Novel Full Chapter 860: Changes
Chapter 860: Changes
Michael’s consciousness withdrew from the darkness as his awareness rose toward the surface.
His eyes opened.
The crystal-veined ruin reappeared around him exactly as he had left it.
And then, in front of him, a body fell.
Michael moved instantly. He stepped forward and caught it before the momentum could carry it into a full collapse, his hand closing around the shoulder.
It was Veyrion’s body.
Cold.
But not dead.
Michael’s eyes narrowed slightly. The chest still rose and fell faintly. It was breathing, yet something was missing.
Michael extended his perception deeper, letting his senses brush against the interior. After a few seconds, he withdrew.
"It’s an empty shell."
The soul that had once animated it had been completely devoured, leaving behind only flesh that continued its automatic functions like a machine that had lost its operator.
Michael studied it in silence. The body was not particularly special in any form, which made him wonder what to do with it. Then an idea formed in his mind. However, he would need to leave the ruins first before he could implement his plan.
His storage space opened, and the body vanished instantly, pulled into the dimensional void without resistance.
Michael’s gaze then shifted to the tenth prince and Renn, who still floated nearby, suspended by his mana. Their bodies remained limp.
Michael stared at them briefly. Then a faint, almost amused thought surfaced.
Why was it that Rank 4 superpowers loved kidnapping people after knocking them unconscious?
He had seen it happen before, or rather experienced it once.
They never killed immediately.
They always took.
Michael exhaled quietly. He did not wake them. Instead, he lifted his head and looked outward at the realm itself.
Only now did he notice it.
The crystal veins running through the ground flickered weakly.
Michael’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"What happens to a realm," he murmured softly, "when its owner dies?"
A few moments earlier, far away from the ruin’s center, Arianne collapsed to her knees.
The suddenness of it left her breathless.
One moment, the familiar pulling sensation had been there deep inside her chest. Then it vanished. Completely.
Arianne’s eyes widened as she clutched her chest, fingers tightening against the fabric of her uniform.
The absence felt unreal.
At the same time, another sensation followed.
Weakness.
Her mana receded inward, the borrowed strength peeling away from her like mist under sunlight. The cultivation orbs embedded within her system no longer responded. Their enhancement faded rapidly, returning her to her natural state.
Her breathing grew uneven.
But she did not panic.
Because unlike before, this weakness felt right.
It was hers.
Her shoulders trembled. Relief flooded through her.
Arianne lowered her head, her blonde hair falling forward as tears spilled freely from her eyes. She did not try to stop them.
She could feel it.
Whatever had been wrong with her was now gone.
Her chest tightened as her thoughts shifted instinctively to one person.
Sir Mic.
Her fingers curled against the crystal-veined ground as her tears fell faster.
It must have been him.
There was no one else.
Arianne’s lips trembled faintly. She did not know how he did it or what he did, but he had done it.
He had saved her once again.
At the same time an intense feeling imof sadness and regret filled her.
Back at the ruin’s center, Michael stood in silence as the crystal veins beneath his feet flickered weakly, their glow unstable.
His gaze lowered again to the two unconscious figures suspended beside him.
Renn.
And the tenth prince.
Both floated motionless, held upright by thin currents of mana Michael had unconsciously maintained even while his consciousness had been deep within his soul space.
Michael studied them quietly for several seconds.
He could leave them like this. The realm was already destabilizing. Eventually, the remnant forces governing the space would pull them out.
But after a moment of thought, Michael sighed softly.
He stepped forward.
His mana shifted, lowering Renn gently until his boots touched the crystal-veined ground. The swordsman’s body swayed slightly, limp from prolonged unconsciousness.
Michael raised his hand and placed two fingers lightly against Renn’s forehead.
A small, controlled pulse of mana entered as a stimulus. It was just enough to nudge his consciousness back toward the surface.
The reaction was immediate.
Renn’s brows twitched faintly. His breathing hitched.
Then his eyes opened abruptly.
For a moment, they were unfocused, his gaze drifting across the fractured terrain, the dimming veins, and the endless twilight sky above.
Confusion.
Disorientation.
Then his pupils focused.
"...Sir Mic?" Renn’s voice came out rough.
Michael withdrew his hand and nodded once.
"You’re awake."
Renn blinked several times, forcing himself upright. His body trembled slightly, weakened by whatever Veyrion had done to him, but his instincts remained sharp. His eyes moved quickly, scanning the area.
Then he noticed the absence of the figure that had once dominated the ruin.
The overwhelming pressure was gone.
"...Where is it?" Renn asked quietly.
Michael did not answer immediately.
Instead, he glanced briefly toward the tenth prince, who still floated unconscious several meters away.
Michael had made the deliberate choice to wake only Renn.
Renn was his friend.
Someone he trusted.
The prince, on the other hand...
Michael’s expression remained calm. He did not dislike him. But he had no interest in touching him with his mana any more than necessary.
So he ignored him.
Renn followed his gaze and noticed the prince as well.
"...He’s alive," Renn said.
"Yes."
Renn exhaled quietly, relief flickering across his face before his attention returned to Michael. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...You did something," Renn said.
Not a question.
A statement.
Michael met his gaze.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Michael looked past him, toward the flickering horizon of the realm.
"...It’s over," he said simply.
Renn stared at him for another second.
Then he nodded.
He did not press further.
Because whatever Michael had done...
He could feel it.
The realm itself was no longer the same.