungeons."
"I guessed you wouldn't mind so I told Zairos everything. This is Chief Zairos of the Vagrant Moon Tribe. Your grandfather-in-law and one of our important allies for the ultimate domination of Aetherra and Haven Cluster which you dream of."