Chapter 136: Rael’s Trickster Domain.
Who the hell is Veluna?
I stared at the third effect, the one that was easily the most useful for me when it came to… negotiating with people.
It didn't actually make me stronger.
What it did was let me imitate strength, to project the aura or more precisely, the presence of someone I had seen and experienced before.
A perfect trick for making people think I was more dangerous than I really was.
And even useful in scaring the shit out of people if used correctly.
But I have only recorded two auras so far.
Ashavar's, when he first met me and Morvana's, when she had lost control of her composure and let her power flare.
Both times, their auras had been near their peak.
The artifact was the one that categorized and named each stored aura automatically using the system.
So… who the hell was Veluna?
And why the hell was her name showing up where Morvana's should've been?
Was Veluna some other name for Morvana?
Or…
Was something actually wrong with everything?
My mind started racing, a dozen theories crashing into each other all at once.
The System didn't just guess, it knew because it was the one showing the status window by reading details of the artifact.
Every name came directly from the database of the Heavenly Principles, the only being which could remotely be considered as Omniscient in this world.
So if it was calling Morvana by the name Veluna, then it wasn't a mistake or a coincidence.
It couldn't be.
Because, as I have said before, and I'll say it again…
Coincidences don't exist.
They're just the world's favorite way of screwing you over.
I searched through my memory, digging for anyone named Veluna in the novel.
Nothing.
Morvana had always been Morvana, right up until her death, which was…
Wait a minute,
How the hell did she die again?
Why can't I remember?
I knew she had died. That much was certain. But the reason… the scene… the event itself, it was all just gone.
Was it never mentioned?
Or… was the memory erased?
And if it was erased, then by who?
Because no one should have even known that I knew how she died in the first place.
It was a far-fetched theory, sure but I couldn't shake it.
Just to be sure, I tried recalling a few other key moments from later in the novel.
Noah's death.
The world's destruction.
I knew those things happened.
I had to know.
But the more I tried to remember, the more the details slipped away from my mind as if there was a hole in my memories.
I could only recall fragments of what was written in Noah's novel.
A being descending from somewhere beyond.
And then… the world burning.
Who was that being?
Why did he destroy everything?
Before I could think further, a sharp pain ripped through my skull.
"What—what's happening… ?"
The agony was blinding like my mind was being crushed from the inside.
And then, everything went black.
—
When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a dark void ,a world without ground or sky… just endless nothing.
And there, floating a short distance away, was a single sun. Its bright yellow light washed over me, warmer than anything I had ever felt.
I knew what it was.
That sun was the manifestation of my [Card of Arcana.]
I had seen it once before, back when I first activated the card. Which meant… this place was my Soul Space.
But why was I here all of a sudden?
I was just sitting on that bench, checking the details of my artifact… and then I saw a different name in Morvana's place.
And then,
"...…"
What did I do after that?
I focused harder, and the details around me started sharpening, becoming clearer… clearer…
I still couldn't remember Noah's or Morvana's death.
And most importantly, I couldn't remember shit about the one who destroyed the world.
The moment I tried to think about it, pain exploded through my head again.
Even here, inside my own soul, my mind throbbed like it was being crushed under an invisible weight.
What the hell is happening?
Before I could slip back into unconsciousness, the massive orb of energy flared, its golden colour burning hotter and hotter until it turned a deep, blood-crimson.
Then it began to unfold.
Countless red pillars and cards burst outward from the orb, spinning through the void like a storm.
One by one, they started rearranging themselves around me, building, shaping and rewriting.
And when the chaos finally settled, I found myself standing somewhere… familiar.
The Trickster's Domain.
The place where I had first met him.
Only this time, something was different.
I could feel every inch of the space as if it was my own body. This time I didn't feel like a visitor… instead it felt like I was the owner.
A storm of cards moved around me, their crimson light pulsing brighter and brighter until I saw a thick stream of shadowy energy oozing out of my body.
The darkness moved uncomfortably under the glow of the cards, twisting and shifting like a living being.
Then, piece by piece, it began to dissolve and evaporated into thin air but just as it vanished, something else shifted.
A chill went down my spine.
I looked up toward the open sky of the incomplete domain.
There was no roof this time.
And through that endless gap where stars blinked brightly, I saw it.
A massive eye, watching from beyond the void or rather… trying to watch.
Its gaze moved through the domain, searching for something as if it couldn't see me or even the domain.
The moment my eyes met it, pain erupted in my head as if my skull was being split open.
I shifted my gaze away immediately.
My heart was pounding like crazy as beads of sweats rolled down my forehead.
This definitely isn't my soul space anymore… So where the hell am I?
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