Chapter 295: Sapphire-blue Eyes

It felt like a long time had passed since he entered the House of Night.

Regardless, Kai was quite sure that it wasn’t like this.

He could feel it the moment his consciousness slipped from the waking world and settled into the ending world that something was wrong. Slowly, he rose to his feet—his body weightless yet grounded.

And then, he looked around to see nothing.

Nothing to see at all.

From the start, the House of Night was already pretty empty, but this was way worse.

Every time he turned his head—all he saw was absolute darkness. It pressed hard against his eyes like a thick physical shroud. No distant stars above. No pale shimmer of the moon’s light filtering through the endless black.

It was as if the House of Night had been swallowed whole.

Devoured by a darkness so deep that even Kai couldn’t see through it.

"What in the Gods’ name? What happened here?"

For a long, disorienting moment, Kai wondered if he had entered the wrong way.

Perhaps there was a taboo that he unconsciously broke that forced him to stumble into the dark domain of some unknown Nightborn, a creature that thrived in absolute blackness. But no, it didn’t seem that way.

Kai could feel the familiarity of this place.

He felt the cold mist brushing against his shins, curling around his ankles—like the fingers of the dead. He also felt the shallow water underneath splashed softly with every shift of his feet, sending tiny ripples through the stillness.

No mistaking it, this was the House of Night.

Just that it had been swallowed by this darkness that made it feel a little bit foreign to him.

And then, the light finally came.

It swept across his surroundings without warning—a single beam of pale moonlight that cut through the blackness from above. Kai tilted his head back and looked skyward. He was then greeted by the moon.

Somehow, it was regaining its light—but only enough to illuminate a small circle around him.

A spotlight cast upon him in the endless dark.

Kai stood at the center of it, exposed—naked before an unseen audience. It was almost like he was a singer who was standing on the stage with all eyes on him. Such a situation brought an unsettling effect that was immediate and chilling.

But more importantly, the moon was further away than he last remembered.

"Is this another floor...?" Kai mumbled inwardly.

He remembered the first time he had stepped onto the second floor after it had been unlocked for him. One of the things he noticed immediately was the sky. It was emptier. Stars that were supposed to be there were missing.

Some constellations became incomplete because of that.

As if something had plucked them from the sky.

Assuming that the change was constant, the higher the floor was, this must be another floor.

And for it to have no stars and a moon that was distant, Kai gulped.

It was clear to him that this was a high floor.

Perhaps the fourth floor or even the fifth; he wasn’t quite sure.

Instincts took over as he didn’t feel comfortable being exposed like this. He reached out both hands towards the darkness, making sure of his authority over the darkness, as he was the First Son of the Primordial Night.

One of the entities who ruled the House of Night.

But nothing happened.

"What...?" Kai’s eyes widened slightly—and then he shook his head and tried again. "Listen to me. Answer me. Make way for me!"

Swoosh—!

Kai could feel his reach over the night stretched towards the darkness surrounding him—but the darkness didn’t recede. It didn’t tremble or give any reaction to his call. His authority over the night now felt like a child’s cry in a hurricane.

For some reason, the House of Night was not listening.

"What in the world is going on?" He mumbled in disbelief as he lowered his arms.

Just then, across from him, something appeared.

A pair of glowing sapphire-blue eyes opened and stared directly at him.

Kai’s breath was caught in his throat—he watched the eyes that hung in the darkness like twin stars with wariness. Despite the darkness, the blue light coming from them seemed to spread across the void like a disease.

He couldn’t see the form behind them.

Could not discern the shape of the entity that owned such terrible, luminous eyes.

But he knew that this entity wasn’t something on his level.

It’s listening to this entity—the night is listening to this entity more than me.

Kai could see the darkness was gathering around the blue-sapphire eyes, and that alone was proof enough that this entity had control over the night. A control that was even stronger than his, which was surprising.

And then, the pressure came a heartbeat later.

It slammed into Kai like a physical blow, forcing his body to stiffen and his spine to lock.

It was as if a mountain had been placed directly upon his shoulders, pressing him down with a crushing force. His knees trembled, and his breaths became short, but he tried to endure the pressure to the best of his abilities.

He could feel it in his guts that he needed to remain strong.

Right now, the entity was probing him, trying to understand what he was.

Any weakness would be taken as a sign to strike.

Kai’s foot slid back an inch, then another. An involuntary retreat that his instincts forced him to do. As soon as he felt the pressure coming from this pair of eyes, not only did he realize this entity was extremely strong, but he also realized the familiarity of the pressure.

