Chapter 30 The Day the Sky Bent
The night before had been calm.
That was the strange part.
Rian had expected storms, chaos, omens—something to warn him that the world was about to twist. But instead, the skies over the Frostspine Valley were clear. Too clear. A blank, silent canvas stretched across the heavens.
He didn't sleep much.
Not because of fear, but because the unease in his bones grew heavier with each passing hour.
He could feel something coming.
Not for the world.
For him.
---
1 — The Cracks No One Saw
When dawn arrived, the first thing Rian noticed was the quiet.
Not normal quiet.
A quiet that felt manufactured, as if someone had muted reality.
Even the wind refused to move.
His group—Eira, Lune, Thalen, Varos, and the newly joined former vice-captain of his past life, Kaelor—stood gathered outside the camp. All felt it. No one spoke.
Eira whispered, "It's like the world is holding its breath."
Kaelor, the man who once stood beside Rivan—the Emperor Rian was in his past life—gritted his teeth.
"This sensation… I felt it once. On the morning the Nameless Throne cracked."
Rian turned.
"When I died?"
Kaelor nodded once.
Rian felt a chill run through him.
So this wasn't an omen for the world.
It was an omen of memories returning.
And memories of Rivan were never gentle.
---
2 — The Sudden Light
It happened at exactly the moment the sun touched the horizon.
A flash.
Not bright.
Not explosive.
Just… wrong.
A line of gold tore through the sky like someone drawing with a blade. A thin fracture, stretching from north to south. No sound. No warning. Just a silent slice through reality.
Lune gasped. "W-What is that?!"
Thalen stepped back. "The sky… cracked?!"
But Rian didn't move.
His pupils trembled.
This… he remembered this.
This was the Sky Rift of the Golden Era, the same phenomenon that appeared the day Rivan unlocked his Supreme Soul State.
In his past life, it marked his ascension.
In this life, it marked something else.
Something waking up inside him.
---
3 — The Vision That Shouldn't Exist
The world blinked.
Then Rian was gone.
Not physically—his body remained standing—but his consciousness was dragged away, pulled violently through a tunnel of light and shadow.
He landed on a battlefield.
Not a normal battlefield.
He knew this place.
He knew the air, heavy with divine energy.
He knew the shattered throne in the distance.
He knew the millions of warriors frozen mid-swing.
And he knew the man standing alone at the center.
A tall figure in gold and black armor, cape torn, hair long and dark, eyes burning with a molten glow.
Rivaan.
His past self.
The Emperor of Goldian.
Rian tried to speak, but his voice didn't exist in this vision.
Rivan did not look at him.
He looked up.
At the sky.
At himself.
"Do you see it now?" Rivan whispered, voice heavy as collapsing mountains.
"This world is not breaking. It is remembering."
Rian froze.
Rivan continued:
"I carved a scar into reality the day I died.
A scar that was never meant to heal."
He lifted his hand.
Chains of light wrapped around his wrist—heavy, divine chains, the same ones that sealed his emperor-level powers before his death.
"You carry the fragments," Rivan said, his voice softening.
"But soon, fragments will not be enough."
Rian felt the ground tremble beneath him.
The sky split further.
The same golden fracture he saw earlier stretched across this memory world too.
Except here, the crack bled light.
Rivan turned fully toward him now.
Though a vision, his gaze pierced beyond worlds.
"Rian," he said.
"I was not the strongest version of us."
Rian's breath caught.
Rivan smiled faintly.
"You must surpass me. And when you do… the throne is yours."
The battlefield shook violently.
Everything collapsed into gold.
---
4 — Return to the Present
Rian's consciousness slammed back into his body.
He dropped to one knee, panting. Sweat drenched his forehead. His heart raced like a beast tearing at its chains.
Eira rushed to him. "Rian?! What happened?!"
Kaelor's eyes widened.
"Your aura… it changed—no, it evolved."
Rian slowly stood.
His heartbeat was different.
His soul felt heavier, older, deeper.
As if the part of Rivan that had been locked away…
…was awake now.
Lune swallowed. "Your eyes… they're glowing."
Rian blinked.
They were.
A faint molten gold shimmer pulsed within them.
Not enough to show his true past power.
But enough to terrify anyone who saw.
---
5 — The Message That Broke the World
They were about to move when a strange sound rang out from the sky.
A bell.
No—something else.
A chime.
A notification sound.
Eira frowned. "Is that… magic?"
Varos shook his head. "No spell sounds like that."
The sky crack pulsed.
Words appeared.
Not spoken words.
Written words.
Like text.
Across the sky.
Everyone stared.
Because the words were written in an unfamiliar script—
and yet, every living being instinctively understood them.
The first universal message to appear in 100,000 years.
And it said:
---
[SYSTEM NOTICE: THE SEALED ERA HAS ENDED]
[THE RETURN OF THE EMPEROR BEGINS]
[THE WORLD AWAKENS]
---
The entire world froze.
Every cultivator, every warrior, every clan elder, every beast, every mage, every sect master—
ALL looked at the sky.
Because one more line appeared.
A line that shattered kingdoms, sects, clans, empires, and the entire web novel world.
A line that broke everything.
---
[IDENTITY CONFIRMED: THE EMPEROR OF GOLDIAN HAS REINCARNATED]
---
Thalen fell backward in shock.
Eira covered her mouth.
Lune whispered, "…No way…"
Kaelor's heartbeat stopped.
Varos stumbled.
And the final message appeared.
---
[NAME: RIAN]
[REALM: SEALED]
[STATUS: AWAKENED]
---
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then the world exploded.
Sect leaders fainted.
Ancient Emperors screamed.
The dead stirred in their tombs.
Holy lands trembled.
Forbidden zones opened.
The heavens cracked.
Millions of cultivators went into panic.
Armies prepared for war.
Clans began hunting for one name.
Rian.
In a single moment—
in one sky message—
Rian had become the most hunted man in existence.
The reincarnated Emperor.
The Absolute Being of the Golden Era.
The man who once ruled half the world.
Now exposed.
Now vulnerable.
Now… awakened.
---
6 — The Weight of a Crown
Rian stared at the sky, fists trembling.
He didn't want this.
Not yet.
He wasn't ready.
But fate never waited.
Kaelor bowed instantly, slamming to one knee.
"Your Majesty…
The throne calls you back."
Eira turned to him, eyes shining with fear and awe.
"Rian… what are you?"
Rian closed his eyes.
A deep breath.
Then he looked at his companions.
At the crackling golden sky.
At the world that was now hunting him.
And he spoke softly.
The words of an Emperor.
"I am Rian.
And the era that killed me once…"
His eyes burned.
"…won't get a second chance."
End of Chapter 30