In a large marble hall, the rough breathing of a young man echoed loudly against the polished stone fool.
The hall was vast and open, with high ceilings and towering columns carved from gleaming white marble. The walls are adorned with intricate carvings and runic constellations, depicting beautiful scenery across the walls and the polished ground.
Despite the grandeur of the large marble hall, there was an unmistakable sense of solemnity permeating the air. The room feels cold and empty, almost as if it had been abandoned for centuries. Weakly shining rays of sunlight shone through the tall windows that lined the walls, casting a pale light on the marble floors and columns.
Observing the scenery in the large marble hall one couldn't help but feel awestruck at the sheer scale of the space. The silence was oppressive, only broken by the clear sound of someone breathing roughly.
The air felt heavy and still as if someone was restricting everyone, except that one being to breathe.
Despite the emptiness of the room, one could sense a powerful presence permeating the whole marble hall. It was almost as if the very marble stones themselves were imbued with a sense of history, power, and the essence of darkness.
If one was able to see the energies in the large marble hall, one would be able to imagine great figures from the past walking these halls, their footsteps silently hovering across the marble floor.
The room seemed to demand respect as if it were a temple or shrine of a long-forgotten god.
But all of this was owed to the person sleeping in the center of the huge hall.
There was a single king-sized bed in the hall, and the presence radiating from it was terrifying.
Over the course of a single year, the presence in the large marble hall had changed drastically. The presence radiating from the young man located in the center of the marble hall was not something anyone in the Orion Shelter could endure anymore.
His presence had grown that strong.
The power of the Divine God, the Ancient Gods, and the other Gods he devoured had been absorbed. Meanwhile, the excessive power of the wittering golden flower, which had caused the Witness State of what could have happened, was slowly spreading through his body, awakening the dormant power he had never awoken.
His Racial Power awoke for the first time in reality, and it fused with his Cursed Divinity, enhancing it further.
"...argh…"
A groan escaped the lips of the young man lying in the king-sized bed.
Surrounded by intricate dimly lit runes and runic constellations that adorned the ground, walls, and ceiling, every corner in the large hall lit up.
Despite the increasing intensity of the light in the large marble hall, shadows were cast on the center of the large hall. A cocoon of darkness spread out from the center of the room, encasing the king-sized bed.
The heavy breathing of the young man in the bed grew relentless and one could see the young God throwing himself around.
Only the young God was present in the room as his dried lips parted.
"Soul Space…Heart of Gluttony, Sea of Darkness, the Devil Army…my Sister…Celine…"
Seemingly disconnected words escaped his lips, while two tears escaped the corner of his closed eyes.
Emotions clashed in his mind and they influenced his entire being.
His body jerked severely as the emotions inside him reached their peak.
Not long after, his milky-white, lifeless eyes shot open.
It appears that he was still in a deep, seemingly eternal sleep, his chest rising and falling slowly, yet heavily, but his lifeless eyes were wide open, tears ceaselessly trickling down his cheeks like a river.
"It was really just a dream…no, it was more than just a mere dream. It was even stronger than an ordinary illusion. Just what did the Advocate do to me…"
Anger flared through his being just thinking about the Witness state. The Witness State could be compared to an illusion of what could have happened 'if' a certain event didn't happen. It was a great way to escape situations one didn't want to acknowledge. However, Nial never tried to avoid his past.
He never even knew anything about his past as the Crown Prince of the Lacardia Empyrean Void in the first place.
Only now that he experienced the Witness State did he realize what he lost through the actions of the Advocate of the Pryard.
Was that what the Advocate wanted?
Probably not.
The Advocate should have planted someone in the Witness state to keep him at stake, to either kill him, or to make him stay there forever.
Celine?
Nial could only think that Celine was the hidden trump card of the Advocate.
He was not sure if Celine was real, or if she was just an illusion created by the Advocate, but he felt a sense of loss spreading through his heart.
It hurt painfully.
Nial never felt anything like that.
Even if time had passed rapidly without him realizing it, the emotions and feelings he had were not an illusion.
He loved the Lacardia Empyrean Void. He loved his parents.
He loved Celine.
The darkness cocoon shook violently and the bright light of the runic constellations intensified.
Tremors spread through the entire large marble hall as Nial Orin began to move from the large bed.
He had slept long enough.
It was a dream, a nice one.
Or was it a nightmare?
Actually, Nial was not too sure about his.
If the dream had been a reality, it would have been perfect. However, that was not the case.
He woke up from a state where he considered everything perfect.
How could he be unaffected?
Would he be alright in the future?
Nial was not sure.
In fact, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be okay.
Nial could feel that only one year had passed in reality, but he spent a whole century in the Lacardia Empyrean Void, with people that had long ceased to exist in reality…his own family…
None of them was alive anymore. How could he be unaffected?
The more he thought about that, the bigger his loss felt. He couldn't do anything about it.
Changing the past was not possible.
Nial wished that he could do something about the death of his family and friends but that was not possible.
The Lacardia Empyrean Void realm had been shattered and it ceased to exist in the annals of history.
Only those who had once been in the Lacardia Empyrean Void realm could still remember it.
Not many people had been in the Lacardia Empyrean Void in their lifetime, and those who had were either dead, killed by the Advocate, or they couldn't care less about such a small realm.
There had hardly been any Gods in the Lacardia Empyrean Void. It was not a place of interest to most higher existences.
Of course, they were interested in the Monster Dimension but they could get access to it through different means.
The Monster Dimension ought to be a place exclusive to the Creatoran race, however, this changed gradually with some effort and underhand means.
But that was not something Nial had to be worried about.
The Monster Dimension was the least of his concerns even though he could enter it.
He was being pulled to the Monster Dimension because there were things waiting for him, beings who didn't even know about his existence.
But even if they were waiting for him, Nial had to take care of something else first.