He had felt this kind of pressure before, and it came from Mallory.

A-Another one of the Goddess’ children?

"Who are you...?" An astral voice—that sounded like a thousand souls speaking at once crept through the air and sent a chill down Kai’s spine. Its tone leaned toward hostility, unlike the passive tone that Mallory used.

"Are you asking for my name?" Kai asked back, trying to remain calm.

"You are the reason for this darkness, and I can’t... see you properly."

"If you can’t see me, then there’s a reason why that is."

Considering that acting mysterious and strong helped him survive encountering Mallory, Kai would also adopt the same method against this entity. He was not sure what the darkness she was talking about was; nor did he know why she couldn’t see him properly.

His guess was that the Goddess was protecting him.

After all, the Children of the Primordial Night are really dangerous.

But regardless, he was going to act like he knew everything.

"You tried to control the night earlier... And you don’t seem to be Nightborns—from the upper floors, which can only mean one thing."

"Don’t assume things that you do—karhk?!"

Kai’s eyes flew wide in horror as a hand forged from pure night closed around his throat, and hauled him off the ground. He choked, feet kicking at nothing, lungs screaming for air. It was hard to breathe, and the pain only increased with each passing second.

And then, something in his neck gave way with a sickening crack.

It was his larynx—the cartilage was crushed from the iron grip.

"You carry mother’s essence, yet you reek of male energy. How can such a thing be?"

Though it sounded like a question—the entity didn’t want an answer, as the grip around Kai’s throat only tightened until the intent became undeniable. The entity wasn’t attempting to get the answer—it wanted to kill him.

Just then, the darkness that surrounded them wobbled.

Sensing the change, the pair of sapphire-blue eyes looked to the side.

Kai’s eyes followed while he was being choked, but he couldn’t see anything.

Couldn’t see what pulled the entity’s gaze away.

Even though that was the case, he could feel it—something sparking in the air, something vast and bottomless. A pressure that made the darkness around flinch. His consciousness began to fade as the edges of his vision crumbled into black.

Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, trailing down his chin as his body fought.

Just then, something pierced through.

The darkness—the entity’s own shroud, the impenetrable black that had swallowed the entire House of Night—churned violently from the inside. A hole tore open as a torrent of condensed darkness shot through it like a spear.

But this darkness was different.

It did not blend with the black around it. It dominated it.

Everyone around recoiled, parting like frightened animals, as if even darkness itself was afraid of this new arrival. Almost like this thick torrent radiated an aura so horrible that the fabric of the realm seemed to bow before it.

Soon, the torrent slammed into the shrouded entity with an impossible force.

The impact was cataclysmic.

The entire House of Night quaked, the ground split, and the shallow water erupted skyward in a spray of silvery mist. A sound tore through the darkness. An astral, high-pitched scream of pure agony, as the entity was blasted and hurled into the distance like a ragdoll.

And alongside it, the hand around his throat disappeared.

Kai dropped into the shallow water, landing on his hands and knees.

He gasped for a breath, but couldn’t. His throat was crushed, the passage sealed. Then, all at once, the air shifted. The oppressive weight that had weighed him down was lifted—replaced with something familiar.

Something normal.

Kai also felt the presence of the night again.

He could feel it in his bones—a connection that told him that it was under his control again.

Heal me.

At his command, the night moved.

Darkness flowed into his throat and mended the crushed flesh, smoothing the shattered larynx that had made him unable to speak, and filling the hollow spaces. He coughed, blood spilled from his lips, and then dragged in a long, shuddering breath.

Air flooded his lungs, and finally, the world steadied.

Slowly, Kai lifted his gaze. The sky had returned to normal. Faint stars—and the pale glow of the moon were present again. And then Kai realized that even the surroundings returned to the dark expanse of darkness, mist, and shallow water.

But on the side, he noticed a massive broken pillar.

Kai coughed again, then pushed himself upright to inspect the area.

Before he could turn, arms wrapped around him from behind. They slid across his chest, long and warm, pulling him back against a body that radiated an unmatched, aching comfort. The embrace was gentle, but it carried a strength that could hold him together if he fell apart.

For a second, he revelled in the comfort.

It didn’t take long before he snapped out of his daze and spun sharply.

Fearing for the worst, Kai swung his fist, aiming to strike whoever was behind him.

But his attack was meaningless against the entity behind him.