Chapter 63
There was a subtle awareness born from their previous silence, a kind of assurance that Aldraya would truly follow without needing to confirm the direction.
She moved steadily, letting the rhythm of her steps reflect the clarity of the four destinations he had set.
The first was a room filled with articles and old pages, yet arranged in a very modern way.
The sheets floated lightly in the air, adjusting to the height and movement of visitors so that no one had to reach out or bend down to access the knowledge stored within.
The place felt like a living museum that continuously breathed innovation, yet retained the scent of the past that never faded.
The second stop was a towering observatory, standing like a spike of light in the landscape.
Theo was always captivated by the height of the structure, by how a building could break the horizon without seeming arrogant, as if built to witness the sky rather than conquer it.
Then came the third destination, a botanical garden housing flora from around the world, a green space pulsing with life invisible from the outside.
Finally, the architecture of the old city awaited as the journey's conclusion.
The place was full of carvings, rich in detail that blended art, history, and the remnants of human hands that had once shaped its civilization.
Four places, four small chapters he had to traverse with Aldraya to keep the world's balance within manageable limits.
Theo continued walking.
"Aldraya, come closer. Don't walk too far behind.
I prefer we walk side by side, like two allies who understand each other's goals."
Buuuuk - buuuk!
"Yes, like that.
Stay by my side."
Tsiiiih!
"Stop."
"Why?"
"...."
'This feeling—could it be an illusion?
There's something behind each of her steps.
The closer she gets, the stronger the pressure I feel.'
Hiiiiissh!
'If this suspicion is correct, this is no longer just about Aldraya, but something present behind her.'
Puuuk!
'I must not make a misstep this time.'
Theo slowed his pace, waiting for Aldraya to close the gap so that no distance separated them more than necessary.
He wanted her to walk beside him, not follow from behind like a shadow that never truly merged with the world.
When the sound of Aldraya's light steps approached, Theo caught her silhouette from the corner of his eye.
Her gaze remained fixed straight ahead, without tone, without subtle tremors indicating curiosity or any other emotion.
Aldraya moved like a straight line that knew no hesitation, approaching Theo with nearly inaudible motion.
Just as the distance between them narrowed, Theo suddenly raised his hand, signaling Aldraya to stop.
No sound, no words were used to explain the action.
Only a decisive motion in the silence, causing Aldraya's steps to halt instantly.
For the first time in that brief yet intense period, something like surprise flickered in her eyes, though only faintly, like a spark of light accidentally touching a cold metal surface.
She did not understand the reason for the sudden decision, yet she obeyed without hesitation, standing still, waiting for an explanation that might never come in any form.
In the closing silence, Theo adjusted his posture.
The change was subtle yet measured, making the air around them tense ever so slightly.
He lowered the center of gravity in his step, rotated his foot slightly, and positioned his body with perfect balance.
His right hand held the sword still in its sheath, gripping the hilt with the resolve of a samurai who had memorized thousands of battles even though none required drawing the blade.
He had no intention of unsheathing it, yet the way he held it was enough to show that Theo was not merely walking as an ordinary man.
He moved as a guardian, like someone who sensed a threat even before the world acknowledged it.
Aldraya observed everything silently.
A quiet analysis began behind her gaze.
Yet, though she did not voice her thoughts, she understood that Theo's steps were not a performance, but a reaction to something unseen by anyone else.
'Even the wind stops.
The light no longer shifts.
Everything is still, frozen in totality.'
Uuuuuh!
'All the codes around—governing life, objects, even the tiniest particle of existence—have ceased functioning.
No, not just ceased, but forced into stillness.
Even a single small line of code rewriting the atoms of life is locked.'
"...."
'This is more than a pause.
It is a freeze of thought.
Every formula and foundation of reality in the Flo Viva Mythology realm has halted.
Even the Berkeley cardinal, consisting of a single line of code composing the elements of life, is paralyzed.'
In an instant too fast for time to capture, the world around them lost motion.
Silence fell not as a pause, but as a total stop to everything that had once been alive.
The wind that had stirred the leaves now ceased in its most fragile form, like a glass statue holding its breath.
Light no longer vibrated in the air, sound lost its path to travel, and life in the distance froze in fragments of halted action.
Theo stood firm in a ready stance.
Behind the world's stillness, something greater worked.
The system supporting Flo Viva Mythology, with codes accustomed to perpetual motion, ceased instantly.
Every algorithm structuring the environment, every mapping containing life, and every small line of code holding complex structures now went silent.
Even the smallest piece of code in the game, representing atoms in living beings, stopped its limitless regeneration that usually surpassed the Berkeley cardinal concept.
The code, usually forming networks far beyond ordinary mathematics, capable of creating luxurious and evolving life structures, was now frozen, silent, like a cosmic masterpiece forced to stop breathing.
Theo felt the weight of the silence.
A pressure emanated from the surroundings, not as a threat, but as a sensation that he stood amid a grand mechanism forcibly held between two pulses.
The freeze was no accident.
It was a sign that something was intervening in reality, something cutting the flow of the world to reveal itself.
Theo gripped his sword tighter, understanding that whatever had stopped, it had done so to make room for something about to emerge.
The silence was not emptiness.
It was a warning.
'Something is wrong.
This feeling is too strange to be considered a normal threat.
It is like a wound that can breathe, watch, and wait.'
Fhhhh!
'Alright—One Point, Nine Acupuncture Completed!'
Tsraaang!
'The first nine points to lock the direction of the unseen opponent.
The next nine to dismantle the structure of the space it treads.
And the last nine to ensure it cannot return to the order of this world.'
Hooooooh!
'Next—10 Lines, 15 Torments!'
Pssssh!
'This attack penetrates the realm of consciousness.
It ignores the sturdiness of the world, seeking only the point where life stops hiding.
But if the world resists, I will force the door open.'
Dfffffh!
'Door Opened, Torment Unleashed!'
Auuuung!
'This technique is not merely an attack.
It is an amplifier.
It multiplies the sins of each previous strike, folding them until everything trembles.
Combined with 10 Lines, 15 Torments, even the sky will quake and submit.
And so it continues.'
Ruuuung!
'Lantern Buries the Old World.'
Hsssssh!
'This strike does not harm the body, but the memory.
It severs the past and future in a single swing.
Every falling petal is a dead memory—erasing anyone's desire to continue living.
The old world is buried by this lantern, so the new world may be born.'
To be continued…