Chapter 84
Jupiter rolled a violet storm that tore through the air, creating a vortex that seemed ready to swallow the thoughts of anyone who wandered too close.
Saturn vibrated its rings until they produced a resonance that bounced hundreds of times across the layers of space.
Uranus emitted a pale green stream that resembled a flow of logic intertwined with intuition.
Neptune released a bluish mist that consumed sound, causing every noise to vanish as if the world had forgotten how to speak.
All those sights gathered and merged into a single center of light, a dual radiance emitted by Quorin and Valthura as the Second Paradigm perfected their form.
'I used to think I understood all of this.
The Second Paradigm, a phase I had only ever read about as a footnote in the Flo Viva Mythology system back when I was still in the real world.
Back then everything felt theoretical, like a concept I could study and memorize without ever having to experience it.
But now, as the digital and metaphysical worlds pull at my body like two currents trying to tear me apart, I finally realize how naïve I've been all this time.'
Fiiiih!
'The Second Paradigm is not merely an increase in power. It is their method of rewriting the laws of reality from its very foundation.
They are not just transforming; they are reshaping the world and placing themselves at the center of everything.'
Oaaahhh!
'If they decide to kill me here, I'm not even sure I could lift my head, let alone perfect the Resolve, Intention, Will, and Ambition I have forged all this time.
The situation is already critical.
One tiny mistake, and I will vanish without a trace, without any chance of becoming the author of my own story.'
In the midst of the darkness formed by the pull of two layers of existence, when the boundaries between digital and metaphysical merged like a mist unable to choose a shape, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Streams of data that were once mere sequences of numbers transformed into primordial vibrations that gripped the inner space of anyone who ventured too close.
Within that vortex, Theo appeared small, but not small out of weakness.
Small like someone who suddenly realizes he is standing on the edge of something immeasurable, something that would swallow the entirety of reality if he made a single wrong step.
The ethereal layers around him trembled slowly, as though celebrating the birth of a new power that no longer obeyed the laws of any world.
The Second Paradigm surged from the core of the Administrators, spreading to the sky like cracks of light that damaged the fabric of the cosmos.
In an instant, Theo understood that this power was not merely an increase in ability, but the Administrators' way of rewriting the nature of all things.
The abstract became concrete.
The impossible became ordinary.
The weak could be crushed before they had the chance to understand what was happening.
And within the vortex, Theo's existence felt like a shadow pulled endlessly between clinging to survival or disappearing without leaving a line in history.
The fear crawling through his mind was not merely fear of death, but fear of losing his last chance to affirm his Resolve, Will, Intention, and Ambition—everything he had held tightly.
The Second Paradigm made his path steep, applying an invisible pressure that tested the strength of his spirit every passing second.
If before he still had room to think and measure strategies, now that space had shrunk into a dark corridor that forced him to run without looking back.
The Administrators had reached a point that surpassed any concept of power within the realm of humans or creatures beyond humanity.
And it was only a matter of time before they decided whether Theo deserved to endure or should be erased like a tiny stain on the cosmic canvas.
The situation was nearing its breaking point.
'I cannot just stand here waiting for death to come.
If my real world has been swallowed to this extent, if the reality I knew has become ninety-nine percent worthless, then there is one thing I must protect.
My existence must remain whole.
I cannot disappear.
Not now, not in the midst of the assault of nine Administrators determined to erase me.'
Fhhhh!
'I am still Theo, the writer who created Last Prayer, someone whose roots are woven into this story.
As long as even one percent remains, I will defend it even if I'm shattered in the process.
They may shake reality, but that does not mean I must accept the ending they decide for me.
That is why I have to act.
Their paradigm may destroy everything, but I will not let myself be paralyzed by fear.'
Theo refused to let his thoughts be swallowed by the shadows tightening around him.
There was something within him that rejected submission, a primal instinct affirming that his existence must not be erased so easily.
That conviction pushed his steps forward, guiding him through the thick and silent atmosphere.
He sought the one person capable of anchoring his thoughts so they would not be swept away by the storm of his inner chaos, and that name continued to surface in his mind.
Aldraya.
He approached slowly, syncing his breath with the pulse of reality vibrating around them.
Each step felt like passing through a thin veil separating him from the calm he longed for.
Aldraya stood not far from there, her silhouette firm amid the soft glow, as if the world itself chose not to disturb her tranquility.
Without realizing it, Theo's steps carried him to her left side, close enough to feel the subtle texture of Aldraya's clothing.
And when he shifted his gaze, he found Aldraya still looking straight ahead, her expression serene and unshaken, her eyes unblinking, her face devoid of even the slightest reaction.
When Theo tried to catch any sign from her, he instead sensed a strange distance he couldn't describe, as though Aldraya was the center of calm and a chasm untouched by anything at the same time.
'I need to check first before we talk.
The Administrator seed inside her might see my presence as a threat.
If I speak recklessly, I might be attacked by something I haven't even begun to understand.'
Fnnnng!
'Two seconds.
Just two seconds.
No certainty.
And no clear sign.
That's why I cannot trust her immediately.'
"Why are you approaching like that?"
'She finally spoke.
Her voice was flat, without turning, yet so firm that her words felt as if they pierced through my skin.
And from the way she asked, she seemed confused by my stillness, by the way I observed her from head to toe without any explanation.'
Theo kept his intent to speak suppressed.
He simply stood there, brushing aside the urge to explain himself right away.
There was a reason more important than conversation.
He had to make sure the Administrator seed within Aldraya did not interpret him as a threat.
The silent two seconds stretched like a flow of time drawn long, giving space for layers of doubt and caution to multiply.
He held his breath, waiting for the slightest change in Aldraya's aura, waiting for a sign proving she was still on his side—or otherwise.
But what he found was a calm he could not decipher.
While Theo sank into thoughts spinning endlessly, his instincts kept screaming that Aldraya could not be fully trusted yet.
The Administrator seed in her body was too mysterious, too dangerous to overlook. It made Theo look at her with near-obsessive precision, scanning every detail from head to toe, as though her body held a hidden message begging to be deciphered.
He did not realize that the intensity of his gaze made him appear like a shadow frozen in unease.
Aldraya, as if understanding that Theo's silence was not respect but a sign of inner turmoil, finally filled the space hanging between them.
To be continued…